Shepherdstown resident Shannon Thomas admires a painting at The Bridge Gallery Holiday Open House artist reception on Saturday. Photo by Tabitha Johnston

SHEPHERDSTOWN — Kathryn Burns lined up a price tag beneath an oil painting on the wall, as she prepared to host the artist reception for her longest running annual event, the Bridge Gallery Holiday Open House.

The Bridge Gallery owner said the open house has been held every year since the gallery’s founding 17 years ago. Every holiday season, the open house provides local residents with the opportunity to see and purchase new art by professional artists who are periodically featured in the gallery and from the local area. This year’s open house was no different, with it featuring the work of eight professional artists: nature photographer Mark Muse, neopictographic painter Ralph Scorza, landscape painter Seth Hill, abstract painter Judy Bradshaw, plein air painter Joshua Hoffman, abstract painter Ed Ramsburg, woodturner Neil Super and ceramicist Annette Verne.

“Having a holiday open house feels mandatory. We have done one every year that we’ve been here,” Burns said. “The holiday open house is always a real group show — almost everybody we regularly work with is in it. I would say that it is very similar to our other group shows, but with a bit of the holidays added in — there’s a little bit of holly, a little bit of lights, a few red-and-green paintings.”

Burns noted that, for those who have attended previous shows, this year’s will look entirely different. Almost all of the pieces displayed in it are entirely new including, for the first time ever, work from a group that has never been featured at the show before.

“The Friday painting group asked if they could be in it, so I said ‘Yes’ and they are now in it,” Burns said, of The Friday Painters group, which has been creating art together in the area for the past 30 years. “They were so excited to be a part of this for the first time ever.”

Abstract painter Judy Bradshaw, second to right, answers questions posed by attendees of The Bridge Gallery Holiday Open House artist reception on Saturday. Photo by Tabitha Johnston

For Scorza, the show was the perfect opportunity for him to unveil the new installment of his Codex Americanus Series.

“I have a total now of over 50 paintings in the series, along with two separate folded books,” Scorza said, mentioning he hopes to get one of his books published in the near future. “I’m always creating more art for this series, because there’s so much history that needs to be recognized. What I’m focused on, is trying to find historical events that I never knew about and that the general public does not know about, which needs to be recognized — things that have deeply effected our country.”

He took a few moments during the reception to share some conversation with Bradshaw, whose 21 paintings highlighted her artistic versatility, being created with everything from pastels to acrylic paint to colored pencils to earth paint-based oil paint.

“This gallery serves as a great showcase for the artists in the area — it is truly the heart of the art community here,” Bradshaw said.

She noted that this is far from her first year participating in the holiday open house — and certainly not her last.

Art lovers chat together and sip wine at The Bridge Gallery Holiday Open House artist reception on Saturday. Photo by Tabitha Johnston

“Kathryn knows how to display artwork like nobody else,” Bradshaw said. “She’s a pro at hanging shows, which makes them a joy to participate in.”

The holiday open house will be held through Jan. 3 at The Bridge Gallery, located at 8566 Shepherdstown Pike. The gallery is open Wednesdays through Saturdays, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sundays, from 12-3 p.m.

For more information, call 304-876-2300.