Two friends, Sharon Horvath and Susie Bellamy, had a wonderful exhibition at the 1053 Gallery in Fleishmanns, NY, part of the recent Upstate NY Artists Weekend, but extending beyond to last week. Though quite different, their work speaks clearly to each other, with overlaps of a love of color, texture, form, and perhaps most importantly, an almost mystical relationship to metaphysical as well as physical nature. The show’s title, “Jewels & Binoculars,” has two apt references, one to a phrase in the quixotic Bob Dylan song, “Visions of Johanna,” a song perhaps about lost love, or the unending quest of an artist for perfection, and the other to the somewhat jewel-like surface qualities of the artwork. Sharon’s art is more clearly jewel-like, with actual costume jewelry often encased in its multi-media surfaces, and light bouncing off its bumpy and imprinted textures, glistening and sparkling. Collaged from materials such as costume jewels, paint, polymer, and paper, Sharon’s pieces act as personal altarpieces, mandalas of metaphoric treasures taken from metaphoric experiences that ask questions about who we are, and how we relate to the world – especially the world of plants that grow so abundantly around us. Susie’s light is more ephemeral, more atmospheric, and interior. A Shamanic Reiki practitioner, Susie approaches her artwork as an extension, or perhaps continuation of her channeled visions of plant, animal and human spirits, resulting in surprising intuitive forms emerging from within the creative process. The effect is that of drifting from the material world of ink, gouache, and acrylic, to a cloudy one of no answers, an infinity of questions, and the quiet balance of breathing. Ultimately, both artists seem to be asking us to meditate on what it means to be alive, to exist past the limitations of the corporeal, to experience the physical world through time while our inner life meanders through timelessness. I apologize for writing after the exhibition, curated by Lindsay Comstock, has closed.