Art & Soul

Join the Westwood Artists on Wednesday, September 26th from 5:30-7PM at the Westwood Media Center located at 15 Perwal Street, Westwood, MA. Tonight we celebrate the artists of Westwood and view the completed Art & Soul Community Paper Quilt.  The event is open to the public.

On August 6th, WestwoodWinds Community Band performed a concert in conjunction with a Westwood Artists exhibition at the Westwood High School entitled “Art & Soul”. The collaborative event threw a spotlight on artists of all kinds in the community. The concert, entitled “Where the Wild Things Are,” featured its usual eclectic blend of familiar pieces relating to animals. Young children, especially, enjoyed “Peter and the Wolf” with narration by Westwood Media Director, Melinda Garfield.

During the concert, Westwood Artists provided materials to children and adults alike to make their own paper quilt square of their favorite animal. Students in Westwood Recreation 2D summer art classes and Westwood Library’s summer Monday Craft Program also contributed to this project.

Westwood Artists combined the animal images to create a 64-paneled community paper quilt. It has been installed at their permanent gallery located at the Westwood Media Center at 15 Perwal Street in Westwood.

Tonight we celebrate the artists of Westwood and view the completed Art & Soul Community Paper Quilt. 

 

 

Portugal

Inspiration for my Holiday 2017 Collection comes from my summer trip to Portugal.

Porto

Bolsa Palace in Porto

Bolsa Palace oblong

Ceramic Fish in Porto

Porto fish — set of 3

Lisbon

Bordallo Pinheiro Dragonfly Pottery

Dragonfly set of dishes

Bordallo Pinheiro double leaf serving dish

2 part leaf dishes

Belem district of Lisbon

Padrão dos Descobrimentos

compass rose tile

Padrão dos Descobrimentos

Belem Mugs

Belem oval

Belem Vase

Pastel de Nata

Pasteis de Belém

Portugal Tile ornaments

 

Join me for the “first look” on Friday, November 17th 5:30-9PM at Potters Place opening reception for Holiday Show and Sale at 127 Old West Street, Walpole, MA.  Show continues Saturday, November 18th 9AM-8PM and Sunday, November 19th 10AM-4PM.  More information can be found at http://www.pottersplace.info

Trips inspire collections ~ MFA with Cousin Betsy

After a long time emailing, cousin Betsy and I finally got together for a visit.  We met at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, the perfect place for two artists to reconnect.  We looked at art; we talked about art; we talked about family.  It was a perfect day.

It took me a long time to process this visit.  I finally settled on an image of a carved panel on the front door of the Huntington Avenue entrance to the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. I felt it symbolized what had happened that day and where a door had opened.

My interpretation took the form of a large square plate with three smaller plates.  The image of the door panel is carved into the clay, the center is painted and dots are like compass points. Little crisscross bowls complete the Betsy Collection.

When I think about this day, the first image that pops into my head is seeing Betsy by the doorway. She turns to me and I notice how blue her eyes are and then how excited I am to to see her. We opened the door to the museum and the art surrounded us.

The Betsy Collection was complete when I received an email from the Museum of Fine Arts this spring announcing MFA Director Malcolm Rogers’ retirement.  Notice the carved door panels. He’s ready to exit from these doors.

I’ve been a member of the Museum of Fine Arts for at least 25 years.  I’ve watched the MFA move from the only game in town to having to compete with the contemporary ICA and stoic Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum, just to name few of the Boston Giants.  The transition was led by Malcolm Rogers and he succeeded in ways that make me proud to be a member.  The carved door panel appears symbolic as the place where Rogers with leave from; for me, it is symbolic as the place to enter and begin anew.