Playing By His Own Rules By Taryn Plumb Robert Saunders has never found amusement in other people’s games. As a kid, for example, he would sit down to Chinese checkers with his grandmother, and although he recalls “hating it,” he would keep playing, just following his own private imaginary strategy. Similarly, in lieu of baseball – the traditional pastime of many boys – he concocted a way to run the bases, score and strike out simply by rolling four dice. That flouting of conformity and adherence to his own rules translates into his large body of abstract artwork, composed of installations and drawings that the Gardiner, Maine artist refers to as “visual poetry.” His pieces are composites of intersecting clean lines, crisp shapes, stray numbers and letters, as well as assemblages of various found items. The effect – once the eyes adjust to the mélange – is a unique sort of … [Read more...] about Robert Saunders
Issue Articles
Litchfield County, Connecticut
A Sojourn Beyond the Guidebooks By Kristin Nord Natural beauty. Art and athletic activities of all kinds. For some, it’s a 26-town playland; for others, it’s a state of mind. Weekend visitors have flocked to Litchfield County for more than a century now, drawn to farms and secluded country homes sprinkled about the wooded hills. With its easy access to Manhattan, the region has long been a magnet for artists and writers. In recent years, a great deal of money from Wall Street and the fashion and entertainment industries has been added to the mix. Someone in the know can easily spot a number of hideaways through security gates. They belong to the movers and shakers. But for the rest of us, the county is a place that has benefitted greatly from the largesse of a number of wealthy benefactors, whether it’s the constellation of conservation areas and glorious hiking trails, the art … [Read more...] about Litchfield County, Connecticut
Provincetown’s Art Colony
A Gallery Crawl By Laura Shabott On August 27, 1916, the Boston Globe declared that there existed “the biggest arts colony in the world at Provincetown.” Now that’s a lot of pressure for a small place only three miles long. Have we lived up to this legacy? There is a collection of 3,000+ works at the Provincetown Art Association and Museum (PAAM) representing 100 years of art made by the people who think of Land’s End as their muse and inspiration. Are we still the biggest arts colony in the world? Hard to say. Most certainly, Provincetown is one of the most formidable centers of creativity in the United States. Many permanent resident artists open a gallery with their partner. And why not? The Fine Arts Work Center (FAWC) brings in brilliant artists and writers for its renowned winter residency and summer courses. There are exquisite educational programs and year-round … [Read more...] about Provincetown’s Art Colony
Rock River Open Studios
Southeast Vermont Celebrates Art & Craft By Arlene Distler Daylilies, roses, hollyhocks and delphiniums are in bloom — it’s deep summer in the hills of southern Vermont, colors bursting in the July sunlight, a perfect time to celebrate the beauty of fine art and crafts produced in this southeast region of the state. Congregating in the towns of Williamsville and Newfane, some of the most accomplished artists and artisans in New England create their work here. This year’s Rock River Open Studio Tour allows access to the working studios of 14 painters, photographers, potters, woodworkers, fabric artists and collagists: Rob Cartelli, Kim Hartman Colligan, Robert Cramp, Dan DeWalt, Richard Foye, Rich Gillis, Caryn King, Leonard Ragouzeos, Georgie Runkle, Roger Sandes, Deidre Scherer, Matt Tell, Christine Triebert and Mary Welsh. Studios are adjacent to, or in, homes, so this tends to … [Read more...] about Rock River Open Studios
Art in Nature
Fruitlands Speaks A Language All Its Own By Elizabeth Michelman The slope down to the farmhouse at Fruitlands is a cultivated one. It expresses a “language” of architecture and agriculture.When Bronson Alcott and his fellow Transcendentalists arrived here in the early 19th century to begin a communal farming experiment, this landscape was already far altered from its primitive state. Forests were hewn to make way for fields and stones harvested to fence them in, orchards were planted for fruit and pines for shade. The sun did not just set but beckoned over the hills to the American West and its receding wilderness. This back-to-the-earth attempt, supported by a belief in the divinity in man, the authority of the self, and the grounding of human intuition in the laws of nature, was simply one more moment in an evolving ideology of “Nature.” While the title of this year’s outdoor … [Read more...] about Art in Nature
Coming of Age
Talent for the New Millenium at Sharon Arts By Linda Chestney What is life if not change? We all resist change to some extent, but inevitably, change occurs. As they say, change is a constant. And so it is with art. What innovative changes does the new generation of artists offer? How does culture infuse their art? What is the “sign of the times” for millennials? Born roughly from 1980 to 2000, the millennials are featured in an exhibition currently showcased at the Sharon Arts Center in Peterborough, NH. “Coming of Age: Artists Under 30,” hosted by the New Hampshire Institute of Art, spotlights 30 works by 20 artists from around the United States who work in a multitude of expressions — sculpture, tapestry, video, photography, glass, ballpoint pen, pencil and mixed media. The show offers a diverse treasure of young talent. Often there is a message, a reason, a point to their art … [Read more...] about Coming of Age