Good Morning Gloucester

It looked like the remains of the filming of a heist film when we visited the Paint Factory recently. You never know what you will find. I love Gloucester.

The Rocky Neck Art Colony is pleased to announce that Gallery 53, at 53 Rocky Neck Avenue, is opening its doors for the season on Friday, May 28. The gallery was last open in 2019. Gallery 53 is open daily, May 28 to June 30: Mon-Thu, 11am to 3pm, Fri-Sat 11-7, Sun 10-6;

For more summer hours see below. The gallery kicks off the season with a Gloucester-appropriate themed show: FISH. In this multimedia exhibit, many talented G53 members interpret these aquatic gill-bearing animals with whimsy, realism and humor.

In addition, Gallery 53 welcomes four talented new members this year:

• Mixed Media artist, Joan Benotti blends the actual with the abstract in mixed media pieces that integrate memory and story with pattern and place. Born in Boston, Benotti lived on the Bahamian Island of Eleuthera and more recently in South Africa. She now resides on Boston’s North Shore. She studied painting at the Rhode Island School of Design and printmaking at Montserrat College and received a grant from the Massachusetts State Council on the Arts in printmaking. Benotti was a founding member of the Bromfield Gallery, a Boston based artists’ cooperative, and an associate member of the Kingston Gallery in Boston’s SOWA district.  http://www.joanbenotti.com/
• Painter Paula Morgan is primarily drawn to color and light situations. She often depicts colorful and calming landscape, dynamic still lifes and marine compositions in juicy, loose strokes. Paula mainly works in oil with an alla prima style and is most influenced by impressionist as well as post impressionist art work. With discovery of the daily painter movement, Paula has ignited a disciplined approach to her art and has been refining her creative focus. http://www.paulammorgan.com/
• Weaver Fran Osten is inspired by the New England landscape and the ever-changing ocean cove immediately outside her studio. She works on multi-shaft looms, including a computerized dobby loom that allows her to escape the orthogonal grid on which much traditional weaving is based. Color and a sense of movement are important to her designs. Using primarily silk, cotton and Tencel yarns, which are hand-dyed, she creates wearables and other handwoven pieces that display great depth and richness.  Each piece is one of a kind. https://www.danforthweavers.com/
• Ceramic artist Diane Slezak’s pottery reflects the shapes and textures of the natural world and highlights the organic qualities of the clay. Depictions of flora and fauna are a reminder of their importance to the beauty and environmental balance in our world. Working mostly in thrown, functional stoneware, the clay surface becomes her blank canvas to carve, pierce, impress and create tactile quality. Multiple glazing techniques enrich her work. Slezak remarks “Taking a lump of clay from mud consistency to a durable, fired work of art is very satisfying. Enhancing my work with designs that reflect my respect for the world around me is essential.” https://www.covetocoastpottery.com/

Images and Captions:

Through the mysterious alchemy of glass, Ellen Garvey successfully fashions a fish that looks like water itself. 

Jeweler Katherine Bagley fuses metals in her earrings,  creating brass fish on an oxidized sterling silver background.

Boatbuilder Richard Honan’s driftwood assemblage, Do Fish Have Lips?, displays a marvel of craftsmanship.

About Gallery 53

A Fine Art and Craft Gallery, Gallery 53 is housed in a historic 19th century building on the water at 53 Rocky Neck Avenue. In addition to providing a place for talented Art Colony members to exhibit, the gallery provides the community with thought-provoking rotating exhibits and a place to purchase unique local art in a variety of price ranges. Paintings, jewelry, pottery, wood, glass, mixed media, hand-pulled prints, and photography are thoughtfully displayed in the gallery with new artists and media added each year.

Gallery 53 is open daily, May 28 to June 30: Mon-Thu, 11am to 3pm, Fri-Sat 11-7, Sun 10-6;

July 1 to Sept. 6: Mon-Wed 10-6, Thu 10-8; Sat 11-7, Sun 10-6;

Sept. 7 to Oct. 11: Mon-Thu, 11am to 3pm, F-SAT 11-7, Sun 10-6.

For more information call 978-515-7004 or visit rockyneckartcolony.org. See Gallery 53 on Rocky Neck on Facebook and Instagram. For more information about Gallery 53 call 978-515-or visit rockyneckartcolony.org/gallery53.

About the Rocky Neck Art Colony

The Rocky Neck Art Colony, a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization, nurtures excellence in the arts through exhibitions, workshops, residencies and vibrant cultural events for its members and the public. Long renowned for its luminous light, this harbor and coastal location has been a magnet for some of the most revered realist paintings in American art and a catalyst for the progressive ideas of artists such as Stuart Davis, Marsden Hartley, Milton Avery, and Nell Blaine, among many others. Today Rocky Neck continues to attract artists and art lovers to a thriving creative community. For more information about the Rocky Neck Art Colony visit rockyneckartcolony.org or call 978-515-7004.

Photo Jackie Bennett

Unicorn sky….

Donna will be joining us remotely fresh out of open heart surgery!

Gary Dubinsky Submits:

We went to Jalapeños on Main Street for dinner recently. It’s always so nice to go to a place where you are greeted warmly and treated like family. It was a joyous feeling to sit at the bar (distanced) for dinner and drinks. We often run into friends ( hello Mark and Kara) and it’s just relaxed and fun. Thanks for another great dinner, Jalapeños. I had a burrito and Jim had flautas. Chips and salsa are back! We’ll be back soon.

Brian referenced in the letter is Brian Tarr on of my dad’s best buddies. Brian was a Bentley grad and wrote a letter of recommendation for me. They both mercilessly busted each others balls, similar to how my friends and I interact. I was 19 when I typed this letter out and stuck it in the mailbox, my dad was 44, nine years younger than I am as I compose this blog post.

DeNucci referenced in the letter is Alex Denucci, son of Joe DeNucci State Auditor Joe DeNucci.

From Joe DeNucci’s obituary-

Joe DeNucci died on September 8, 2017 from complications related to Alzheimer’s disease

Joe grew up in Newton (Nonantum) Mass. He graduated Newton High School when as a junior he stated his professional boxing career. Joe was a top ranked contender and has the distinction of having the most boxing matches in the history of the Boston Garden. He was inducted to the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in Chicago. After his boxing career ended, he was elected in 1977 to the Massachusetts House of Representatives where he served as Chairman of Human Services and Elderly Affairs. Joe was then elected State Auditor in 1986 and was the longest-serving Auditor in the Commonwealth’s history where he served 24 years before retiring in 2011. 

My Dad Libby passed March 21, 2017, just months apart. two strong Italian men.

Anyway here’s the letter I wrote my dad from my college dorm room in Oak Hall, Bentley College.