Local artists William C. King and Carla Schaeffer will be the featured artists in the Harbor Gallery at the Nature Center of Cape May for the entire month of July with a ‘Meet the Artists Reception’ July 7th from 4-6pm. Light refreshments will be served. All artwork is for sale, with a portion of sales going to support the Nature Center of Cape May. The Harbor Gallery is located at New Jersey Audubon’s Nature Center of Cape May at 1600 Delaware Ave, Cape May.

William C. King is a local Cape May photographer, his photographs have been published by the New York Times, The Press of Atlantic City, and The Star and Wave and used in on line advertising. William first became interested in photography at about age 6 when his father gave him a blue plastic camera that used 620 film (larger format film than a 35 mm). Seeing those first photos were a thrill to him, captured moments in time. He was hooked. William later learned how to develop and print contact prints from the negatives. Using a variety of cameras over the years he landed on a Minolta 101 35 mm camera in the late 60’s. By the mid to late 90’s he was using a Nikon N70. In 2014 he switched to digital and still photographs using a Nikon D810. Most of the time when he is out photographing nature he uses a Nikon 200 – 500mm zoom lens. That allows him to get in close without disturbing or scaring his subjects. “The transition from film to digital was not easy for me. You only had 24 or 36 photos on a roll of film. With digital you have a lot more latitude to experiment and take multiple shots of a subject in different ways. Being able to photograph some subjects in a way different than you would normally expect is part of the thrill for me. There is also the instant gratification of seeing what you have captured in hours rather than days.” Explains William. “I’m never positive if I got exactly the shot I wanted until I go home and upload it to the big screen.” Being retired affords him the opportunity to go to different locations at any time of day in pursuit of that “perfect shot”.

William is often seen photographing wildlife, events, buildings or unusual insects. He loves going to live music events and has photographed many of the local musicians and artists over the years. As he puts it, he photographs “Bands, Birds, Bugs, Buildings”. He has been coming to Cape May for decades and the charm of the area never faded. He and his wife Jane purchased their Cape May home in 2016 and moved to Cape May City permanently in 2021. When not out photographing he can be found restoring a couple of classic cars, riding his Road King Custom Harley and renovating his garage.

Carla Schaeffer is a local West Cape May artist that finds pleasure in both creating art, and in keeping “things” from making it into the landfill. An avid re-cycler/re-user/re-claimer, Schaeffer says that after furnishing and filling her home with vintage finds, it is only natural that the use of natural and upcycled materials would eventually carry over into her artwork.

This July, Carla is showcasing her wire crochet and freshwater pearl jewelry, in which she incorporates natural elements that remind of her of her walks by the sea in search of treasures; including pearls, shells, and natural stones. Schaeffer says she has always been attracted to crocheted objects, an interest she believes comes from hearing about her grandmothers’ craft tradition of tatting, and appreciating the results of their efforts as a child. Tatting is a technique for handcrafting lace from a series of knots and loops, and can be used to make the lace edging seen in antique doilies and other decorative pieces. When possible, Carla strives to incorporate vintage or repurposed beads in her intricate, and beautiful wire crochet creations.

After being forced to leave her business career when chronic arm pain and nerve injuries made it too painful for her to make it through the work day, Carla found that also losing her ability to be creative made coping with her injuries all the more emotionally difficult. So, when a few years later she suffered a debilitating brain injury, she knew she must find a way to bring creativity back into her life. She does this by managing the pain and only working on her art when the conditions are “right”.

For more information please contact Nature Center of Cape May. Art lovers are encouraged to come and meet artists at the Nature Center of Cape May from 4-6pm on the first Friday of the month and then head over to The Gallery at Ferry Park for their artists’ opening reception which runs from 5-8pm on the first Friday of the month as well.