The Artful Mind april issue 2020

CELEBRATING 26 YEARS OF INSPIRATION AND PROMOTING OF THE ARTS THROUGHOUT THE BERKSHIRES

THE ARTFUL MIND APRIL 2020

GILI MELAMED-LEV Photography by Tasja Keetman

CAROLYN NEWBERGER

www.carolynnewberger.com 617. 877. 5672

On the Verge, Watercolor and Collage, 30 x 22�

Jaane Doe Celebrates PAWNS...

Directorial Debut of Elizabeth Berliner WINNER of the Audience Choice Award for Best Music Video 2020 Golden State Film Festival

Congratulations!

For more information visit:

https://issuu.com/theartfulmindartzine/docs/artful_mind_august_2019 www.facebook.com/JaaneDoeMusic www.jaanedoe.com

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BRING ON SPRING! Celebrating 26 years in print!!

JULIA GREY / Photographer Interview by Harryet Candee ...6 Gili Melamed-Lev / Pianist Interview by Harryet Candee Photography by Tasja Keetman ...14 POPS PETERSON /Visual Artist Interview by Harryet Candee ...28 FICTION: RIchard Britell Jason and His Grandmother Chapter 8 ...28

Publisher Harryet Candee Copy Editor

Marguerite Bride

Third Eye: Jeff Bynack Advertising and Graphic Design Harryet Candee Contributing Writer: Richard Britell Photographers: Edward Acker, Tasja Keetman, Sam Backhaus

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FYI: ©Copyright laws in effect throughout The Artful Mind for logo & all graphics including text material. Copyright laws for photographers and writers throughout The Artful Mind. Permission to reprint is required in all instances. In any case the issue does not appear on the stands as planned due to unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control, advertisers will be compensated on a one to one basis. All commentaries by writers are not necessarily the opinion of the publisher and take no responsibility for their facts and opinions.

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GEOFFREY YOUNG

Mark Olshansky

“The War of the Noses.”

26.5" x 36.5” 2019 Persian wool "Green Harem," 2019, 12 x 12" Colored pencil on Mohawk Superfine

413. 528. 4951 marko1010@roadrunner.com

Phil Knoll

Morgan Bulkeley

Me Scared 15”x11”, 3/2020, oil on carved wood panel Aphrodite (Sue from Memory) 2020, 26” x 16” China marker, watercolor on paper

theknolls3@gmail.com

Website: www.morganbulkeley.com Howard Yezerski Gallery, Boston, MA THE ARTFUL MIND APRIL 2020 • 3

FRONT ST. GALLERY

Eleanor Lord

Painting by Kate Knapp

Painting classes on Monday and Wednesday mornings 10-1pm at the studio in Housatonic and Thursday mornings 10am - 1pm out in the field.

Also available for private critiques. Open to all. Please come paint with us!

Gallery hours: Open by chance and by appointment anytime 413. 274. 6607 (gallery) 413. 429. 7141 (cell) 413. 528. 9546 (home) www.kateknappartist.com

Front Street, Housatonic, MA

4 • APRIL 2020 THE ARTFUL MIND

Eleanor Lord, pastel landscape

visit: www.Eleanorlord.com

CHRISTOPHER MALCOMSON / VIRGINIA BRADLEY

SIGN 1, 24”X 21”, OIL ON PAPER

www.chrismalcomson.com

Studio Visits by Appointment

LANDING 5, 40” X 36”, OIL ON CANVAS

www.virginiabradley.com www.instagram.com/virginiabradleyart/ 234 Long Pond Road Great Barrington, MA THE ARTFUL MIND APRIL 2020 • 5

JULIA GREY PHOTOGRAPHER INTERVIEW BY HARRYET CANDEE

JULIA GREY BUST

Julia, seeing your photographs I am curious to know more about you as a photographer, since I know there is a story you are unfolding from one photograph to another. How would you describe yourself?

I would tell you that beneath my clothes I am naked and terrified; but also stubborn and brave.

I would let you know that I'm looking at you with kindness and curiosity. And I would take your hands and invite you to explore all that I am, so you may see through my eyes.

And, where is you driving force coming from and it’s purpose that leads you forward?

Advocacy. Giving voice to the voiceless and bringing light to the dark places we fear most.

Teaching that perspective is the first link in a chain that leads to love. (perspective-understanding-tolerance-acceptance-love) If you knew you needed to create your last photograph, what would you plan, and what would you make sure people knew about so they could possibly learn more about the techniques you have developed and enjoyed using?

I will assume I'm not dying and that I'm taking my last photograph because of some other circumstance. I would choose API as the technique for its illustrative effects, flexibility and ease of 6 • APRIL 2020 THE ARTFUL MIND

modification. As for the photo… My being would be strewn about a dreamy, desert landscape, with arms, torso, legs, hands and feet akimbo, but comfortable. While the expression on my disembodied lips and eyes would be one of contentment and peace as they rest on the sand.

Why photography and not something else?

Or, is there something else? Tell us other artistic outlets you have enjoyed.

I've always admired those who could paint and draw, so I tried it some years back; with no luck.

For reference, see the sketch of my last great photograph. I tried music. It was not for me. I would sometimes dream that I could play the guitar fluently, but I never could. Those dreams persisted until I found a camera. I realized that I could make it do the things I wanted if I tried hard enough. Seventeen years later, I am still teaching myself how to create with the camera with no end in sight and I couldn't be happier.

One other significant creative outlet is writing; poetry mostly. It's one of the things I do when I'm not working with a camera.

Julia, you lived in North Adams and now have moved far away. Can you tell us what your life was like in the Berkshires, and what lead you to moving to Las Vegas?

In the city of North Adams I found acceptance and love, both before and after I revealed myself as the woman I am. And I am a photographer because of the Berkshires. It was Greylock Glen that inspired me to buy my first real camera at thirty-eight years of age. (a dSLR) I was fortunate to work for Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, the North Adams Transcript and the Berkshire Eagle for the majority of the thirteen years I lived in the western Massachusetts.

I needed a nurturing environment where I could heal and grow when I came to North Adams and that's exactly what I found. But, after thirteen years I found myself in my 50s and needing a warmer climate. I also realized I needed a bigger arena in which I could be seen and heard.

Through dumb luck and the generous, unselfish act of a friend, I found Las Vegas. My home.

How has your life changed since you moved to Las Vegas? And, what was your affirmation you kept telling yourself when you might have felt moments of insecurity about such a big life change.

With the exception of a brief stay in the south end of Hartford, I have always lived in small towns. I now live in the heart of metro Las Vegas, close to the strip, and have for the last 3 1/2 years. It is flashy, gritty, exciting and dangerous, 24/7/365. It is inspirational and tragic. I

JULIA GREY

have learned that, “Who are you?”, is a perfectly acceptable greeting. And as a woman in her 50s living alone in a dangerous city, it is always eyes open, locked doors and taser/pepper spray at the ready. I have used the latter more than once in my time here. Oddly, I have not had moments of insecurity about my move to Vegas. Good and bad accepted, I love living here.

How did you find yourself living in North Adams? Where were you before?

I was looking for a house in southern Vermont and took an apartment in North Adams instead of making the five to six-hour round trip from the central Connecticut area. Before North Adams, I floundered. I was living a life built on other people’s expectations. I had no passion, drive or desire. I buried myself in volunteer work at shelters, with Meals on Wheels and driving cancer patients to chemo/radiation appointments through the American Cancer Society's road to recovery program. While the work was rewarding, it did not address my need for expression. Finding a camera changed my life.

And now, you will be showing photographs at The Foundry in West Stockbridge. How did this all come about?

My favorite photographer and dear friend, Susan Sabino, introduced my work to Amy and Noah at The Foundry. This happened in late

SUSPECT

2019 and it was then that I received an email from Noah asking if I was interested in exhibiting in their gallery. I called and spoke with Amy. It was immediately evident that our missions were the same, that this was a good match between gallery and artist. Since that time I have enjoyed working with Noah and Amy. They are articulate, passionate and unique and I can't wait to meet them.

as if I were damaged goods… Those feelings have faded, but they never completely go away.

As for technique, this was a traditional OST (Open Shutter Technique) photo. In a dark studio I used a tripod mounted camera and, opening the shutter, triggered flashes to light myself and then triggered a different flash to create the shadow to my right (camera left). Then I closed the shutter.

Did you create new works just for this exhibit?

I did not. The show, “Biting My Own Teeth”, is about being transgender and living with gender dysphoria. It is built upon a selection of photos from my website and books; Loving Julia I, II and III. The selections are self-portraits exclusively, and include photos about the indignities of being transgender, from a series called OUTrage!.

Can you tell us the meaning behind “Suspect”?

“Suspect” is one of my favorite APIs (Anthropomorphic Photo Illustration). It is about how we treat strangers and our fear of the unknown.

I guess it's fair to say that it is based on experience; both personal and that which I've seen.

This includes my own knee-jerk, negative reactions to the unknown. This is a good example of why I value perspective.

Let’s talk about a few photos in particular, please. “The Lies We’re Told”, what is going on here?

“The Lies We’re Told” is the title piece from a series about childhood sexual abuse. It is a very personal interpretation of what it felt like years after being lied to, manipulated and serially beaten and raped as a little girl… There were feelings of being incomplete, battered and torn;

“Hold” is visually beautiful. Like a painting, if that doesn’t insult you. It is a photograph.

This one explains what?

Ha! It’s not an insult at all! “Hold” is an API and should look like a painting, so thank you. This photo is about our need for love and how it starts with ourselves; an old but true sentiment. I am a passionate practitioner and advocate of selfcare. Continued on next page...

THE ARTFUL MIND APRIL 2020 • 7

Do you have a favorite photograph?

No, I don't. I have a dozen or more favorites, but they vary from day to day and mood to mood.

“The Victor”, “Hold”, “The Lies We’re Told”, “Glimmer”, “Suspect”… Most of the images that are in this article are here because they're among my favorites. Other than hummingbirds, my photos are almost exclusively anthropomorphic. The human body and face are capable of such unique and powerful expressions that I find reproduction of any of my photos is nearly impossible.

How are your marketing skills these days?

My work is about the message. I have zero interest in monetizing it. Having said that, I realize it is necessary for my work to be accessible. I am fortunate to be represented by Priscilla Fowler Fine Art, here in Las Vegas. All sales go through her gallery and the money I make is either used to defray the cost of production and display or used to help others.

What do you like to do on your leisure time?

Tell us what your day is like when it is filled with work?

My leisure time is usually taken with naps, baths, writing, time with friends, time at the gallery lending a hand and meeting other artists and getting dressed and going out for dinner once in a while. Work, on the other hand, is much different. When inspiration and energy coincide, I ride it like a party pony until there is nothing left. This means working around the clock for weeks and often times, months. Meals are microwaved and eaten hastily, sleep is often ignored or cut short and bathroom breaks are seen as an evil necessity. It is a time when passion and obsession are indistinguishable.

JULIA GREY

HOLD

What is something you will never do again?

And, why? Funny, how we learn from our mistakes and those crazy things that happen to us.

I don’t like to say never, but… A technique I developed - MPP, or multi perspective photography - involves layering in Photoshop. I'm not comfortable with this as it blurs the line with the rest of my work which does not use layering. I am currently working on a solution that would allow me to forgo the use of Photoshop and do it in camera.

What is something that you want to repeat again because it has made a big impact on your artistic life?

Repetition and I do not get along. I'm a firm believer in reinvention and consistency. For me, inspiration is everchanging and my job is to keep up with those changes.

If you were to live in a different time period, what would that be, and why?

The future. (assuming we grow and learn as a society) A time where gender is taught as an integral part of sex education. Because, how can you not? A time when transgender people are

8 • APRIL 2020 THE ARTFUL MIND

JULIA GREY THE LIES WE’RE TOLD

valued for their unique perspective. Indeed, a time when all people are valued.

How do you know how to approach a shoot?

Ideally the question I ask at the beginning of a shoot is, “What do I want to create?”, followed by, “What technique(s) will I use to create it?”.

When I am experimenting with new techniques, the question often becomes, “What can I do with this technique?”. But, the most important question I ask during any shoot - and I ask it a lot is "What if…?”. The typical order of a shoot is as follows: Concept, equipment setup, framing, composition, lighting, hair/makeup/wardrobe and execution.

Explain OST and why is it important?

OST stands for open shutter technique and allows for greater creativity in camera, sans Photoshop. In general, it is accomplished by opening and closing the shutter manually using the camera’s bulb function. This usually takes place in a dark studio where tightly controlled lighting illuminates a scene, piece by piece.

Once finished, the shutter is closed. In this manner you can appear multiple times in the same photo, you can fly or even perch atop the Empire State building; without resorting to Photoshop layering/compositing.

When did you discover OST? In July, 2017. I had dabbled in surreal and abstract photography the year before, when I lived in North Adams. After settling in Las Vegas I revisited the subject and it struck me; the huge potential of OST photography. Overwhelmed, I sat down. My first thoughts were, “I’m 52 years old. I don't have enough time to explore all of this”. Three years later that sentiment remains and I’m looking for an apprentice who can learn and expand upon my work.

You say OST is revolutionary. Why? Imagine every photographic technique you've ever used. Now realize you can use them all in a single photo with OST. And there are just as many techniques exclusive to OST that can also be used. This means you can use shallow depth of field and deep depth of field, you can change focus points or zoom during a shot. You can change the lens! You can turn the camera upside down or even cap the lens and transport the camera to a different set/location to finish the shot. The possibilities with OST are exponentially greater than with traditional photos and are far from fully discovered.

You mention there is a lot yet to be discovered within OST. What are some of the things you

have found?

There are lots of singular techniques in OST, like floating/flying, perspective distortions, placing objects within objects, etc., But there are two main techniques that fall under the OST umbrella which I am currently developing. One is called multi-location imaging or MLI, while the other is anthropomorphic photo illustration or API. At the moment MLI is in its infancy, but it allows me to place people or objects in impossible places and is achieved by changing set / location during a shot. MLIs can be limiting in their effect. But in combination with other techniques, the ability to change locations during a shot opens up amazing new possibilities.

APIs are currently the way I work with open shutter. They are meant to look like paintings or illustrations and are the most fluid or analog way of creating in front of the camera I’ve yet to find. Due to this, only what can be carried in and out of the set can be imaged. Anything that sits still for more than a moment will look like a photograph, ruining the illustrative effect. So, the body, clothing and anything one can carry are used to create. As opposed to traditional OST, which uses strobes or flashes, APIs use constant light. This is what gives them their fluContinued on next page...

THE ARTFUL MIND APRIL 2020 • 9

JULIA GREY STILL LIFE NO. 1

JULIA GREY HUMMINGBIRD 2-25-2019

idity and texture. APIs are also the most versatile process I’ve yet to find in that they readily accept modification via other techniques.

These techniques all lend a painterly feel to your work. Is that intentional?

Yes. I’ve always been envious of those who can paint or draw. In spite of my best efforts I cannot. At 37 years of age I discovered the camera.

Previously, I had never used anything other than a film point and shoot. I was blown away and encouraged by the instant feedback of digital.

Photography gave to me in a way no other way of creating ever did. Still, after more than a dec10 • APRIL 2020 THE ARTFUL MIND

ade I longed to create with fluidity and style, like a painter. That is when I started working with an open shutter. Today I am finding success in creating my own paintings. Monet, Caravaggio, Michelangelo and others are inspirations. *for MLI reference “Picnic” photo as example I hope you find people to carry on this groundbreaking OST. Are you in touch with any organization that can come in on this with you?

It is of the utmost importance that my techniques outlive me. They are not copyrighted. Although I would like credit for having

discovered/pioneered them, they're here for all to use. I invite you to try.

Please tell us about your Hummingbird photograph series?

I discovered hummingbirds, or should I say they discovered me, when I first moved to Florida Mountain in the spring of ’05. In early May of that year they announced their presence by buzzing my head until I put up a feeder. Of course, I was enamored from the beginning. They were so tiny; and so fearless! The first three seasons were spent photographing and learning about them. In 2008 it became apparent I could train

JULIA GREY THE STRIPPER

them. This coincided with my discovery of the hummingbird works of Martin Johnson Heade.

Heade’s work was inspirational, but Ruby throat hummingbirds behave differently. They were wild and business like - diving in and out of flowers at hard, unpredictable angles - and did not offer good photo opportunities. Wanting to emulate Heade’s work, I decided to train the birds to act more like the ones in his paintings.

In 2019 I finally achieved what I consider to be MJ Heade-worthy photographs. The hummingbird season of 2020 began my first experiments using OST and MLI techniques with hummingbirds. The results are promising. I'm looking forward to 2021.

Have you travelled the world?

I'm afraid I'm a bit boring in this respect. Despite understanding the value of travel (perspective!), I don't. After the military I spent 11 years without a home. I have since had a roof over my head for more than 20 years and home is still the only place I want to be. Regardless, I do have a story… At 13 years of age I met my first love, a beautiful, petite young white girl named Danielle, and we dated for a year and a half. During that time, I found out that there were racially motivated plans by black classmates Rhonda and her friend Debbie to gang together with five other girls and beat up Danielle after school. I rode the bus home with her that day.

Sure enough, there were seven girls waiting

for us when we got off the bus, with Rhonda and Debbie in the lead. We were immediately surrounded. Rhonda, the biggest, got in my face and began shouting while Debbie, arguably the meanest, got in Danielle's face as we stood back to back. Tensions grew quickly. As the antagonism escalated. Debbie slapped Danielle and, reflexively, I punched Debbie who fell to the ground holding her face. Then I heard a voice.

“Rhonda! What you doing wit’ my cousin?!?

Debbie! Get up off the floor!” It was a man's voice and I had just hit his cousin. Terrified, I looked up to my left. There was a young black man approximately 20 years old standing over us. He was dressed well; leather shoes, creased dress pants, a Nehru style jacket over a buttondown shirt and a kufi atop his head. He looked down at me and then Danielle and asked, “Are you okay?”. Shocked, we stammered, “Yes”. He said ,“Let me walk you home”. And he did.

I grew up in an ethnically diverse part of town in the 60s and 70s; when racial tensions were higher than they are now. Amidst the words and actions of hatred that permeated the time, this story stands out to me. I carry it with me as an example of grace and dignity in the face of hatred and every day I aspire to live up to this man's actions.

Vietnam war. My childhood was reflective of the times in which I was born; turbulent and traumatic. Fortunately, I was born with a strong sense of survival and self-love.

Final note for us, Julia?

The exhibit, “Biting My Own Teeth”, isn't about me. Granted, there are thirty-three self-portraits in this exhibit, but I'm just the vehicle for a message. And that message is this: gender dysphoria is a killer, as sure as cancer or heart disease.

Worst of all, it hits our children at the ages of fourto twelve years old; when they have no way of communicating or understanding what is happening to them. The suicide attempt and success rates for transgender children are staggering. If your child is transgender they are 50% likely to attempt suicide at least once. Please, educate yourself and your children about gender.

Julia Grey may be reached at: demipansapio@gmail.com | website: www.xgender.net “Biting My Own Teeth” will be on display for the month of April at The Foundry, 2 Harris Street, West Stockbridge, MA 01266. There will be an opening reception and artist talk at 6:30 PM on Friday, April 3.

Please describe your childhood.

I came to be at the height of the Civil Rights movement in the 60s and at the beginning of the THE ARTFUL MIND APRIL 2020 • 11

NOW IS OUR TIME JENNIFER BROWDY Human beings are an artful species, with a formidable intelligence that is not only intellectual and emotional, but also imaginative, creative and innovative.

We are in a moment of reckoning now, as the long juggernaut of the capitalist industrial system comes to a sudden grinding halt. It’s no surprise, and yet who could possibly be ready for the shocks that are unfolding now?

Ready or not, now is our time.

Just as our ancestors had to call on their own ingenuity and inner strength to overcome the challenges that faced them—whether world wars, economic collapse or all kinds of personal and social issues—now we are the ones who have to step up to the plate.

We are not alone. I feel the encouragement of my ancestors every step of the way, reminding me that they struggled and survived in order to lend me their shoulders to stand on, so that our lineage might continue unbroken into the future. It’s the same for every living being on Earth today. We are all propelled by the strength and imaginative intelligence of those who came before.

There are so many ways each of us can use our artful minds to sketch out a blueprint for the world we want to live into—and then share our ideas with others, as it is now crystal clear that we must work together to achieve transformational change.

The COVID-19 pandemic, with its cascading social and economic fall-out, is a huge wake-up call from Mother Earth. She has been trying to get our attention for a long time, as the drumbeat of our destruction of her other children—insects, animals, sea creatures, birds, flowers and trees—went on ruthlessly. Now it’s our turn to feel the boomeranging heat of our own failings turned back on us.

In this moment of crisis, we must put the full

force of our imagination and creativity to work to find solutions that will propel us forward into the better world we yearn for.

There is no doubt that we can do it. The question that is ours to answer is—will we?

Jennifer Browdy, PhD, is a writer, editor, publisher and teacher based in Great Barrington MA and Nova Scotia. A longtime professor of literature & media arts at Bard College/Simon’s Rock, her essays exploring environmental and social justice issues through a personal lens can be found at Transition Times (Bethechange2012.com), where she is currently in the midst of a series called “21 Questions for 2020.” Find out more about her books, workshops and services at JenniferBrowdy.com 12 • APRIL 2020 THE ARTFUL MIND

ANN GETSINGER I was recently contacted by the April edition’s editor of the monthly New Marlborough 5 Village News, Larry Burke, to see if I would create some art work to "cheer things up." I was already asking myself how artists could be useful in helping an anxious community cope - so his request arrived with perfect timing. I slept on it and awoke imagining a coloring page of bright beautiful flowers. I slept on it the next night and saw that the idea had blossomed into a way to integrate our beautiful woods and fields, dirt roads and hiking trails, with some fun for children (and the rest of us) to do some coloring while learning about Mother Nature’s springtime explosion of new life. It cheered me up to create this color-able drawing and I thank my Berkshire community for the chance to do this. Please color wildly or correctly, in or out of the lines, with my warm wishes for health, happiness, and a bright future.

Names are included at the bottom in case you want to learn more or see what color these living beings actually are! The mourning cloak butterfly, for example, is a stunning earthy violet and one of the very few butterflies to overwinter, under dry leaves.

Color - able copies are available by contacting the artist. www.anngetsinger.com or anngetsinger@gmail.com

ANGELA MANNO My current work focuses on the holocaust of Nature we are witnessing, in particular species ex-tinction, at a rate of 10,000-100,000 per year - one thousand times the natural rate.

Based on these statistics, biologist E.O. Wilson estimates that if current trends continue, half of Earth's animal and plant species will be extinct by the end of this century.

It is clear that the Western mind is divorced from Nature, the primary condition that has lead to the current ecological catastrophe. I feel that the only way back - indeed our own survival - depends on nothing less than a re-enchantment with the Earth as a living reality.

About thirty years ago, I began studying and practicing Byzantine-Russian iconography with a master iconographer from Russia. The technique and materials he introduced to his students are the same that were developed in the monasteries in 14-16c Russia. I have been immersed in that prac-tice and tradition for over 30 years, and it is for this reason that I have chosen to depict non-human species in a traditionally religious form.

My aim in creating these works is to elevate non-human species to their rightful and equal place in the community of being. In the words of Thomas Aquinas, Because the divine could not image itself forth in any one being, it created the great diversity of things so that what was lacking in one would be supplied by the others and the whole universe to-gether would participate in and manifest the divine more than any single being.

These works fulfill my deep impulse to merge art, scientific understanding and religious sensibili-ties for the purpose of fostering a more integral, diverse and beautiful world.

My wish is that they also strike a chord in you.

—Angela Manno 2020 To see more of these works, please go to: http://www.angelamanno.com/icon/endangered.php 50% of the proceeds from the sale of these originals will benefit the Center for Biological Diversi-ty, an organization devoted to protecting species that I've been supporting for many years, to help them carry out their invaluable work.

MARK MELLINGER

PANDEMIC

100 North St Pittsfield Painting - Collage - Construction 914. 260. 7413 markmellingerart.com markmellinger680@gmail.com

“Pivotal Movement“ as observed and painted at the Pontoosuc lake in Pittsfield. The painting is an oil on canvas.

It is 24”X36”. 2020.

GHETTA HIRSCH website: ghetta-hirsch.squarespace.com instagram: @ghettahirschpaintings Text or call for STUDIO visits: 413. 281. 0626 THE ARTFUL MIND APRIL 2020 • 13

GILI MELAMED-LEV Interview by Harryet Candeee

Gili, your most recent music collaborative series that you and jazz pianist, Dr. Joe Gold have created, JAZZ AND CLASSICS FOR CHANGE, wraps around a potent and meaningful theme. Timely! Tell us why you chose this theme?

Both Joe and I strongly believe in the healing power of music and we care deeply about the community we live in. Through inspiring music performed by world class musicians, Jazz and Classics for Change’s mission is to bring focus and attention to social changes that we are grappling with today.

Please tell us about “A Concert for Public In14 • APRIL 2020 THE ARTFUL MIND

Photography by Tasja Keetman

tegrity”, the next performance in this series Jazz and Classics for Change. Who will be performing at St. James Place in Great Barrington, May 16th at 7pm?

Jazz pianist Armen Donelian will perform with vocalist Dominique Eade. George Schuller on the drums and David Clark on the bass. Armen chose to call this concert A Concert for Public Integrity, and in his words: “Truth is an overriding and urgent issue of our time, perhaps of all time. We are swimming in lies. The root of lying is fear and truth. But the truth is our ally in assessing the reality of things as they are, and in charting a course for skillful future action that brings harmony and

reduces suffering.

Like a ship’s captain, we need to know where we are before we can map our course. Young people relate to this instantly. Disdain for the truth has put our country and the whole world is in peril. Truth is often feared because facing it leads to change, which we often resist.

With any issue of significance — climate change, immigration, foreign policy, education, diversity, mental health, the mistreatment of children — the search for truth is the underlying factor that leads to productive outcomes.

This concert focuses attention on the search for truth in public life — both in the artistic realm, as we play and listen to music together

Gili and Dr. Joe Gold photograph by Tasja Keetman

free from commercial influences and programmatic agenda — as well in the social realm, as we relate to others free from manipulation and exploitation.�

I am wondering, how do these concerts you manage come together? What work is involved in order to get the show on the road and tickets sold?

This is a complex questions and requires a long answer as many aspects are involved. Who is the concert intended to and which audience will it attract. What kind of music will they appreciate. Which configuration of musicians will work best for the particular music. Next step is approaching the musicians. All this work needs to be done about a year in advance. Once this is in place, there is endless amount of work securing the hall, getting the necessary funds, public-

ity, reaching out to businesses for the program guide, working closely with our graphic designer, etc. It takes a team to put a show on the road! This is without mentioning the many, many hours of learning the repertoire and rehearsing with the other musicians.

What concert can you recall that you directed is most memorable to you?

It is hard to pick up one concert in particular. A few that I can mention are the opening concert of Jazz and Classics for Change this past February, and, a concert to raise funds for cancer patients fund. In both, the music served as a vehicle to help others. Different elements came together as many individuals worked for the greater good and each gave as much as they could for its success.

Do you find it challenging at times working with other musician on projects?

Working on a new program can be challenging at times. Especially playing chamber music when in a relatively short time, in a few rehearsals, you are trying to achieve unity of sound and interpretation. This is also the beauty of all this. It offers a unique opportunity to connect.

One of the hardest things, especially these days when we are afraid to open up our hearts.

Gili, please tell us about your most recent piano concert in Israel. How does it feel going back to Israel where you grew up?

I love to connect to the cultural life there, especially through playing. Next year I will start coaching young gifted musicians.

The last concert I played in Israel at the end of February, was at the Eden-Tamir Music Center Continued on next page...

THE ARTFUL MIND APRIL 2020 • 15

Eugene Drucker, Roberta Cooper, Gili Melamed-Lev February 17, 2018

which is located in Ein Kerem, an ancient and picturesque suburb of Jerusalem. A beautiful place. Together with three fantastic musicians from the Israeli Philharmonic, we played two piano quartets. The concert was dedicated to my parents who passed away in January.

Wondering, Gili, what is your most favorite mastered piano piece that you love to play for friends and family when you have the chance?

J.S. Bach’s Goldberg variations, Brahms Intermezzo in A Major Op. 118. Chopin Nocturne and Ballad No. 1.

So very sorry to hear that, Gili.

Maybe you feel nervous before getting on stage? What methods do you personally work with relax and prepare before entering the stage?

I found that breathing exercises, visualization and meditation exercise, and some yoga and QiContinued on next page... gong are very helpful. There are many reasons why one feels butterflies before going on stage and that differs from concert to concert. Each event has its own story and level of nervousness without rhyme or reason. Each time it is a threshold to cross. This new meeting with the audience. You know, you prepare at home, but once on stage, a dialogue begins with the audience and they play an important role in the dialogue and how we, the musicians are able to communicate with them. In each concert and event, my aim is to offer a meaningful and inspiring experience to the audience.

16 • APRIL 2020 THE ARTFUL MIND

Okay, I will have to listen to those.

Was there an experience you had when you were very young that opened up the love and passion for music?

Growing up in a home where music was part of our daily life and frequent visitors by musicians and dancers was inspiring of itself. My mother was a pianist and worked as an editor of classical radio programs, and as the assistant to the administrator director of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra. My father was one of the founding members of the television station in Israel and helpe build the audio system there. As a child, I spent hours listening and attending recordings of live concerts and at home witnessing the editing process. During high school, I loved to sit at orchestra rehearsals and witness the process of a piece unfolding. Even though I started playing the piano at age six, it was only when I was sixteen that I consciously remember that there was nothing more profound and beautiful than music for me. This was greatly enhanced

and materialized after I was fortunate to participate in an ongoing chamber music course for gifted musicians held by Isaac Stern. There, the greatness and beauty of chamber music touched me deeply.

Gili, how do you spend an average workday?

How do you spend a day of leisure?

A workday starts with meditation, yoga or walking, practicing for 3 - 4 hours, working with my students, and 3 - 4 hours of office work that is related to the production and management of my new concept series, Jazz and Classics for Change, and my concert schedule. A leisure day will involve spending time with family, working in the garden or taking a walk, meeting with friends or going to a concert, a show, or a movie or a social event.

You are also a piano teacher, giving master classes at colleges such as Williams, and, over the years, have acted as a judge in your students’ competitions. What do you find yourself telling your students over and over that they must have under their belt when learning music?

Commitment and inner discipline are some of the important keys in learning anything. When working to master an instrument, if you don’t make it a daily activity, if you don’t show up to

the work on a daily basis, making it part of your daily life, you will not be able to bear the fruits of the great joy of making music.

Do you ever use art in your music classes to explain a theory or a part of music history?

All the time. It is of great help to the students to connect to music and understand it better and deeper through the visual arts, especially through colors, textures and the sense of movement. Music history can become more accessible through understanding the fashion, landscape and manner of the time and the historical period in which specific pieces were written.

Who was your mentor while studying music, and has that changed now?

I was very fortunate to have a few wonderful mentors. My first teacher growing up in Jerusalem was Bracha Eden and then I had a few remarkable years with Shoshana Cohen who helped me turn a corner after my army service and recommended that I continue my studies at Julliard where I studied with Sascha Gorodnitzki, Miyoko Nayaka-Lotto, and Gyorgy Sandor. Albert Lotto was also an influential and inspiring teacher after I graduated. Their teachings continue to inspire me to this day.

Is it possible that piano playing becomes a different experience for you when it becomes a part of a duet, or when it accompanies voice, or, part of an orchestra?

Yes, of course. This also holds true when playing with string or wind instruments. Each configuration of instrument or playing with singers or as a soloist with an orchestra requires from the piano a different role, to project differently and to support the other instruments differently.

Tell us about the Lev-Evans Duo? Pianist Mark Evans and I formed The LevEvans Duo eight years ago in response to people approaching us after performances and encouraging us to perform more together. Since then we enjoy exploring the wonderful repertoire for piano 4 hands and 2 pianos. Three years ago, we recorded our CD with music by Brahms, Lasser and Dvorak. Composer Phillip Lasser arranged one of his pieces for piano 4 hands.

Gili and Dr. Joe Gold outside of St. James Place, Great Barrington, MA Photograph by Tasja Keetman

What kind of piano do you have?

A beautiful sounding Steinway grand.

What qualities do you insist on your piano having in order for it to work for you? ( A piano that self-tunes would be a great idea!)

A beautiful lyrical tone and an even touch. For that the piano needs to be tuned and it’s action voiced and regulated.

Please tell us about The Snow Goose on CD, and who was involved in this production?

The Snow Goose was created out of a collaboration with the Australian actor John McManus.

It was on the road for a number of months and then recorded. It is based on the book of the Pulitzer prize winning author Paul Gallico on the regenerative power of friendship and love, set

against a backdrop of the horror of war. Music

by Bach, Satie, Debussy, Brahms, Faure and Prokofiev was woven into the story and gave it another dimension.

Ella Vaulin, Michael Slatkin on the French Horn and Liri Ronen, a student from Bar College, playing works by Brcuh, Schuller, Brahms, Bach and Piazzolla.

What are you planning for upcoming recitals?

At the end of March a concert with violinist Emily Daggett-Smith and cellist Ronald Feldman with works by Beethoven, Schubert, Bach, Piazzol and Mendelsohn. In April, a concert with violinist Eugene Drucker, violinist William Frampton, cellist Roberta Cooper and bassist Timm Cobb playing works by Dvorak and Schubert, and also three concerts with violinist

www.jcfc.info jazzandclassicsforchange.org Thank you Gili!

I look forward to being at one of your next concerts.

THE ARTFUL MIND APRIL 2020 • 17

CAROLYN NEWBERGER SEPTEMBER FOREST, WATERCOLOR, 6X16 INCHES

LILA + KANE PHILIP GERSTEIN, IN THE NAME OF THE WIND, OIL STICK, ACRYLIC AND MIXED MEDIA ON WOOD PANEL, 20X30 INCHES

THE COLOR OF SEASONS CAROLYN NEWBERGER AND PHILIP GERSTEIN Painters Carolyn Newberger and Philip Gerstein approach nature from seemingly opposite directions, across the line that is supposed to divide abstraction from realism. Carolyn enters the forest with paints and watercolor notebook in her fanny pack and a folding stool on her back. She records in images and words the hidden treasures that she finds.

In a studio, Philip discovers nature in form, rich texture, and emotive color as he creates vibrant abstract canvasses. Their parallel paths intersect in their common search for that living vibration, that pulse of life, emanating from beneath the layers of paint before solidifying into form.

Seen together, their paintings converge and contrast, creating a dialogue of form, color and emotional impact. www.carolynnewberger.com; www.philipgerstein.com

PHOTOGRAPH OF JAANE BY TASJA KEETMAN

JAANE DOE Jaane Doe is proud to announce that the PAWNS music short film was officially selected for screening at the Golden State Film Festival and is the recipient of the Audience Choice Award for Best Music Video. PAWNS was screened on February 28, 2020, at the TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood CA, historic site of Mann’s Chinese Theater.

PAWNS is the Directorial Debut for Elizabeth Berliner. “It was an honor and a joy to return “HOME” to the place where my trajectory in the movie and music business was so strongly influenced.” PAWNS is currently making the rounds on the film festival circuit, with more announcements pending.

The embryonic journey for this musical creation began in the Fall of 2017. The theme of the piece is metamorphosis, transcendence, and success through positive energy, hard work and the premise that good triumphs over evil. As chess players know, the pawn can become a queen if the strategy of the game is just right.

This anthemic song begins with a beautiful piano prelude and builds into a compelling musical statement in the Folk/Rock Genre.

Jaane Doe www.jaanedoe.com, www.Facebook.com/J aaneDoeMusic, https://issuu.com/thear tfulmindartzine/docs/a rtful_mind_august_20 19

Diverging from the ever-growing cadre of shiny new products feels good. Besides, there's a hint of intrigue inreinvented things - especially when coffee is involved.

A stint writing for a fair-trade company in California led me here. I pitched the owner, an ex-Wall Street guy, the idea of these coffee bean bags I spotted on Pinterest. He works with artisans in South America’s coffee growing regions, thought it would be a natural fit.

After Great Barrington banned plastic shopping bags, I searched for an eco-friendly option with style. There were very few outliers worth plucking amid the flood of mass-produced varieties. I caved and purchased a coffee bean bag knock-off on Amazon. The straps, made of industrial nylon, were too broad. The fabric was unnatural. The tote never carried a green coffee bean in its life.

I shared my idea with a GB shop owner; she suggested I make the bags myself. Visits to New York and Massachusetts roasteries yielded dozens of coffee bean bags - complete with dust and raw beans from the world’s coffeegrowing regions (the bean belt between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn). I started designing, met a local seamstress, and we began making prototypes. Lessons ensued - including how to properly wash burlap to tighten the weave and keep the plantation’s print from fading.

Walk into our workspace, and you're bound to step on a coffee bean. It’s a daily reminder that our bags have a history - hailing from countries like Costa Rica, Argentina, and Honduras. And as far as the African continent.

For life outside the nine to five, we offer Inge Farmer's Market Tote, Stephanie CrossBody, Nina Everyday Handbag, and Laura Carryall – a vegan option debuting late spring.

Each one of a kind handbag comes with a hand-carved spoon made by Kenyan artisans.

To honor the important roles women play in the production of coffee, Lila + Kane donates a portion of every sale to the International Women's Coffee Alliance (IWCA).

Monica Bossinger : www.lilaandkane.com, 413-429-6158 , @lila_and_kane

Advertising / Editorial: 413 645 4114

artfulmind@yahoo.com 18 • APRIL 2020 THE ARTFUL MIND

UPCYCLED + SUSTAINABLE Reimagined coffee bean bags from plantations worldwide.

Handmade in the Berkshires.

www.lilaandkane.com

BIRCHES

15TH SEASON SCHEDULE MARGUERITE BRIDE, LADIES IN JAZZ SERIES, NINA, WC

MARGUERITE BRIDE ORIGINAL WATERCOLORS Faces have always posed a real challenge for me. However, I decided that it is time to work on perfecting this skill…and I found that it was great fun. Four new portraits (Ladies of Jazz) were recently added to my “JAZZ VISIONS” collection and all are now on exhibit (24 of them) at 51 Park Restaurant and Tavern in Lee, MA. A tavern just seems like the best place to display these paintings. Take a look at my website to see the other faces I have done (just type “Faces” in the search box) Do you have special occasions in your future? Anniversary? Wedding? Graduation? Retirement? Selling a home and downsizing?

Don’t forget, a custom painting of a home or other special location is a treasured gift.

Now is a great time to commission a house portrait or favorite scene you would like captured in a watercolor. Paintings (or even a personalized gift certificate, then I work directly with the recipient) make a cherished and personal gift for weddings, retirement, new home, old home, anniversaries…..any occasion is special. Commission work is always welcome. Be in touch directly with me…it is guaranteed to be a fun adventure!

Fine art reproductions and note cards of Berkshire images and others by the artist are available at the Red Lion Inn Gift Shop (Stockbridge), Lenox Print & Mercantile (Lenox), Hancock Shaker Village Gift Shop and a variety of other fine gift shops, and also directly from the artist. The artist gives group lessons in watercolor technique in her home studio.

Contact the artist and/or visit her website for more details.

Marguerite Bride – Home Studio at 46 Glory Drive, Pittsfield, Massachusetts by appointment only. Call 413-841-1659 or 413442-7718; margebride-paintings.com; margebride@aol.com; Facebook: Marguerite Bride Watercolors.

20 • APRIL 2020 THE ARTFUL MIND

Salem Art Works brings art and music to Washington County for another season. SAW is hosting its 15th season of art and music, with a full program of workshops, residencies, public performances, gallery tours, art openings, and more. Most events are open to the public.

All events at Salem Art Works are handicapped accessible.

Here’s a list of SAW’s 2020 season highlights. This does not include workshops, which are listed on SAW’s website at www.salemartworks.org/workshops.

• Friday, June 12, from 5 to 7 PM: Young Artist and Studio Artist Opening Reception, at North Main Gallery, 196 Main Street, Salem, NY 12865.

• Saturday, June 20, from 4 to 8 PM: Music on the Hill at Cary Hill Sculpture Park, 19 Cary Lane, Salem, NY. SAW’s popular and free summer concert series kicks off with music by Wide Margin.

• Saturday, June 27, from 5 to 7 PM: Open Studios and Pop-up Exhibitions. Barns One, Two, and Three, 19 Cary Lane, Salem, NY. SAW’s artists in residence will open their studios to share their works in progress.

• Saturday, July 11, from 5 to 9 PM: SAW Summer Celebration. Barn 2, 19 Cary Lane, Salem, NY. A summer celebration of art and inspiration fundraising event. A farm-to-table meal showcasing the best locally sourced food from the area accompanied by local craft beers and ciders.

• Saturday, August 15, from 4 to 8 PM: Music on the Hill at Cary Hill Sculpture Park, 19 Cary Lane, Salem, NY. • Saturday, August 21, from 5 to 7 PM: Young Artist and Studio Artist Opening Reception, at North Main Gallery, 196 Main Street, Salem, NY 12865.

• September 18 – 20: SAW’s Intercollegiate Festival of Fire celebrates the transformative nature of fire.

Art Works is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit art center and sculpture park located in rural Upstate New York. Founded in 2005 by artist Anthony Cafritz, Salem Art Works is dedicated to supporting both emerging and established artists in the creation of new and progressive work, as well as promoting the understanding and appreciation of contemporary art within the region.

Please visit the website for all the details.

Salem Art Works – 646-391-6923, b.gleeksman@salemartworks.org, www.salemartworks.org

WINTER STREAM

GHETTA HIRSCH The social distance that the Coronovirus brings to our lives forces us to delve into our own thoughts and what better companions to this process than the Berkshires trees. The bare limbs against the muted Winter colors of our landscape welcome us with tolerant patience as well as respectful silence. I love looking up to the sky in their mist and discovering the height and crisscrossing of their branches usually hidden by the foliage. If you look further ahead you can appreciate the outlines of our hills and dream of the coming Spring.

I chose today, a 5”x7” oil on wood panel called “Birches”. These were young birches elegantly showing off their black, brown and white patterns in a close dance. I could see the dried grass and mauve hill in between their friendly trunks, but what I loved the most was the grey green sky far in the background - typical of our February landscapes. This painting was done with a very small palette knife and is now framed with white wood.

My next choice is done with a larger palette knife but on a 12”x24” canvas. It is called “Winter Stream” as two hills meet in the middle and a small water stream has formed. The fluid snow there is like a wound in the center of this crowded gathering of trunks. The day is dull and dark, but the snow still appears a pure grey under les trees. Some broken limbs are scattered here and there and you can guess that animal life must be in hiding underneath. A very quiet view but also very cold.

I am now in March preparing for an April exhibit at the Three Stones Gallery in Concord, Mass. Visit www.threestonesgallery.com to hear more about it. Opening reception is April 18. I will also be showing at The Spring Street Market in Williamstown for the whole month of May and hope you will stop by.

Ghetta Hirsch - Studio in Williamstown open for visits; text or call 413-281-0626. Website: ghetta-hirsch.squarespace.com; Instagram@ghettahirschpaintings.

Ghettagh@gmail.com.

PATRIARCHS. ACRYLIC AND COLLAGE, 2019 40" X 16" (X3)

MARK MELLINGER

KATE KNAPP’S STILL LIFE

FRONT ST. GALLERY ARTIST JOAN GRISWOLD

BERKSHIRE DIGITAL Since opening in 2005, Berkshire Digital has done fine art printing for artists and photographers. Giclée prints can be made in many different sizes from 5”x7” to 42”x 80” on a variety of archival paper choices. Berkshire Digital was featured in last Summer’s issue of PDN magazine in an article about fine art printing. See the entire article on the BerkshireDigital.com website.

In addition to the printing services, Berkshire Digital does accurate photo-reproductions of paintings and illustrations that can be used in books, magazines, brochures, cards and websites.

We also offer restoration and repair of damaged or faded photographs. A complete overview of services offered, along with pricing, can be seen on the web at BerkshireDigital.com Another service offered is portraits of artists in their studios, or wherever they would like, for use in magazines, as the author’s picture in a book, websites or cards. See samples of artist portraits on our website.

The owner, Fred Collins, has been a commercial and fine art photographer for over 30 years having had studios in Boston and Stamford. He offers over 25 years of experience with Photoshop, enabling retouching, restoration and enhancement to prints and digital files. The studio is located in Mt Washington but drop-off and pick-up is available through Frames On Wheels, 84 Railroad Street in Great Barrington, MA (413) 528-0997 and Gilded Moon Framing, 17 John Street in Millerton, NY (518) 789-3428.

Berkshire Digital 413 644-9663, or go online to www.BerkshireDigital.com

Pastels, oils, acrylics and watercolors…abstract and representational…..landscapes, still lifes and portraits….a unique variety of painting technique and styles….you will be transported to another world and see things in a way you never have before…. join us and experience something different.

Painting classes continue on Monday and Wednesday mornings 10-1:30pm at the studio and Thursday mornings out in the field. These classes are open to all...come to one or come again if it works for you. All levels and materials welcome. Private critiques available.

Classes at Front Street are for those wishing to learn, those who just want to be involved in the pure enjoyment of art, and/or those who have some experience under their belt. Perfect if you are seeking fresh insight into watercolors, and other mediums.

Front Street Gallery – Front Street, Housatonic, MA. Gallery open by appointment or chance anytime. 413-528-9546 at home or 413429-7141 (cell) www.kateknappartist.com

I live in two separate worlds. One verbal and one visual. What they have in common is an attitude of pushing into the unknown; of allowing unconscious elements to take form within consciousness. I couldn’t live without both.

Art came first, but after a while I began to feel self-indulgent and isolated. I wanted to address problems of mans’ impact on the environment.

I went through careers in art, photography, carpentry, ecology and microbiology before landing in psychology at 30. 10 years ago, when we found a loft in Pittsfield, I returned to my first love, art. It’s not like riding a bicycle. I had to start from scratch. I feel I’m just now catching up to where I left off 50 years ago.

I’m not satisfied with a piece for a long time.

I’ll put it away and work on something else. I’ll look at it upside down and in a mirror, trying to get a handle on what’s wrong. It’s a very solitary meditation. I might gesso over everything except some small bits that are working; then start over from those. The viewer completes the process. It’s a collaboration. It’s a thrill when someone “gets” a piece, but I’m OK when they don’t. The connection with the viewer should be as rare and special as marriage. www.markmellingerart.com markmellinger680@gmail.com

THE ARTFUL MIND APRIL 2020 • 21

St. Joan

POPS PETERSON VISUAL ARTIST Interview by Harryet Candee From your point of view, tell us the significance of your art and the meaning it has for your community and beyond?

Harryet, I love it how you always beat around the bush, teasing us with the small talk! The significance of my work is that it connects people through joy and pain, truth and beauty. Some of my work shouts “Hallelujah!” and other pieces scream of pain and outrage. It’s my ability to infuse live emotion into an image, emotion that makes my viewers laugh, cry and sometimes to reconsider their own life view. These emotions have excited our community and brought so many diverse people together to share in a kind of fascination, and to incite meaningful discussions. I’m sure this is why my paintings do seem to be having an enduring impact.

22 • APRIL 2020 THE ARTFUL MIND

Is your artwork being seen worldwide because of its relevance to current and historical issues?

I’m not happy to say so, but yes. If it weren’t for the turmoil we’re going through as a country and as a planet, there wouldn’t be such a need for artists like me to express our horror as well as our hope. I wish this weren’t the case. I wish the state of the world wouldn’t make artists want to scream. I wish we could give just as much attention to a silhouette of a tree or a picture of a little white dog on a hot pink floor.

Your paintings speak volumes but you’re also known as a public speaker, giving multimedia presentations on the Arts and Civil Rights.

Which one do you find more gratifying painting or lecturing?

I’m equally gratified by both, it’s just the difference in the media that makes me say the public speaking is more exciting, when it happens.

That’s because there’s nothing in this world like conveying life-changing information to an audience, who shows you their appreciation in tears and applause. There wasn’t a dry eye in the audience at The Foundry in West Stockbridge when I did my last multimedia presentation, “The Making of a Protest Artist.” I got a long, standing ovation and an amazing three-page story in The Berkshire Record! Let me tell you, there is nothing like a standing ovation for encouragement. But even more gratifying is speaking to kids in high schools and colleges, giving them the history of the civil rights movement, history they are NOT being taught in school. Their history! And these kids are rapt in

Heart of Las Vegas Pops Peterson attention. No phones out, no note-passing. Nobody going to the bathroom. They’re just transfixed by the sight of Josephine Baker, Marian Anderson, Paul Robeson, the giants whose genius and sacrifice made our modern lives possible. And when it’s over, these students leave the theater an inch or two taller, so grateful for the pride they now have that will never be taken away. I’ve been giving these speeches now for about five years, and every speech is the greatest day ever. I wish I could speak in another school every week, in another part of the country.

Young people are so hungry for this history, to learn the legacy they’re part of. It’s the greatest honor of all, the greatest joy to be able to give pride to an auditorium full of young people starved of role models and self-esteem.

The medium used in your work is somewhat complex, can you explain in detail how you create your work?

Each work is different, but they all start with an idea. I’ll say to myself, “How pretty would it be

if I showed Beyoncé floating in a wedding gown in front a Chihuly chandelier. Or, more often than not, I’ll be watching the news and start screaming and crying over some horrific outrage. And when I feel an emotion so strong inside me, I know I have to make the picture.

That’s how the process begins. Then I’ll just take a picture of something in my view, or I’ll start thinking of models and props sets and locations to tell a story. I’ll have to call together my great staff, Creative Assistant Cindy Atkins and Photography Director, Stephen G. Donaldson, book Mont Vert Studio and hope everybody shows up on time. I’m lucky that people are always excited to pose for me. They always do show up, and usually they are prompt!

Once the primary shoot is done, I piece dozens of elements together from the hundred or more shots we took—the best shoe from one picture and a face from another — as well as adding additional images I’ll take on my iPhone or find on the web. Then, like Missy Elliot, I put my thing down, flip it and reverse it: I adjust or

change the color of each element and piece them all together using the powerful Photoshop skills I honed working 20 years as a web and graphic designer. I change shapes and sizes, and I draw in a lot of elements by hand. Sometimes I’m done in a few days, but some works are five years or more in the making, from concept to final canvas print.

What is planned to be on view at your upcoming retrospective in the Berkshires? Tell us about this show, it is very important to all of us!

What’s is so thrilling to me about this retrospective the Colonial has so wonderfully awarded to me, is that it will show the not only the wide variety of my work, but also my progression. It goes from cartoons to portraits and landscapes, abstracts, my Norman Rockwell reinventions and my own original protest pieces. This is so important to me because, people who become known as activist artists can get swallowed up Continued on next page...

The Blue Forest Pops Peterson

THE ARTFUL MIND APRIL 2020 • 23

Williams River Pops Peterson

by that label. People forget that artists only scream when we’re really angry. I’m so much more than just that angry guy — that angry Black guy — who knows how to start an argument. I’ve always believed every picture is a self-portrait. It follows that every retrospective is also a portrait of the artist, but from varying angles and though years. I’m very excited that people will be getting to know how much I actually do love life, beauty and fun.

Where do you get your reference material and ideas for your art?

Ideas can come from anywhere. Often it’s the news. For instance, “Are We Safe?” was inspired by a TV news video I saw of the Las Vegas shooting. A cop was running two women to safety as the gunman was still shooting. The horror as so overwhelming that even the cop was crying. So of course I started crying, too, and the painting was born.

Are you expecting collectors to visit the show that you already have on your invite list?

I’m very fortunate to have some awesome collectors who do follow and support me. But this show in particular will have a wide range of pricing options, so that anyone who just loves the image can get one of their own. The large canvases, of course, are for the serious collectors. But there will be unframed items large and small. Plus we’ll have my posters and T-shirts.

24 • APRIL 2020 THE ARTFUL MIND

Tell us about a day in the life of Pops during a workday, and also, during a day of leisure and free play?

Typically, I work with my husband, Mark Johnson, all day at our salon, SEVEN salon.spa, in Stockbridge. Then I have dinner, watch some news and work until about 2 in the morning on my art projects. I do take off a night or two each week for a dinner party or to see a show, but otherwise I’m busy working on something, or learning new programs and tools.

What other artists can you mention who are on your radar? And what do they represent?

The Berkshires is bursting with artists, most of them hobbyists or retirees finally getting to explore their artist selves and speak from the heart.

But I have my eye on two young artists who have always put their art careers first, sacrificing the comforts and security of corporate day jobs.

They are Isha Nelson, who makes glorious abstract works on glass, and John Clarke who paints abstract expressionist works in oils and with photography. Both these artists’ amorphous, non-representational works are the direct opposite of the narrative style I’m known for.

But what we all have in common is that we put our lives on the line to make our art. This may sound hypocritical of me, with my own day job running the salon. But in my case, this is just the rear end of an art career that started in earnest more than fifty years ago, suffering years of

curve balls and detours. So I look and Isha and John and the wonderful images they make, knowing how they’re sacrificing day in and out to be true to their hearts despite enormous odds.

And I see how their dedication is forging them into wonderful artists whose works reflect their beauty within. And I couldn’t admire them more.

Tell us, Pops, what inspires you most in life?

In my whole life I am most inspired by the ability of people to rise up make the world a better place. I have seen the enormous struggle of the Civil Rights movement, from the assassination of Martin Luther King, to the inauguration of Barack Obama. I’ve seen Women’s Liberation Movement from the Betty Friedan and the bra burners, to the Me-Too movement and incarceration of Harvey Weinstein. And I personally marched in the very first gay pride parade in 1969, and live to see the day where I could actually marry and build a life with the man I can proudly, openly love. Each one of these victories has come from us people taking whatever actions we could. Large and small, actions matter.

That is what inspires me the most in my artwork today. I know people see me. They hear me and they take strength from my images and words. I was drafted into activism and I will remain an activist until all the injustice I ever see is conquered. At lease that’s my plan.

Freedom of the Press In the Crosshairs Pops Peterson

You seem to be a positive natured person, living in the beautiful Berkshires. What does the Berkshires offer you in terms of lifestyle and interests? Would you ever consider leaving the Berkshires and move elsewhere some day?

I never would have become the artist I am today were it not for the support and encouragement of my friends and neighbors here in the Berkshires.

Here is the beauty that inspired my most lucrative series, my landscapes. Here are the people who commissioned me to paint their pets and kids and started my lifelong dream of actually making money from my paintings. Here was Norman Rockwell’s house across the street from my salon and the Norman Rockwell Museum right down the road—the first museum ever to welcome me as an artist! Why would I ever want to leave the land where I first really came alive?

As far as artistic challenges that come your way, that you set yourself up for, what do you foresee as the next one for you, and are you already planning its execution? (Like, How do I market my work in France?)

Exactly! How do I get my work to Paris, or even to Miami or downtown New York? That’s my next challenge. I need to do break into the international art market in order to continue to grow my vision, as well as to sustain myself financially. But, just like Isha and John, I have faith that if I stay true to myContinued on next page...

Zac 2 Pops Peterson

THE ARTFUL MIND APRIL 2020 • 25

Squash Blossoms, oil Pops Peterson

self and my vision, and keep working and sacrificing, I will manifest the future that’s serves me best.

back then, so of course it became an indelible part of my personality. I discuss this at length in my multimedia presentation, ‘The Making of a Protest Artist.”

Our Alma Mater high school: Music and Art! Thoughts?

The honest truth was that I was afraid to go to my local high school, afraid of being bullied because I was gay. So the High school of Music and Art saved me from a life of fear and possibly violence. And, having saved me from that stress, it also gave me the time each day to develop my artistic nature. They gave me the technical instruction and experience, but even more importantly, said it was good to have emotions and thoughts. It gave me a framework and role models to build my own artistic personality. And through it all it gave me confidence. This is what I held onto decade after decade until the time was right for me to be embraced by the public.

Yes, it all started there at the Fiorello LaGuardia High School of Music and Art in Harlem.

So many familiar Berkshire faces are seen in your works of art. How do you get them all to be part of your work? They must be very supportive of your vision.

The eagerness that people have always shown to pose and help with my photos was my first indication that I was really onto something, at last, with my art. And the proudest day of my career was the shoot for “Freedom of Assembly (I’m With Her)” the cover photo of this show, when 45 people, half of them strangers, showed up at the studio to pose for this tribute to the Women’s March. Even at first, when I had to ask each person and explain my project, people were always more than willing to give me their time and effort. Now, as you might expect, there’s a list of prospective models.

Can you hold the school responsible for the activist art you are creating and working hard at today?

When I was there, it was the height of the Vietnam War, the draft, and civil rights movement and the birth of the gay rights movement. Our generation believed we were inventing activism

Who would you like out of anyone and any institute that exists in the world today to recognize your art work that has not already?

What do you think would sell them about your art?

The Louvre, of course! And next to that, The Museum of Modern Art, where I spent countless

26 • APRIL 2020 THE ARTFUL MIND

hours as a high school student thanks to my high school discount card. And the Andy Warhol Museum, also for nostalgic reasons since I used to write for Andy’s magazine, Interview. I would have started off this list with The Norman Rockwell Museum, but they were already the first museum to feature me as an artist and public speaker. In fact, my posters are already in their archives!

As far as why they would want to buy my work? Just because I’m am completely authentic. I represent a time, a place and a diverse community that Is as real today, and one person’s honest viewpoint who lives here.

You have a full schedule coming up, from now through the end of the year. Can you give us a heads up of where we can follow and see you and your work?

My next show will open in September at Sohn Fine Art, and it will take my “Reinventing Rockwell to a whole new level. I can let you in on a secret: for the past few years I have been recreating iconic Rockwell images with the same models who posed in the originals! I’ve been keeping them out of view until I had enough to feature in a show, and the time is finally coming to unveil them!

And finally, give us a statement on how you

A Chorus Line Pops Peterson

feel the world is today, and what might be some insightful positive ways to be thinking?

The world is a treacherous cesspool and always has been. We’re born into a jungle where people, like beasts, are meant to prey upon one another for survival. The purpose we come here is to rise above our animalistic nature, to use our higher powers of thought and conscience to spread love and knowledge and turn this purgatory into a nirvana. We’ve been making great strides over the millennia but I don’t think we’re even halfway yet. Just compare the Bible to the NY Times. Both are filled with war, rapes, tyranny, slavery....

Hardly a thing has improved since the days of the Pharoahs.

make the miracles happen.

5. When fear hits you, be afraid but keep moving 6. The only sin is to waste your time being lazy or feeling sorry for yourself. Get to work!

7. Keep at it.

Which of all the new works of art your most sensitive to and deeply love?

Could you choose your favorite child? No? Didn’t think so.

pops peterson@artist4freedom www.popspeterson.com

Is there a sentence or two that you have heard said and have used it as an anchor in your life?

“Life is what you make it!” That’s my motto.

If you had an art student under your wing, what are seven things you would want them to learn from you and from what you were taught?

1. Don’t listen to ANYONE except the voice in your heart!

2. Every success is built on a trash heap of things that just didn’t work out.

3. There is no such thing as perfection 4. Your faith and belief are what

Sailor’s Best Friend

Pops Peterson

THE ARTFUL MIND APRIL 2020 • 27

Jason and His Grandmother CHAPTER 8 OCTOBER 1957 The telescope was about three inches long. When you held it up to your eye and pointed it toward the light you could see a man in a barbershop getting his hair cut. The barber was a woman and she was naked.

The barber had long breasts that hung down over the man’s shoulders and stretched out over his chest. Everyone wanted a chance to have a look.

When I got a hold of it I was unable to look through it because everyone was jumping all over me trying to get it away from me before the bell rang. I ran away from them trying to get far enough away to get a moment to hold it up to my eye. I ran around the back end of Mrs. Hagner’s old Hudson and up between her car and Mr. Roach’s Buick and I banged into the Hagner’s rear view mirror and it snapped off and fell on the ground at my feet.

Everyone froze, and then the first bell rang. It was a disaster that could have many outcomes and all of them bad. About ten of us were involved and we could all be to blame because of the telescope, or just I could be to blame because of the mirror.

I could pick up the mirror and take the blame, or kick it under the car and claim ignorance, but what I did was probably a misguided idea of half-hearted devious honesty. I picked up the mirror, but at the same time I pushed the telescope into the cuff of my jeans where no teacher would ever dream of looking for I expected to get all of the blame, and I had seen Mrs. Hagner and Mrs. Bowlbey watching us from the third floor windows so I knew I was caught. They were going to want to know all about the telescope. I was prepared to take all the blame for the mirror, but about the telescope I was going to deny its existence.

Holding the mirror in my hand I headed for the entrance door. I was planning to go directly to Mrs. Hagner and show her the mirror, apologize, and offer to replace it. I imagined that she was going to be impressed with my honesty and forthrightness.

Honesty, forthrightness and stick-to-it-tiveness; these were the things she was always talking about that had made America great and that we students were entirely lacking in. Holding the mirror in my hand, with my arm sort of stretched out as an offering, I felt that she would see that I was doing my part to stop the terrible corruption of the country that she was so profoundly upset about all the time.

Coming towards me down the hall were the twins, 28 • APRIL 2020 THE ARTFUL MIND

that is to say: Mrs. Hagner, and the Bowlbey right beside her and even from a distance it was easy to see they were in a terrific and implacable rage. It was not mirror breaking rage; on the contrary it was pornography telescope rage.

Before I tell you what she did, I would like to take a moment and tell you what Mrs. Hagner looked like, and with it put off for a moment telling you about the thrashing I got, but there is a difficulty in describing her. There are people who have one overwhelming feature, and that detail obliterates so much else that it is difficult to notice the rest of the image. A wart on the end of the nose is one such trait. With Mrs. Hagner it was the lower part of her face. The majority of her face was below her nose, actually below her lips. Directly under her lower lip was a huge quantity of wrinkled soft flesh that looked like a pink balloon had almost entirely deflated. It was that flesh under her chin that made it impossible to notice her cat’s eye glasses with their fake diamonds, or her hair that looked like a varnished wasp’s nest.

It was easy to see that the woman was in a rage because her deflated balloon was trembling and quivering in a sickening way. Now you may think that it is just meanness on my part to draw such an ugly portrait of the woman, but you would be wrong, my picture is flattering, the reality is much worse, but I don’t have the skills to make it realistic for you.

First she put her bony hands on both my shoulders and turned me so that my back was to the hallway wall and we were face to breasts. I was about eye lever with her caramel colored broach. Then, for several seconds nothing happened and she stood in front of me still holding me in place near the wall with her arms outstretched.

Then she took a step forward and I staggered back a step, like the first steps of a tango where the man is completely inept.

I dropped the mirror, the glass of which shattered into fragments. She then took another step toward me and her shoes began to grind into the glass fragments.

Finally she bricks.

All this time, as almost a minute went by with me helpless in her grasp, I imagine she was probably trying to decide what to do with me and unable to arrive at any plan, like a cat that walks around absentmindedly with a mouse in its jaws. Finally she began shaking me violently back and forth, but then after a while she let go of me. She turned and walked away from me without saying anything, and the second bell rang for us to go to homeroom.

But my teacher had not finished with me and I could see all day that she was thinking about some appropriate way to punish me. I knew she was not going to try to find out about the telescope; she was an old teacher and she knew all of our tricks. If I took responsibility for her broken mirror, she knew it was because I would adamantly deny any knowledge of the telescope.

When the last bell of the day rang out she allowed me to get almost through the door before she called me back and had me sit down. I knew she was not going to let me get out the door that afternoon, but why she let me think I might possible escape was most likely just a spiteful trick she had perfected over the years.

I sat down and everyone filed out of the classroom.

Out of the corner of my eye I could see all the kids fan out across the playground, some walking and some on bicycles. Finally they were all gone and yet still Mrs. Hagner said nothing to me, as if she had forgotten I was still in the room. Finally she delivered this lecture, never looking at me directly.

“Albert, I have thought long and hard about what to do about you. You have been a constant problem and have disrupted my class constantly from the first day. I am going to recommend that you repeat the 7th

grade. Perhaps the second time around you will learn to behave yourself. But I will give you this opportunity, if you score above 90 on the math and science exams I will recommend you go on to the 8th. That will force you to spend real time on your studies and so not have as much time to disrupt my class.

I was well aware of the importance of math and science to Mrs. Hagner. She was convinced that the future of civilization rested on the shoulders of her students and their ability to master those subjects.

This was a fact that must have kept the poor woman awake many a night, because the Russians had launched a satellite, and so we in America were falling hopelessly behind.

For about five years previous to the launching of the satellite we had been told every day, especially after crawling out from under our desks after the air raids, that the Russians would never be able to catch up to us in math and science. The reason they were never going to catch up was because they had no freedom in Russia, and without freedom you can’t possible master math and science.

We children had an uneasy feeling about the lack of ability of the Russians, as we thought about them while lying on the floor under out desks during the air raids drills. Although they were hopelessly backward and living in the dark ages over there, they had, never the less, created the atomic bomb somehow.

We had been shown movies of the terrible destruction the bomb caused, and how buildings had all their walls blown down for miles around and everything went up in a ball of flame. We pictured ourselves in mid air under our desks, as the school disappeared in a hurricane of glass, bricks, and flame. We hoped somehow we would survive but we couldn’t imagine how since we were on the third floor.

I wish I had copies of my report cards from back then, because even just at a glance you would be able to ascertain the predicament I was in. My grades in math and science were never very good but over the past year, under the guidance of Mrs. Hagner, I had progressed from C, through the D’s to arrive at the F’s.

Although all my classmates were guilty of not excelling enough in math and science, I was particularly remiss. My report card declared, along with the mound of newspapers from my failed paper route, that I was ruining the country.

It was not that I was failing everything. There were bright spots on my report card and I had been getting consistently, A+ in the subjects of Art and Music, which, for some reason, were listed separately from the other subjects.

If only, I thought to myself, painting pictures and singing were the things that would save the country from destruction then I would be in a good position to do my share.

But no, the entire burden fell on those who were destined to be good in math and science, and I pictured to my self the fame they would acquire in the future when they would manage to create bombs sufficient to kill everybody, and not just the Russians.

RICHARD BRITELL: FROM THE BLOG NO CURE FOR THE MEDIEVAL MIND

EDWARD ACKER PHOTOGRAPHER

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