In 1985 painter Andrew Moore spent his first full year on Martha’s Vineyard. He lived in a one-room cottage that housed the essentials: a bed, a wood stove, an easel, his dog and a surfboard. Mr. Moore had recently graduated with his bachelor’s degree in architecture and this was his leap into a life of full-time painting.
How often in nature do we see a single standing beetlebung tree? Not often, thinks Kara Taylor.
“A beetlebung alone is a really unique sight to see,” Ms. Taylor said last week in her new Chilmark gallery space. “Alone, the tree takes this amazing shape. I can only remember one place where I’ve seen this.”
So she decided to paint it.
The wood panel oil painting with 23-karat gold leaf, entitled West Tisbury Beetlebung, is one of 13 paintings in Deciduous, Ms. Taylor’s first show in her new location.
A Nike Air Jordan sneaker lay sopping wet on a table in the flower studio at Tea Lane Farm on Tuesday. Flower artist Ellie Wetherbee had just finished carving the green floral foam into the shape of the old school sneaker and soaked it before she began to add flowers to the shape.
“It’s like carving a big block of cheese,” she said as she carefully scraped away the final shape of the shoe.
Ronni Simon is widely known for her jewelry and the artistry she brings to her original designs. She also knits scarves and is a sculptor. But her next canvas will be decidedly bigger and more public. She is taking on the large outdoor wall of the historic Capawock Movie Theatre on Main street in Vineyard Haven.
Joseph Palermo remembers his mother saying he was “born with a paintbrush in his hand.” If this is the case then Mr. Palermo has been holding a brush for 91 years. This weekend will mark the beginning of a month-long show of Mr. Palermo’s watercolors at the Chilmark Library and he plans to be there at the opening.
“I think he’s an inspiration,” Elise Thomas said. She helps Mr. Palermo by taking photos of some of the images he’s interested in recreating, everything from waterfowl to lighthouses. Then, in a large alcove in his apartment within his son Greg’s home in Edgartown, Mr.
For Daniel Cooney, it began with Superperson. After spending his childhood doodling dinosaurs and imaginary creatures, Mr. Cooney took his first steps towards what would be his eventual career with the 120-issue comic featuring the “stick figure Superman.” He worked on the series from sixth grade right up through high school, penciling his friends and family into the action, and occasionally getting into trouble for drawing in class.
Today Mr. Cooney is still drawing in class, but as an instructor he’s no longer getting disapproving looks.
On the Vineyard where art galleries abound and artists abound even more, there is, it seems, art everywhere. But it’s not just traditional galleries that showcase art. Venturing off the tracks, one can encounter not only art that enchants but artists who do so as well.
This month the work of Chris Hughes is being highlighted at Mocha Mott’s in Vineyard Haven and the work of Edie Yoder at the Chilmark Library.
Artist Billy Hoff isn’t one to dissect his painting process. “I push around paint and see what happens,” he said.
This seems to be an oversimplification of his process, especially considering his painting of Bobby Driscoll, one of the pieces featured in his new show at the A Gallery in Vineyard Haven. Mr. Hoff is sharing the walls with fellow Vineyarder Lily Morris in their joint exhibit entitled Emergence which opened on Sunday.
Up the stairs to Barney Zeitz’s bedroom, light peeks in from the stained glass pieces on the wall, leaving purple and blue shadows on the wood. The railing on the right, welded by Mr. Zeitz, curves alongside the stairs until it meets his and his wife’s bedroom door.
“That’s one of the first windows I actually saved, it was a keeper,” Mr. Zeitz said of the leaded stained glass window in his room, depicting winter trees with a glowing red sun. He made it when he was 22 years old.
Andrea and Jamie Rogers, artists and craftsmen, mother and daughter, are sharing the full menu of life, its joy of strong family and sorrow at the sudden loss two years ago of a husband and dad. They also share artistic achievement. Andrea and her husband Jim moved to the Vineyard in 1986 with their three children. Joseph, who is 22, works for Brookstone Construction and Alisha, who is 24, is in New York city with Lancome beauty products.
