Can a book of photography substitute for an exhibition of the same photographs? This is the question pushed forward by Andrew Child by concurrently publishing a color photography book and mounting an exhibition of the same images at ArtSpace Maynard. The question may seem elementary, and the answer may seem obvious, but it’s more complicated than we think. Child is an artist who is aware of himself. In the introduction to his gorgeous book of color panoramic infrared images, “Cape Cod and the Islands: Light Beyond Vision,” he makes clear that there are many books documenting the Cape Cod region: “I suspect that many readers will object to my referring to Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket as a single place. Shelves of books have been written about each.” So, what’s so special about Child’s photographs and why should be pay attention to him as an artist? Child expands the … [Read more...] about Light Beyond Vision: Child Captures the Cape’s Special Places
Current Issue
The Freedom of Time: Vermont Studio Center’s Invaluable Residency
Imagine that the only interruption to creative workflow is the flutter of an oak leaf tapping against your window, or the soft crunch of your footsteps in freshly fallen snow, or perhaps the glint of sunshine flickering off the frozen Gihon River just below your studio. If you are one of the more than 750 painters, sculptors, writers or composers who have attended Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, Vermont, this past year, you know that this residency experience has offered up the ultimate luxury — the freedom of time. The VSC is located in the very northern part of Vermont on the fringes of the majestic and remote Northeast Kingdom. The campus is comprised of 30 buildings — reinvested or partly renovated turn-of-the-century homes, barns, churches and some newly constructed spaces for galleries and dining facilities. The early winter day that I drove to Johnson, about 50 miles from … [Read more...] about The Freedom of Time: Vermont Studio Center’s Invaluable Residency
Peaceful, Inspiring — SELF-TAUGHT: Brennan’s Art Celebrates Wampanoag Tradition
Emma Jo Mills Brennan does art for the “exploration and reflection” it affords her. “All of my work is related to my love for the earth, unless it’s abstract and then it’s going into the spiritual realm, then it’s meditative.” That connection to the land started with the family lifeway. Brennan’s Mashpee Wampanoag father (who owned the Mashpee landmark Ockrey Trading Post) provided his family with fresh game, “one deer a year, geese, quail, partridges, ducks, fish,” and with produce from his garden. Her mother was the daughter of Italian immigrants who wrote, drew and created ceramic flowers so delicate they looked real. (Her brother, Elwood Mills Jr., is a local writer. Her uncle, Earl, is a writer, restaurateur and respected tribal chief.) After a divorce, Brennan returned to her childhood home hand-built by her father after World War Two on land the Wampanoag had lived in for … [Read more...] about Peaceful, Inspiring — SELF-TAUGHT: Brennan’s Art Celebrates Wampanoag Tradition
A LASTING TRADITION: BRATTLEBORO GALLERY WALK HAS STAYING POWER
It wasn’t quite the proverbial “dark and stormy night,” but both snow and temperatures fell for the First Friday Gallery Walk in Brattleboro, Vermont, in December, diminishing crowds but not enthusiasm among those who made it. The festive downtown stroll is a monthly tradition with galleries, eateries and drinking venues all welcoming people from as far south as Northampton, Massachusetts, and as far north as Burlington. December offered a special Gallery Walk night for folks to bundle up and face the weather. In addition to 36 venues showcasing art and many restaurants eager to serve house specialties, there were church holiday bazaars, craft fairs and an annual Children’s Holiday Craft Fair, featuring such items as beeswax candles, ornaments, journals and edible treats. Heading south on Main Street from the intersection of Main and High, it’s always interesting to stop at River … [Read more...] about A LASTING TRADITION: BRATTLEBORO GALLERY WALK HAS STAYING POWER
ENVIRONMENTALLY SOUND: BLAKEMAN MESMERIZED BY WIDE OPEN SPACES
“We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.” — T.S. Eliot. What is it about human behavior that compels us so very often to return to our roots? Maybe not geographically back to our beginnings, but in some representative aspect of our beginnings, we return. That is the case for artist Marcia Blakeman of Bedford, New Hampshire. Blakeman grew up in Wyoming and summered in Colorado, eventually settling with her family in New Hampshire. Earning her degree in advertising design from Metropolitan State College in Denver, she worked in that arena for some time. Later, upon having children, she picked up the paint brush and took her creative endeavors in a different direction. Greatly influenced by her environment as a youth, she’s mesmerized by wide open spaces, the mountains, and most … [Read more...] about ENVIRONMENTALLY SOUND: BLAKEMAN MESMERIZED BY WIDE OPEN SPACES
NEW BEDFORD TODAY: NEARBY WATERS INSPIRE SERIES OF EXHIBITIONS
Two painters well-entrenched in the tradition of modern American realism, a computer animator working with experimental painting and drawing processes, and a sculptor with a site-specific work that will evolve over a period of half a year are in the spotlight in three spaces within the New Bedford Art Museum/ArtWorks! Displayed in the Heritage Gallery, painters Art Ballelli and Roy St. Christopher Rossow make a formidable and complementary pair in their exhibition called “Warmed by Sunshine, Lit by Starlight.” Ballelli, a native of Westerly, a perfect picture postcard town in southwestern Rhode Island, displays a series of acrylic paintings highlighting the Victorian era houses in his community. His style is crisp, almost to the point of starkness, and his “painted ladies” are visually cropped in a thoughtful manner that highlights their exquisite architectural details. The … [Read more...] about NEW BEDFORD TODAY: NEARBY WATERS INSPIRE SERIES OF EXHIBITIONS