James Gwynne in front of "Pink and Blue",
oil on canvas 70" x 65".

The Edison Arts Society is pleased to honor visual artist James Gwynne of East Stroudsburg, PA as Artist of the Season for Summer 2005. James has been a very active member of EAS for several years even though he lives far away, and has donated proceeds of his artwork unselfishly to EAS.

James has a B.A. from the College of Wooster, his M.A. from Michigan State University and his Ph.D from New York University. He is presently the Chair of the Visual Arts Department at the County College of Morris, a position he has held since 1996. Prior to this, he taught at the Centenary College and the College of Wooster.

During the past five or six years, James has been painting works based on the sky and clouds. These are not produced from photographs, but rather from imagined or remembered sky effects. And, he has chosen to exclude any references to the land so as to encourage an abstract quality to the work and to keep the focus on the beauty and inspiration of the sky with all its color, atmosphere, patterns, and cloud formations.

James has over 100 solo exhibitions and 200 group shows. He is represented in many private and corporate collections including the New Jersey State Museum and the Pennsylvania State Museum. This past June, James was awarded a $1,000 prize for "Best in Show" at Pennsylvania State University.

"After the Storm"
Watercolor 16" x 20"


"Willow and Barns"
Oil 20" x 24"


"Winter Trio"
Oil 16" x 20"

The Edison Arts Society is proud to honor visual artist Burton Longenbach of Clark as an Artist of the Season for Summer 2005. Burton has been an active member on our EAS Art Gallery Board of Directors for several years, and has donated proceeds from sales of his works towards EAS programming.

Burton is a landscape painter who values the painterly energies of the medium, primarily oil and watercolor. He is dedicated to on-site sketching and painting in a spontaneous response to the visual images of a selected site. He is an experienced teacher of painting, workshop instruction and painting demonstration. He was elected officer and Board Member of the NJ Watercolor Society, NJ Chapter of the American Artist Professional League, and the Westfield Art Assoc. Elected member of the Garden State Watercolor Society, Hudson Valley Art Assoc., PA Watercolor Society and exhibiting member of the Philadelphia Watercolor Society, Essex Watercolor Club, Edison Arts Society, and the Milburn - Short Hills Arts Center.

Burton has a B.S. in Art Education from Kutztown State University, and a M.A. in Fine Arts and Fine Arts Education, Teacher's College, Columbia University N.Y.C. He was a teacher and supervisor of Art in the Cranford Public Schools in Cranford from 1949-1988. He continued his studies in painting including workshops conducted by Tony Couch, David Curtis, Dominic DiStefano, Charles Sovek, Judi Wagner and Frank Webb.

He has won numerous awards for Best in Show, Awards of Excellence and Awards of Merit throughout the tri-state area. He also received the NJ Watercolor Society 2000 Silver Medal of Honor.