Artist of the Month

Tonight, Sue Hoy and I will host a reception at our Guild in Dedham Square.  We are featured artists of the month for August.  Please join us from 5-7PM for wine, cheese and ART at the Dedham Square Artist Guild located at 553 High Street in Dedham, MA.

Lisa W B Walker Summer Collection 2016

Sue Hoy Summer Oil Paintings

About the Artists
Sue Hoy

“As an artist, I am trying to capture the spirit of my subject by reducing details
and concentrating on light and shape. My paintings are rich in color and
bold in brushwork. I am inspired by nature’s beauty and the chance to interpret
it in simple, yet compelling ways.”

Sue Hoy is a painter, graphic designer and art teacher living in Milton MA.
Her inspiration comes from her family and the endless beauty of New England.
Choosing subjects that capture attention and emotion, Sue strives to simplify shape
and color to reflect the essence of her subject. Her voyage toward simplicity,
versus over-working and illustrating with paint, is ongoing. Her paintings have
been in numerous shows in Massachusetts and she currently has a solo show at
Abby Park in Milton, MA. She teaches painting and clay classes for children
in the Milton public schools and at Milton Art Center.

Education
UMASS Dartmouth, BFA Visual Design
Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Studio Art/Painting

suehoy.com

Lisa WB Walker

I fell in love with a color: Robin’s egg blue; and, it defined summer for me.
Early morning bird calls greet a warm rising sun that announces day break.
Watch the soft wind blowing a sheer textured curtain as you lay blinking sleep from
your eyes. You are young, free from school, and you feel what summer really is.

Lisa W. B. Walker is an Artist working in clay who lives in Westwood, Massachusetts.
She creates wheel thrown or hand built functional ware to explore surface decoration
in order to create one of a kind original work. Lisa received her Studio Art Degree
from Skidmore College, continuing with additional classes at the Museum School
of Fine Arts Boston and the Art Institute of Boston. She writes a weekly blog,
www.lisawbwalker.wordpress.com, participates in local arts related community
service, and, shares her knowledge through teaching, workshops and demonstrations.

www.lisawbwalker.com

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Still Life / Life Still

A special exhibition hosted at the Dedham Community Theatre by the Dedham Square Artist Guild opens tonight in Dedham Square.  The exhibit features work by Guild members, local artists, teachers and students who responded to the artist challenge: Still Life / Life Still.  Tonight’s opening reception (THURSDAY, MAY 5th 6-8 PM) will include  refreshments; artists will be on hand to meet and discuss their work.

Still Life / Life Still
Explore still life in a traditional approach by studying objects arranged in a balanced composition; or, where objects are caught in their natural surroundings and documented. Show us how you see still life / life still.

Still Life of Peppers. Handmade objects to be arranged in a pleasing composition. My peppers began as pinch pots with coils.

Adding color with bright low fire glazes.

clear glaze for an extra shiny surface.

fresh out of the kiln and looking good enough to eat!

This exhibition will be up through the end of June. All artwork is for sale through the Dedham Square Artist Guild, including my one of a kind set of hand sculpted peppers.

This painting by Guild member Matt Miller is also in the show.  Perhaps I was influenced? This happens when you surround yourself with beautiful art by talented friends 🙂

Oliver! opens tonight

A special exhibition hosted by the Dedham Square Artist Guild

at the Dedham Community Theatre
Opening Reception: March 3, 6pm to 8pm
Join us for the Art Opening for Oliver!

Exhibition Dates: March 3, 2016 to April 30, 2016

The challenge: “What does grit look like … courage, bravery, strength of character? We’re paying tribute to Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist in conjunction with the Parish Players production of OLIVER! Dickens sets the innocence of childhood against the squalor and corruption of the city. He showed us what grit meant to him in his novel. We challenge you to define grit in your art… in a portrait of a hard scrabble city dweller? In the stark landscape of urban industrialism? Show us!”

This show will be hosted in the lower gallery at the Dedham Community Theatre! 580 High Street, Dedham, MA. http://www.dedhamcommunitytheatre.com

This show is being produced in conjunction with the Parish Players’ newest production, Oliver!Visit http://www.facebook.com/TheParishPlayers for more information about their production

I responded to this challenge with the “Oliver Twist” bowl featured above. Other artists responded in a variety of mediums… here are some of my favorites:

The next challenge is “Still Life/Life Still”. Click here for more details on how you can participate.

Inspiration

Visiting museums always leads to some sort of inspiration for the work that I make. Using my iphone camera, I click click click and the ideas come home with me.

Last weekend I visited the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum in downtown Hartford, Connecticut. It was founded by Daniel Wadsworth in 1842, and opened two years later with just seventy-nine paintings and three sculptures. Today the collection exceeds 50,000 works of art – acquisitions by patrons, directors, and curators continue to collect and support the work of living artists.

Milton Avery

There is an American Decorative Arts collection that embodies the history of material culture in New England and America including Frank Lloyd Wright, Paul Revere and a bowl by Viktor Schreckengost/Cowan Pottery Studio. This was my favorite exhibit.

Marblehead Pottery

Dedham Pottery plate

Jardiniere Vase 1901-2

It was here that I found a lot of ideas on frames, furniture and decorative surfaces.

woodworking inlay leaves

gilded pattern on frame

floral pattern on chair

Lattice on High Chest

The Wadsworth Atheneum Contemporary Art collection—features work from 1945 to the present. The Huntington Gallery includes mid-century abstract painting and sculpture by artists including Willem de Kooning and Alexander Calder.

Detail: Chuck Close painting

 

New, large-scale gifts and acquisitions include important pieces by Chuck Close and Kara Walker. A permanent video gallery features James Nares’ STREET, a grand tour through the streets of Manhattan. I highly recommend touring the wonderful collections in this Connecticut Museum.

shadows on the staircase

 

 

Local Inspirations – a Dedham Square Artist Guild exhibit

 Stop in to see the newly installed Local Inspirations show in the Dedham Square Artist Guild’s extended gallery space in the lower level of the Dedham Community Theater.  The show will be up through the end of October.  More information here.

“Casting Shadows”: a dedham square artist guild challenge and art exhibit

“Cast a light onto an object and a shadow is born. They are revealed in the physical world as well as the spiritual one. What is lurking in those shadows is made known through the imagination.”

This Challenge was open to all artists, working in any medium, who work/reside in eastern Massachusetts. This show is in the lower gallery at the Dedham Community Theatre at 580 High Street, Dedham, MA. http://www.dedhamcommunitytheatre.com Opening Reception: Thursday May 7, 6pm to 8pm Exhibition Dates: May 1, 2015 to June 30, 2015.

I responded to this theme in ceramics and here are the pieces that are included in this exhibit amongst photography, paintings and fiber works of art.

A 2 part luminary with leaf motif casts shadows when a candle is lit.

A repeating image of a flower and it’s cast shadow cover half of this two tone black and white vase.

Inspired by the work of Gustavo Perez, this sculpture began on the wheel as a thrown cylinder and was then altered, rolled, pushed, pulled and cut to create spaces for shadows to be cast.  The interior has been painted with a black glossy glaze to further separate the spaces of interior and exterior.

All work is for sale through the Dedham Square Artist Guild gallery.

Cup Exhibit – #3

I came away from the SAC Cup Exhibit thinking about dividing my ceramic surfaces into separate areas for decorating.  Two exhibiting artists: Maureen Mills and Rena Hamilton both used designs to create divided spaces on their three dimensional forms in a way that intrigued me.

Rena Hamilton’s wood fired tumbler

Maureen Mills wood fired tumbler

The design elements, the choice of clay and firing, and the resulting richness of the surface make for interesting and complex work.  The work seems similar at first, but when researching the artists, their stories are different. The dividing space becomes design elements chosen for different reasons.

Maureen Mills, the director of the New Hampshire Institute of Art is a teacher, an artist and a published author describes her work in this way: “My work continues to explore the contradictions of delicate surface techniques combined with the strength of (certain) clays. When fired in a wood burning kiln, the surface can become almost obliterated with melting ash, yet the subtle quality of surface depth that is achieved continues to strengthen each form.”  Rena Hamilton, lives and works in Flagstaff, New Mexico.  She describes her work as being “rooted in the philosophy of a balance in opposites; masculine-feminine, work-play, whimsical-austere.”  She says, “most of my work starts on the wheel and is often embellished with freehand scrolled drawings, slip trailing, stamping and underglaze transfer images and then fired in a wood and spray soda kiln.”

Maureen Mills’ tumbler in hand

Rena Hamilton’s artist signature stamp

Rena Hamilton’s delicate pink stained glaze juxtaposed to a masculine wood fired scroll

More posts about the Cup Exhibit can be found here and here.

Cup Exhibit – #2

In my first blog post about the Cup Exhibit at SAC, I wanted to get the word out about the show before it closed.  (Click here for a quick reread.) Now for a look at a cup that just “blew my mind”.  This porcelain cup by Grace Sheese is titled “Kindergarten Lessons”.

This cup was one of two cups on display by this artist.  I was immediately curious and couldn’t wait to pick it up. When I did, I was rewarded with many surprises. It was a well balanced vessel despite the visible purposeful irregularities. Faceting created soft angles for surface decoration. A “bump out” guided my hand to close around the form in a specific way. Flip it over (as every potter does) and hello pig who has just eaten his veggies? or perhaps they are friends: meat and veg… and that is one of the “Kindergarten Lessons”?

Look inside and follow the colorful lines down into the form. It is contemporary in every way. I wanted to learn more about the maker.

Ceramicist Grace Sheese “makes functional objects that are meant to be touched, held and used everyday.  She strives to make them in such a way that they are not invisible and that they should be noticed, because they can say something new everyday.”

She goes on to say in her artist statement, “my forms start with the simple and familiar.  From there, I alter the shape; add bits of oddities, bobbles and protrusions that demand a bit of attention, that disturb the familiar without disturbing the function. The additions and alterations take advantage of the fact that these objects are to be handled.  By modifying the terrain and texture of my forms, I use tactile cues to peak the interest of the user, to remind them that this object is not ordinary, and that it is worth closer examination.”

“Each piece I make tells a story. They are small stories about the everyday, sometimes funny, sometimes sad, and sometimes wistful. The animals, the objects, and the subject matter I use are common and ordinary because it grounds the narrative in the familiar. Evoking the archetypes of the sheep, the fox, the rabbit and the pig allows me to tell stories about universal interactions, situations, and emotions with my work. My narrative unfolds across the inside, outside, and even the underside of my work. I use the whole piece to invite further exploration. I make my work to be touched, held and used everyday but also to be worthy of notice, of being considered, and being reconsidered.”

I found another wonderful cup (below) on her website.  Click over to see more of her whimsical work.

She teaches workshops.  The one at Snow Farm in Williamstown, MA called “Storytelling with Pottery” at the end of May looks like one I would love to do.  I’ll add that to my Wish List!

CUP exhibit

With two days to spare, I made it to the Society of Arts and Crafts exhibit: “Our Cup Runneth Over: Sculptural and Functional Cups”.  It is not to be missed.

For a potter, there is no better exhibit than one that allows you to interact with art.  This beautiful cup by Kyla Toomey is visually delicate looking and when you slip your finger through the handle the reasons for the weightlessness become clear.  Flip the piece over to study the trimming and you are rewarded with a hidden decal of a flower.  The attention to detail in this piece is everywhere.

“Our Cup Runneth Over presents ceramic cups by 36 contemporary artists. By juxtaposing unique approaches to a common utilitarian object, the magic and versatility of clay is highlighted at this biannual sale, as appealing to the seasoned collector as to the student.“

This is the first of a few posts about this exhibit. It is brief so that I could get the word out before the show closes.

Please make time to visit the Society of Arts and Crafts at 175 Newbury Street in Boston, MA.  This exhibit closes January 10th.

Capturing Art in Nature

“Capturing Art in Nature”, A Westwood Land Trust Exhibit

opens tonight, Tuesday, October 28th at the Westwood High School

with a reception from 6:00 – 8:00 PM.

The Westwood Land Trust (“WLT”) is sponsoring the eighth annual Capturing Nature in Westwood Art Exhibit to raise awareness and appreciation for Westwood’s beautiful natural environment. Residents are encouraged to go outside, look around and explore, and “capture” the natural beauty one sees through a painting, 3-D piece, photograph, or any other preferred artistic medium. All ages are invited to participate.

Over 300 Westwood community members typically view the wide variety of artwork submitted by students and residents on the evening of the event. Exhibited items last year included: birch tree paintings inspired by artist Gustav Klimt; clay relief postcards; dish glass inspired by Dale Chihuly; pottery; oil paintings and drawings; and nature-themed photographs. WLT would like to thank Katie Thurston, Westwood Public School Art Director, and all the WPS art teachers for their whole-hearted support in linking art and nature.