Good Morning Gloucester

We were visited by a hawk during a recent cemetery stroll, which is supposed to indicate imminent enlightenment of some sort. And, in this case, it certainly held true. I was contacted by Joanne Riley, team member of a public history project at UMass researching the Boston Police strike of 1919.They had found some evidence that james Conway, one of the people on my Ancestry tree, had been one of the striking Boston police officers in September 1919. They were seeking additional information about him.

It got me thinking about how Gloucester might have been affected by this strike and I found that Gloucester and Rockport sent troops to Boston to help; Company K, L and M of the Rockport and Gloucester State Guardsmen as noted here from the Gloucester Daily Times Sept 11 1919:

I learned this strike helped get Calvin Coolidge elected President based partly on the manner in which he dealt with the strikers as Governor of Massachusetts. From Gloucester Daily Times Sept 25 1919:

And, more than anything, it made me look a little closer at James Conway who did indeed lose his job as a policeman but census records indicate he was able to find other employment fairly quickly. His police duty card sent along by the research team. It’s been an interesting exercise researching this historical event and its impact locally.

The Cape Ann Artisans are preparing to welcome hundreds of visitors and community members to their studios for the Spring Open Studios Tour – Saturday and Sunday, June 1-2 during the hours 10AM-5PM.   There will be 15 unique studios locations and 17 artists sharing works from across the fine art and craft spectrum – pottery, painting, sculpture, photography, mixed media, mosaics, prints, textiles, and jewelry, and accessories created in diverse materials –  clay, glass, silk, metals, fibers, yarns, sea glass and more.

The Artisans, who have been juried into this tour over time, are among the most established makers on Cape Ann and are active throughout the arts community.  But this is a unique opportunity to go directly into the artists’ sphere, see the tools of their artistic genre, and hear their stories.   The tour is self-guided and takes place in Gloucester and Rockport and all studio locations and details are found on the printed brochures available in April and online throughout the year at www.capeannartisans.com.

The members of this group maintain high standards for themselves and taking a look at the activities of some of the members – just in this past year – demonstrates how each is continually raising the bar for their work and their recognition outside of Cape Ann.  Cynthia Curtis, Rob Diebboll, Jacqueline Ganim-DeFalco, Pamela Stratton, and Beth Williams have raised the bar for themselves and the group at large with their activities regionally and nationally as detailed in their “From the Studio” blogs.   The Artisans are also pleased to welcome its newest member, Deb Schradieck, a watercolor and oil painter, who now makes Rockport her full time home base.   In Deb’s recent blog post, she highlights the newest lineup of work inspired by the beautiful “front doors” of Rockport homes.

Here are some highlights from artists who have shared their off-season journeys.

Cynthia Curtis, ceramic artist, hit all the big numbers this year!  It’s her 25th year in business, and 15^th year on the Cape Ann Artisans Tour – after starting in Beverly at the Barn Workshop and Ocumulgee Pottery – Rockport has been her home base.  Quite appropriately, she was invited to be part of the Museum of Fine Arts “Art in Bloom” exhibit and sale – a highly coveted spot – just one of twelve invited artists in an event that attracts and  audience of over 20,000 visitors each Spring.

Pamela Stratton, mosaic artist, has taken her mosaics to new levels – all the way down to the smallest output, she is now making exquisite mosaic jewelry.  At the same time, she has raised the bar entering and being juried into the American Mosaic Society’s Annual Conference with her piece “Concentric” which was celebrated in Nashville, TN this past April.   Pam has also added 3D mosaics to her next wave of work – having hosted a class at her studio over the winter.

Rob Diebboll, oil painter, has added Cambridge Art Association, a solo show at the Sawyer Free Library, and an invitation to show at the Jessica Hagen Fine Art Gallery in Newport, RI to his list of game changers in the past year.  These showings have generated many new commissions and exposure throughout the region.

Beth Williams, glass and bead maker, was accepted as one of a select group of presenters at the prestigious International Society of Glass Beadmakers annual conference in Las Vegas this past March.   Beth took on an entirely new technique using colored pencils combined with a rekindling of her metalwork in order to fully engage the more senior members and newer members of the society in raising the bar for their work.  She had 90% of the attendees at her talk and received overwhelming feedback about how she inspired the other artists at the show.

Together with the Wearable Art Group she founded in 2006, Jacqueline Ganim-DeFalco, sea glass jeweler, designed and hosted a Spring Wearable Art Fashion Marketplace event as part of Massachusetts Art Week this past April.   Fellow Artisans Marcie Rae and Beth Williams were among the exhibitors.  Jacqueline continually refers back to her interest in fashion and “accessorizing” as her inspiration to move her creativity from the closet to the studio making her one-of-a-kind sea glass hair accessories and jewelry.

Both individually and as a group, the Artisans have worked hard to maintain a prestigious spot on the artistic map on Cape Ann.  The Tour itself becomes a motivator to re-think, re-tool, and reach out to share the process and the work with the community that has inspired it!  As an organization, the Artisans are members of the Cape Ann Chamber, seARTS, the North of Boston CVB, American Craft Week, and Discover Gloucester.  CAA has also enjoyed sponsorship from many local business partners who can be found on the brochure.

The 2019 Cape Ann Artisans include these artists with several sharing studios:

David Archibald

Cynthia Curtis

Rob Diebboll*

Jacqueline Ganim-DeFalco

Deborah Gonet

Andy Matlow

Anni Melançon

Sinikka Nogelo*

Marcie Rae

Margaret Rack

Mi Robertson

Deb Schradieck

Pam Stratton

Twin Lights Studio: Erin O’Sullivan & Scott Place

Beth Williams

Sara Wright

*Sinikka Nogelo is temporarily sharing space at Rob Diebboll’s studio.

Here’s a re-cap:

What:  The Cape Ann Artisans open studio, self-guided tour of 15 studios

Where: Gloucester and Rockport, MA.

When:   June 1-2 .  Save the date – Fall Tour: October 12-14.   All Days: 10-5

Special Events: Check website for updates or join email list at www.capeannartisans.com

If you are lucky enough to see eagles and spend time watching them, you are lucky enough. This eagle family resides on the Susquehanna River a short distance from our New York home. We have watched them raise previous families and this was our first time to observe a little bit about this year’s family. We watched as they guarded and tended to the HUGE nest. We could hear eaglet cries, but saw none (so far).  We heard one call out for the other and watched in awe as the mate responded. I have not yet been fortunate enough to see eagles this close in Gloucester but I am lucky enough to have them nearby in New York. They are simply amazing and breathtakingly majestic.

I think this might be the female monitoring the nest from a distance.

Here  you can see both partners guarding nest. Lower right of nest for one, upper left for the other.

Dad coming in to check things out.

Calling for mate. I suspect it sounds like this to Jim’s ears when I call out for him.