An extraordinary event took place this evening on the Back Shore. A ribbon was cut by Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken to commemorate  the successful public campaign by the citizen organization, Save our Shores Gloucester, to raise $100,000 to purchase and protect 4 lots at 166-178 Atlantic Road from development.The land will will be protected in perpetuity by a conservation easement.

Thank you to Save Our Shores Gloucester from a grateful community, our children and our grandchildren.

Save Our Shores Gloucester (SOSG)

Roger Armstrong

Hazel Hewitt

Marty Del Vecchio

Dave Manley

Mark and Pam Poulin

Barbara Silberman

Estae sale

Happy Connecting. Sent from my Sprint Samsung Galaxy S® 5

The Rabbit and I are rolling out on our last adventure of the year.

Have fun kids.

Rabbit rocking the duck face like a 16 year old girl.

Flatrocks Gallery’s new show
“Chromatic, Exploring the Language of Color”

Artist Reception
Saturday, May 7th from 6-8pm.

Nate Longcope-Untitled 3

Sandra Douglas-Cascades

Stephen Bates-Imposition of Order

Sandra Douglas’ acrylic paintings are vibrant intuitive works. She explains “Art in the highest sense is beyond explanation. It can only be felt. Therefore, any attempt to explain it on a rational level falls far short of its reality. Color as an expression of light surpasses the gross material of paint. After one develops methods of working with color, the work becomes integrated and the fun begins. The paintings start to flow and the artist becomes a channel. Whatever the springboard, the piece takes on its own persona. When light is truly created by color, an emanation of energy extends from the painting – its soul.”

Sandra received a degree in History of Art from Wellesley Collge and was the head of the Visual Arts department  at Pingree School for many years. She then conducted private workshops and developed her own work. She studied with Don Stone in Rockport and with George Demetrios in Gloucester. She also studied painting, printmaking and design at Montserrat College of Art. As an abstract painter, she trained with Paul Scott and Sam Feinstein – both students of Hans Hofmann.

Nate Longcope describes his paintings as “ still frames from an abstract animation, each one with a deep meditation on form and juxtaposition. The line drawings and painted colored swaths within layers of clear resin create a depth of field that cast shadows that move as the viewer moves. These layers of color and resin are like layers of acetone in cell animation, a comic abstraction, creating form and narrative in the minds eye.” He earned his BFA at the San Francisco Art Institute. There he studied film, collage, and animation. Nate’s  specialization in video installations, led him to working at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, and the PS.1 Contemporary Art Museum, and Museum of Modern Art in NYC.

Stephen Bates works are essentially collage, using watercolor, acrylic, paper, thin wood and wire, full of energy and movement. “I am a professional musician, and I want to  bring my musical experience into my painting. Music progresses in time and an explosive event may be followed in an instant by something quiet and delicate. If I  bring musical ideas into the realm of painting, those different qualities are brought together in visual form which is seen instantaneously.” Bates’ career as a clarinetist for the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra spanned from 1973 to 2009. During this time he continued to make his unique painting/sculptures and exhibited extensively in the Washington DC area. He now teaches at Ten Pound Island Studios. Stephen will perform three pieces of Igor Stravinsky for clarinet and speak about the relationship of his music and art in the gallery on Sunday May 22nd from 5-6pm.

Flatrocks Gallery, 77 Langsford St., Gloucester MA. 978-879-4683
open Thurs. – Sunday 12-5pm

Genealogy Workshop at the Manchester Historical Museum
Saturday, May 7 (10:30am-noon)

WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?
Come learn how to start researching your family background at this beginner workshop.

Heather Wilkinson Rojo has been doing family history research for 40 years. She started before she was old enough to drive, riding her bicycle to the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, Massachusetts, to research her family tree. She has been blogging about genealogy at the “Nutfield Genealogy” blog since 2009, and has won several awards including the Family Tree Magazine Top 40 Genealogy blogs in 2011 and 2013. She is a member of the New England Historic Genealogical Society, the Massachusetts and New Hampshire Societies of Genealogists, The National Genealogical Society, The New Hampshire Historical Society, and the Mayflower Society.

Topics will include:

• Charts and Forms
• Recording Names and Data
• Julian vs. Georgian Calendar
• Primary vs. Secondary Resources
• Vital Records
• Immigration Records
• Gravestones
• Census Records
• Common Mistakes and Errors
• Other Resources (Ancestry, Family Search, etc…)

 $10 members/ $15 nonmembers
Seats are very limited – preregistration required
call 978-526-7230 or email
info@manchesterhistoricalmuseum.org

Be like these GMG Readers and get your pictures up on GMG.

Gloucester Writers Center Fish Tales is looking for storytellers for the upcoming show on Friday, May 13^th, 7:30 PM at the Rocky Neck Cultural Center.

This is an All Women Line Up. The only requirement is that you have to be female.

Fish Tales Storyteller Guidelines

• Stories should be true and from the personal experience of the storyteller.
• Stories must be stories, not personal narratives about a subject/theme.
• Stories are most effective if told without reading a script. If this seems difficult, make an outline and tell the story to the mirror a few times, then try it without the outline. Experience tells us that a story that is told and not read has greater lasting power.
• Stories must be five minutes. Keep an eye on the time keeper who will signal when you are approaching the end of your time. In some venues we only have 1 hour for the show so your help is appreciated in keeping to the 5 minute limit.
• Storytellers who are far over the 5 minute timeline will not be included in the final cut of our film that appears on Cape Ann TV and posted on the GWC website.
• Arrive at the venue ten minutes before the start time to find out where you are in the line-up and to get comfortable.
• See also http://themoth.org/tell-a-story/storytelling-tips
• To see a sample show: http://gloucesterwriters.org/fish-tales-rockn-roll/

Please get in touch with Maureen Aylward (maureenaylward@comcast.net) if you have a story to tell.

Hey Joey,

The Open Door Empty Bowl Dinner is right around the corner on Thursday, May 12, from 4 to 8 p.m. at Cruiseport Gloucester. Can you let GMG readers know that they are invited to join us for an evening of food and hospitality?

The meal is simple—soup, bread and a cookie. Guests can choose and keep a soup bowl handcrafted for this community event. The bowl goes home as an unspoken reminder that somewhere someone’s bowl is empty.

Extra parking is available at Harbor Beach with complimentary trolley service to and from the event site. Tickets available at the door. $15 for adults and $10 for children under ten.

Empty Bowl events are held nationally to generate awareness concerning hunger and to raise money for local hunger-relief programs. Proceeds from this event will benefit the Summer Meals and Mobile Market programs.

Cheers!

Julie

Sneak Peek at some Silent Auction Bowls:

Platter painted by Cape Ann artist, Ken Knowles; available in the Silent Auction.

Bowl painted by painted by Cape Ann artist, Kevin Ellis; available in the Silent Auction

Bowl painted by painted by Cape Ann artist, Joy Buell; available in the Silent Auction