Flatrocks Gallery presents
Summer Drift
Summertime holds a special place in our memories, when as children we had the time to drink in our world and make imagined adventures come to life. Flatrocks Gallery’s new show, Summer Drift, is a collection of work evoking those days, featuring oil paintings by Sara Egan and Frances Hamilton, and sculpture and drawings by Kyle Browne.
Sara Egan is best known for her public art. Her large scale installations – bold multi-media abstractions inspired by poetry or purely formal considerations – can be seen throughout Boston. To Flatrocks Gallery Sara brings her most recent work, which uses her home in Annisquam as her muse. These oil paintings are a departure from her large scale work. They tell warm, intimate stories, day dreams into which the viewer is welcomed. Her colors are vibrant, and her brush strokes are drenched in sunlight. Egan uses a quote by Gaston Bachelard from The Poetics of Space to describe her work: “We comfort ourselves by reliving memories of protection. Something closed must retain our memories, while leaving them their original value as images. Memories of the outside world will never have the same tonality as those of home and, by recalling these memories, we add to our store of dreams.”
Frances Hamilton’s paintings and collage have been exhibited throughout New England for over 25 years and are widely held in private and corporate collections. With this series of paintings of the old Brynmere Hotel in Annisquam and a cabin on Squam Lake, Hamilton invites us into places full of emotional echoes, where visual archeology of past and present offers rich material for contemplation. By using her command of color and light Hamilton “has explored layered memories of summer… to examine and embrace the passage of time and the preservation of family identity which animates the empty rooms.” These are paintings that stay with you, with subtle details that invite the viewer to find new paths into each work. In addition Hamilton offers her Toy Boat monotype series. These are playful, deceptively simple images that are guaranteed to make you smile.
Kyle Browne returns to Flatrocks with new work from her ongoing exploration of the “consciousness of place.” Browne is essentially an environmental artist, primarily doing site specific sculptures and graphite drawings using natural material. She offers a series of boats made from cork tree needles from the Arnold Arboretum, where she has recently had a solo show. Browne states, “This idea of using a boat for a symbolic journey is a recurring theme in my work, and I want to continue to push this idea through these imaginative explorations of site, nature and material…… travel, navigation, shape, the implications of childhood and nostalgia. A boat to me is freedom. The boat becomes a means of escape as well as a vessel to travel through time among the waves of the unconscious.” Browne also offers, from her investigations in Franklin Park Zoo, prints of charcoal drawings titled The Consciousness of Bear Cages. This series, which eventually morphed into an short animation, speaks to our collective memory using bold and dramatic marks to tell the story.
Summer Drift runs from July 14th – August 14th.
There will be a reception for the artists Saturday, July 16th 6-8pm.
77 Langsford St. Gloucester, MA
(978)-879-4683 Open Thu-Sun noon to 5pm.
Historic Middle Street Walking Tours at the Cape Ann Museum
History and Culture while you walk.
The Cape Ann Museum is pleased to present its Historic Middle Street walking tour on Saturday, June 16th. Middle Street represents an ever-evolving neighborhood packed with four centuries of social, economic, and architectural history.
All tours begin at 10:00a.m. in front of the Cape Ann Museum. Guided walking tours are held rain or shine and last about 1½ hours; participants should be comfortable being on their feet for that amount of time. $10 Museum members; $20 nonmembers (includes Museum admission). Space is limited; reservations required. Call (978)283-0455 x10 email info@capeannmuseum.org for details. Tickets can also be purchased online at Eventbrite.
Not a member of the Museum? Join now and get discounted tickets to all our events!
Did you know that a resident of Middle Street, Gloucester, saved the town from a British attack by sea during the Revolution? Or that a leading feminist and religious free thinker lived halfway down Middle Street? Or that the 1764 Saunders House that forms part of the Sawyer Free Library has undergone at least three radical architectural changes including a massive Victorian tower? Four centuries of Gloucester’s social, economic, and architectural history are packed into this one short street in the heart of downtown Gloucester. Join us for a docent-led tour of an ever-evolving neighborhood where you will see surviving evidence of the past and will learn about structures and people now gone.
Upcoming Middle Street Tour Dates: Saturday, July 16 and Saturday, August 20
Grand Fatilla returns to Rocky Neck!
Saturday, July 16 2016, 7:00 to 9:30 PM
The Cultural Center at Rocky Neck,
6 Wonson St Gloucester MA 01930
COST: $25 / $20 for Rocky Neck Art Colony members
“The Grand Fatilla experience has been described as a magic carpet that carries listeners to both known and unknown places, and is delivered by a collective of virtuoso players whose wide-ranging approach to world music defies convention. Sharing a love of gypsy-infused, cross-cultural folk music, Club d’Elf bassist Mike Rivard, electric mandolinist Matt Glover and accordionist Roberto Cassan joined with percussionist and singer Fabio Pirozzolo in 2008, and Grand Fatilla was born. The band has built a considerable following that is notable for its varied ethnic make-up, with audience members drawn to the music’s infectious drive and authenticity. The group journeys from Argentine Tangos to Italian Tarantellas, from Turkish sacred Sufi songs to Irish reels, Moroccan trance to Bulgarian dance music, all showcasing intricate arrangements and improvisational interplay.
The band’s debut CD, Global Shuffle, garnered a 4 star Downbeat Magazine review, with the Midwest Record calling it “Spirited, high octane stuff that’s loaded with gleeful abandon as it takes you around the world in a song, this is the real sound of global party music”. In this age of heightened global consciousness, Grand Fatilla’s repertoire pays homage to the idea that ours is indeed One World, and the music of diverse cultures transcends boundaries and enriches us all.
Artist Demonstrations on Rocky Neck ~ Saturdays 1-3
Trish Conant Demonstrates
Making Jewelry from Precious Metal Clay
SAT, July 16, 1-3pm
Gallery 53 on Rocky Neck
53 Rocky Neck Avenue, Gloucester, MA 01930
Gallery hours, Sun – Thurs 10:00 AM-6:00 PM, Fri and Sat 10:00AM – 8:00 PM
Gallery 53 on Rocky Neck is sponsoring a series of artist demonstrations for the 2016 season. On Saturday, July 16th jeweler Trish Conant demonstrates texturing techniques and explorations in wet, dry and fired pieces of precious metal clay. Conant is a special education teacher with a passion for creating. She has been making jewelry for over 15 years and began using precious metal clay in 2004 when she purchased her first kiln. From the moment the clay touched her hands she was hooked. Her focus in on uncomplicated designs, finding beauty in simple shapes and organic textures without compromising purity of form. In addition to the Rocky Neck Art Colony, Conant is a member of several Maine craft groups including Designing Women, The Society of Southern Maine Craftsmen and The United Maine Craftsmen.
For more information call Gallery 53 at 978-282-0917.
Good Morning Gloucester 
Thanks James a nice post and rundown of events! 🙂 Dave & Kim 🙂
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