Staring deeply into a painting, first from up close, then from afar, maybe trying a different angle or two to wander amidst the nuance of light and shadow is a beautiful journey. Viewer and art together on a tour of discovery.
But sometimes one desires a steady hand to lead this dance or at least fill in some background information on how art became art: Just what was the original inspiration and how much perspiration did it take to bring this painting to life?
This Sunday, June 5 from 4 to 7 p.m. a group of local artists are gathering to help children in crisis as a result of the tsunami in Japan. The artists include Mark Zeender, Hiroko Thomson, Carrie Mae Smith, Elizabeth Cecil, Jocelyn Filley, Meg Bodnar and Greg Watson. Well, most are local. Hiroko doesn’t live here, but she’s a grandmother to locals which means her Island roots are not just deep but most likely spreading good vibes down at the playground as we speak.
When discussing her art, Patricia Carlet speaks clearly about what she intends.
“My art is created to evoke smiles and encourage laughter. If it captures the pleasure and irony of the everyday for the viewer, then I feel that I have succeeded as an artist.”
As cabin fever sets in on the Island, and here comes February, Ms. Carlet’s art sounds like just the antidote for all those gray, wintry days.
Art in the Stacks presents an exhibit at the Vineyard Haven Public Library of acrylic paintings by Joan Walsh. The exhibit will be on display during the month of April.
Ms. Walsh was born in Ireland where she attended the National College of Art and Design in Dublin. Her work was exhibited in the Peoples Art Exhibition in Dublin and she participated in group shows in the Bank of Ireland Exhibition Center.
Chilmark Chocolates is open again just in time for Valentine’s Day. On your way to pick up sweets for your sweet, stop by the Chilmark outpost of Sovereign Bank to check out an art exhibit featuring work by Lisa Vanderhoop.
The wizard behind the Seadogs calendar, Ms. Vanderhoop will be showing and selling her work.
The major theme of the exhibit is Valentine’s cards - from a canine perspective, of course. Calendars will also be for sale at a discount.
March Madness is not confined to college basketball. Featherstone Gallery in Oak Bluffs is dedicating its month of madness to the arts. In particular, the art of Island students.
The series kicks off on Sunday, March 6 with a reception for Tova Katzman, a senior at the high school. The reception is from 4 to 6 p.m. and will feature Miss Katzman’s photography including digital, darkroom and video projects. There will also be pieces on display of work she did at the Art Institute of Chicago last summer.
The art of Marshall Pratt and Inas Al-soqi is now on display at the Vineyard Haven Public Library. The exhibit runs through April 1.
Mr. Pratt’s describes his photography as being about people, in particular the sort of in-between moments in everyone’s lives that may not make the headlines of one’s year but actually define one’s character indelibly.
“I capture these moments, magnify them and recontextualize them in order to evoke a feeling of ambient familiarity with the viewer,” says Mr. Pratt.
Jeffrey Serusa, a fine art photographer and the proprietor of Seaworthy Gallery on Martha’s Vineyard, has recently been accepted for exhibition at the 2011 International Artexpo in New York city taking place March 25 to 27.
The road to Reuse, Renew, Recycle is always a good turn for the environment but often no more exciting than rinsing out the glass and plastic jars and dumping them in the blue bucket. Stomping down the cardboard boxes gives some measure of satisfaction, and a bit of exercise, but is still a solitary affair.
Leave it to Lani Carney, art teacher extraordinaire working primarily at Featherstone in Oak Bluffs, to raise the bar for all of us.
Daughter of super god Zeus and the Harvest goddess Demeter, young Persephone went out for a stroll one day and, as the story goes, was suddenly abducted by Hades, god of the underworld. The earth beneath her feet literally opened up and swallowed her.
Zeus, it turns out, was a bit of a laissez-faire father. He didn’t even notice his daughter had disappeared. Mom took up the fight alone visiting a drought upon the world until her daughter was returned.
