My View of Life on the Dock
A few quiet scenes before the closing reception of the beautiful and thoughtful two person exhibition featuring artists David West and Peter Morse at Jane Deering Gallery. The show closes tomorrow.
Affordable original art by local artists- West’s drawings are $200-$300; Morse’s photos $150
“When you go into the Woods: Dogtown and other treasures of the forest”, a solo exhibition by Vanessa Michalak, opens October 2, 2018 at Jane Deering Gallery Gloucester, Massachusetts. Reception 6-8pm on October 6th.
Read more about the exhibition and the artist from printed matter announcing the show:
“When you go into the Woods,” features oil paintings by Vanessa Michalak highlighting some of Cape Ann’s well known gems. Works depict imagery of a variety of places including Annisquam Village, Lanesville’s Vernon Quarries and Babson’s Dogtown boulders. The exhibition will be on display throughout October at Jane Deering Gallery, Gloucester, MA with and opening reception scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 6th from 6pm-8pm.
The Exhibition, “When You Go Into The Woods” is a reflection of Michalak’s exploration of Cape Ann and her ongoing investigation of the painting process. The works reflect a fascination with a specific place and its hidden treasures. Many of the works are plein air paintings that brought her to the edges of quarries and sent her trekking through Dogtown’s rocky paths. As much as these works pay tribute to a specific place, they also reflect Michalak’s gestural painting style that at times borders on abstraction. Much like her wanderings in the woods, there is a sense that she doesn’t mind getting a little lost in brushwork, layering and mark before finding her destination.
Vanessa Michalak grew up in Maine before moving to Boston where she lived and worked for over a decade. While living in Boston she visited Cape Ann often and eventually moved to Gloucester last year. She received an MFA in painting from Tufts University and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in 2013. Residencies include: Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Snowmass Village, CO; Emerging Artist-in-Residence, Penn State, PA; and Playa, Summer Lake, OR. Michalak’s work was featured in New American Paintings #110 and Fresh Paint Magazine (cover artist 2014). She was selected as a Massachusetts Cultural Council Fellow in Painting in 2014.
Continue reading ““When you go into the Woods” solo art exhibition by Vanessa Michalak opens Oct. 2nd at Jane Deering Gallery”
Just around the corner! Reminder: this year the Massachusetts Cultural Council Gloucester LCC Application deadline is October 15th, 2018.
Here’s a list of 2017 awarded projects. The Gloucester Cultural Council is one of hundreds of Local Cultural Councils across the Commonwealth. The LCC Program supports community-based projects in the arts, sciences and humanities every year. The state legislature provides an annual appropriation to the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC), a state agency, which then allocates funds to each community. The Gloucester Cultural Council guidelines and online applications are available at http://www.mass-culture.org/Gloucester.
Haskell’s House, 316 Main Street, is one of more than 110 homes and vistas in Gloucester, Massachusetts, that inspired artist, Edward Hopper (1882-1967).
Gloucester merchant, public official (city councilor / state representative), and Master Mariner, Melvin Haskell (1848-1933), commissioned the house in 1884.
Hopper and artist, Jo Nivison (1883-1968), were married in 1924. They nicknamed the fancy house high atop the hill the Wedding Cake House. The famous drawing was originally purchased by American master painter, George Bellows (1882-1925), from a sensational Hopper solo exhibition held in the Frank K. M. Rehn Gallery in 1924. The watercolor changed hands and was eventually gifted to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, by Mr. and Mrs. Herbert A. Goldstone in 1996. Hopper depicted the house in two other works, both side views from Prospect street rather than this view from Main Street.
The house was listed for sale at $830,000 throughout the spring and summer of 2018. Landscaping today involved major brush and tree removal. The result will be a scene closer to the one experienced by artists Edward Hopper and Jo Nivison in the 1920s. The scenic locale is a power spot: down the block from the Crow’s Nest and across the street from Gloucester’s Inner Harbor, Beauport Hospitality’s Cruiseport and Seaport Grill venues, Cape Ann Whale Watch, and Gorton’s.
Tree and heavy brush removal underway September 26, 2018, 316 Main Street, Gloucester, Massachusetts, revealing a scenic vista closer to the one that inspired Edward Hopper back in 1924 ©Catherine Ryan
Aymar, Jimmy, Edgar and Pedro were some of the adroit and brave tree climbing removal crew with ALZ Landscaping and Tree Service out of Lynn, Massachusetts. The unwieldy trees grew threateningly high.
short video: Edward Hopper Haskell’s House in Gloucester Mass is easier to view after tree removal Sept 2018 © catherine Ryan
After a successful THERE IS MORE TO SEA I, there will be another on October 5, 2018 – October 7, 2018.
There’s More to Sea II
Friday, October 5, Opening Reception with Artists 6-9 pm
Saturday October 6 – Sunday October 7, 12-6 pm
Gloucester Paint Factory to Benefit Ocean Alliance
Call for Entry:
Receiving: Thursday, October 4, 4-7 pm and Friday, October 5, 12-2pm
Pick up: Sunday October 7, 6-8 pm
Reception: Friday October 5, 6-9 pm
Entry Fee:
– $30 for three pieces.
– Entrants may also submit up to 6 matted and sleeved prints for bin work.
– Entry will be capped when space is filled.
– Entry based on first come, first paid of entry fee.
– Items should be ready to hang.
– Six foot tables are available for artists with table pieces. $30 for full table, $15 for half table. First come, first serve.
Entry Fee payable to Jessica Biker at 7 Morton Place, Gloucester MA
Entry Deadline: September 29
– Please include show entry form with entry fee or by email.
THERE’S MORE TO SEA II – ARTIST ENTRY FORM
NAME
PHONE EMAIL
ADDRESS
Please complete form below for all work. Please provide height and length of hanging pieces (including frame, if applicable).
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Sales:
– All items submitted must be for sale.
– 20% of all sales will go to the Ocean Alliance and Restoration of the Gloucester Paint Factory.
The “There is More to Sea” organizers will take reasonable care in handling and showing exhibitor’s work. The exhibiting artist understands and agrees that all works are exhibited at their own risk. The “There is More to Sea” organizers and Ocean Alliance do not carry insurance for the artwork and do not assume responsibility for any loss, damage, or theft of work during the event. By participating in the show, you agree to the above terms and conditions.
Questions: Jessica Biker – jessicaabiker@gmail.com, Melissa Cox – mcoxward2@gmail.com
David West is originally from Mississippi. He holds an MFA from Louisiana State University with a concentration in printmaking. He is Associate Professor of art at Gordon College, Wenham MA where he is Chair of the Art Department. West is also Co-Founder/Curator of ArtSpace 86 Gallery in Jackson MS. He has exhibited widely in the US. West is now living in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Meet the artist at the closing reception of the September art exhibition: Neither Mustard Nor teeth, photographs by Peter Morse, drawings by David West, at Jane Deering Gallery, 19 Pleasant Street, Gloucester
art exhibition closing soon! Meet the artists at the closing reception Saturday, September 29 5-7pm. Neither Mustard Nor Teeth, photographs by Peter Morse, drawings by David West, Jane Deering Gallery, 19 Pleasant Street, Gloucester
from the exhibition release:
“Neither Mustard nor Teeth, by artists Peter Morse and David West, is an exploration of the everyday discipline of the artist searching to find the extraordinary and the beautiful among the quotidian rhythms of ordinary life.
Morse’s photos call attention to the overlooked. They catch moments of light, pattern, form and structure that might otherwise be sensed only out of the corner of the eye. What is captured in the frame draws us nearer, asks us to pause. While grounded in the ordinary, they leave the viewer with questions about time and place and the seemingly familiar. West’s drawings feature the townscape of Gloucester as seen by a non-native. They are visual handshakes from a Southern alien coming to terms with a new place for the first time. The quiet empty spaces offer little peace; the architectures crowd each other and jostle for attention as they attempt to stay upright.
Both bodies of work are rooted in the act of stopping and looking, the life blood of the artist. Slowing down. Being present in the moment long enough to pay attention and to record. Whether the action is contained in the fraction of a shutter click, or the longer process of drawing, each is a response to the quiet call of objects and moments at hand. The phrase — neither mustard nor teeth — is from the essay, Of Power and Time, by the Massachusetts poet Mary Oliver. Oliver tells of the tensions between the necessity of living in the world with its demands of time and task and energy, all the while striving to see the inherent beauty of it all, to make sense of it through the creative process:
It is six a.m., and I am working. I am absent-minded, reckless, heedless of social obligations, etc. It is as it must be. The tire goes flat, the tooth falls out, there will be a hundred meals without mustard. The poem gets written. I have wrestled with the angel and I am stained with light and I have no shame. Neither do I have guilt. My responsibility is not to the ordinary, or the timely. It does not include mustard, or teeth.
Peter Morse lives in Amesbury, and David West is resident here in Gloucester. Both artists are in need of going to the grocery as well as the dentist.
Peter Morse holds a BA Summa Cum Laude from Gordon College and an MFA in Photography from the University of Hartford, CT. Residencies include Berlin, Germany, New York, NY and Portland OR. He teaches at Gordon College where he is also Manager of the Barrington Center for the Arts and the Gallery. He has exhibited in the US, Germany and Cuba. Morse maintains a studio in Amesbury MA.
David West is originally from Mississippi. He holds an MFA from Louisiana State University with a concentration in printmaking. He is Associate Professor of art at Gordon College, Wenham MA where he is Chair of the Art Department. West is also Co-Founder/Curator of ArtSpace 86 Gallery in Jackson MS. He has exhibited widely in the US. West is now living in Gloucester MA
photo caption: Whalen-Waller Hazmat-Man, 24×24, oil & collage, work included in Experimental Group 9th annual show at ROCKPORT ART ASSOC & MUSEUM
Donna Caselden www.donnacaselden.com shares the press release:
What: Unexpected No. 9 Exhibit
Where: Rockport Art Association & Museum, 12 Main Street, Rockport, MA
When: Sept. 29-October 13, 2018, Reception Sunday Sept 30, 2-4pm
Info: www.experimentalartgroup.com
Rockport Art Association & Museum’s Experimental Group Opens Ninth Show
The Rockport Art Association & Museum’s Experimental Group opens its ninth group exhibition, “Unexpected No. Nine” at Rockport Art Association & Museum, 12 Main Street, Rockport, MA, 978.546.6604. This juried show features artworks of both the RAA&M’s artists and contributing members. Works on view in the exhibition range in medium to include paintings, mixed-media, graphics, sculpture, digital art and photography. The exhibition runs from September 29 through October 13, with an Artist Reception on Sunday, September 30 from 2-4 pm. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Sunday, 1-5 pm or by appointment. Closed Monday.
The Experimental Group is a creative forum, its main mission is to increase public awareness and to foster self-expression by bringing artists together to explore and share ideas that cultivate creative freedom. The EG is encouraged and supported by the Rockport Art Association & Museum.
If you would like more information about the exhibition, would like to schedule an interview and a walk through, or need additional promotional images please contact: Nella Lush, Experimental Group, Chair, 978.886.4582 or via email experimentalgroupraa@gmail.com
The Rockport Art Association & Museum (RAA&M) is one of the oldest and most active art organizations in the country. The Association has a long and distinguished history that has spanned 96 years.
FREE Trails & Sails events throughout Gloucester, Cape Ann and all of Essex County during two upcoming weekends September 21-23 & 28-30, 2018!
Ocean Views Walk from Ravenswood to Rafe’s Chasm Hosted by Cape Ann Trail Stewards
Sustainable Foraging: Wild Food and Medicine by the Sea Hosted by Gloucester’s Magnolia Library & Community Center & Iris Weaver
Step on FISH NET: Gloucester’s Award-winning 300ft Street Art temporary HarborWalk mural Hosted by city of Gloucester
IPSWICH Come Paint with Me Decorative Painting Demonstration, Hosted by Johanne Cassia, American Folk Artist, AnnTiques’ owner. Co-founder of the Woman Owned Businesses Along the Essex Coastal Scenic Byway trail map celebrating street level, local women retailers from Gloucester, Essex, Ipswich and Rowley who share a regional ‘Main Street’ – Route 133/1A, part of the gorgeous 90 mile Essex Coastal Scenic Byway
ANDOVER: Addison Gallery of American Art Gallery Talk: Paul Manship and His Artistic Legacy Manship Artists Residency + Studios (MARS) President Rebecca Reynolds and Addison Gallery Associate Director and Robert M. Walker Curator of Art before 1950, Emerita Susan Faxon will discuss the significant work of Paul Manship, his influential presence in Gloucester, and his connection to the Addison.
Wall facing entrance numbers 1-16
and continued with numbers 17-22
Wall on the right as one enters- numbers 23 – 42
same wall photographed groups of 4
Walls to the left upon entering: 43 – 54 and 55 – 63
Organized by the Friends of the Library committee including Mary Weissblum Smith and the Art Advisory Committee, the (21st) Annual Art Auction on October 3, 2018, will feature 63 participating artists:
Jerry Ackerman, Deborah Aldrich, Melissa Aliberte, Nancy Alimansky, Anita Beloff, Coco Berkman, Linda Lea Bertrand, Sheila Farren Billings, Carol A. Bistrong, Lois Showalter Blankenship, Roy Blankenship, Isabel Brown, Katherine Coakley, Ray Crane, Mary L Crowningshield, David Curtis, Susan W. Daly, Michael DeCosimo, Patricia Doran, Cynthia Dunaway, Phyllis Feld, Susie Field, James Formichella, Grace Frost, N. Hale, Marion Hall, Joy Halsted, Jeanne Havran, Olga Hayes, Sandra Herdman, Deanie Johnson, Pia Juhl, Phyllis J. Kaplan, Susan Kelley, Fred L. Kepler, Barbara Kremer, Mary Jane Lane, Margaret Laurie, Carol Loiacono, Lauren Maher, Mary McCarl, Patricia McCarthy, Roy McCauley, Perry McIntosh, Danny Mears, David Millar, Kate Nordstrom, Christine Pitman, Mary Rhinelander, Richard Roche, Jess Semerano, Emily Strangman, Peter Tysver, Juni Van Dyke, James Watson, Lea Watson, Jeff Weaver, Alyce Wherren, Curtis Wilcox, Jane Wolf, Heidi Caswell Zander, Ann Mechen Ziergiebel
Checklist Numbers 1 to 63: Continue reading “Preview now! LIVE art auction October 3, 2018: local artists annual fundraiser for Gloucester Lyceum & Sawyer Free Public Library”
Gloucester Fisherman’s Memorial
Last chance to see Boustrophedons (“…every other line is flipped, or reversed or mirrored”) group show at Flatrocks Gallery. Exhibition features 8 artists: Joan Benotti, Paul Cary Goldberg, Ann McArdle, Valerie Weigand McCaffrey, Nick Neyeloff, Conny Goetz Schmitt, Linda Lagano Sojda, and Juni VanDyke. The closing Reception and special event is Sunday September 16, 2-4pm
(installation views – the natural light and architecture were in sync today with the show’s theme.)
Fall art walks
September, Newburyport, MA: For the third year, Sinikka Nogelo’s art is featured in the Maudslay State Park annual outdoor sculpture exhibition . Reception and walk through with the artists tomorrow, 2-5pm.
Thru Oct 7, Harvard, MA: Liz Fletcher’s sculpture was selected for the 2018 annual Around the Pond and Through the Woods Outdoor Sculpture at Old Frog Pond Farm, Harvard, Massachusetts. The show closes October 7th. If you time it right you can also attend the annual Plein Air Poetry walk September 16, 2-4pm. I’d love to see a Cape Ann Plein Air Sculpture and Poetry walk, perhaps through Dogtown, TS Eliot, beach, and Cape Ann Museum properties.
Thru Nov 4, Pingree School, S. Hamilton, MA: Look for works by Liz Fletcher, Michael Updike and Bart Stuyf in the ninth annual Flying Horse Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition at Pingree which opened September 1 and continues through November 4, 2018.
Neither Mustard Nor Teeth
photographs by Peter Morse
drawings by David West
September 1-30. Reception September 29, 5-7pm, Jane Deering Gallery, 19 Pleasant Street, Gloucester
from the exhibition release:
“Neither Mustard nor Teeth, by artists Peter Morse and David West, is an exploration of the everyday discipline of the artist searching to find the extraordinary and the beautiful among the quotidian rhythms of ordinary life.
Morse’s photos call attention to the overlooked. They catch moments of light, pattern, form and structure that might otherwise be sensed only out of the corner of the eye. What is captured in the frame draws us nearer, asks us to pause. While grounded in the ordinary, they leave the viewer with questions about time and place and the seemingly familiar. West’s drawings feature the townscape of Gloucester as seen by a non-native. They are visual handshakes from a Southern alien coming to terms with a new place for the first time. The quiet empty spaces offer little peace; the architectures crowd each other and jostle for attention as they attempt to stay upright.
Both bodies of work are rooted in the act of stopping and looking, the life blood of the artist. Slowing down. Being present in the moment long enough to pay attention and to record. Whether the action is contained in the fraction of a shutter click, or the longer process of drawing, each is a response to the quiet call of objects and moments at hand. The phrase — neither mustard nor teeth — is from the essay, Of Power and Time, by the Massachusetts poet Mary Oliver. Oliver tells of the tensions between the necessity of living in the world with its demands of time and task and energy, all the while striving to see the inherent beauty of it all, to make sense of it through the creative process:
It is six a.m., and I am working. I am absent-minded, reckless, heedless of social obligations, etc. It is as it must be. The tire goes flat, the tooth falls out, there will be a hundred meals without mustard. The poem gets written. I have wrestled with the angel and I am stained with light and I have no shame. Neither do I have guilt. My responsibility is not to the ordinary, or the timely. It does not include mustard, or teeth.
Peter Morse lives in Amesbury, and David West is resident here in Gloucester. Both artists are in need of going to the grocery as well as the dentist.
Peter Morse holds a BA Summa Cum Laude from Gordon College and an MFA in Photography from the University of Hartford, CT. Residencies include Berlin, Germany, New York, NY and Portland OR. He teaches at Gordon College where he is also Manager of the Barrington Center for the Arts and the Gallery. He has exhibited in the US, Germany and Cuba. Morse maintains a studio in Amesbury MA.
David West is originally from Mississippi. He holds an MFA from Louisiana State University with a concentration in printmaking. He is Associate Professor of art at Gordon College, Wenham MA where he is Chair of the Art Department. West is also Co-Founder/Curator of ArtSpace 86 Gallery in Jackson MS. He has exhibited widely in the US. West is now living in Gloucester MA
I am once again reaching out to all of our wonderful and supportive members and asking for assistance. This time not for our beach, but for what a lot of us consider part of our “right of passage” – MAGNOLIA PIER. I would ask that you save the date of Friday, September 21st from 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM for a fundraising event to help raise the private contribution portion needed to save Magnolia Pier. Our neighbors at the Manchester Bath and Tennis have offered their facility to host this event. Many artists and community members are donating auction items for the event for our guest auctioneer State Senator Bruce Tarr to auction off. There are also several of our neighbors here in Magnolia and Manchester that have just asked where they can donate to this cause. We are in need of donations, and volunteers to help with the auction as well as volunteers to help set up, park cars, serve food and so on. This is a volunteer intense event. In the days to follow you will receive information about the Save Magnolia Pier website and the link to The Gloucester Fund which will help us with receiving donations 100% of which will go to the pier. You will also be receiving information about the fundraising sail aboard the beautiful Schooner Thomas Lannon, which will be held on Sunday, September 23rd form 11:00 Am to 12:30 PM, If you have some time to volunteer, and item to donate (perhaps a beautiful picture or painting of the pier) please send me a reply. There will be a planning meeting posted for those who can volunteer set up tomorrow. The event will be a great time to socialize with your friends and neighbors and here about the pier project and what is being done. I will have more detailed information to share with you before the week is over. Please send along any questions.
Regards,
Ted
Photo by Donna Ardizzoni
Great article about the new children’s book, Let’s Go: Animal Tracks in the Snow! by Diane Polley illustrated by Marion Hall, an award winning entry in the Cape Ann Reads contest.
Deborah French, Director of Essex’s TOHP Burnham Library says Diane Polley “is an excellent example of a hidden children’s writer that was brought together with Marion Hall, the illustrator, through the Cape Ann Reads initiative to create a wonderful picture book. I’m sure she has more to come for us all to enjoy.”
BOOK LAUNCH CELEBRATION: Saturday, Sept 8 11:30-1:30, Cape Ann Cinema & Stage, 21 Main Street, Gloucester. “This is a free family drop-in event with children’s activities. Meet Diane Polley of Essex, the author and Marion Hall of Manchester, the illustrator, who will be signing copies of their book.”
Visually stunning and original, Let’s Go Animal Tracks in the Snow, is a gentle and clever story and non-fiction picture book that engenders shared experiences. Vivid wintery scenes are intimate and expansive, and beautiful watercolors match and extend the text. Expressions of color notes pop from the pages like finding fresh tracks in new snow. This children’s book is an irresistible inside outside story: snuggle up for a good read and wondrous exploration.
Gloucester Rotary Club Announces Photography Contest
The Gloucester Rotary Club will publish a 12-month Cape Ann photo calendar for 2019 as a fundraiser. All profits will go to the Gloucester Rotary Club’s efforts to raise money that supports the many community and international activities in which the club is involved.
In Order to publish a beautiful calendar, the Club is requesting high quality digital photos that show the unique beauty of Cape Ann throughout the year– landscapes, seascapes, harbor scenes, sunrises/sunsets, boats, wildlife, etc. As we will be featuring one photo per month, we need images from each season: winter, spring, summer and fall. Photographs from Gloucester, Rockport, Essex and Manchester will be accepted.
Full contest rules and requirements are available online at http://www.gloucesterrotary.org. All entries must be received by 12:00 p.m. on Friday, September 21, 2018.
More information about the Rotary Club of Gloucester is available online at http://www.gloucesterrotary.org and http://www.facebook.com/RotaryGloucesterMA .profits will go to the Gloucester Rotary Club’s efforts to raise money that supports the many community and international activities in which the club is involved.
In Order to publish a beautiful calendar, the Club is requesting high quality digital photos that show the unique beauty of Cape Ann throughout the year– landscapes, seascapes, harbor scenes, sunrises/sunsets, boats, wildlife, etc. As we will be featuring one photo per month, we need images from each season: winter, spring, summer and fall. Photographs from Gloucester, Rockport, Essex and Manchester will be accepted.
Full contest rules and requirements are available online at www.gloucesterrotary.org. All entries must be received by 12:00 p.m. on Friday, September 21, 2018.
More information about the Rotary Club of Gloucester is available online at www.gloucesterrotary.org and www.facebook.com/RotaryGloucesterMA
Announcement from the Massachusetts Cultural Council:
“Some good news to share: As the Mass Cultural Council (MCC) allocation was increased this year we are able to provide financial support to all the designated cultural districts for Fiscal Year 2019. Each district is eligible to receive a grant of up to $5,000 based on the submission of a plan of action and budget outlining the use of funds. The use of funds must be in line with the goals of the cultural district initiative…(such as) fees for professional consultants; hiring staff to manage or coordinate district activities; marketing and promotion of district activities and events; and fees connected to new cultural programs. Grant funds cannot be used for capital improvement projects or non-arts related activities…We are very delighted to be able to offer this small investment to support your work.”
Gloucester is eligible to apply for up to $10,000 because the city features two cultural districts: Rocky Neck and downtown. The application will be LIVE this week, due October, and awarded December.
3rd Annual Phyllis A Marine Association Art Show and Sale 
Good Morning Gloucester 