New art spot in Yellow Springs by Pamela Dillon for Dayton Daily News,August 13, 2011
Christine Klinger enjoys Yellow Springs so much that she’s willing to set up housekeeping there, as well as a new business.
She and her husband Jim are in the midst of building a new home. The name of her shop also emphasizes the area she prefers and is aptly named Springs Gallery. It features 455 square feet of retail space with high ceilings and movable gallery walls.
“I’ve been looking at other spaces for the past couple of years; and when I saw space available at King’s Yard, I jumped on it,” said Klinger, who had a grand opening on June 17. “This location is one of the best; I was fortunate to find it.”
She also is fortunate that there are so many local and regional artists who create high-quality works. Like the array of media she uses, she enjoys a variety of art in her shop. In addition to her own pottery, oil paintings and photographs, she is featuring five local authors, two fabric artists, nine jewelers, five painters, two photographers, four potters and two wood artists.
“One of the first artists I asked was Sharon Stolzenberger. I’m featuring her watercolor and acrylic animal paintings,” Klinger said.
Also exploring the animal kingdom subject are leather masks by Sue Baldwin. Tom Hawley is showing his wooden clocks and bowls; other sculptors work in clay: a few sculpted works by Jim Klinger, majolica and porcelain pieces by Dianne Collinson, Yellow Springs potter Frank Doden and raku with horsehair by Shelly Burden.
Jewelry lovers will find lots of variety at Springs Gallery. Klinger was wearing one of her own gold-luster-leaf pendant necklaces on the day of the interview. She’s also featuring these jewelry artists: Shelly Knupp, who works in fused glass, Anneliese Fricke, who works in porcelain; also featured are pieces by Sandra Picciano-Brand, Mary Kleismit and Andrew Germann.
Klinger’s own plein-air oil paintings dot the walls of her gallery. Some of the other painters’ works are by Mike Elsass, Terry Hitt, Roger Smith and Pam Adams. Fabric art by Rosalie Campbell and Gayle Sultzbach are also featured. Photographers in the new gallery include Doug Taylor and Paula Willmot Kraus. Klinger will feature Kraus’s work on Third Friday in Yellow Springs.
For those who prefer the written word, she is carrying books by local authors such as Jeanne Lemkau and Don Wallis. Klinger herself does freelance writing for the “Dayton Daily News.”
Some of you knew her as the gallery coordinator at Rosewood Gallery in Kettering for many years. She moved out to California for nine months and worked in San Luis Obispo, Calif. Returning to Dayton about five years ago, she worked as program coordinator for the multicultural center at Wright State for a little more than four years. Now, in addition to managing her gallery, she continues to create her own art.
