The imagery in Claire’s paintings uses life events, emotions and states of awareness as inspirations. This awareness comes from an internal truth or a deep connection to the natural world. Color has an emotional resonance that is often the starting point of a painting. Her figures and landscapes exist in symbolic settings, painted from both memory and life. Some juxtapose opposing sensations like joy and suffering, or love and anguish. In other works, she explores a specific feeling or physical experience. Recurring themes are renewal, journeys, the female body, relationships, and the spiritual power of Nature.
About the artist
Claire Wyzenbeek holds a BFA from Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and a Diploma (Painting and Art History) from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Massachusetts. She maintains a studio in Gloucester on Cape Ann, Massachusetts. Wyzenbeek teaches art at Yes Art Space in Beverly, Massachusetts. Her work has been exhibited in numerous shows regionally and nationally. Follow her at clairewyzenbeek.com and on Instagram @claire_skylark.
Spread The GMG Love By Sharing With These Buttons:
People continue to share photographs of Byron Brooks oil paintings since a request back in 2016. Some images show paintings that were bought directly from the artist at his gallery in East Gloucester. Others were passed down through a family for generations. Still others were discovered at auction or estate sales across the country. One turned up in Arizona.
People google the artist and find their way to Good Morning Gloucester in search of biographical information. As more and more people share snapshots, a fuller picture of the artist and favorite motifs began to emerge. For instance, because of new additions from one collector, it’s clear that Brooks painted favorite scenes beyond Gloucester, “greater Cape Ann”, and in all seasons. Besides photographs, GMG readers have expressed memories of the artist, as well as Gloucester and relevant neighborhoods at the time he was active here. These contributions help us to have a better understanding of what it was like to visit his home studio gallery and learn more about him as a person.
selection snapshots from new contributions:
Byron Brooks, Lobster Boat, Rockport, private collection, courtesy photoByron Brooks, Harvey House, West Gloucester, oil on canvas, circa 1960s, private collection, courtesy photo
The South Shore Art Center press release for September/October 2020 exhibition:
From North Shore to South Shore…Gloucester Comes to Cohasset
Featuring three artists: COCO BERKMAN, PIA JUHL, JUNI VANDYKE
Cape Ann artist printmaker Coco Berkman creates images that delight her and hopefully others through the process of linoleum printmaking. Inspired by literature, the natural world, and the free play inherent in drawing, Berkman uses sharp Japanese tools to carve images into sheets of linoleum and then prints them one color at a time over several months to complete an edition. A member of the Boston Printmakers, Berkman’s work is represented by 13 Forest Galleryin Arlington and The Square Circle Gallery in Rockport.
Pia Juhl, is well known for her light filled paintings depicting quarries and giant rock formations indigenous to her surroundings. She has had numerous exhibitions in Europe and on Cape Ann including Jane Deering Gallery.
Juni VanDyke will exhibit paintings related to her connection with Gloucester. “The Cape Ann landscape is a subliminal force directing my art and tethering me to a love of color and the infinite configurations of abstraction. Traveling to my work in Gloucester, I cross over the elevated Annisquam Bridge where below the sea is an ever changing miracle of patterns and light holding promise for later.” VanDyke’s work is held in the permanent collection of Cape Ann Museum. Her work is represented by Jane Deering Gallery, and throughout the US by Room and Board, Inc.
The gallery is opening with limited hours beginning Saturday June 13th, and in celebration of re-opening, is offering a special price on each of the fourteen charming and evocative framed images from The journey … then and now. All of these works can be viewed by clicking on the link below.
The first thing I noticed upon rediscovering these drawings made in Italy nearly thirty years ago is how related they appear to be to my current work. These small drawings, reprinted and overlaid with color were my response to a foreign landscape that had excited and animated my attention. As I traveled without camera throughout Italian villages, hillsides, canals, and cities, drawing was my way of preserving memory. Today, I use drawing more as an abstract element for pictorial balance. But the affinity I had for color those many years ago remains steadfast, reminding me that color is the driving force that continues to define my work. Wit the ebb and flow of time my work has evolved in ways that I would not have imagined thirty years ago. Still, the element of color is constant allowing for surprise and recognition.
Juni Van Dyke, 2020
Spread The GMG Love By Sharing With These Buttons:
Halibut Point Restaurant & Bar closing this special eatery for happy news: after nearly 4 decades serving good food, drink and times– featuring legit prints, photography and art on display, and a beautiful outdoor patio in season– owner Dennis Flavin will serve his muse and time with his family.
289 Main Street, Gloucester, MA- historic Howard Blackburn brick building, business, and liquor license
streetscape, west end Main Street, Gloucester Mass, Jon Sarkin Fish City Studios 2017
PRESS RELEASE from The Arts Council of Princeton:
Three Individuals Who Became Artists By Chance to be the Focus of “Inside Out…When Worlds Collide” An Exhibition at the Arts Council of Princeton January 4 through February 22
Princeton, NJ – The Arts Council of Princeton will present “Inside Out…When Worlds Collide,” an exhibition of works by three individuals who became artists by chance. The exhibit will be on display in the Arts Council’s Taplin Gallery, from January 4 through February 22, 2020. (website here)
Join us on Saturday, January 4 from 2-3PM when the three artists will be creating works of art while the public can watch prior to the Opening Reception to be held from 3-5PM.
Becoming an artist was not the initial intention for Jon Sarkin, Jennifer Levine, or Kenneth Lewis Sr. Through distinct circumstances, art and the need to create became the driving force in their lives. Despite receiving no formal training, these artists are consumed in the process. Their work conveys joy and frustration and questions life on the canvas. It is out of the ordinary, provocative, imaginative, and even obsessive-compulsive.
According to co-curators Ruthann Taylor and Colette Royal, “The show addresses the power of self-taught artistic talent and the drive of the human spirit to create.”
Meet These Extraordinary Artists
Jon Sarkin, of Gloucester, MA, was working as a chiropractor when he suffered a massive stroke one hot day in 1988. He felt a throbbing, excruciating pain in his head and heard a ringing in his ears. After surgery, his brain began to swell and bleed. When Sarkin woke up, he was a completely different man. After the critical phase of the stroke passed, Sarkin began to have a ferocious need to draw and paint. The stroke, says Sarkin, “made art my top priority in life. It made it more important than just about anything.” Sarkin is the subject of the book Shadows Bright as Glass, which traces his journey from doctor to manically-compulsive artist. website here:https://www.jsarkin.com/
Jennifer Levine, of Montclair, NJ, started painting at age 40 when she was going through a divorce. “I had no experience, but needed something to hold onto as I faced the ordeal. I read Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way and it led me through a process that ultimately changed my life in the most profound and wonderful way. Through drawing and painting, I was able to unearth the depth of my being and find a way to express myself that served others,” says Levine. “Now I paint because I love the process – the feel of the paints and the brush on the canvas. I love the unknown magical alchemy of going from nothing to something. I like discovering the images that appear on the canvas I like how people react and get nurtured or informed or uplifted by the pieces.”
Kenneth J. Lewis, Sr., of Trenton, NJ, is a self-instructed artist who began painting on canvas at the unusual age of 47 years. Kenneth has a spiritual relationship and deep sensitivity for what he produces. On New Year’s Day 2008, Kenneth painted his first piece; he called it “Contemplation”. It was an inner reflective painting as he sat home contemplating his future after 24 years of marriage. He quickly learned he had a very raw and latent gift that could no longer be held back. Lewis painted more as a hobby from 2008 until the death of his mother in 2012. His mother could draw, yet she never attempted to embrace or further explore her talent. He knew that he had to create, not only for himself, but also for his late mother, and for generations that follow. Since that time Lewis has created enormous collections of work. To date he has hosted/curated over 30 group shows, 22 solo shows, and participated in many group shows. He is the curator for Starbucks Trenton.
About the Arts Council of Princeton
The Arts Council of Princeton is located in the Paul Robeson Center for the Arts, 102 Witherspoon Street in Princeton, NJ. For more information, please visit artscouncilofprinceton.org or call (609) 924-8777.
The Arts Council of Princeton, founded in 1967, fulfills its mission of Building Community through the Arts by presenting a wide range of programs including community arts outreach, exhibitions, performances, free community cultural events, and studio-based classes and workshops in a wide range of media. Housed in the landmark Paul Robeson Center for the Arts, Arts Council of Princeton programs are designed to be high-quality, engaging, affordable and accessible for the diverse population of the greater Princeton region. Visit artscouncilofprinceton.org for more information.
*The press release included two photos of Jennifer Levine and Kenneth Lewis works.
Spread The GMG Love By Sharing With These Buttons:
Fifty small painted drawings bathed in the spectral light of blue, evoking a state of memory and flashback, impression and recall. What the mind stores, the dream rouses. Paul Neily’s charmed drawings document his memory of the streets and lanes, houses and rooftops of Gloucester, a city that is changing. There’s a sense of nostalgia to Neily’s recollections but no sentimentality. Neily’s reminiscence echos his reflection of a city real and beloved. Also on view will be a selection of Paul Neily’s unique furniture pieces. His platinum furniture pieces were influenced by the work of Carl Jung.
Paul Neily — painter, poet, composer, designer — is a self-taught inventor. His paintings and furniture pieces have been shown in New England. Neily’s work is held in numerous private collections. He lives and maintains a workshop in Essex, Massachusetts on Cape Ann.
The exhibition continues through Saturday, August 31, 2019
Gallery hours: Friday, Saturday & Sunday 1:00 – 5:00pm and by appointment
Please contact Paul Neily @ 978-491-1416 . paunei2004@yahoo.com
Spread The GMG Love By Sharing With These Buttons:
Alive Still: Nell Blaine, American Painter | A Talk with Author Cathy Curtis
The Cape Ann Museum, is pleased to present an illustrated talk by author Cathy Curtis about beloved Cape Ann artist Nell Blaine on Thursday, July 25 at 7:00 p.m. This program is free for Museum members or $10 nonmembers. Reservations are required. For more information visit capeannmuseum.org or call 978-283-0455 x10.
Alive Still: Nell Blaine, America Painter (Oxford University Press, 2019) is the biography of an artist who believed she was at the top of her game in 1959, when she traveled to Greece to paint. She had a great time . . . until she contracted the most severe form of polio and had to be airlifted to New York. A paraplegic at age thirty-seven, she was determined to regain her skills. Her coloristically brilliant, rhythmically vibrant style illuminated landscapes and still lifes that reflect her passion for the natural world. During the next three decades she would become a notable painter and one of America’s great watercolorists. In 1974, she purchased a cottage on Ledge Road, where she and her partner, painter Carolyn Harris, made the most of the splendid views available on Cape Ann.
Cathy Curtis is the author of two previous biographies of women artists, RESTLESS AMBITION: GRACE HARTIGAN, PAINTER (Oxford University Press, 2015) and A GENEROUS VISION: THE CREATIVE LIFE OF ELAINE DE KOONING (Oxford University Press, 2017). She earned a master’s degree in the history of art from the University of California, Berkeley, and wrote art criticism for many years. In 2018, she was elected to a two-year term as president of Biographers International Organization in 2018. Her website is www.cathycurtis.net
Peabody Essex Museum features Loren Doucette teaching pastel drawing in the garden for the museum summer 2019 July 31 and August 7th
LOREN DOUCETTE IS NEW OPERATIONS MANAGER AT ROCKY NECK
Announcement from Rocky Neck
Dear Rocky Neck Community,
The Board of Trustees is very excited to announce that art colony artist member, Loren Doucette, joined the organization as RNAC Operations Manager. In this newly formed position, Loren will co-ordinate and implement the various programs of the Art Colony, schedule and supervise the Cultural Center space, provide administrative support, and communicate with both members and the public.
Loren brings positivity, warmth and a fresh new energy to the Art Colony. She is passionate about being a creative catalyst and looks forward to promoting the artists and galleries of the Rocky Neck Art Colony, collaborating with local arts and business organizations, and helping to generate a new youthful vibrancy to the art colony.
A life-long artist who focuses on painting, drawing and collage, Loren has been an exhibiting artist and teacher on Cape Ann since 2000 and a member of the Rocky Neck Art Colony for over ten years. During this time she became widely known for her appealing style and was featured in several popular shows including those at Flatrocks Gallery and Gallery 53 in Gloucester and the Tusinski Gallery in Rockport. She was recently awarded the People’s Choice Award from the show Rocky Neck Now 2019, Looking All Around.
With a BFA in Drawing and Painting from Montserrat College of Art in Beverly, Loren was recently Interim Director of Continuing Education at Montserrat where she also taught classes in pastel, drawing and painting.
She loves living by the ocean and being a part of the Cape Ann art community. In Loren’s words: “I continually fall in love with this amazing place—the people, the culture, the diversity, the natural beauty—all truly magical. I feel honored to have this position of leadership at the Rocky Neck Cultural Center and look forward to helping bring together many talented and inspired people to exhibit, perform, and tell their stories. In addition to honoring the rich artistic history that Rocky Neck holds, I am excited to be part of the next wave of artistic innovation!”
Loren may be reached during her office hours on Thursday and Friday by email: rnac.operationsmanager@gmail.com and by phone at the Cultural Center: 978-515-7004.
Spread The GMG Love By Sharing With These Buttons:
“I’m happy out there, being in nature, spending time looking, painting and having fun.”
Jason Burroughs completed a rewarding month long Goetemann Artist Residency on Rocky Neck and is so appreciative of this generous honor. He enjoyed adjusting to painting with oil, outside, and the challenge of working so quickly to “get all the notes down” chasing light, tide and wind conditions before a moment he was after changed. “Building up marks, being able to paint fast, to do it in that time is an honorable achievement. And a challenge. I’m learning something with each one.” Burroughs went out as much as he could. He admires the speed and mechanics mastery of plein air greats he’s researched, and artists working now that he’s getting to know and pepper with questions or simply paint alongside. He’s riveted when Jeff Weaver talks about the history of a building or scene. During this residency he was grateful to have had the chance to join Stephen LaPierre and Caleb Stone for a couple of plein air outings. He loves having a base in Rocky Neck, the architecture of Gloucester’s waterfront, pilings, boats, masts, popular scenes & motifs, repetitive forms, and the energy and vibe of being around other artists. He relished solo time in the field, even the time he got a sunburn working on one of the larger paintings: “I was standing out there 7 hours throwing paint down. I got to pick my site, overlooking the waterfront, in nature. (I saw bunnies and bluejays. So peaceful. It was great!) You go through so much white. So much. And trial and error. I’m just hoping to find ways of painting that will bring some of the truth of what I’m seeing. I need to know if something is wrong and why. Some I leave rugged. Putting in the work is so important.”
photos: Snapshots of Jason Burroughs readying a couple of days before his Goetemann Artist Residency closing talk, and from his presentation and Q&A, standing room only, well received and topped off by several painting sales. His good friend, David Brooks, filmed and beamed throughout.
A couple of days before the closing talk
Spread The GMG Love By Sharing With These Buttons:
For all those interested in the progress of the Cape Ann Reads Children’s Book Contest story The Best Way Home, written and illustrated by Barbara McLaughlin, McLaughlin will be at the Burnham Library in Essex for a reading with an art demonstration and activities for young artists.
Friday, May 31 from 4 – 5 PM, art materials will be provided
Bring children and grandchildren ages 5 and up so they can share their budding talent!
Very best regards,
Barbara McLaughlin
Spread The GMG Love By Sharing With These Buttons:
Throughout this Goetemann Artist Residency, Jason Burroughs carved out painting times while working at his full time job which goes with the territory of being an emerging fine artist. So what was different with this special honor on Rocky Neck? To begin with, he timed a full week off from work to coincide with the Residency, to devote his time exclusively to art. Burroughs doesn’t have an artist studio so it has been a luxury to have ample room and walls to surround himself with new works in process and recent series near by, and to spread out books and materials. He set himself a tall task of completing at least 15 new plein air works, all oils rendered in the field. He had new tubes of paint to work with thanks to a recognition award from the Cape Ann Plein Air quick draw. Paint is expensive and Gruppe’s quip about paint like you are a millionaire went through his mind as he struggled to capture what he saw and sought to express. A few times he painted side by side more seasoned artists that have become friends and mentors, which he enjoys. Mostly he adjusted to painting with oil, outside on the waterfront, throwing paint down and “putting in the work spending time looking, truly looking.” Burroughs wishes he had his own studio right here on Rocky Neck. The Goetemann Artist Residency was a dream come true this month. Come hear about all he’s done.
Burroughs is looking forward to the next Goetemann talk with Marilu Swett ; Swett was professor for his senior sculpture work at Montserrat College of Art.
Spread The GMG Love By Sharing With These Buttons:
Throughout this Goetemann Artist Residency, Jason Burroughs carved out painting times while working at his full time job which goes with the territory of being an emerging fine artist. So what was different with this special honor on Rocky Neck? To begin with, he timed a full week off from work to coincide with the Residency, to devote his time exclusively to art. Burroughs doesn’t have an artist studio so it has been a luxury to have ample room and walls to surround himself with new works in process and recent series near by, and to spread out books and materials. He set himself a tall task of completing at least 15 new plein air works, all oils rendered in the field. He had new tubes of paint to work with thanks to a recognition award from the Cape Ann Plein Air quick draw. Paint is expensive and Gruppe’s quip about paint like you are a millionaire went through his mind as he struggled to capture what he saw and sought to express. A few times he painted side by side more seasoned artists that have become friends and mentors, which he enjoys. Mostly he adjusted to painting with oil, outside on the waterfront, throwing paint down and “putting in the work spending time looking, truly looking.” Burroughs wishes he had his own studio right here on Rocky Neck. The Goetemann Artist Residency was a dream come true this month.
photos: sneak peek details from new work
Burroughs is looking forward to the next Goetemann talk with Marilu Swett ; Swett was professor for his senior sculpture work at Montserrat College of Art.
Spread The GMG Love By Sharing With These Buttons:
Once Upon a Contest is on view through April 26 at the Manchester Historical Museum for the Manchester Public Library leg of this travel exhibit. Leslie Galacar created a site specific 4 part piece that will be displayed for the length of the Manchester run.
Read Gloucester Daily Times “Manchester illustrator featured at Historical Museum” here
Spread The GMG Love By Sharing With These Buttons:
The stone jug was the historic studio and home of the artist Fitz Henry Lane (1804-1865) located on Harbor Loop in downtown Gloucester, Massachusetts. The city owns the building. Schooner Adventure, one of the city’s national historic landmarks, and fabulous Sail GHS work from here. Both are willing to share limited space with a cultural residency. I hope one day the Lane house may be recreated as an historic artist home and studio celebrating the artist and Gloucester and as such serve as a mini welcome center. Part of the maintenance and operating costs and helping the two organizations on site might be off set by integrating the Lane use back in some capacity. The Winslow Homer property in Portland has done well and is open for guided tours on specific days and times. It does not have staff on site.
Fitz Henry Lane home March 7, 2019 snow
Spread The GMG Love By Sharing With These Buttons:
Rocks Around the Cape — new paintings by Cape Ann artist Pia Juhl — continues through March at Jane Deering Gallery, 19 Pleasant Street in Gloucester. An opening reception will be held Saturday March 9th from 4-6pm. A brilliant colorist, Juhl interprets the glacial boulders, marsh land, and the vast interaction of sky and sea along the Cape Ann coast. Gallery hours: Friday/Saturday/Sunday 12noon-5:00pm or by appointment by calling 978-257-6608 or piajuhl@comcast.net.
Pia Juhl writes: ‘I love to paint landscapes of Cape Ann and presently am concentrating on large-scale subjects.’ Glacial boulders, the marsh land, monolithic stones, the vast interaction of sky and sea — all of this has captured Juhl’s eye. A brilliant colorist, the artist breaks down a scene into its essential palette and shapes, using the brush to ‘feel’ the painting’s form.
Pia Juhl was born in Denmark and after meeting her American husband there, moved to Boston. Early on, Edward Hopper was a great influence. Today, her painting is more intuitive and influenced by Milton Avery, Wolf Kahn and Catalan artist Jaume Muxart. Her work has been exhibited widely on Cape Ann at Flatrocks Gallery, Cove Gallery, Annisquam Exchange Art Gallery and Art in the Barn. She has also shown at Faneuil Hall in Boston and in Harvard MA. This is the artist’s second show at Jane Deering Gallery.
Jane Deering Gallery supports regional artists by offering work and exhibition space. Contact the gallery for details. info@janedeeringgallery.com
Spread The GMG Love By Sharing With These Buttons:
Once Upon a Contest – Selections from Cape Ann Reads travel exhibition closes at Cape Ann Museum February 24, 2019. The radiant show has stopped people in their tracks to sit and read awhile. The show celebrates children’s picture books by local authors and artists. A temporary mural by Bonnie L. Sylvester has generated photos and selfies and will be painted over after the show closes.
below: installation and in progress views, Bonnie L. Sylvester painting temporary mural for Once Upon a Contest at Cape Ann Museum Gloucester Ma.
“As part of the original creative design and concept for the Once Upon a Contest travel exhibition, artist Bonnie L. Sylvester was invited to create a public mural in three parts. After two years steeped in preparing final illustrations for the Cape Ann Reads Medal Book, The Tree in Dock Square written by Jean Woodbury and illustrated by Sylvester, the two week process for this Cape Ann tableau involved sketching key elements and applying layers of custom mixed paint for a walk in installation effect. This temporary wall mural is a first for the artist and the Cape Ann Museum.”
Spread The GMG Love By Sharing With These Buttons:
Courtney Richardson at the Cape Ann Museum shares information about an upcoming special event at the museum:
Lecture – Life on the Edge: The Ecology of Crane Beach, Saturday Jan. 19th, 3PM
The Cape Ann Museum, in collaboration with The Trustees, is pleased to present a lecture about the natural history and ecological significance of Crane Beach with ecologist Jeff Denoncour. This program is offered in conjunction with the special exhibition Sky/Horizon/Light: Perspectives on Crane Beach. This program is free for Museum members, Trustees members, Cape Ann residents or with Museum admission. Reservations required. For more information visit capeannmuseum.org or call 978-283-0455 x10.
When one thinks of Crane Beach, the sea, sun, and sand might be the first things that come to mind. But how did the forces of nature create the stunning landscape? What’s special about this incredible barrier beach and marshlands it protects? How do The Trustees protect special places and care for our vulnerable coast? Join Jeff Denoncour, an ecologist with The Trustees, for a dive into the natural history and ecological significance of Crane Beach, how they protect our coastal resources, and examples of success stories resulting from their work.
Jeff Denoncour is the Eastern Region Ecologist with The Trustees where he manages and monitors ecological resources on its properties in Eastern Massachusetts. Jeff grew up on Cape Ann and has spent most of his life living along the coast. He has 11 years of experience managing rare and endangered shorebirds that nest on beaches. For the past eight years, he has been managing the Shorebird Protection Program on Crane Beach, as well as other natural resources that make the Crane Beach such a treasured place.
This program is offered in conjunction with Sky/Horizon/Light: Perspectives on Crane Beach a special exhibition of the paintings of Dorothy “Doffie” Arnold. The works on view at the Cape Ann Museum offer an ever changing vista of Crane Beach as observed across Ipswich Bay from Arnold’s studio in Bay View (Gloucester). Painted in the 1980s, these acrylics on paper are part of larger series of works by Arnold that take as their subject the intersection of water, land and light viewed from a single vantage point over a period of years. With a low horizon line, a sky that is often turbulent and waters that range from placid to racing, the paintings reflect the strong influence of nature on the artist and her work.
A 1980 graduate of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Dorothy Arnold maintained studios in Cambridge and Gloucester. While much of her work is large scale, the Crane Beach paintings measure just 11×15 inches. Her work, which includes landscapes, still lives, figure studies and abstractions, was the subject of an international retrospective in 2001–2003. It was Arnold’s wish to exhibit her art locally in an effort to strengthen the community’s appreciation of the culture and traditions of the area.
Don’t miss Mary Rhinelander McCarl’s floral still lifes on display January 2019 at the Matz Gallery, Gloucester Lyceum & Sawyer Free Library.
clone tag: 7312131960865815702
from the printed matter:
“Mary Rhinelander McCarl- Mary, a Gloucester resident, draws her artistic inspiration from the scenery of Cape Ann. In her youth, she studied both sculpture and figure drawing with George Demetrios. She has worked under the guidance of Juni Van Dyke in the Art Room of the Rose Baker Senior Center and studied watercolors with Susie Field. At present Mary uses her training as an archivist to transcribe and edit the papers of Samuel Elwell Sawyer, Gloucester’s great philanthropist and art collector.”
Spread The GMG Love By Sharing With These Buttons:
Good Morning Gloucester 