Anniversary Issue January 2021
Since 1994
THE ARTFUL MIND
Artist KAREN BOGNAR KHAN Photography by Edward Acker
The Fine Art of Printing Fine Art. · Giclée Printing · Digital Reproduction of Paintings · Photo Restoration and Repair
“The prints have amazing clarity and are absolutely beautiful reproductions of the original works. Clients are amazed with the quality.” – Virginia Bradley
Playa Santa 22 — Virginia Bradley
Drop-off & Pick-up Available in Great Barrington, MA and Millerton, NY Studio located in Mount Washington, MA l berkshiredigital.com l 413 · 644· 9663
Steadiness 2020 20 x 20” Oil on thick gallery wrapped canvas
Ghetta Hirsch website: www.ghetta-hirsch.squarespace.com instagram: @ghettahirschpaintings Text or call : 413. 281. 0626
2 • ANNIVERSARY ISSUE JANUARY 2021 THE ARTFUL MIND
MATT CHINIAN American Social Realism
Virtual show@ at
mattchinian.com
#1549 117th St. Troy NY 2020 12x16
#1660 Eagle Bridge 2020 11x12
Contact/studio visits: mattchinian@gmail.com #1439 Wait Rd. Easton NY 2019 13x14
THE ARTFUL MIND ANNIVERSARY ISSUE JANUARY 2021 • 3
robert wilk
THE ARTFUL MIND Today is the first day of the rest of your artistic life. Celebrate!!
ANNIVERSARY ISSUE JANUARY 2021 VIRTUAL GALLERY JANUARY 2021 ...12
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!
KAREN BOGNAR KHAN / CONTEMPORARY REALISM PHOTOGRAPHY BY EDWARD ACKER INTERVIEW BY H CANDEE...32
HOWARD DANELOWITZ / ABSTRACT ARTIST ...40
INTERVIEW BY H CANDEE
GREGORY MILLER / FREELANCE ILLUSTRATOR
INTERVIEW BY MICHAEL COBB ...40
LOVE/red
2018 Pingree School Hamilton, MA
rwsculpture.com
MORGAN BULKELEY
ARTIST UPDATE: GHETTA HIRSCH A LOOK BACK / A LOOK AHEAD INTERVIEW BY H CANDEE ...44 RICHARD BRITELL / FICTION PROCTOR CRONK STARTS COLLECTING ART PART ONE...60MISS TORPEDOES...60 Publisher / Harryet Candee Copy Editor / Marguerite Bride Third Eye / Jeff Bynack Advertising and Graphic Design / Harryet Candee Contributing Writers / Richard Britell / Mike Cobb Photographers / Edward Acker / Tasja Keetman
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Alter Egos 15 x 12” Relief with carving and painting 11/20
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
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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.
4 • ANNIVERSARY ISSUE JANUARY 2021 THE ARTFUL MIND
Softly Into The Night Mixed Media 42 x 30”
Carolyn Newberger Collage, Watercolor, portraiture and commissions cnewberger@me.com www.carolynnewberger.com 617-877-5672 THE ARTFUL MIND ANNIVERSARY ISSUE JANUARY 2021 • 5
SHARON GUY
Brilliant Light 12 x 9” Oil on Panel
Keith Emerling
Oil and Watercolor Artist The beauty found in nature is a valuable commodity in a world with so much uncertainty. Fine art, greeting cards and elegant food for a new and changing world.
sharonguyart@gmail.com (941) 321-1218 https://www.sharonguyart.com
JANET PUMPHREY
“FROZEN”
JANET PUMPHREY
413-442-2483 https://keithemerlingfineart.com https://studionotes.etsy.com https://thelittlecookbookofphilosophy.com https://mysecretlifeasachef.com https://keithemerling.com
Katrin Waite
PHOTOGRAPH
The Snow Was Gentle, 2020, 18 x 18”
JANET PUMPHREY GALLERY 17 HOUSATONIC STREET, LENOX, MA 01240 WWW.JANETPUMPHREY.COM (413) 637-2777 6 • ANNIVERSARY ISSUE JANUARY 2021 THE ARTFUL MIND
Acrylic on Canvas
artkatrinwaite@gmail.com www.katrinwaite.com instagram: @katrinwaite Tel. 518-223-3069
Talent Scout by Alex Kamaroff
Don’t ask me to draw a stick figure or paint a cow or a horse on a farm, not even a flower. Just give me some paint and a brush and tape. Lots and lots of tape. That’s what hard edge painting is all about. Easy? Not even close. It took me years of practice to toss off snakes and perfect circles and large boxes filled with tiny boxes on a bias. Take a look at that painting at the top of this page. I couldn’t have done it without several sizes of tape. The technique is what makes it hard. But the pacing is what makes it lovable. Johnny Carson, one of the great comics of the 20th century, had a pillow in his den that said “It’s all in the timing.” And that extends to every other art form. In writing, it’s called pacing. In music, it’s called phrasing. In visual art, it’s called intensity and resolve. Whatever it is, it must have that internal clock that masterminds the whole endeavor. Before I became an artist, I wrote genre fiction under the pen name Diana Morgan (my pet cat’s name). They were sold by my wife, Irene Goodman, who happens to be a literary agent. I tried a brief stint as an agent, but it wasn’t what I really wanted to do. What I wanted was to find talent. I seem to have a knack for finding that one, that proverbial needle in the haystack. Irene knew what to do with them once I found them, but the finding is a treasure hunt that requires an enormous amount of patience. People often ask me how I know I’ve found something good. My answer is that “I keep reading. I cannot put it down until the end.” So the question became not what’s good, but why. The answer is in the pacing. Keep me hanging, keep me interested. Tell me a story that won’t stop. The same is true of a painting. It’s not just a picture of a thing or a jumble of shapes and colors. It has to lead somewhere. It has to tell a story. Maybe not an obvious story, as in then they did this and then they did that, but the eye must be led around the canvas in a way that draws you in and keeps you there. That’s the trick. So when I became a hard edge painter eight years ago, I didn’t know much, but I knew one thing.
No matter how dazzling or sophisticated the technique, I still had to create works that people would want to look at over and over again. In the world of television, producers know they need to make us feel welcome and comfortable in the world they have created. It must be a world we want to bring into our living rooms. The same is true of a painting, only more literally. It has to be something you would want to hang in your living room so that you can look at it whenever you want. I learned that by skimming many thousands of manuscripts, most of which were—well, awful. Some of them had no plot at all. Some were loaded with cliches. Some had good writing, but no story. Some had a good story, but lousy writing. You have to have the whole package. That includes the technique, but not only the technique. After my work began to sell, I opened up my art gallery in Lenox and since then have sold another 45 paintings. I never want to be a starving artist in a garret. What I do want is to create a work that is engaging enough so that you will want to welcome it in your living room. Okay, so I’m no Picasso, but I love painting and I love making people happy. I love when they walk into the gallery and exclaim that they love the riot of colors or the way it makes them feel. Much of it starts in the large studio of my home in Middlefield, one of the “hill towns.” It’s a beautiful place and the perfect place to paint. Situated next to Glendale Falls, the longest waterfall in Massachusetts, it includes Glendale Brook that runs through my property. That’s why I named the gallery Glendale Brook Studio. It ties my two worlds together. In the summer, Lenox enjoys a lively tourist season. People come from every state in the union, and from all over the world. I’ve sold paintings to people from Alaska, Brazil, Israel, and Texas. It’s a lot of fun demonstrating my techniques and methods to visitors, who often marvel at how it’s done. You won’t find any cows or cottages or barns. What you will find is a world of color, humor, and storytelling in art.
Glendale Brook Studio 27 Church St. Lenox, MA 01240 Or call and ask for Alex! 413-623-5081 glendalebrookstudio@gmail.com THE ARTFUL MIND ANNIVERSARY ISSUE JANUARY 2021 • 7
KATE KNAPP
FRONT ST. GALLERY 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 413-429-7141 (cell) www.kateknappartist.com
CAUSEWAY 12 X 12” ACRYLIC AND COLLAGE
KEITH’S NEW BOOK COVER, “THE FINE ART OF FLOWERS”
MARK MELLINGER
KEITH EMERLING
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
“Flowers… are a proud assertion that a ray of beauty outvalues all the utilities of the world.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson The beauty found in nature is a valuable commodity in a world with so much uncertainty. Flowers are dazzling beacons that illuminate nature’s zeal. They are a sign of a new beginning and in a time with so much turmoil, are an upwelling of hope and joyfully liberate the soul. Keith Emerling’s art can be found on his website in an online show with the Guild of Berkshire Artists at https://www.berkshireartists.org/ . His new book “The Fine Art of Flowers,” features 53 flower paintings, reproduced from the artist’s original oil and watercolor paintings and is available in the Blurb online bookstore at https://www.blurb.com/b/10392375-the-fine-artof-flowers . Beautifully printed, Keith Emerling Fine Art greeting cards can be found in the Etsy shop “studionotes” at https://www.etsy.com/shop/studionotes/ and are available in 48 different designs and in nine different card sets, in two sizes. Emerling holds a B.A. in Fine Arts from University at Albany (State University of New York at Albany, SUNYA.) Undergraduate work at U.C. Santa Barbara, Cleveland State University and Berkshire Community College. Completed one year of non-degree graduate work in painting and photography at SUNYA. His previous shows consist of The Artful Mind Gallery, Lauren Clark Fine Art, Good Purpose Gallery, Adams Community Bank, TKG Gallery, Gallery 35, Welles Gallery, TD Bank, L’Atelier Berkshires, Spencertown Academy, Becket Arts Center, The Stationery Factory, Lichtenstein Center, Stockbridge Library, The Colonial Theatre, Berkshire Museum and MASS MoCA. Keith Emerling - keithemerlingfineart.com ; studionotes.etsy.com kse@keithemerlingfineart.com ; 413-442-2483.
A new book by Roselle Kline Chartock Now available on Amazon.com
roselle.chartock@gmail.com
8 • ANNIVERSARY ISSUE JANUARY 2021 THE ARTFUL MIND
CHINIAN, #1718 LAST STAND OF MY SAW. 10-29-20 9X12
KATHERINE DUFAULT British born Katharine Dufault is a New York Times-reviewed artist, curator and visual arts consultant. She has advised non-profit gallery boards, sat on visual arts panels and served as juror for several awards. Dufault graduated with honors from Columbia University, with a degree in painting and literature after studying visual arts, graphic design and photography at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, England. For the past 10 years Katharine has honed her skills as a curator and art consultant. With numerous professional contacts in the art world, she has access to hundreds of artworks from emerging and established artists, as well as access to the trade. She works personally with each client to create a personalized visual story will advise on interior design and furnishings as required. Now in the Berkshires and Columbia County, visual arts consultant, curator and visual artist Katharine Dufault, uses her expertise and knowledge of the contemporary art scene to help clients select and acquire contemporary art - including paintings, drawings, photographs and sculptures - for their home or business collection. She has an extensive and deep-rooted network of contacts in the visual arts field, and numerous professional sources, as well as access to the design trade sector. Katharine also offers home decor guidance from a single statement piece to an entire house. She provides a complete service for residential or corporate clients which rely on outstanding presentation and fulfillment. Contact Katharine to talk more about how she can help make your space State Of The Art. Katherine Dufault - stateofthearthome.com ; 914-484-0535; katdufault@gmail.com
BIRCH TREE
BRUCE PANOCK PHOTOGRAPHY
CHINIAN, #1716 BACKLOTS HUDSON FALLS. NY. 10-26=20 16X20
MATT CHINIAN
Like a reporter I record the time and place of my wanderings around Upstate New York and New England. I find places and scenes of fascination: quiet woodlands or gas stations, farmlands or industrial sites, places I see in passing, sometimes from the corner of my eye often easily overlooked by others. This is where I find beauty. This is where I find the sublime.
mattchinian.com
THE ARTFUL MIND
I have been a student of photography for more than 20 years, though most intently for the last five years. I am primarily a landscape photographer. Recently my photographic voice has migrated to the creation of work with reference to other art forms, notably encaustic painting and ancient Chinese and Japanese brush painting and woodblock art. My intention is to create with viewer a moment of pause and reflection; a moment to digest the image and find their own story in the art. Each image is part of a limited edition. There are several sizes available. Each piece is priced according to size. Images are unframed and printed on Hahnemuhle archival papers. Bruce Panock bruce@panockphotography.com
ANNIVERSARY ISSUE JANUARY 2021 2020 • 9
BERKSHIRE DIGITAL
VIRGINIA BRADLEY, CATENA 4 GRAPHITE, GOLD AND PEWTER ON BIRCH PANEL
VIRGINIA BRADLEY Work on the Catena Series began in August 2020. I had been contemplating how the pace of life had changed during the Covid Pandemic. There were moments when time seemed to stand still … and other times when it seemed to race by. Catena 4 is the newest work in the Series. The alchemical use of molten hand-poured pewter, gold pigment, symbolism and biomorphic form expand the series into a surrealistic realm. This work began by pouring silver and graphite oil paint onto the painting’s surface. Then I carved into the birch panel to create channels for the molten pewter to be poured. The pewter was melted using a blow torch in a small hand-held crucible. The molten pour is basically uncontrollable, so chance and order come into play. Then the real work began adding and subtracting into the surface over a two-month period using dry pigments and oil paint. The word “Catena”, which means related moments or a chain, spoke to me about my search for meaning and beauty through my painting process. “Catena” seemed to describe the way my life was suspended in time … creating an alternate reality of sorts. I began the Series by transforming eight birch panels into new structures. My use of alchemy and the transformation of materials continues in the Catena Series. The series is searching for reconciliation, contentment and beauty. Catena 1 is a mystic fog that slowly envelopes one in a “moment of solace”. Catena 3 has many layers of turmoil bonded together beneath a field of transparent silver ice reaching for a “moment of beauty”. Catena 2 is a landscape of upheaval through which one negotiates to find a path between the “moments of solace and beauty” of Catena 1 and 3. Catena 2 relates to the anxiety and turmoil one needs to negotiate at times in life. Three more panels of the Catena Series are currently in process – their destination is still unfolding. Virginia Bradley - virgbradley57@gmail.com www.virginiabradley.com / 302-540-3565
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. Berkshire Digital does accurate hi-res photoreproductions of paintings and illustrations that can be used for Giclée prints, books, magazines, brochures, cards and websites. “Fred Collins couldn’t have been more professional or more enjoyable to work with. He came to my studio, set everything up, and did a beautiful job in photographing a ton of paintings carefully, efficiently, and so accurately. It’s such a great feeling to know I have these beautiful, useful files on hand anytime I need them. I wish I’d called Fred years ago.” ---- Ann Getsinger 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, Stamford, and the Berkshires. 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
10 • ANNIVERSARY ISSUE JANUARY 2021 THE ARTFUL MIND
COMING TOGETHER MARY FRANK LLOYD ACRYLIC AND INK, CRADLE BOARD 10X10”
KARIN WAITE, HORIZONTAL, 2019
ELLENBOGEN GALLERY Ellenbogen Gallery opened “Small Works for Mary Fran Lloyd will open a solo show, “My Life in the Abstract” in February (see COMING TOGETHER) and Carolina Ellenbogen’s “When the Light Breaks into Pieces” will be coming Summer 2021 (please sign up online to get our e-vitations). All are invited to view the gorgeous slideshow that will run alongside Reg Darling’s “Impressions from the Faroe Islands” online. These photographs taken by Darling provide viewers with a visual introduction to the archipelago comprised of 18 rocky, volcanic islands between Iceland and Norway connected by road tunnels, ferries, causeways and bridges. Here, in this Kingdom of Denmark, Darling encountered forms and spaces in nature that resonated with his approach to thinking and painting along nonrepresentational lines. Many of these breathtaking vistas have been captured by the artist, applying his unique visual language to all paintings. Ellenbogen Gallery is a 7000 square foot open plan gallery featuring the contemporary artworks of 20+ artists with a focus on non-figurative and conceptual art, providing an opportunity for anyone to start building or expanding a collection of original artworks. The gallery also provides services to artists and collectors that include photographing and scanning of original artworks for reproduction, marketing and archival purposes, art handling and shipping. Call Michael for more information and to schedule an appointment or any services. Ellenbogen Gallery - 263 Depot St., Manchester, Vermont; Hours: Thu-Sat, 11-5, or, by appointment; e-commerce 24/7/365; www.ellenbogengallery.art . Facebook/Instagram @ellenbogengallery; ellenbogengallery@gmail.com , or, 802-768-8498.
FRONT ST. GALLERY
ELEANOR LORD
Still-life with fruit by Kate Knapp
Landscape in pastel 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
www.Eleanorlord.com
Front Street, Housatonic, MA
MARK MELLINGER
Grandma's House 16" x 20" acrylic and collage
Riki Tiki Tavi Wood, metal construction
100 North St Pittsfield #322 Painting - Collage - Construction 914. 260. 7413 markmellinger680@gmail.com THE ARTFUL MIND ANNIVERSARY ISSUE JANUARY 2021 • 11
JANUARY 2021
VIRTUAL GALLERY FINE ART & PHOTOGRAPHY FEATURED ARTISTS: GHETTA HIRSCH BRUCE PANOCK CAROLYN M. ABRAMS MARK MELLINGER SHARON GUY CAROLYN NEWBERGER CLAUDIA d’ALESSANDRO KEITH EMERLING KAREN BOGNAR KHAN KATRIN WAITE DYLAN W. KUBIS SAMANTHA KAYE
Art is a sound investment and a lifetime of enjoyment! For art sales contact artist directly. To show your art on a gallery wall, contact: Harryet Candee at: artfulmind@yahoo.com Box 985, Great Barrington, MA 01230 FB: ART GALLERY for Artful Minds 12 •ANNIVERSARY ISSUE JANUARY 2021 THE ARTFUL MIND
VIRTUAL GALLERY
GHETTA HIRSCH
UNATTENDED 2020 5 x 7” Oil and Wax Medium on Wood Panel $300
OBSCURE 2020 8 x 10” Oil and Wax Medium on Wood Panel $375
BERKSHIRE MORNING 2020 6 x 6” Oil and Wax Medium on Wood Panel $200
FIREWALL 2020 10 x 10” Oil and Wax Medium on Wood Panel $400
DIVISION 2020 9 x 12” Oil and Wax Medium on Wood Panel $425
All five paintings were recently framed in white painted wood adding one inch all around to the measurements. All can be viewed in my studio in Williamstown or shipped anywhere in the US. I can send more photos or details. Payment Venmo or PayPal accepted.
-Ghetta Hirsch
CONTACT: Ghetta-Hirsch.squarespace.com Instagram@ghettahirschpaintings Please text or call 413-281-0626
VIRTUAL GALLERY THE ARTFUL MIND ANNIVERSARY ISSUE JANUARY 2021 • 13
Bruce Panock
Bruce Panock
RED BUSH
BIRCH TREE
For this body of work, everything starts with the search for shapes and patterns in the landscape. When I get back to the computer I then mask out what doesn’t add to the subject. This could take days of effort. When the shapes and patterns have revealed themselves, Then I begin thinking about the background, the colors and the textures. It all evolves….or fails magnificently. —Bruce Panock
14 • ANNIVERSARY ISSUE JANUARY 2021 THE ARTFUL MIND
VIRTUAL GALLERY
BRUCE PANOCK
ABSTRACT TREES IN THE FOREST
Each image is part of a limited edition. There are several sizes available. Each piece is priced according to size. Images are unframed and printed on Hahnemuhle archival papers.
FADING COLOR
CONTACT: www.panockphotography.com bruce@panockphotography.com 917-287-8589
VIRTUAL GALLERY
THE ARTFUL MIND ANNIVERSARY ISSUE JANUARY 2021 • 15
Carolyn M. Abrams Looking Out / Looking IN Oil/Cold Wax 6 x 6” $125
Carolyn M. Abrams Tree Sisters 12 x 12” Oil/Cold Wax $300 16 • ANNIVERSARY ISSUE JANUARY 2021 THE ARTFUL MIND
VIRTUAL GALLERY
CAROLYN M. ABRAMS Carolyn’s work is intuitively created and inspired by nature and honors its beauty and Creative Spirit in us all.
Sheltering In 6 x 6” Oil/Cold Wax $125
Shelter 12 x 12” Oil/Cold Wax $300
Prints are available through the website: Www.carolynabrams.com http://www.healing-power-of-art.org/carolyn-mabrams/ Like my art on Facebook Www.facebook.com/CarolynmAbramsArt
VIRTUAL GALLERY
THE ARTFUL MIND ANNIVERSARY JANUARY 2021 • 17
Mark Mellinger Causeway 12 x 12” Acrylic and Collage $900
Mark Mellinger Agricultural Confrontation Construction of oak and found objects $4500
I live in two separate worlds. One verbal and one
Mark Mellinger 104th 16 x 20” Acrylic and Collage $2100
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. — Mark Mellinger
18 •ANNIVERSARY ISSUE JANUARY 2021 THE ARTFUL MIND
VIRTUAL GALLERY
MARK MELLINGER
Lake of Fire 48 x 36” Enamel and Acrylic $1800
Transcendence of the Soul Construction of oak and driftwood $4500
VIRTUAL GALLERY
CONTACT: 914-260-7413 markmellinger680@gmail.com THE ARTFUL MIND ANNIVERSARY ISSUE JANUARY 2021 • 19
SHARON GUY
Autumn Paradise 14 x 11” Oil on Panel $400
Dockside 10 x 8” Oil on Panel $285
Brilliant Light 12 x 9” Oil on Panel $385
“My purpose as an artist is to connect with the healing power of the natural world and to encourage others to do the same. Nature is alive and infused with spirit. I constantly seek to reconnect with this spirit of nature through creating art.”
CONTACT: sharonguyart@gmail.com https://www.sharonguyart.com 941-321-1218
20 • ANNIVERSARY ISSUE JANUARY 2021 THE ARTFUL MIND
Looking At You 14 x 11” Oil on Panel
VIRTUAL GALLERY
$400
CAROLYN NEWBERGER
Czardas Graphite and Ink Signed by the musicians in Budapest, Hungary 11 x 18” $1200
Yuja Wang at Tanglewood Graphite and Pastel on Toned Paper 11 x 17” Signed by Ms. Wang $1200
Jaime Laredo at South Mountain Graphite and Ink on Paper Signed by Jaime Laredo 8 x 11” $750
VIRTUAL GALLERY
CONTACT: www.carolynnewberger.com cnewberger@me.com 617-877-5672 Commissions Upon Request THE ARTFUL MIND ANNIVERSARY ISSUE JANUARY 2021 • 21
CLAUDIA d’ALESSANDRO
Bateau Vert
Long Beach
Beach Buddies
Missing Persons
Enshrouded
Together
The Seductive Sea "From the time of our conception to the moment of our death, water sustains us. Perhaps it is that integral connection that makes The Seductive Sea so beguiling.”
Images are 24x36 on Canvas. $235 https://www.dalessandrophotography.com 413.717-1534 22 • ANNIVERSARY ISSUE JANUARY 2021 THE ARTFUL MIND
VIRTUAL GALLERY
KEITH EMERLING
Peace Lily Oil on Linen 12 x 9” $500
Calla Lily & Fatsia Japonica Leaf Oil on Linen 40 x 30” $3000
The Fine Art of Flowers, Flower Portraits, Oil and Watercolor” is Keith Emerling's beautifully printed, full color, hardcover, collection of 53 fine art, oil and watercolor flower paintings with title, medium and size along with a smattering of poems, a bio and dedication, 113 pages, 9.8x8 inches landscape orientation. https://www.blurb.com/b/10392375-the-fine-art-of-flowers
CONTACT:
Rose of Sharon Oil on Linen 16 x 12” $850
VIRTUAL GALLERY
413-442-2483 Oil and watercolor artist Fine art and fine art greeting cards kse@keithemerlingfineart.com keithemerlingfineart.com studionotes.etsy.com THE ARTFUL MIND ANNIVERSARY ISSUE JANUARY 2021 • 23
Karen Bognar Khan Night Vigil 36 x 36” Acrylic $15,000
Karen Bognar Khan Incandescent 28 x 40” Pencil and Paper $10,000
Karen Bognar Khan Arriving at Orion 28 x 36” Acrylic $15,000
24 • ANNIVERSARY ISSUE JANUARY 2021 THE ARTFUL MIND
VIRTUAL GALLERY
KAREN BOGNAR KHAN
Reflections 48 x 36” Acrylic $17,000
Self Portrait 40 x 30” Acrylic $15,000
CONTACT: http://karenbognarkhanpaintings.com 413 441 9754 karenlee135@msn.com End of the Year Clean Up 36 x 36” Oil $15,000
VIRTUAL GALLERY
THE ARTFUL MIND ANNIVERSARY ISSUE JANUARY 2021 • 25
Katrin Waite Path In Autumn 2019 11 x 14” Acrylic and Oil on Canvas $360
Katrin Waite Path In Winter 2020 11 x 14” Acrylic and Oil on Canvas $360
26 • ANNIVERSARY ISSUE JANUARY 2021 THE ARTFUL MIND
VIRTUAL GALLERY
KATRIN WAITE
Path In Summer 2020 12 x1 6” Acrylic and Oil on Canvas $400
“In my art I strive to capture the fragile nature of memory and its many facets. It opens doors for interaction but is never complete. We all - the artwork, the artist, the viewer - are subjects of eternal transformation. Art can tell stories to make this process bearable and beautiful at once.“ -Katrin Waite
CONTACT: artkatrinwaite@gmail.com www.katrinwaite.com instagram: @katrinwaite Tel. 518-223 3069 Jerusalem 2017 12 x 12” Acrylic and Oil on Canvas $300
VIRTUAL GALLERY THE ARTFUL MIND ANNIVERSARY ISSUE JANUARY 2021 • 27
Dylan W. Kubis Sunrise The Marginal Way The sun screams above the horizon looking east on the Marginal Way, Ogunquit, ME.
Dylan W. Kubis The Cornwall Bridge A complex composition, angles, tension, color, and yet a light at the end of the tunnel
Dylan W. Kubis Hope for all A rainbow after the snow storm, Sheffield/Ashley Fall, MA.
28 • ANNIVERSARY ISSUE JANUARY 2021 THE ARTFUL MIND
VIRTUAL GALLERY
DYLAN W. KUBIS
Sunset Cape Neddick Lighthouse A few moments before the sunset set behind the horizon, the mood has been set in York Maine
Sunset, Brooklin, ME. The setting sun reflections dance across the water, gracing the entry to evening
In additional to custom prints, any of my images are available as greeting cards or can be printed on t-shirts.
CONTACT: Dkubis@gmail.com; A ribbon of water The use of a slow shutter captures the mystical nature of a waterfall Instagram: DWKPhotos https://instagram.com/dwkphotos?igshid=1s9cnjy663wcm
VIRTUAL GALLERY THE ARTFUL MIND ANNIVERSARY ISSUE JANUARY 2021 • 29
SAMANTHA KAYE
Moonlight Photograph $125
Berry Bowl On Rock Wall Photograph $125
Prints can be made on metal, glass and paper.
CONTACT: Instagram: @Samm_kaye Instagram: @Vivid_snaps24.7 FB: Samantha Kaye Berkshire Reflections Photograph $125
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VIRTUAL GALLERY
KAREN BOGNAR KHAN CONTEMPORARY REALISM INTERVIEW BY HARRYET CANDEE
Harryet Candee: It is mind boggling to anyone, I would think, how much work and time you put into one piece of artwork. What preliminary thoughts, if any, should a viewer take on when looking at one piece of work at a time, such as Meditative Flow. Karen Bognar Khan: I respect and encourage each person’s own interpretation of my work. That said, I am glad to briefly talk about the thought process behind my work. My vision was originally inspired by the principles of quantum physics, and evolved eventually into questioning what the parameters of Contemporary Realism can be. I seek to juxtapose apparently disparate objects in unique and lively compositions to create fascinating worlds of animated color, light and reflections. The painting, Meditative Flow is the painting that I did after doing the REM’s drawing. There are
PHOTOGRAPHY BY EDWARD ACKER
similarities in content, but there is a more directional focus. Meditative Flow has a whimsical or playful quality. For me there is no subconscious content or nighttime aspect. It is relaxed and upbeat. It is really not important to wonder too much about why the fish are floating in the air! How long does it take you in hours, for one piece to go from fruition to completion? Do you work quickly or slowly? A painting takes three months to finish from the original still life set up to the last finishing touches working five hours a day, mostly 7 days a week. Sometimes less. Things come up. My rate of work depends on a number of factors. The clearer and more robust my energy field, the more vitality I have to give to a painting. By the way, Photorealist painters have a lot more details in their paintings than I do, and spend consid-
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erably more time on a piece. For you, is working on piece of art also feel to you like an exercise in meditation? I am mostly peaceful yet animated when I paint. Before painting on a given day, I open my energy field and take some meditative breaths and try to be receptive to channeling and seeing clear visual information. Other times, it takes laser like concentration to get the work done. I also do spiritual meditation which is quite different. I would be focusing then, on the light in my heart. In both cases I am open to receiving higher guidance. The preliminary work needing to go through before you begin on a surface involves what kind of thinking process for you? Does it differ depending on the subject matter?
Karen’s studio where she has work in progress on the easel to the right. The actual still life can be seen here with black background. (Photograph by Karen.)
The process I go through when beginning a still life painting is as follows. I am attracted to certain objects in my stock pile. I get feelings for specific objects arrangements and spatial possibilities. I start playing with ideas and I take pictures with my cell phone to save ideas, and continue. I add mirrors, sometimes ribbons, textiles and now poster images taken by the Hubble telescope. When I determine the final arrangement, I decide on my canvass size. When preparing a canvass, it is typical for me to want a smooth surface and add layers of gesso while sanding lightly in between. The last several set ups for my paintings went together very quickly. If I did not have a still life object that I needed then this could affect the set-up time while I went to look for this object or ordered it. The female mannequin clear acrylic torso I used in the painting Meditative Flow took a while to obtain from Amazon! If I painted subject matter like landscape with a greater depth of field, my process would be very different.. Can you explain the technique you use?
I do both oil and acrylic painting. I have been using acrylic paint exclusively for a while now. I use acrylic paint like oil paint. I do not see any limitations to acrylic paint. I paint on medium weight canvass on a solid stretcher frame. I lay the paint out on a large clear plexiglass palette. I use matte medium for blending. I keep a plant sprayer of water handy to periodically keep the palette paint moist. Also, the exact positioning of my easel is important. I do not move the easel until the painting is done. My still life is physically surrounded by a scaffolding of folding screens. They act as part of the set up and provide a support to lean items against, or hang items from. They also protect the still life and help keep my curious cats out of the area. At the end of the day, I completely seal off the still life from my furry friends by covering the front opening with a light weight screen door. Is there a common thread between sculpture and painting and drawing for you? What do they all have in common and least in common with each other?
There is a common thread in all fine arts, as opposed to maybe, commercial art. One searches deeply for personal imagery and expression that has subjective value. Certainly, this is true for me. I love sculpture but have not done it for a while. I am a molder of form as opposed to someone who carves. The found object sculptures (usually from junkyard source), I have done, do embody an “abstract” unifying process. Yes, that is similar. I have cast clear plastic sculptures, both biomorphic and abstract forms that have some similarity to my painting. It is said that if an artist can draw well, only then can that artist paint or sculpt. I agree with this thinking. When I am doing a black and white drawing, I do not feel the absence of color. One feels that colors are inextricably connected to form. How does your beautiful living environment affect your art creating? What does your home look like? Your studio? The environment that I live in is uplifting. Many Continued on next page...
THE ARTFUL ANNIVERSARY ISSUE JANUARY 2021 • 33
KAREN BOGNAR KHAN
REM’s 24 x 48” Pencil on Paper
friends have enjoyed seeing our “farm”. Our property called, Blue Heaven Farm, was once a working turkey farm. People on the way to Tanglewood would stop at the roadside shed (it still exists) and buy turkey sandwiches. Now it is a home for a flock of wild turkeys. We have many raised beds for growing food. There are any number of berry bushes and an orchard of fruit and nut trees, all tended by me and my husband. Our property is a wild life sanctuary and centers around a large meadow surrounded by trees. We have abundant light that streams in through sky lights and floor to ceiling windows, in our house. It is special in the winter to get this amount of light in Massachusetts. Our house is a modernized farm house that was added on to. In the past I have had any number of studio spaces in different environments. I have worked without heat, and in sometimes questionable areas. I also worked professionally as a muralist, once balanced on a on a cherry picker and am used to working in all conditions. Perhaps the environment I work in is not the most important factor. Excessive noise does affect me, as I cannot hear my inner voice clearly. My medium size studio has a high ceiling and east facing windows which pleasantly captures the morning light.
Meditative Flow 46 x 24” Acrylic on Canvas
From your formal training in art, what have you learned and still apply in your discipline as an artist? The first thing that comes to mind is the way I arrange the paint colors on my palette. I try to do so in the classical way that I learned at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art. Prior to learning this method, I put any color anywhere on the palette. I had to remember where each shade of a color was to navigate the madness. It is a bit easier now. One is trained to work all over the canvass and bring images up simultaneously. I still do that. What experiences in your life had a direct influence on what you have created then and now? I will try not to write a book length reply. Certainly, once one reaches a critical mass of knowhow, one is more able to create “better” art. My most important actual art teacher was, Mrs. Schroder, an accomplished artist, where I grew up in Pittsburgh, PA. I started studying with her in fourth grade. She really expanded my technical and imaginative ability very quickly. I was doing detailed classical realism in different media in fifth grade. My teacher, Mrs. Halter, at pre college Carnegie Mellon University art classes in ninth grade, was really influential to my development.
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I was lucky to get so much support at a young age. It affected my self-image, confidence, intelligence and creative capacity. I must also mention my mother as a huge influence. She was one of the most determined people that I ever met. I think that I have internalized some of her determination. More recently, my spiritual development and continual learning about holistic health and energy work as a reiki master are important factors in my painting. I feel that I need to be in the best possible physical and emotional health for longevity in my art career. I had an unexpected and impactful visit from a retired employee from Sotheby's in 2016. She gave a detailed commentary on my paintings. I had one or two of the Reflections paintings done at this point, and any number of traditional realistic paintings that she viewed. Her advice was really important for me to hear. The natural world is a very big subject to focus on in artmaking. What is one of your philosophies on how you view the natural world? Quantum physics is so inextricably connected to higher consciousness. This mind frame is the lens with which I see the natural word. I see that there is an invisible web of energy connecting all things. I often feel some of these connections. Entanglement says that one particle can affect the move-
Karen at home Photograph by Edward Acker
ment of another particle. I was thinking yesterday that plants are the only life form that eat photons! The Mayans thought that all elements of nature from stones to animals to people had souls. Perhaps all creatures in nature already have this awareness. I hope, soon, that more humans realize that we are all one. The pencil drawings, one titled: Incandescence, and REMs, can you interpret the meaning and is there anything important to convey to viewers when they see these two pieces of art? REM’s refers to the part of sleep where we dream and integrate our memories. This process happens in deep sleep and essential to our mental health. The REM’s drawing gained its title partly because it was an earlier work in the Reflections series, and a profound directional message for me. It was a departure from my earlier traditional realism way of thinking. I wondered for a while if it was surreal in intent. The drawing titled, Incandescence, gained its title as it was done during an intense time of change for me. As I drew it, I felt the fire of creativity and passionate embodiment of the sea shell composition. Both images for the set up came to me before I clearly understood my current direction. It is also an early departure from Traditional Realism. It brimmed with possibilities. Have you ever the opportunity to teach drawing?
Mostly, I teach painting. I am a certified art teacher though I currently do not teach. I became an art teacher after my mural career. I thought that it would be fun to open up young minds to the possibility of art changing their lives. Karen, tell us what else occupies your time during the day that you enjoy? I have two rescue cats that own a good chunk of my time. I even became a reiki master (use it every day) in order to better care for a sick cat, I had at the time. I enjoy exercising: yoga, the tread mill, some free weights. During the season I do some home steading, though I have cut back on this. I love reading when I get the chance. Do the seasons in the Berkshire have any influence on what you choose to paint or draw? No, the seasons do not really affect me. Once I start on my painting, I lose all sense of time. . What great teacher or mentor that you have had left you with a priceless gift of knowledge you are constantly aware of when doing art? I have integrated my knowledge from the teachers that I have had. I try not to think of external people or things when painting. It would be counter intuitive to getting my work done. I love the late work of Rosenquist. He was using some galactic imagery and combing abstraction with realism in a highly energized and composed manner. When I was younger, I loved Picasso. I tried writ-
ing him a letter when I was in fifth grade but of course he never answered. There are so many artists whose work has affected me. I really appreciated Herb Olds at Carnegie Mellon University, where I obtained my BFA. His ability to draw was amazing. I was influenced by Sal Montano at Pratt with whom I studied anatomy. Mr. Lueders at the Pennsylvania Academy of Art taught me how to lay out my palette of paint in an organized manner. I am thankful for many great teachers that I have had. My time at Parsons School of Design taught me the concepts of illustration. How has 2020 affected your life? Has anything changed for you? 2020 has not affected my painting journey. My current still life painting has a (Covid) mask in it. This year has greatly affected my plans for marketing my work. I was going to be taking trips to NYC during the summer and schmooze for contacts. Not sure when this will happen now. Internet art marketing is not the right path for everyone. My social life with friends has been affected like everyone else. Parties are certainly out. Have you always had a strong imagination? What was your childhood like in relation to how you learned to see and use your imagination? I have always had an active imagination. I spent a Continued on next page...
THE ARTFUL MIND ANNIVERSARY ISSUE JANUARY 2021 • 35
KAREN BOGNAR KHAN
Painting Magellianic Cloud 34 x 28” Acrylic
Karen swinging on a tree branch in her backyard Photograph by Edward Acker
Imminent 26 x 36” Acrylic
lot of time in nature as a child and I carved out a corner of the laundry room as a make shift studio as a child. Like many people I came from a less than perfect family, and I was driven to seek strength in my art as an escape. I know you work in the garden in the summer months, and have a beautiful rose garden. Can you tell us about it, and what meaning it has for you? Gardening became a passion for me when I married my present husband. Originally, I wanted the look of English gardens but now have a more natural approach to gardening. In my former as well as my current location, I created a wild life sanctuary. I have planted enough native species of plants to have enough food for all different species of in-
sects and birds all year round. Of course, now the concern is drought, and to what extent we will be dealing with it as climate change continues. Roses are my solace. I love their form, and fragrance. Mine are organically grown and I have a mix of Tea roses, Grandiflora and English roses. My rose garden is a work of art, and I often dream of it during the winter. I find that Japanese beetles would prefer to go to wildflowers rather than roses. After all the practical homesteading that I do it is so nice to bask in the rose garden. Where have you travelled that you truly loved and wish to go back to? I might want to spend more time exploring the dreamy mesas of Santa Fe. I wish it was less built up. I love the Sugarman Peterson Gallery there.
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The look of the landscape and the endless sky is inspiring. Part of me will always love the bohemian feel of Asheville, NC. We did once consider living there instead of the Berkshires, but I am glad that we are here instead. Being represented by galleries would be the ideal way to show and sell your art. Can you tell us what it was like when you first were taken on by a gallery? What were your new responsibilities that came with being newly represented? The first gallery I was represented by was the GoForth-Rittenhouse Gallery in Philadelphia. It’s a funny story as I had done a still life painting with a floating ball and the gallery called me and said
Innocence Lost Acrylic
Karen’s portrait of her husband, Dr. Mehernosh in the garden Acrylic
that someone wanted to buy the painting but they wanted to know why the ball was floating! Another early gallery was the Mendelson Gallery in Pittsburgh, Pa. The biggest shock for me was having to pay half of the proceeds of the painting to the gallery. I was expected to knock out a series of ten paintings in my given style. The gallery wanted me to use less yellow in my painting or I would only find a market for my work out west. I had a friend in NYC who was taken on by a “good” gallery and told to paint large paintings of fish instead of the mythical buildings that he was currently painting. Galleries need to see that your art is selling well before they take you on. It can be useful to have public speaking skills.
What are you working on at this moment? I am painting a slightly larger painting that has images of two-star systems. One is the Andromeda galaxy. This painting reflects the current angst of the covid environment. There is a person falling down in a space bubble. The orange ball can be seen as a metaphor for the virus Seeing the Andromedia galaxy makes us see our insignificant place in the universe and how this too will pass. Normally there is not a theme to my work. Until now my paintings were about viewing realistic objects abstractly, only as pure form.
Tell us about one of your goals that you are working towards? It is possible that I will be using the human figure in a created environment soon, which is different from the mannequins I have used in a number of paintings. There is a particular portrait show that I would like to enter next year. I love the figure so this will be fun.
Are there any other paintings that you would like to talk about? The hot pink ribbon was added to the painting Night Vigil after all else was finished for balance. This is not typical for me to do. The mirror behind the seated mannequin head in the painting Imminent took extreme concentration. It was my first hanging mirror in a painting. In the painting called Reflections, there are a number of hanging mirrors and objects. Originally, I was inspired by the idea of orbs of light for this painting.
What makes your life wonderful? Not being ego centered and having a spiritual focus. My husband is very supportive of my artwork. He has written poems about my paintings.
Do you think you will change your direction in what you are creating in art, or might you be staying with what you have going on at this time?
I am still working on the Reflection series, which opened up last year from earth bound space to include star system back drops and thus help the viewer see the still life objects more clearly as shapes, divorced from preconceptions. For instance, if I paint a coke can, I am not commenting on the company. I will not be changing my focus on form as energy. If form is really energy and we see objects only from a three-dimensional perspective, perhaps from a universal point of view, our focus is rare. What if there are other dimensions beyond ours and life forms that live in them? Do they see objects or just energy? If there was something new to learn, what would that be? Why is that? I would love other artists to weigh in on ways to rethink contemporary realism. A friend of mine said, that if you add enough detail to a realistic object, it becomes abstract.
http://karenbognarkhanpaintings.com
Thank you, Karen !
THE ARTFUL MIND ANNIVERSARY JANUARY 2021 • 37
SOUL ANGEL PASTELS MATTED ON PAPER 8 X 10”
(RIGHT) ROSELLE KLINES CHARTOCK’S NEW BOOK
(LEFT) This is Uri Yoeli, owner of the Elvis American Diner in Israel. He plays Elvis records from morning til night, has four statues of Elvis on the grounds of the diner - one of them wearing a chai (Hebrew for “life”) around his neck - and inside the diner more Elvis kitch than you’ll see anywhere else besides Graceland!
ROSELLE KLINE CHARTOCK JEWISH WORLD OF ELVIS PRESLEY
This book reveals a little-known side of Elvis Presley, his deep affinity to Jews, despite growing up in a poor, fundamentalist Christian family in the Deep South. The book contains stories of Presley’s relationships with Jews in Memphis, including merchants and members of his inner circle, and those he met in the music and movie industries. Also provided is evidence of Presley’s Jewish heritage. Hal Lansky of Lansky Brothers, “Clothier to the King,” said, “I have read many articles and books about Elvis. However, none kept me wanting to read and read until I finished the book.” This book is available from Amazon. Roselle Chartock - roselle.chartock@gmail.com
DOWN TO THE DOCK 12 X 12”
SHARON GUY CONNECTING WITH NATURE My purpose as an artist is to connect with the healing power of the natural world and to encourage others to do the same. Nature is alive and infused with spirit. I constantly seek to reconnect with this spirit of nature through creating art. While I quietly observe and study land, water, and skies, the ordinary world around me is transformed by light and shadow into the sublime. I enjoy painting the dramatic seascapes and clouds of the Gulf Coast and New England scenes. My work is in private collections in the United States and Canada. Sharon Guy - sharonguyart@gmail.com , 941321-1218, http://www.sharonguyart.com
“The beautiful, which is perhaps inseparable from art, is not after all tied to the subject, but to the pictorial representation. In this way and in no other does art overcome the ugly without avoiding it.”
WINTER BLOCK MIXED MEDIA ON CANVAS 12 X 12”
CAROLYN M. ABRAMS My work has been an exploration of the wisdom of art that is continually being presented to me through the art process. Many layers reveal to me a story or message…some piece of wisdom. The inspirations afforded me in daily life make their way to reveal themselves through the art process. I invite you to sit with my work for a bit and see what is revealed to you as well. What inspiration comes to you? You never know! Come visit my studio in Brunswick. Carolyn M. Abrams - www.carolynabrams.com; Facebook www.facebook.com/CarolynMAbramsArt
– Paul Klee
Order from Online menus at www.elixirgb.com 413-644-8999
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38 • ANNIVERSARY ISSUE JANUARY 2021 THE ARTFUL MIND
JENN TALKING ABOUT PAINTINGS DURING OPEN STUDIO 2020
JENN’S HOLIDAY OPEN STUDIO 2020
JENNIFER PAZIENZA How do you face crises? While working on a catalog essay, on how I face crisis to accompany what will be the tiniest paintings I’ve ever made, about 5 x 4 inches for an international show in 2022, I got to thinking about this past year. In the face of any crisis, including a worldwide pandemic, my way has always been to work, to paint, to go to my studio and hunker down. As odd as it has been, the stay-at- home edict has aided me in having one of the most productive years of my career. Don’t misunderstand me, I miss the Berkshires and my family, friends and fellow artists, but having the year to stay put to immerse myself in a range of creative activities has been the silver lining to another-wise dark cloud. What follows are some highlights to illustrate the point. If you follow me on social media, you may have seen references to these, if not I hope you enjoy them. In an interview with artist and curator Sergio Gomez on his podcast series, Artists Working From Home during Covid https://www.jenniferpazienza.com/artist-video I discuss how I manage crisis generally and how I am fairing during the pandemic. He titled it, Staying the Course, which about sums it up. Easy to say, not always easy to do. By divine intervention, or whatever belief system you subscribe to that intervenes and takes over your mind and heart, challenged further by the Covid gauntlet to do something, anything so as not to be beaten, and to show artist support, I created Gotta Minute? 60 second videos that feature New Brunswick artists on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. You can find them on my website https://www.jenniferpazienza.com/new-page-2 or subscribe to the channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDptCT0Mss exarT8TIydmxw During the spring/summer at the height of the first pandemic wave, to augment the uncertainty of gallery exhibitions closing altogether, or rightly imposing safe visitor restrictions, I managed to create a 3D virtual gallery of the actual exhibition of Trouver Mon Chemin/Finding My Way. If you
haven’t seen it, take a look at https://www.jenniferpazienza.com/exhibitions. You’ll also find a recording of its Zoom art opening! In October I participated in my first ever virtual auction! Out Beyond Ideas, juried into the Art For Life Chicago exhibition and auction in support of HIV-AIDS research and outreach https://diffachicago.org/aflc and is now in her forever home. What to do about an open studio? Pumpkins marked the two-metre safe physical distancing, a sign-in book, hand sanitizer and masks greeted our guests, as I hosted a mostly outdoor Covid-19 compliant Holiday open studio https://www.jenniferpazienza.com/ that included three other studios. It was a great success, and we gave our community a safe a joyous experience. In time for the Holiday season, I did something I thought I’d never do, I created an Art Shop, and working closely (masked and 6 feet apart:) with a local two-woman design and print team we created the first for them and for me fine art archival reproductions of selected paintings. Do take a look, they’re really quite beautiful https://www.jenniferpazienza.com/art-shop To me, crises live in liminal spaces, at thresholds where familiar past worlds meet unknown and uncertain future worlds. I rely upon the potential of those doubt-filled spaces, sites of positive possibility. With each blank canvas, I meet the gift of human agency in concert with the healing power of landscape imagery and my belief is reaffirmed, that crisis is fluid. In krisis there are opportunities to re-invent, re-imagine and re-create. That creative agency has led me to related art activities I never dreamed of, and I feel incredibly blessed. Happy New Year! My work is held in Public, Private and Corporate Collections in Canada, the US, UK, and Italy. I have exhibited my paintings in the Berkshires at Good Purpose, St. Francis Galleries, Front Street, Diana Felber Galleries, and 510 Warren Street Galleries. Jennifer Pazienza - Instagram @jenniferpazienza; website: http://jenniferpazienza.com/; email, jennpazienza@gmail.com.
KENT FALLS
PHOTOGRAPH
DYLAN W. KUBIS I see the world very differently from most. I have an extra special point of view. Maybe it is because I was born with Downs Syndrome and that “specialness” had provided me with ESP or an Extra Special Photographic eye. As a 28-year old man with Downs Syndrome, my passion, and love for photography began when I was much younger and was able to travel with my family to many inspirational, sensational and motivational locations. From this taste of the world, I, during this pandemic, have established ISP – Inspirational, Sensational Photography. My new business will allow me to create motivational images, photographs that will excite your passion for life. ISP will also provide me with a platform to act as an advocate for others with special needs, perhaps driving someone from a traditional “special needs” career to one that is based on a creative venue. I can also combine images and create an extra special designed t-shirt, poster, a boxed or framed image or even if requested an extra special screen saver, personal or corporate greeting cards, just ask me. In fact, my slogan, my mantra is “ask me about my photographs” Dylan W. Kubis - Dkubis@gmail.com; Instagram: DWKPhotos. https://instagram.com/dwkphotos?igshid=1s9cnjy6 63wcm
From the Series: When Monsters Die What is forgiveness but an admission of my abuser’s humanity?...
www.xgender.net Julia Grey
Me Ghosted 2‐26‐20 Julia Grey
THE ARTFUL MIND ANNIVERSARY ISSUE JANUARY 2021 • 39
Portrait by Mark Fisher
HOWARD DANELOWITZ ABSTRACT ARTIST INTERVIEW BY HARRYET CANDEE
Thank you for inviting me to your home in Hills- have always had two or three streams of income to dale, New York, today. I can see how the beauti- make sure I could support myself. This included: ful landscape feeds your artistic vision and teaching, commercial projects, and Independent clarity. I enjoyed seeing your artwork outdoors animated films. despite the chilly winter air! I was the kid in school that was known as the guy Howard, tell us about your background, please. that could draw. It wasn’t until junior year in high school that I developed an interest in gymnastics Growing up years, family life. Howard Danelowitz: Thanks for visiting Harryet. I and became captain of the Longmeadow High can see and feel your boundless energy and enthu- Schools’ first male gymnastics team. I remember when the team presented our first exhibition, to siasm. I grew up in Longmeadow Massachusetts in a show our skills, my floor exercise routine was right family of five, including my parents and two sisters. on point. I opened my routine with a front flip, then Both of my parents, who are now deceased, ulti- a round off, back handspring and back flip. I nailed mately supported my interest in art. My mother was it and received a thunderous round of applause and a great fan, and my father who was very practically a standing ovation. So, needless to say something minded, would have liked to see me do something clicked. I could be an artist who expresses himself more secure and lucrative. However, he did support through movement. or in my case, animation. my decision to go to Pratt Institute to study art, and later to study animation at California Institute of the Howard, what formal training have you had in Arts, and paid for my undergraduate education. My art? I studied foundation art my first year at Pratt, and dad always indicated you got to like what you do… and it was evident I did. Interestingly enough, my majored in film animation the following year. As I approach to work has always been very practical. I wanted to receive the best instruction possible in 40 • ANNIVERSARY ISSUE JANUARY 2021 THE ARTFUL MIND
animation, I did my research and transferred to Cal Arts. I remember arriving to school and walking into the animation room. It was set up like an animation studio where everyone had their own desk, light box and animation disk to draw successive drawings. I was extremely disappointed when I saw the student’s work on their desks — I was thinking they don’t know how to draw. During the next couple of weeks I continued to see the awful drawings, and thought maybe I made a mistake transferring schools. It wasn’t until I saw the work filmed that I learned to appreciate the drawings. I saw fluid and inventive movement, and it was then, that I realized animation is primarily about how a series of drawings move and not about rendering beautiful individual images. Can you share with us a memory you had back in your art school days that left a deep impression on your life as you were becoming an artist? It was definitely at my graduation from Cal Arts where Steve Allen, the comedian, was the speaker.
Partial Eclipse, 18" x 24", oil on board, 2020
A female student, who had a bit of chutzpah, from the film department, decided to spar with our commencement speaker. She was dressed in a in a Lilly Tomlin Ernestine get up…and talked like her. She was trying to engage Steve with some provocative banter about the graduates going for the big bucks with their future careers. I remember a streaker running by to get his diploma, and fake dollar bills coming down from the upstairs balcony. Well, Steve Allen would have none of this, and told the students to stop, and be respectful. OH BOY, now imagine, I’m at Cal Arts where anything goes. It was really uncomfortable..not sure what my other classmates thought including, the yet to be discovered Paul Rubens, better known as Pewee Herman, David Hassellhoff, and Ed Harris. There is another memory in my family life growing up that left a deep impression about having a little bit of Chutzpa. I learned about the importance having this kind of determination in order to reach your goals from my mother. My family used to occasionally come into New York City during Thanksgiving. I clearly remember going to a Chinese restaurant to have lobster Cantonese. During this trip, when I was perhaps ten years old, my mother, …who by the way was Ms. Coney Island back in the day, announced we would be going to the Ed Sullivan Theatre that evening. The kicker was, we didn’t have tickets, and she would explain to the theater she was Greta Garbo’s sister, and we would just walk in. I thought this plan was somewhat misguided and was panicked we would be thrown to the curb. A couple hours later my family arrived at the theatre. My mother walked to the front of the line, and announced to the ticket taker, she was Greta Garbo’s sister, and she was with her family. And, we were ready to be seated. I couldn’t believe what happened next. We,”The Garbo relatives”, were treated like royalty, and were escorted to our seats. The lights dimmed and a spot light opened up
on a tiny lady named Theresa Breuer. She reached for the mic, held it to her mouth and sang,“What the World needs now is Love Sweet Love”. So you may be thinking what does this have to do with making it as an artist? Well everything. My mother was showing me- even though her plan was a little misguided- that you have to have chutzpah, take risks and have determination to reach your goals…. especially if you choose to be an artist. The body of work you call the Novo Spheres series has truly developed in many ways for you. Tell us about this series? The Novo Spheres Series developed as the circular shapes in my paintings became more dominant, and had a dimensional quality. I wanted the shapes to appear to be moving as strands of circles appeared in the foreground and the background. Many of the circles are divided up into quarters, and look like triangles. Depending on their color value, the triangles reinforce vertical elements on the picture plane and show depth. Overall, I wanted the paintings to feel like one’s looking at an expanse of stars or planets like in the painting, “Partial Eclipse” where spheres emanate from a dominant transparent circle in the center. So, the big secret about the Novo Spheres Series, is I am forever taking lids off pots in the kitchen, to use as a stencils. And, the largest circle comes from a plastic saucer Christmas tree water catch basin.
together at this moment. What rule of thumb do you find invaluable as a creator? Think, and make it happen. Be prepared to do what it takes to get it right. Learn to enjoy loosing all sense of time and place as you enter into a positive trance state. Learn to take criticism form those you trust only. Above all find your own value in your work, so you alone can find your worth. What challenges might there first beginning a new canvas? When I haven’t painted in awhile, and starting something new, I have to find my footing. I want most to be in the thick of doing the work, and feel the ease knowing my direction is secure, but at this point it is not. I find that being compassionate and reassuring to myself is very important. The work always comes.
Awakening” is one of your abstract paintings. “Find Resolution”, is another. I love them both. Tell us what is going on here, behind the scenes, your thought process and message? Interesting. Both paintings were made in 2015 at the Art Students League in New York City. I felt, in a heady way, I should soak in all the famous painters that had worked at the League, and see what comes out. My aim was to work in an expressionist manner. In “Finding Resolution” I used brushes, How does your intuition interact with your art- palette and pastry knives. My original intention with “Awakening” was to make a diptych but I fulness? Intuitiveness is everything. Whatever feels right to wanted to give it more presence so I added a canvas me, that is what I will explore. Many times, I don’t to the left and to the right making up 4 , 40” x 30” know where I’m going or what will be uncovered, canvases (quadriptych). but I trust I’ll get there. To be truly original or in- As I think about the titles of these two paintings, ventive, you have to take some kind of leap from they echo an important period of transition in my what you know and understand. And, I try to be pa- work. During 2015 there was an“ Awakening” tient with myself and accept that it may not all come Continued on next page... THE ARTFUL MIND ANNIVERSARY ISSUE JANUARY 2021 • 41
HOWARD DANELOWITZ
Awakening, 40" x 120", oil on canvas, 2015
Finding Resolution, 30” x 40”, Oil on Linen, 2015
where I was incrementally shifting from realism to abstraction. I wanted to pursue work that represented what was primary to my core. I could see a path ahead, where paintings were simpler in some ways, larger in size, and more powerful. At this time, I am “Finding Resolution.” We’re building a studio to accommodate larger works, and provide exhibition space. This provides me with the opportunity to stand back, view my work from a larger perspective, and see what I can learn.
light is always changing. Oftentimes, I make touch ups, or additions to the artwork in the studio, which can take a couple hours longer. I give each painting the time that is necessary.
Do you believe your early career as an animator has anything to do with the art you making now? It has everything to do with it. In my younger days I could be fully committed to working two years to make an animated film, like the production I completed in 1979 titled, Inside Out. In the last ten years, I wanted to work in a way that fit my interAt what pace do you generally work? A n 18” x 24” abstract painting on board can take a ests, and where I could artistically express myself, day. However, I may come back and make changes, and take my distilled knowledge as an artist and or touch ups, which can involve a couple more apply it to painting. It was a natural fit. And, I hours. When I am working larger, lets say a diptych, wanted to make art that I could finish and have re(two joined canvases), in this case 2 linen canvases sults immediately. In 1993, after we moved to Hills40” x 30” each, it can take four days. Also, stretch- dale, I recorded a sound track, to a new animated ing, applying a glue adhesive, oil primer, proper film. When it came time to lay out the project, I lost sanding between coats, and applying a gray surface, all enthusiasm. Rather, I felt dread. I felt a great sense of relief as I shifted to painting. may take days. When I am painting a landscape or cityscape on site, My interest in animation never grew from cartoons, and the weather conditions are good, it may take 3 but from a desire to create my own personal moving hours to complete a painting. It is important to work universe. Some of my films were entirely abstract, fairly quickly and capture the scene, because the and others had unconventional stylized characters 42 • ANNIVERSARY ISSUE JANUARY 2021 THE ARTFUL MIND
that moved according to the laws of the setting that I created. My interest in animation, comes from my fascination with movement, and having the ability to create anything imaginable on a two dimensional surface. Also, the idea of creating one’s own visual and moving universe, and rely only on oneself was very appealing. Literally, you are the director, actor, writer, and producer…and, if you are providing sound and/or music..you are the sound person. As an animator, I used the techniques of cut out animation, markers on paper, and cell animation. My first production, “Kaleidoform”, used a straight ahead method, where I started at the beginning, and just keep on going until the end. It was about a circular shaped bulbous character, that kept on turning into abstract environments, and back to itself. “Inside Out” followed. A character explores his inner psychological self, which leads to the dissolution of boundaries between his inner and outer world. My last animated film, Lady Tree, was sponsored by the American Film Institute and the New York State Council on the Arts, and was eligible for an Academy Award. A mother nature figure leads a crusade to save trees, while fending off a tyrannical Character that looks like a serpent with city build-
In Flight, 40” x 60”, Oil on Linen
Interact & Concentric Circle Set, 40” x 120”, oil on linen, 2020
ings on his back. My animated films are distributed by the Museum of Modern Art, NYC. Who can you say has been your severest critic and most memorable mentor? After my second year of college, I transferred to California Institute of the Arts, (Cal-Arts) and was accepted in the Experimental Animation Program. I was a junior entering a master level program. The talented, Jules Engle ran the animation department. He was extremely versatile as a painter, sculptor, filmmaker and animator. He worked on Disney’s Fantasia, advocating to keep the dancing mushrooms sequence background black, and his efforts prevailed. He had a strong personality and good instincts. that scene were done any other way it wouldn’t have been as strong. He was loved by the students in our department, and we came to view him as a good benevolent father figure. He had impeccable timing both in his animated films, and as
a teacher knowing when to offer advice and when to hold back and remain quiet, but available. Jules recognized my strengths, and encouraged them, and drew out the very best in me, as well as all his students. We all wanted to be his favorites. I was appreciated for my talents but wasn’t one of the few students who were seen as on the cutting edge animators So, I felt Jules was my greatest critic, not by what he said, but by omission. About 10 years later I had the opportunity to revisit my connection to Jules. It all happened as I approached my mailbox in New York City, and noticed a letter from the American Film Institute in California (AFI). I had received a handful of letters from the AFI in the past informing me that they were sorry to let me know that I had not received a filmmaking grant, and I should apply the next year. There was a pounding in my heart and head as I slowly opened the letter. I began calming myself thinking one more rejection was not a big deal, after
all not having a grant wouldn’t prevent me from moving forward with my present film, it may just take longer. As I continued opening the letter, I saw that magic word, “Congratulations.” I was approved to receive funding for a new film. And, I was one of a handful of recipients to receive the highest amount of money. On an attached letter was a list of other recipients, including Jules Engle, who was awarded half the funding that I received. This is when I realized I came into my own…. I was flooded with mixed feelings. I was elated, to receive the recognition and support, but sad that I had based my self worth on other people’s opinion. It was at that moment that I no longer tied my feelings of self worth to recognition. The reality for a painter, is that anything truly inventive and original will probably not be accepted in ones lifetime. And, it may never be recognized. Continued on next page...
THE ARTFUL MIND ANNIVERSARY ISSUE JANUARY 2021 • 43
HOWARD DANELOWITZ
Varick Street 37 1/2" x 43 1/2", oil on board
Your earlier paintings were landscapes and cityscapes. It’s inspiring to see where we came from and where we are now. Thoughts? I’m focusing now on abstract work. I’m completely immersed and living in the world of abstract paintings. The landscapes and cityscapes have taken a back seat. One thing, though, that I appreciate about certain painters, like Werner Drewes, is their fluidity to go back and forth between realism and abstraction over a period of many years. What are some goals you are currently focusing on with your art? In terms of my painting, I want to continue developing a visual language that speaks to me, and I can share with others. This has led to the construction of a large painting studio- that is in the works- and will serve as a gallery and work space. This would give me the opportunity to see smaller painting series grouped together, or larger pieces, including the diptych series, that need this kind of presentation space to be fully appreciated. Do you have a significant other in your life? How does your partner make life beautiful? My spouse is Mark Fisher. We’ve been together for 36 years. He has always been very supportive and encouraging of my work. And most recently, assisted me in hanging a permanent painting installation at the Gloucester in New York City. We always like to joke about when we first met. Mark reminds me that it was a good thing that I didn’t show him my film “Inside Out” too early in the relationship. With its phonetic imagery, and deep psychological overlay, I could have sent him running for the hills.
Fortunately, this didn’t happen. I’m very proud of Mark. He is a very talented horticulturist, who has been the Vice President of Horticulture and Facilities at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Since leaving the BBG, he has been finding his footing now that he has free time to work on his own projects. This Spring we will have an incredible new organic vegetable garden, which will be adjacent to the new studio. And, yes, I do ask Mark for feedback about my artwork regularly. He understands the progression of my work over many years, and offers a very informed and considered perspective. He has an excellent sense of space, balance and design which he applies to his own work. What do you do when you take a break from the brush, paint and canvas? Mark is a good piano player and has a great voice. We sometimes sing together…and I do make an effort to use the correct words. I love eating which has inspired me to cook more adventurously. I enjoy working out with weights, swimming in the local swimming hole, and since 1993 we continue to keep our 1850 Saltbox house in good condition.This year, we touched up areas of the house with paint, reglazed the windows, and painted the sheds. What is one of the creative ways you find yourself marketing your artwork? Most recently I have become very active on Instagram danelowitzpaintings where I have been strategic in pairing my work with some of New York’s most famous Interior designers, including, Robert Stilin, Fox Nahem, Melanie Morris, Neal Beckstedt, Bruce Bierman, Nicole Fuller, and Elizabeth Bolo-
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gnino. It’s interesting how this gig began. I always enjoyed looking through very fine Interior Design Magazines. And inevitably, I’d imagine my paintings in these sophisticated interiors. This type of thinking led me to start an Inspirational Designers Series on Instagram. The format introduces a Designer’s Interior, paired with one of my paintings. The designers have been very enthusiastic about my series which have led to sales. It’s interesting how this gig began. I always enjoyed looking through very fine Interior Design Magazines. And inevitably, I’d imagine my paintings in these sophisticated interiors. This type of thinking led me to start an Inspirational Designers Series on Instagram. The format introduces a Designer’s Interior, paired with one of my paintings. The designers have been very enthusiastic about my series which have led to sales. Do you find there is a connection between being a psychologist as well as a visual artist? In my work as a therapist, and a visual artist I realize the importance of attunement. Whether it be listening carefully to my patients, to come up with appropriate interventions to move the work along, or listening to myself to know how to proceed with my creative process. Another point of connection, is helping myself and patients experience full emersion in the positive aspects of one’s life..whether it be painting a canvas, or eating a pleasant meal with a significant other. I’m also an Imago Couples Therapist, a kind of couples therapy that promotes connectedness and understanding between partners. In the same way a painting becomes balanced, and seems to work, when all the elements come to-
She Slinks By, 18”x24”, oil on board, 2019
gether, I give couples the skill to help fall in love all over again. This year was a learning time for all of us. What was it like for you? I dealt with difficulties in 2020 by focusing on what I could do rather than what was out of my control. Most painters are comfortable being alone, as their creative work is done in private. So, in that regard, working in a bubble has been fine. I used it as an opportunity to be more productive. In terms of my work as a psychotherapist, I have made myself available without taking a vacation this year. I thought it was important to make myself available for concerns patients may have. Mark and I have been involved in designing the new studio, and we are both onsite project managers. We have taken some great walks during the day and at night, in the neighborhood and in the woods. And additionally, as my friend Karen Drewes Siebert has said, “…..and have fun.” Share with us your interests and talents, please. I have several interests and quirks that might be considered talents. Leaning into the talents, I’m fascinated by the American Abstract Artists Group and love talking about its formation in 1936. I gave a presentation last year with Karen Drewes Seibert, to discuss her grandfathers’, Werner Drewes, association with the group, and touch on his life long correspondence with his teacher Kandinsky. I love talking about abstract work during this time when it first appeared in America, and was largely rejected. I’m on somewhat of a mission to educate people about these groundbreaking artworks. In ad-
dition, I’m also a collector of early abstract works including Irene Rice Pereira, Charles Green Shaw, Otto Karl Knaths, Penrod Centurion, And Garabed DerHohannesian who was from Boston. I have enjoyed teaching the subject of Animation for many years as an Adjunct and Assistant Professor at Mass College of Art, Pratt Institute, and University of the Arts. I have also been a Field Instructor/ Assistant Professor at New York University helping social work students earn their masters degree. In addition, I have an appreciation and knowledge about mid century furniture. This includes designer pieces by Knoll, furniture by Paul McCobb, Scandinavian glass and Italian lighting. And, leaning into the quirky talents, I love singing in the kitchen and freely making up words to songs as I see fit. I’ve come up with some real doozies. And, I am always up to tap dancing my way through a few choruses. So, as you can see I have these different sides where I can be extremely serious, and carefree. I take myself seriously but also have fun. What do you find most enjoyable about creating art? I love the exploration, and coming up with something even more vital and exciting than before. I like seeing series of my work together, and discover how the art work informs one other. My abstract and realistic works have a 1930’s-60’s flavor. This is accomplished through design, color and imagery that echos a sensibility of these periods My goal is to make paintings that are evocative, have substance and feel substantial, rather than being decorative.
What thoughts can you tell us that comes from within you that is sincere and passionate that you would like to say? I have hope for change in the world that will make people’s lives more meaningful, productive, and enjoyable. In a small way, I’d like my paintings to touch something relevant in people’s heart and mind. And as an Imago Couples Therapist, I am excited and passionate to provide couples the tools to help them get unstuck, and find their way back to one another. Where is your art currently being shown? I am represented by Iris Gallery of Fine Art irisgalleryfineart.com. The owner, Alison Collins, has an interesting mix of contemporary artists. She is knowledgeable, has a great sense of style, and is genuinely interested in helping clients find the perfect artwork for their home or business. The gallery presently has my work on exhibit at Canyon Ranch Ranch in Lenox, Massachusetts. My paintings can be seen on my website howarddanelowitzpaintings.com , 1st Dibs, zatista.com and amazon.com. Instagram danelowitzpaintings
Thank you, Howard!
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Jennifer Pazienza Instagram @jenniferpazienza Website: https://www.jenniferpazienza.com/ Email: jennpazienza@gmail.com 46 • ANNIVERSARY ISSUE JANUARY 2021 THE ARTFUL MIND
SNOWSHOEING IN CANOE MEADOWS, WATERCOLOR
SOFTLY INTO THE NIGHT MIXED MEDIA 42 X 30”
AUTUMN IN THE BERKSHIRESWATERCOLOR
MARGUERITE BRIDE
DIRTY PETE WITH WHITE POPPY 2014
INCANDESCENCE OF MUSHROOMS, WATERCOLOR, 6X16” 2019
JULIA GREY
WATERCOLORS Sincere thanks to 2021 for finally arriving… .and to 2020 for finally leaving…it was a pretty long rough year. The new year brings exciting new ideas for artmaking. I am making a list and hoping that I will attempt to tackle a few new adventures on that list. People painting skills is an area I have always wanted to perfect….not as in formal portraits, but paintings that tell more of a story, in personal and local settings, you know, “genre” paintings, so stay tuned. I have found some interesting online courses that address all types of skills I want to improve… .for example, advanced color theory, better drawing skills with complicated perspectives, incorporating pen and ink into my watercolors, maybe even doing a little plein air in the future, and creating and maintaining a sketchbook. The more I learn, the more I realize I do not know. Teaching is something I hope to continue doing…hopefully restart in-person group watercolor technique classes during 2021. I really do miss all my students…our classes were serious but so much fun. Besides teaching every technique I knew, I learned plenty from my students as well. We were about to start new sessions in March… well, that did not happen obviously. I will start building a list of those interested in my lessons during 2021, so email or PM me and I will keep you informed as the year progresses. Those signed up previously will be contacted first. And don’t forget to get your vaccine….I will, just as soon as I can. As always, if you are interested in a painting (commissions or otherwise), or a fine art repro or cards, please be in touch. Marguerite Bride – 413-841-1659 or 413-4427718; https://margebride-paintings.com/; margebride@aol.com; Facebook: Marguerite Bride Watercolors.
FOREST, WATERCOLOR, 6 X 16 INCHES, 2018
CAROLYN NEWBERGER Watercolor painting, mixed media and collage, and a practice of drawing from life form the body of my work. I draw in real time, in the natural world and as well in darkened performance halls. There the challenge is to keep a receptive ear and a loose hand in order to capture both performer and sound, with their rhythm, flow, and intensity. These works illustrate essays and music and dance reviews in The Berkshire Edge, a publication of news, arts and ideas in Western Massachusetts. This drawing of Linda Toote in concert with the West Stockbridge Chamber Players is currently part of the Guild of Berkshire Artists Holiday Art Show, online at www.berkshireartists.org/shows. My artwork has received numerous awards, including Watercolor Artist Magazine, the Danforth Museum of Art, the Cambridge Art Association, and the New England Watercolor Society. I have widely exhibited in solo and group shows in New England and beyond. A signature member of the New England Watercolor Society, my work is represented by Galatea Fine Art in Boston, MA and the Artful Mind Gallery in Lenox. To see more of my work as well as professional and personal publications please visit my website. Carolyn Newberger www.carolynnewberger.com
Hummingbirds love people, unless given a reason not to. Under the right conditions, they form connections and seek out their humans. Hummingbirds are naturally courageous and curious. Over the last 15 years, I have spent more than 5000 hours training and observing them. It started as a photographic endeavor, which continues to this day, where I teach the hummingbirds where and how to pose for their photos. But in the process, I formed connections. So did the birds. Even with a full feeder outside, they would come to the window and get my attention when they wanted me to come out and play our game. The game? Find the food in the flower. Dirty Pete with White Poppy (2014, Ruby Throat) - When Dirty Pete arrived on Florida Mountain in early May, our connection was immediate and strong. Even after the shooting season was over and the feeder was close by, he would seek me out to feed him. And though I discouraged it, he would follow me around the house if I wasn’t careful about closing the screen door. To date, Dirty Pete is the most prolific hummingbird I have worked with. www.xgender.net At Large Studio, Las Vegas 702-673-0900
"Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness." -Eckhart Tolle "I shall pass this way but once; any good that I can do or any kindness I can show to any human being; let me do it now." -Quaker missionary Etienne de Grellet THE ARTFUL MIND ANNIVERSARY ISSUE JANUARY 2021 • 47
GREGERY MILLER FREELANCE ILLUSTRATOR INTERVIEW BY MIKE COBB
Gregery Miller is a freelance illustrator for comics, animation, and children's books. He helped design the backgrounds and worlds of The Midnight Gospel on Netflix and has also spent a number of years building his own universe for his graphic novel The Tales of Reverie. Gregery is an alumni of Illustration Master Course and was awarded the STARS grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council where he taught comics and animation in Boston Public Schools. He also did an Assets for Artists Residency in The Studios at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (Mass MoCA) where he was the first artist to ever produce a comic in the program. He has lived in Boston, New York City, San Francisco, and Mexico City. Gregery now works out of his studio in an old mill in Connecticut. In his downtime, he loves watching inspiring animation, fantasy, and sci-fi films, gaming, going on bike rides, making cold brew coffee, and hiking. Mike Cobb: How did you get started as an artist? Gregery Miller: I’ve been creating and drawing my whole life. I was lucky to go to a performing arts charter public high school in Massachusetts called PVPA, where I was able to hone my craft. It was super nurturing, and I was really able to explore my interests to prepare to go to college. I attended Mass
Art in Boston and studied illustration and animation. Who were some of your major influences? Was there a crystalizing moment when you realized this is what you wanted to do? Gregery Miller: I was really inspired by comics, graphic novels, and animation. I’ve always been into strange stuff like Fantastic Planet, a French animation from the 1970’s, which is super interesting. I love the comic artist Bernie Wrightson and Frank Frazetta, who illustrated Heavy Metal magazine and helped define the look of pulp fantasy, which I got into while attending college. He’s such a fantastic painter; I learned a lot about color from him. Also, going to Scholastic book fairs as a teenager and picking up Goosebumps books, looking at covers and thinking, “I want to be an illustrator.” I’ve always had a serious fascination with illustration. Growing up in western Massachusetts, I was always fascinated by nature, which had a big influence on me. My family owns a tobacco farm in Connecticut, where I worked as a kid. I’ve always been close to nature; there’s so much bizarre, interesting stuff. You pick up a rock and see the crazy ecosystem on the bottom side of it, which I find really inspiring. I played a lot of video games as a kid like Playstation and Nintendo, which also really inspired me. I worked for a video game studio in Amherst after
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college. A still illustration can tell a story, but animation takes it to the next level because you’re controlling the story. It’s so much fun. I’m really inspired by an auteur game designer from Japan named Fumito Ueda. His games “Ico” and “Shadow of Colossus” are artistically really beautiful with amazing detail. That stuff really inspires me. You create single frame images but also whole worlds. Can you talk about world building? Gregery Miller: “World building” is definitely the most fun I have artistically. It’s somewhat inspired by my dreams. Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli, Dungeons and Dragons, and Minecraft are examples of that. Developing stories are just as important to me as the artwork. My comic “Tales of Reverie” is a chance for me to explore what I love doing most. I can start with a character and build on that; it’s the most gratifying thing I can do as an artist. I take a lot of pride in making my characters unique with meaningful names. I’m creating something bigger than just a still image. Working on the Midnight Gospel was such a fulfilling project because that show and world is pretty complementary to my style. It’s surreal and kind of trippy. There’s some cartoon stylization; it’s not realistic. And there’s a whole lore behind it. Duncan Trussell and Pen Ward have created a world together.
What was it like working on that show? Did they give you directives and then you fleshed them out? Gregery Miller: I was kind of like the third tier down from Duncan and Pen, who had the initial concept. My art directors worked closely with Duncan and Pen, created some conceptual art, filtered it down to us, and we’d create all the backgrounds. It’s really a collaborative team project; you’re never really fully in control because everyone is contributing. You get notes as you’re designing; it’s such a fun environment to work in and is different from my own work. I have to mentally change gears to do my own stuff. I find it hard to work on my own stuff when I’m doing collaborative stuff because I get so into it. It’s a wild, surreal show. How did they develop their concepts and ideas? Gregery Miller: Check out the Duncan Trussell Family Hour podcast; he talks about his influences. It’s his brainchild. As an artist who worked on it, I’m aware that the style started with Pen Ward, the creator of the animated series Adventure Time, so it kind of has that look. I know he’d been writing and working on world building for over ten years. It’s also reminiscent of video games and many other things in our culture that people in our age group can vibe with. It was just such a fun show. Picasso is quoted as saying, “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.” You retain a childlike quality in your work. Gregery Miller: I’ve tried really hard to maintain my childlike mind throughout my life and art. One of my biggest inspirations is the writer Neil Gaiman. He feels that if a kid approves of his book, then he’s done his job well because they’re the harshest critics but also have the most open minds. Children aren’t yet jaded by the world. They haven’t yet lost their sense of awe and curiosity like adults so often seem to do. There’s the dominant worldview that pursuing art is a path to poverty. On the Curious Chimps podcast, I heard you speak about your struggles convincing your parents that art was a good career. Can you talk about that? Gregery Miller: I had a pretty traditional upbringing and childhood. My parents were supportive of my art but wanted me to have a stable job. I always feel like I’m fighting that, even if I’m making money as an artist. You can’t really blame parents, they want the best for you. It’s not like they’re trying to discourage you from your dreams, but it’s a challenge. Just being an artist in society and making a living doing it is in of itself challenging. It’s all mindset too. If you feel like you should be doing it and are succeeding then more power to you.
The Tales of Reverie
How do you cultivate the mindset of a successful, working artist? Gregery Miller: I think the number one thing is to keep pursuing it. I was fortunate enough to switch from my terrible public high school to a performing arts school and go to college to study illustration and animation. My professors and peers helped me believe that it was possible, whereas some of the more traditional voices from my past told me otherwise. Pursuing it and staying involved in artistic communities is really important. When I left NY, I didn’t feel like I lost my community. We’re all stuck at home but we’re all connected online. Let’s talk about specific works. What can you tell me about the following? “Midnight Gospel” Gregery Miller: I was a background layout artist which means the majority of work I did was the black and white drawings. Often background painters would go in and paint (color) my design. Drawn in photoshop on a Wacom Cintiq. “The Tales of Reverie” Gregery Miller: This illustration means a lot to me. I completed it under the guidance of some of the best illustrators living and working today. In 2019 I was a part of the Illustration Master Course in Amherst, MA. Folks like Ian McCaig, Boris Vallejo, and Mike Mignola advised me as I worked on this "splash" illustration for an entire week. This piece depicts all of the central characters of my series. Continued on next page...
Midnight Gospel
Both black and white
THE ARTFUL MIND ANNIVERSARY ISSUE JANUARY 2021 • 49
Moss Troll Sculpture
Mastonals
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Vimshaw
Halpanyegor the blind wizard
Hingedcat Gregerym Cactus Dragon
Drawn in pen and ink on bristol paper, colored on a Wacom Cintiq in photoshop. 11x15" “Vimshaw” Gregery Miller: This Vimshaw piece is my latest page for continuing The Tales of Reverie. I created it and a handful of other pages in a Quarantine Comics Workshop with Carl Potts a couple of months ago. Carl has done everything from editing to writing to artwork for major comics publishers during his long career in comics. I'll be releasing the next segment of TOR once I complete 10 or so more pages! This page shows the main character, Nous, dreaming and seeing into Reverie, the parallel world. Drawn in photoshop on a Wacom Cintiq. “Wizard” is very Tolkienesque. It seems like a cross between Gandalf and an Ent with mushrooms in his beard. Gregery Miller: This is Halpanyegor, the blind wizard. In high school I made a book of around 120 characters and started writing a large fantasy narrative. This is one of the main characters that I drew years later as an adult. He has a pet owl with a gem in its chest that matches a gem on the wizard's hand. Since he's blind, he is only able to see by staring into the gem on his hand and out the gem on the owl's chest. Drawn in pen and ink on bristol for Inktober 2017, colored on a Wacom Cintiq in photo-
graphic novel. It's my other big passion project that shop. 11x15" “Cactus Dragon” came before Reverie. The “Mastonals” was drawn Gregery Miller: This was created a year or two ago, during Inktober 2017 in one day, surprisingly. That for Gristle Art Gallery's show, Cactus Garden. I was a lot of detail for one day! This was also the looked at old maps with sea creatures to inspire my- only year where I actually did a new ink drawing self! This piece was even hung in a haunted frame! for every day of October. Drawn in pen and ink on That's a story better told verbally than written. bristol for Inktober 2017. 11x15" Today, Gregery Miller is keeping busy by workDrawn in pencil, ink, watercolor, and gouache. ing on a variety of commissioned freelance proj11x14" ects. For more information, see his website: “Moss Troll” Gregery Miller: This is maybe my 6th found object www.gregerymiller.com Mike Cobb is a bilingual (English/Spanish) sculpture that I've made purely as a coping mechanism to help me during quarantine. After leaving writer, multimedia producer, and musician. His arNYC and partially moving into a cabin with no run- ticles have appeared in Ruta 66, Mondo Sonoro, ning water or bathroom on my family's property, I Shindig!, The NYC Jazz Record, The Litchfield needed to do something different to help me stay Times, The Red Hook Star Review, Elmore, and calm. “Moss Troll” is what I came up with. I sold elsewhere. Check him out at www.mc-obb.com this piece to an art collector in Tokyo through Gris- His podcast 1st Place Radio features interviews tle Art Gallery's show, Knights & Monsters. Found with musicians, artists, and creatives. Hear here: objects such as shells, petrified mushrooms and www.mixcloud.com/MikeCobb Cobb lives with his wife and daughter in Norfolk, driftwood were adhered together through different CT and Brooklyn, NY and continues to work on a methods. 15" h x 8" w x 7" d wide variety of creative projects, including writing “Mastonals” Gregery Miller: This is another high school fantasy for The Artful Mind! epic redraw. The 120 characters I drew in high Thank you! school aren't nearly as good as what I'm capable of now. But I still like a lot of the concepts and would love to take a crack at really illustrating this as a THE ARTFUL MIND ANNIVERSARY ISSUE JANUARY 2021 • 51
TRACKS, 2020, ACRYLIC, INK & GRAPHITE ON CANVAS, 20X20”
KAREN WAITE It is not for you to find art….art finds you. We have all heard the phrase. It comes on numerous occasions and always in a similar context. The link between the viewer of the artwork and the artist often starts with this question. Over the years every artist gets more and more accustomed – or shall we say conditioned - to respond politely. Until... Stop! Yes, stop. We are in the midst of a complex, painful and immensely challenging and demanding stop-time. A crisis engulfs us. The squeaking sound of the breaks is still numbing our senses. Stop!! We are starting to ask the old questions anew. We look around and we see things in a new light. We are seeing facets of ourselves that we pushed aside and suppressed, maybe a lifetime long. If there is a time for leaving the field of politeness, it is now.
OK. But what does that sentence mean: Art finds the artist? Art in itself is unfindable. No matter how hard we search for it, how hard we look, it finds us first. And art, viewed as a creative and hence ill-definable urge, most surely leads this dance. It is a demanding leader. It pushes us around. It dictates. It structures our lives. Every artist knows what to do and yet they can at best only describe the symptoms of that phenomenon. The usual path can be described as an eternal search that becomes all consuming. But why and how did it start? Well, it is actually like being born. We do not remember the procedure itself. But we deal with what came after, every day, and here we are. What are the symptoms of this condition? How do I know that art found me? First, it feels like an instinctive drive or a normal state of mind that I “have to” get creative. There is no discussion about it. It is non-negotiable. It just has to happen. The brain and senses are constantly on the move. But that does not make me a dreamer. Processing the urges is key. I myself often feel a certain pain. I have the impression, that my filters, my visual or sensory shields, while not weaker than in others, are somehow askew. I look where others don’t. I might overlook what others see as a danger. I fill my inner visual capacity with raw material, almost until the vessel overflows. Processing all this is the key. The innate protection kicks in. The filters absent during the inputphase now make priority setting crucial. A good night’s sleep is a loyal companion in this matter. Short phases of just doing nothing aid. Compared with all that, the rest is simple: you just spend years mastering the medium, learning rules of visual composition, finding themes, finding balance,
finding out when an artwork is finished. That is the training, the skill sharpening, and that too never ends. The process of emptying the vessel is a struggle at first, but the more I master the medium, the more fun it becomes. An ongoing dialogue between the artwork and me emerges, as the conversation with the previous me and the current me continues. Knowing that art found me was like knowing that I am in love. When it happens, you just know it. You embrace it whole-heartedly. And you enjoy the ride. It shows. artkatrinwaite@gmail.com www.katrinwaite.com instagram: @katrinwaite Tel. 518-223 3069
y p p Ha R A E Y NEW 2 1
! 20
CLAUDIA d’ALESSANDRO
MISSING PERSONS
The Seductive Sea "From the time of our conception to the moment of our death, water sustains us. Perhaps it is that integral connection that makes The Seductive Sea so beguiling.” Images are 24x36 on Canvas. $235
https://www.dalessandrophotography.com 413.717‐1534 52 • ANNIVERSARY ISSUE JANUARY 2021 THE ARTFUL MIND
ELIXIR Welcome 2021! I am very thankful for a new year and a fresh start!! Many people ask me when and how I began having an interest in food for health and well-being as a life path. So I am taking the following from a brief bio that I have on my website to answer that question. As an avid reader with philosophical tendencies, I had my first love affair with Henry David Thoreau. During our courtship he convinced me that I should join him in being a vegetarian. I was 14 years old. When I was 18, on a crisp autumn day in Cambridge (Massachusetts), I saw a sign that read ‘The Last Chance Cafe’. I walked into the rest of my life that day. I had my first miso soup, seaweed salad, brown rice and bancha twig tea. I returned there for my first of many apprenticeships in the
natural foods and herbal remedies world. Of course, food was just the beginning. Macrobiotics (big/grand life) introduced me to the study of the “order of the universe” and the art of Balance. My life work was in front of me. It is impossible to articulate the richness of the years between that time and now. My relationship with food and herbs has gone from curiosity to exploration, in depth study to intense experience, flirtation to devotion, matter to energy. When working with food and plants in this way, one becomes an alchemist in the truest sense of the word. I prepare beautiful nutritionally balanced meals, simple and elegant…vegan, macro, raw, Ayurvedic, for individuals and groups. I teach. I assist others in many aspects of their lives. As important as it is that this describes what I do, more importantly, it describes who I am. Come to Elixir and let us help you make the most of the fresh new year!
Order from our online pre-order take home menu on Thursday for Friday or Saturday curbside pick-up or call in your order from our regular Saturday take out menu and we will have it ready for you within a half hour! Schedule a nutritional consultation and let us support you through one of our cleanse programs! See our website for all menus and other offerings! We use 100% organic ingredients in our preparation of peaceful foods that do not include any animal products. We choose this way to do our part in lessening the impact on Mother Earth, for our personal health, and the health and well-being of all creatures who dwell here. Elixir – 70 Railroad Street, Great Barrington, Massachusetts; www.elixirgb.com ; 413-6448999; Facebook: elixir and instagram: elixirtearoom.
Take time to promote your art ... artful mind can help! artfulmind@yahoo.com
Karen Bognar Khan
Sunset Cape Neddick Lighthouse
DYLAN W. KUBIS Custom prints Images are available as greeting cards
Night Vigil Two 36 x 36” Acrylic
and can be printed on t-shirts Dkubis@gmail.com Instagram: DWKPhotos https://instagram.com/dwkphotos?igshid=1s9cnjy663wcm
http://karenbognarkhanpaintings.com 413 441 9754 karenlee135@msn.com
THE ARTFUL MIND ANNIVERSARY ISSUE 2021 • 53
ARTIST UPDATE
“Interconnected” 9X12” Oil and wax medium on wood panel
GHETTA HIRSCH A look back / A look ahead Interview by Harryet Candee
I am enjoying the importance of seclusion and finding new meaning to being at home. Covid has been an overwhelming invasion. How do you feel, and what are your thoughts? Ghetta Hirsch:I am finding new meaning to being at home as well. At first, considering that I am a serious introvert and spend a lot of time in thoughts and silence, I did not think Covid 19 would alter my life too much. As a consequence to the spreading virus, I only saw an immediate change of plans, like not being able to follow up on my art exhibit at The Three Stones Gallery in Concord, MA, closing my home and studio to friends and family, or giving up on my travel to France in the Spring. That was early March 2020. Due to my age and medical conditions, I was advised to self-isolate completely. I complied although that meant a complete re-education of my routine. I started watching the news a lot more than normal and this news carried a very scary message. The impact Covid 19 had on the whole world was forcing me to get out of my inner thoughts, from my cocooned creative world to reality around me. Emergency measures appeared everywhere in conflicting details. To protect myself and others I had to get involved, make masks, learn to sanitize, do without my fancy food luxuries, respond to needs in my community, abandon going to the hairdresser and other distractions which I had undervalued in normal time. Plus I worried about all the essential workers that I could not patron,
such as my handyman coming in to make repairs. The list did not end…. I could not paint right then. Although at home, the worry did not lead to creative energy. I felt hopeless and needed to see if I could make a difference by helping somehow. I had to re-assess my thinking and re-adjust my priorities. Besides I was interrupted constantly. Skype, Facetime and phones were ringing constantly. I started getting calls from family members all over the world – even those I had not heard of for months or years. They were all checking on the older generation and I suddenly felt very old: I was “the oldest generation”! I caught the same bug and checked on contemporary friends as well as distant family with more patience, tolerance and genuine care. These new conversations stayed in my mind at night and my dreams. Those used to be another source of art exploration. They became a review of past experiences and meaningful memories. Covid 19, I suddenly thought was more than a Pandemic. It was a wake-up call to all of us. We had been living unaware or unwilling to solve the world’s problems. We had all been in a hurry… for what? We lost sight of what was important: love, kindness, justice, the protection of animals, the earth and basic values that made us better humans. But March went into April… and May. We had tons to accept, change and improve, but did not know it yet. For you, what has been a major shift and what
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has remained the same prior to all this past year’s life events? So much has taken place and still whirling around. Nothing has remained the same. The major shift in March was to realize that we were not going to come out of this Pandemic that quickly. My aging mother in France could not get my visits or my care and I had to reach out to others to help out. In desperation, thanks to the renewed interactions with distant family members and friends, I asked and organized proper care for my mom who is 94. I had carried this long-distance care for many years, going to France twice a year, and I did not know how much it drained me of my energy. I suddenly had time on hand especially as I was immobilized in my home. Getting used to the new routine of my days I set out for a new lifestyle, one with regular housework, one without hugs, without visits, with carefully planned meals and use of left-overs to avoid trips to the stores. I could not go to exercise class anymore and started dancing to music by myself as it was still too cold for walks. Those who know me are aware that I do not listen to music usually as I need silence to think. Dancing to music did a lot for my spirit and one morning at the end of March I finally went into my studio. Alleluia! What came out is this painting that I called “Interconnected”. Now that was a different kind of landscape, a world landscape rather than a Berkshires landscape.
“Shoring the Coast” 10X10” oil and wax medium on wood panel
“Pandemic Veil” 2020, 8X10” oil and wax medium on wood panel
Fabric on Canson. Notecard by Ghetta Hirsch, 2020
Have you seen yourself stepping forward and using creative solutions to things that have impacted your life, be it great or small? Can you tell us of some. This new style of painting was smaller than the canvases I was using before. I wanted to paint on a harder surface so I “Gessoed” the back of discarded picture frames to use as wood panels for my new work. I used what I had and made discoveries on the way. I ran out of mineral spirit and replaced it with sesame oil to clean my painting tools. It worked! The sawdust from my sanding of the wood panels was used to thicken my paint mix just like sand. I loved the new texture! When I did not have the birthday cards I needed I made my own cards with vintage fabric. A friend cleaning her closet gave me her unwanted fabric remnants and I sewed my own PJ’s as well as curtains for my workroom. I started exchanging seeds for the garden with gardening friends. Dropping off meals, seeds, whatever I had extra to others became a habit, and others did the same. Forget shopping… do without, innovate or barter. When I ran out of dishwashing liquid I switched to handwashing the dishes. I made my own sanitizer when we could not find any… I gave some to others. One of the presents often dropped at my door was a new mask, so I made some as well. Here is a sample of a card I made. People loved them so I gave them as presents to friends and family! I was amazed to find solid card paper and
envelopes in my drawers! We never know what we have at home until we are forced to be more creative! Soon, I saw that I could live without make-up or fancy clothing, so I gave things away and like every person I talked to, re-organized closets to suit my home life. I even sorted out my books by subject, which helped me bury myself in one topic after another with purposeful thinking. You know, I think, even if you are staying safe, and not directly affected by every turn of affairs in our country, it must still make an emotional impact on your thinking. I mean, the stress alone when watching the news! I wonder, has this all driven you to painting and writing and seeing things in a new light? Finding solutions to day-to-day problems still gave me plenty of time to watch the news. I was watching the news much too much and trying not to panic about the health issues and shameful politics. I made sure I kept sending funding to places I had helped support before, checking on local shelter and feeding centers, but I felt the US were in serious danger. I picked up my gardening diary and wrote daily to follow the growth of my seeds and, at the same time preparing the soil for the garden to come. I thought of people living in apartments and valued my yard. The garden was giving me a bit of hope. I thought I would have plenty to eat and share with others when
the veggies would come in the Summer. I did not know in March that even the earth would be giving up on us, and that the bounty would never come. It was a poor gardening year for most due to a Summer changing from dry to wet constantly. I became religious about following a meditating routine. It still was not enough to bring me peace. We were bombarded with one bad news after another. This is when I noticed that I wrote my thoughts on my art more regularly. The painting “Shoring the Coast” is about trying to prevent Covid 19 from reaching our shores and attack our US population. I yearned for more paint and texture; I put aside the brushes, spread the colors with a palette knife and applied thick layers. I faced images of walls or impenetrable obstacles. The surface was wood and allowed for this desperate coating but it still was not enough to calm me. I added the sawdust I mentioned before, and spread straw mixed with wax medium. By the end of March and beginning of April, my paintings and notes clearly expressed angst. The painting “Pandemic Veil” is showing the spread of Corona in the East Coast. Corona was in my mind all the time. Now I framed paintings in the mourning color black. I worried when the pandemic was at its worst in New York where one of my daughters lives. But things settled and by the end of April I was painting “Leaving Town” which represented Covid 19 leaving New York. Continued on next page...
THE ARTFUL MIND ANNIVERSARY ISSUE JANUARY 2021 • 55
“Jutting Out” 2020, 8X10” oil and wax medium on wood panel
“Leaving Town” 2020, 8X10” oil and wax medium on canvas panel
“Brambled” 2020, 8x8” Oil and wax medium on wood panel
I was now using rulers, forks and plastic forms to accentuate the shapes and textures. When April and May arrived, I was still writing tons in my art notebooks about the stress I was feeling and questioning myself about this altered painting process. But the weather was warming up and I went for walks and dared plan a trip to France again. The oceans paintings coming to mind were somehow not showing peaceful landscapes though. Still “rocks” appeared in the way blocking my coming flight. Raging politics added to the Covid 19 Crisis were an incessant concern. A painting “Jutting Out” appears in my notes as a frustrated “sore thumb”: I did not see an exit yet. Flight to Europe ended. The layers of paintings became even thicker and disturbed by carving tools lines and ridges. In May the racial abuse we witnessed did not lessen my anxiety and civic involvement. Those same carving tools became my painting tools. I was not painting; I was destroying the landscapes. Everything was fragmented, ground, close together. There was a feeling of impenetrability, imprecise forms and a confused composition. I was sketching and scratching bushes, thickets, dense forests without light or foggy views. I added thick wax medium to get closer to my painting subject or to bring urgency perhaps to the situation in close-ups. It is as if I was trying to hide the reality of this world, dissecting subjects to go to the truth. “Truth” was in the news as well. I was looking at details and concealed forms in my compositions. On good days I was
painting moon landscapes and desperately reviewing my life and accepting the possible end of it with the virus. If you have ever had therapy you can relate to that thinking process. I was revisiting events and feelings, and reassessing past actions and judgments. What I realized is that all friends and family were going through this same inner evaluation; they related to my work and even purchased some. We were all retreating within our psyches during this challenging time. I was relieved to be understood in what I was trying to express, but concerned that I would never be able to return to my serene landscapes. Perhaps things were never going to be the same. To this date my work is still over-layered and incised throughout the painting process in a way that I never sought before. It is stewed with some fear and caution for the virus, crafted with some anger, disgust and disbelief for the renewed search for racial justice, dissected to express the confusion and danger in our divided politics, layered closely together to underline that community action and participation have been a crowded and common goal for our Nation. Is this still painting? Yes it is, as an artist’s work somehow is the mirror of what goes on. Will my painting return to harmonious lines? I do not know. Has your environment, where you live, or where you once lived pop up in your recent paintings? I know Williamstown is a great subject you have
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been exploring in new ways, yes? Spring weather came, giving me hope for my “Victory Garden” and in my daily adventures. I accepted my mask and went exploring, sketching and painting. Williamstown offers plenty of natural landscapes for my inspiration and as usual I felt it was a great subject for my work. The TV News were still horrendous, but I put them aside for a while as I painted the surrounding views. Mount Hope is a location I like. It is the site of an early 20th Century experimental farm. The name of the farm is a perfect name for the way we were all feeling when Covid 19 number diminished in Massachusetts. Still I painted with a knife - not a brush- I still needed lots of medium and what attracted me was still linked to my thoughts. “Obstruction” is highlighted by a sole birch tree blocking the way. The next painting in the same location is called “Opening”. “Opening” expresses a solution perhaps? However, I feel that the trees are still in the way in that landscape. When early Summer came, I was able to paint around our Clark Museum. Politics and hindrance are still in my mind as I painted “Sunset at the Clark”. Most people were attracted to the sky in my painting, but my focus was the Clark Wall that reminded me of other discussions about walls, fences, rejection, intolerance, judging, marginalization and prejudices of all kind. Some people I have spoken to have gotten into
“Crowded” 2020, 8X8” oil and wax medium on wood panel
“Corona Sun” 2020, 6X6” oil and wax medium on wood panel
the craziest things, like suddenly applying for a real estate license, recreating the can-opener in the basement, making old things new again! Ghetta, have you introduced yourself to anything new outside of painting? Thinking that I was going to succeed with my garden bounty, I worked very hard planting potatoes in May -a task beyond my senior age. First you have to dig trenches, then you drop seed potatoes at regular space, then you hill the plant with new soil (you have to keep covering the plants as they grow). All along you inspect for bugs and weed. I carried soil over and over to hill the plants, then hired one of my grandson to help with the heavy wheelbarrow. When the harvest came we could not find the potato plants because weeds had altered the whole look of the garden bed. Finally, digging for “the bounty” we only gathered 5 pounds of what was supposed to sustain me for the winter!! I am sure some of you can relate to this experience! We all focused on time-consuming manual, back-to-the-land tasks and they did not bear fruit! I was wondering, getting all the art supplies you need, like canvas and oils, etc, has that been a challenge? How has been the best route for getting materials you want when you run out? Or have you enough supplies stored up so you did not have to search out an art supply source while having to remain in the constraints of your studio?
I did go to the Store once in April to buy some Cadmium Orange and felt that browsing was not allowed anymore. Just like confinement, my world had become limited. I could get just what I needed but gave up exploring through the aisles of a store. It is not safe shopping without a specific goal. Just like working on smaller surfaces, using sesame oil to clean my tools, using wood dust instead of marble dust to thicken my painting, I had to think “small”! Not unlike filling the fridge of groceries, I made careful lists, used all my “left-overs”, innovated one way or another, and for the rest I had supplies shipped to my studio. My carbon footprint has been smaller on this world and I continue to think conservatively. Another lesson from Covid 19! The internet has proven to be a busy place for us. We have ventured into new ways of learning, communicating and sharing using the internet and all its channels. Virtual Galleries, Zoom meetings, Museum lectures, music and more. Have you had an active connection via the internet, such as for showing your art, and viewing other artists work? How do you find the alternatives to real galleries work for you? Art opening have also been creatively designed on line, so I have noticed, as well as pop up auctions, etc. I felt right away that the Internet was going to be the solution for many of our needs. I was already using Skype to connect with family in Europe, I started communicating and using all aspects of the Internet.
I could not learn fast enough. Apart from ordering staples, meds and art supplies, I muddled through Online Banking, join Zoom Yoga, Museum lectures, workshops, Zoom plays, gave French Lessons to one grandson, attended a virtual painting course and viewed virtual gallery shows regularly. I improved and surprised myself on the new skills I was developing. When the Artful Mind Gallery offered an opportunity to exhibit virtually in their magazine, I accepted the offer promptly. The Show in Concord had been cancelled and all other galleries has closed with the increased danger of contagion. In July there was a bit of respite and I was able to take some of my paintings to Southern Vermont Arts Center in Manchester, VT. They are still exhibited there. In this thirst for visual arts, I connected through Instagram with other artists all over the world, viewed their art appreciatively and continued showing mine. The comments received were an encouragement to my lonely process. I missed my local artist friends so much. Having my creativity acknowledged virtually fed my needs. I offered for purchase my art on Instagram like other artists. It was another option for business. I made sure I “shared” artists’ Facebook posts and they did the same for me. We all have succeeded in selling some of our work online. Our followers were all accepting our new way of selling our art. I have a website that gets lots of visitors as well, Continued on next page....
THE ARTFUL MIND ANNIVERSARY ISSUE JANUARY 2021 • 55
“Obstruction” 2020, 15”X30 oil on canvas
“Opening” 2020 15”X30” oil on canvas
ghetta-hirsch.squarespace.com, and I try to keep it up to date. How are the galleries you are represented by doing these days? How are they carrying on? In July, one gallery that sponsored me moved “Online”. I could not continue to take artworks long distance to the gallery without risking contagion. I could be listening and watching “Stories” on Instagram when they let us visit virtually. They found ways to expand on visual arts, offering printed cards, jewelry, pottery, artistic bags, etc. The galleries have diversified to survive. Two galleries closed for one, two and then three months. Nowadays they talk of waiting for 2021! I am glad they did not close completely. The friendly interactions at the Openings are missing. I look forward to artistic social events and museums again. You invite people to your studio to meet you and see what you are painting. I hope that starts up again. It has been a good experience for you, I know. Tell us what it is like for you to have people visit your studio? How does it all work? Sharing my art with others, explaining my painting process or sequence of thoughts is very affirming to me. This is where I recognize my teaching bug.
I love a good informative discussion. I cherish a lively visit whether it leads to a sale or not. This year I showed my work under my front porch when buyers required to see a painting more closely. I believe that the colors and texture of a painting gain when inspected in person, so from July to early October I have accepted visits inside my home studio with a mask. Since Covid 19 has spread again, I ask masked visitors for the size, style, subject and price range they envision and I prepare some pieces they can view. Visits are limited to 15 minutes and payment through Venmo is encouraged to hasten the process. To give you an example, I had a visit this morning of someone who gave me the following request: nothing higher than $400, mountain view, palette knife work, some yellow or orange and some snow. I pulled out ten pieces and the client came, purchased two planned gifts happily. It was paid cash as the amount was manageable this way. It has become a business transaction where I miss the leisurely browsing and conversation around a cup of tea or coffee, but business can proceed. Do you think that people become more interested in your paintings after they meet you and get an idea of who you are? Does a personal con-
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HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO YOU!
nection help sell art, you think? Here are my thoughts: there is always a bit of mystery around the work of an artist. I like to offer my pieces with candid sharing. I believe that often when a buyer is attracted to a piece, explaining my own relationship to the subject will inspire or confirm his/her own perception of the painting. Emotional feelings on the color, composition or other aspects of the work can narrow the distance between the artist and the art aficionado. A personal connection may link the painter and the client in the ongoing conversation. Sometimes that exchange can be the start a friendship. I am personally nurtured by the recognition of commonality of thoughts, and I hope that the buyer feels the same. I am not sure that this personal connection helps sell art, but the fact that buyers come back to buy more of my art suggest that a home-like feeling, if not a warm friendship, was created in what could have been a dry business deal. I actually prefer selling directly to my followers than give my work in a Gallery. Once a piece is in a shop or gallery, the unknown buyer will take it away and I will never hear about it again. However, I had the pleasure of seeing two of my paintings reappear at an auction four years after they left me. The owner was deceased. A New York
“The Way Out” 2020 20X20” Oil on canvas
“Crush Time in my Garden” 2020” 8X8” oil and wax medium on wood panel
“Sunset at the Clark” 20X20” oil on canvas
friend recognized the paintings and told me about it. I was moved to locate them again. I checked them in the catalogue and was pleased when they sold a second time. Serendipity! Ghetta, what would be one of your goals you have set for yourself as an artist? Again I should thank Covid 19 for the technology lessons I put myself through. I now use my online calendar and organize my day productively as well as creatively. The I-phone can send little reminders for everything and I can focus on what I am doing and still be aware of my obligations. So my goal is to improve the use of electronic devices for planning and practice drawing on the I-Pad for practice. This year of confinement brought deep introspection. I had plenty of time to assess my life as an artist. When you are a senior you also learn to set your artistic priorities. This new way of manipulating oil paint on wood surfaces and using carving tools and sandpaper to highlight some of the subject or composition is going to be my ongoing exploration. The colors from each of the different layers reappear to the surface as I scratch or rub and form a tone vibration that I love. The underlayers add depth to my landscape and the final coat gives an element of surprise to my work. I would like to ex-
pand on that. The drawing practice that I envision on the I-Pad should prepare me for the close-up carving I do on the paint. If you were asked by a child what this year was all about, how would you explain it in general and from personal experience? You are asking a question to the grandmother that I am, not the artist! I would say: “that was the year when we recognized that hugs were important, that we needed to take better care of each other and our world; we missed each other so much during the 2020 Pandemic that we decided to love, accept and protect family, friends, and our community. The whole world had to look at the future differently and work together to survive.” How would you summarize for you, “A Look Back / A Look Ahead” for you? A look back underlines that I have been a productive member of our society. Yet, even though I have accomplished a lot, I needed to be more of a participant in the real life around me, not just in my professional realm. I was somewhat in shock at the start of the pandemic, reflecting on the meaning of art in my life. I wondered if painting was still defining me as I stopped painting for two long
months. I did not know how to keep the practice going when my life was interrupted and disrupted. This period led me to a new stage where painting became more than a way to feel, express myself, play with perceptions: painting is a way of life for me. It brings joy, pleasure, meaningful contentment to myself and perhaps others. I love when my artwork makes someone happy or when there is an artistic connection. When I go to the museum to look at Fine Arts, I often get the same rewards. Someone said to me one day that buying a painting was for her like acquiring a new dress or a piece of furniture. Looking at the painting each day made her smile. I love to be the one to enrich, encourage, cheer up or bring peace to others. I love French as a language. Can you give us a quote in French, and tell us the meaning? Since you are talking of children we can say: “Ils se battent comme chien et chat”. They quarrel like cats and dogs. This is what happened with our bipartisan country, I am afraid. Thank you, Ghetta!
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Proctor Cronk Starts Collecting Art Part 1
Proctor Cronk was studying journalism at Syracuse University in the fall of 1964. Proctor was not in any way interested in journalism, and he did not want to go to Syracuse University, but his father had wanted to be a journalist and had dreamed of going to the university, so he force fed the experience to his son by the method of economic starvation. Proctor was not the sort of young man to strike out on his own in defiance of his father and do something he longed to do, like for example study pottery out in the Midwest, or attending photography workshops with the masters. Since Proctor had none of those desires he did what his father commanded him to do. He went to Syracuse University, driving his father’s old hand me down Plymouth sedan, the 1954 model. In the third week of his first semester he was burdened with an insurmountable amount of work, and yet, his entire existence was consumed with driving for endless hours late at night in order to find a place to park his old car everyday. Once the old car was parked he had to walk the long way back to his dorm room. Finally he decided to just get rid of it. He tried to put the car up for sale, but because of a knocking sound nobody was willing to buy it. After his third parking ticket he decided to junk the car hoping to get thirty-five dollars for it. He drove it to a scrap metal yard in the town of Chittenango and there he met one of those unusual men who spend their entire lives collecting junk, which leads them to develop the most amazingly distorted personalities. To those individuals in possession of salvage yards however, their personalities do not appear to be distorted in the least. On the contrary, it is the rest of so-called “normal” society that exists in an obviously distorted state. This they can see clearly from spending a lifetime sorting out their junk. Proctor drove his 1954 Plymouth into the salvage yard, parked it in front of the office which was a tar paper shack, walked into a room full of all types of fantastic objects, and asked how much he could get for his car. The owner of the yard had his back to Proctor and at first took absolutely no notice of him.
He was cleaning a small metal object with a cloth. The object was the hood ornament of a 1934 Hudson. The junkyard man said, not turning around, “Why do you want to sell your car?” “Because the engine is shot,” said Proctor. “No it’s not,” replied the yardman. “How do you know that?” asked Proctor. The man did not reply, but turned around in his chair displaying a face that looked like a roasted chestnut. He stood up and asked Proctor to start the car up. Proctor did as he was told, and opened the hood for good measure. The junkman stood by the side of the car with his head cocked to the side, and after a few moments asked Proctor to leave the car running and to open the trunk. In the trunk the man pointed to a tire iron that was rattling against the rim of the spare tire rhythmically with the vibrations of the engine. “If you want to sell this car, it has a good engine, don’t take less than seven hundred for it,” he pronounced. With that he walked back into his tarpaper office acting as if the business with Proctor Cronk was now concluded, and he resumed cleaning the hood ornament he still held in his hand. Proctor could not believe what had happened. The junkman’s actions contradicted any assumptions he might have had about persons who engaged in that sort of business. Why would the man avoid buying a perfectly good car that some dope does not know is sound? Many explanations occurred to him. The man did not care about money. The man preferred the pleasure of making a fool of him, to buying his car for thirty-five dollars. The man was just dumb, which explained the tarpaper shack and his obvious poverty. Nevertheless, Proctor was deeply impressed and wanted to find a way to express his appreciation, and so he entered the office again and began to timidly look around. Proctor asked if he might, perhaps, buy the hood ornament the man was cleaning. “What,” said the yardman, “do you have a ‘34 Hudson you are planning to restore?” “No,” said Proctor, “but I have been thinking of making a collection of the hood ornaments of old cars.” “Don’t go doing that,” replied the yardman. “If you go around buying up the old hood ornaments of old cars, then the people who really need them will have a harder time finding them. Can you imagine what it’s like for a person with a 1934 Hudson to look around hopelessly for an authentic hood ornament? Oh sure, any day a person can open up a restoration catalogue and buy a cheap aftermarket copy, but what is the good of that? A person wants to buy the real thing, especially one that has a little damage and those little black pit marks that show that it has been around for thirty years. And when his friends ask him if he is going to have it chromed so that it will look like new he is going to reply, “Yes, just as soon as I pay for my Grandma’s face lift,” which would make just as much sense, don’t you think. “No, you see he wants the ornament to look just the way it did thirty years ago, when his father drove out of the driveway one morning never to return. And in the ornament the father returns to the son in the driveway, for a fleeting instant, without any face lift, without any re-plating. Because, you see, hood ornaments can have significance for some special person, and you want me instead to sell it to you so you can put it on your fireplace mantle with some other knick-knacks.” What a terrible drubbing young Proctor Cronk was getting at the hands of the junkman. He was taking a mental beating of the type that only a junkyard owner can administer. Added to that was the fact that the junk-
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HAPPY HOLI-
yard man kept smiling at him in a friendly way exhibiting his dark yellow teeth with numerous gaps. The gaps between the junkman’s crooked teeth kept reminding Proctor that this individual knew a great many things, and had strange and curious ideas of his own, and he was studying journalism and so knew nothing about anything, and had not formed any opinions about anything at all. “Am I to understand then, that nothing you have is for sale unless the person wanting to buy it is the exact right person, who needs the thing he buys in a certain way and to your express satisfaction?” asked Proctor. Put in this way the man relented a little and invited Proctor to look around his office and see if there was some other hood ornament he would like to buy, as the one he was polishing was already taken. Proctor was 22 at the time he encountered this eccentric salvage junkman, and even though he was young he knew that there were people who were unable to part with things and were always engaged in enlarging their personal collections of quasi-valuable junk. If you make attempts to purchase these items the owners always find a reason not to sell; and often in the process will start raising the price to exorbitant levels. Proctor looked around the room to see what he could find of interest and found a seemingly infinite assortment of objects. It was difficult to get a good look at any one thing because some other object would be leaning against it. The various pictures hanging on the walls were obscured because their edges had been used as clothes hooks. The tops of pictures were used as small shelves for dust-covered miniature objects. The antler of a moose held a collection of worn out work gloves. Obviously valuable things were mixed up indiscriminately with worthless trash. There were only three objects with the honor of not being used in any inexplicable way: a double-barreled shotgun, a World War II bayonet, and a baseball bat, all next to the door. There were many paintings and prints hanging on the walls and Proctor discovered that a huge brown print of the coliseum in its wide oak frame could not be sold because it belonged to somebody’s grandfather who had been born someplace or other. He could not purchase the Piranesi print of a prison interior for a similar reason having to do with some other relative. The junkman had a few Russian icons, as well as several very cheap prints of religious works. The prints were all in that sickly shade of brown used so often for old religious calendars. The icons, which were obviously valuable, were hung in a group next to the cheapest sort of religious images in frames without any glass. Proctor thought to himself, “They are sorted by subject regardless of their value.” It was at that moment that Proctor Cronk became a collector of works of art. It was not the usual setting for such a decision, one would rather expect it to happen in a museum, or at least in an art gallery, but it happened in a tarpaper shack in a salvage yard. As so often happens, the purchase he finally made had all of the characteristics of his later collecting life, even down to the methods he used to get the object he sought. He was not entirely honest in his methods, but at least what he said was more believable than the junkman’s claims of grandfathers with sepia photographs of the Coliseum. RICHARD BRITELL: FROM THE BLOG NO CURE FOR THE MEDIEVAL MIND
EDWARD ACKER PHOTOGRAPHER
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