Light music played along Dukes County avenue in Oak Bluffs on Saturday evening as the first arts district stroll of the season invited art lovers to slow down and enjoy the work of six different galleries located on one short stretch of road.
The strolls occur on the second Saturday of July and August. Not far in distance from Circuit avenue, they are a world away in pace. Nestled on the edge of the campgrounds, the arts district includes the Alison Shaw Gallery, Crossroads Gallery, Galaxy Gallery, Knowhere Art Gallery, Lucinda Sheldon Enamels and Periwinkle Studio.
On Saturday Missis Biskis performed outside the Galaxy Gallery, where Helayne Cohen, owner of Birdsong Ceramics, exhibited her pottery and beadwork.
“I love being right here at the gallery,” she said. “Two years ago I was in the gallery but with the music this is my favorite spot.”
Ms. Cohen moved to the Island in 1987 and has been creating pieces inspired by the Vineyard ever since.
“Definitely Island-inspired colors,” she said with a smile. “And my Island bowls, I carved the map of the Island and I melt glass beads in it to create unique splashes of color. They are definitely sea inspired.”
Ms. Cohen’s jewelry trays are created in collaboration with Stephanie Wolf Designs.
“This new line of jewelry trays have been really fun,” she said. “I melt Stephanie Wolf’s designs beads on the Island. So we have a whole line of these dishes over at the shop.”
“I like to make things that are useful and beautiful,” she added. “My pottery is for everyday life.”
In addition to Ms. Cohen’s pottery, strollers were treated to photography, paintings, beadwork, baked goods, books and even henna.
“It’s fun, you know, just to walk by and listen to music for a few minutes,” said Diane King. Ms. King lives in Vineyard Haven, she said, and attends the art strolls every year.
Judith Drew Schubert, co-owner of Periwinkle Studio, displayed her landscape and bird paintings, including meticulous recreations of scenes from around the Vineyard.
“They’re all inspired by the beauty of the Vineyard,” Ms. Schubert said. “It’s landscape, it’s shorebirds, it’s light — the Vineyard light.”
“I guess I paint the beauty of the Vineyard so that people can take it home and look at it all year and have that feeling you get when you’re here and you’re on the beach or in the woods,” she said. “Something to remind you of the feeling that it gives you.”
The next Oak Bluffs Arts District Stroll takes place on August 14.
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