The Artful Mind September issue 2019

PROMOTING THE ARTS IN THE BERKSHIRES SINCE 1994

THE ARTFUL MIND September 2019

JENNIFER OWEN

INTERIOR DESIGNER

PHOTOGRAPHY BY TASJA KEETMAN

BRUCE SHICKMANTER

FIREWORKS AT SUNSET WATERCOLOR / GOUACHE

Contact Artist to see more... 413‐446‐3721

AUTUMN LEAVES

WATERCOLOR

/ GOUACHE

Send a message... ontrails13@gmail.com

OCTOBER 2019: THE ARTFUL MIND GALLERY @ FRONT ST. GALLERY IN HOUSATONIC MA

Carolyn Newberger

CREATION, DETAIL, JACK METZGER

aMUSE GALLERY EYE OF THE BEHOLDER “Eye of the Beholder”, currently on view at aMuse Gallery in Chatham NY, has been a very popular show in the area this summer and will continue to run through September 29. This group exhibition features diverse works of art created from found objects. Utilizing manmade and natural materials, these engaging, captivating creations infuse the viewer with a sense of discovery and delight… as well as encourage an appreciation of the beauty to be found in the ordinary things we so often overlook or readily discard. Through a variety of mediums, the artists demonstrate how dynamic arrangements of different found objects, shapes, colors, and textures can bring a whole new perspective to things drawn from the past. Artists represented in this show include Rosemary Barrett, Stephanie Blumenthal, Peter Dellert, Norman Hasselriis, Michael Krieger, Jack Metzger, Cristobal Morales, Rick Patterson, Charles Schweigert and Peter Thomashow. “fABSTRACT”, will be the next exciting group exhibition at aMuse Gallery, featuring abstract work in a variety of mediums by notable regional artists. Even the real world can seem abstract and surreal these days...so please join us to contemplate….“fABSTRACT” will run from October 3- December 1, 2019…followed by a small works show for the December holiday season. aMuse is an eclectic gallery in Chatham NY that represents artists from Berkshire and Columbia counties, the Hudson Valley and beyond. Housed in a beautiful Greek revival building, there is a warm home-like feeling to the gallery, and the relaxed and welcoming atmosphere allows you to explore the work with ease.

You’ll be pleasantly surprised by this little gem, with its variety of interesting art and eccentricities available in a range of prices and styles. The gallery is located just across the tracks from the historic Chatham Clocktower and is wheelchair accessible. aMUSE Gallery - 7 Railroad Avenue, Chatham NY; 518-392-1060; Hours: Thursday thru Saturday 11-5 and Sunday 12-4; amusechatham.com

Watercolor painting, mixed media and collage, and a practice of drawing from life form the body of my work.

I draw in real time, in the natural world and as well in darkened performance halls. With dance especially, the challenge is to keep a receptive mind and a loose hand in order to capture the continuous unfolding of movement, sound, context and meaning that makes dance so rich and exciting. Many of these works illustrate essays and reviews, some

It was one of those days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.

—Charles Dickens

written in collaboration with my husband, Eli Newberger, in The Berkshire Edge, a publication of news, arts and ideas in Western MA

Www.carolynnewberger.com Cnewberger@me.com THE ARTFUL MIND SEPTEMBER 2019 • 1

THE ARTFUL MIND ARTZINE

SEPTEMBER 2019

I am going to make everything around me beautiful, that will be my life.

— Elsie de Wolfe

BERKSHIRE POTTERY TOUR 2019 INTERVIEW BY H. CANDEE ... 8

JOHN CLARKE / PHOTOGRAPHER / ARTIST INTERVIEW BY H. CANDEE ... 16

JENNIFER OWEN / INTERIOR DESIGNER INTERVIEW BY H. CANDEE ... 24

NATALIE TYLER / GLASS SCULPTOR INTERVIEW BY “US” ... 31

FRANK MUYTJENS AND SCOTT EDWARD COLE THE INN AT KENMORE HALL IN RICHMOND INTERVIEW BY H. CANDEE...25

JENNIFER PAZIENZA RICHARD BRITELL JASON AND HIS GRANDMOTHER

CH

3. / FICTION ...36

Contributing Writer: Richard Britell Photographers: Edward Acker, Tasja Keetman Publisher Harryet Candee Copy Editor

Marguerite Bride

Advertising and Graphic Design

Harryet Candee

CALENDAR LISTINGS and ADVERTISING RATES, please call 413 - 854 - 4400

artfulmind@yahoo.com issuu.com

Follow her at https://www.instagram.com/jenniferpazienza/ Visit her website http://www.jenniferpazienza.com/ Contact her jennpazienza@gmail.com Photo: Joy Cummings

2 • SEPTEMBER 2019 THE ARTFUL MIND

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FYI: ©Copyright laws in effect throughout The Artful Mind for logo & all graphics including text material. Copyright laws for photographers and writers throughout The Artful Mind. Permission to reprint is required in all instances. In any case the issue does not appear on the stands as planned due to unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control, advertisers will be compensated on a one to one basis. All commentaries by writers are not necessarily the opinion of the publisher and take no responsibility for their facts and opinions.

Eleanor Lord

MARK MELLINGER

East Secaucus, 2019 acrylic 12 x 12”

Still life with Fruit Eleanor Lord pastel

WWW. ELEANORLORD.COM

fABSTRACT A group exhibition featuring abstract work by regional artists

The Artful Mind Gallery: OCT 2019 Reception for Artists: Oct 5 5-7pm Front Street Gallery Housatonic, MA 100 North St Pittsfield Painting - Collage - Construction 914. 260. 7413 markmellingerart.com markmellinger680@gmail.com

FRONT ST. GALLERY

October 3 - December 1, 2019 Artist Reception: Saturday, October 5, 4 - 7PM

Kate Knapp West Side View Clouds 24x36” oil

Painting classes on Monday and Wednesday mornings 10-1pm at the studio in Housatonic and Thursday mornings 10am - 1pm out in the field.

Also available for private critiques. Open to all. Please come paint with us!

Fire and Ice #3 by Charles Schweigert

aMuse Gallery 7 Railroad Avenue - Chatham NY 518-392-1060 amusechatham.com Hours: Thursday thru Saturday 11am-5pm, Sunday 12-4pm

gallery hours: Open by chance and by appointment anytime 413. 274. 6607 (gallery) 413. 429. 7141 (cell) 413. 528. 9546 (home) www.kateknappartist.com

Front Street, Housatonic, MA THE ARTFUL MIND SEPTEMBER 2019 • 3

CALENDAR OF EVENTS EARLY AUTUMN 2019 ART 510 WARREN STREET GALLERY 510 WARREN STREET, HUDSON, NY 518-822-0510 510warrenstreetgallery@gmail.com /510warrenstreetgallery.com Linda Hertz: New Works, Sept 6 - Sept 29, reception Sat Sept 7, 3- 6pm Fri & Sat 12 - 6, Sun 12 - 5 or by app aMUSE GALLERY 7 RAILROAD AVE, CHATHAM, NY • 518-392-1060 / WWW.AMUSECHATHAM.COM Thru September 29: Eye of the Beholder, Group exhibition featuring art made from found objects. “fABSTRACT”, Oct 3 - Dec 1 BERKSHIRE BOTANICAL GARDEN 5 WEST STOCKBRIDGE RD., STOCKBRIDGE, MA • 413-298-3926 / berkshirebotanical.org Aug 28 - Sept30, 2019 9-5pm: Shimmering Flowers: Nancy Lorenz’s Lacquer and Bronze Landscapes CHESTERWOOD 4 WILLIAMSVILLE RD, STOCKBRIDGE, MA Chesterwood • 298-3579 chesterwood.org Aug 28 - October 27, 2019: Woodland Light: Photographs of Chesterwood by Margaret Moulton CLARK ART INSTITUTE 225 SOUTH ST, WILLIAMSTOWN, MA WWW.CLARKART.EDU June 8 - Sept 22: RENOIR: The Body, The Senses; July 4-Oct14: Art's Biggest Stage: Collecting the Venice Biennale, 2007-2019; June 8-Sept 15 FRONT STREET GALLERY 129 FRONT ST, HOUSATONIC, MA • 413-274-6607 Kate Knapp oils and watercolors and classes open to all.

HANCOCK SHAKER VILLAGE 1843 W. HOUSATONIC ST, PITTSFIELD, MA BLACKBAUDHOSTING.COM Thru Nov 11, 2019: Exhibition Opening: Borrowed Light: Barbara Ernst Prey.

HESSEL MUSEUM OF ART & CCS BARD GALLERIES BARD COLLEGE, ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, NY • 845-758-7598 Thru Oct 13: "Nil Yalter: Exile is a Hard Job," the artist's first solo U.S. museum exhibition; Thru Oct 13: "Leidy Churchman:Crocodile," the artist's first solo US museum exhibition MASS MoCA 1040 MASSMOCA WAY, NORTH ADAMS, MA • 413-662-2111 Thru 2019: Laurie Anderson; Louise Bourgeois RIVER ART PROJECT 3 STOCKBRIDGE STATION GALLERY 2 DEPOT STREET, STOCKBRIDGE, MA • 413-298-5163 / 413 563-4934 cell www.riverartproject.com SANDISFIELD ARTS CENTER 5 HAMMERTOWN RD, SANDISFIELD, MA • 413-258-4100 SANDISFIELDARTSCENTER.ORG The Nature of Things: Claudia d’Alessandro Photography: Sept 3 - Oct 3, reception Sept 7, 2-4pm 4 • SEPTEMBER 2019

THE ARTFUL MIND

SCHANTZ GALLERIES CONTEMPORARY GLASS 3 ELM STREET, STOCKBRIDGE, MA • 413-298-3044 / schantzgalleries.com Aug 1–Sept 21: CHIHULY. Oct 4 - 27: Bertil Vallien, Recent works.

LINDA KAYE-MOSES The unruly jewelry by Linda Kaye-Moses will be at Paradise City Arts Festival OCT 12 -14, Northampton, MA

TURNPARK ART SPACE 2 MOSCOW RD, WEST STOCKBRIDGE, MA / TURNPARK.COM Aug28 - Oct 31, 2019: Kathleen Jacobs ECHOS Aug 28 - Oct 31, 2019: Liane Nouri & Jaanika Peerna FLOW/FLUX/FOLD

DEB KOFFMAN’S ARTSPACE 137 FRONT ST, HOUSATONIC, MA • 413-274-1201 Sat: 10:30-12:45 class meets. No experience in drawing necessary, just a willingness to look deeply and watch your mind. This class is conducted in silence. Adult class. $10, please & call to register. First Tuesday of every month

THREE STONES GALLERY 10C MAIN ST, ROCKPORT MA THREESTONESGALLERY.COM Ghetta Hirsch now showing her outstanding art along with Betsy Silverman, Jonathan MacAdam and Emily Passman, Jewelry by Lyca Blume and Emily Rose Maultsby WORCESTER CENTER FOR CRAFTS KRIKORIAN GALLERY 25 SAGA RD, WORCESTER, MA New Glass England, curated by Jim Schantz, Sept 26-Nov 7, reception Sept 26, 5:30-7:30pm

MUSIC HANCOCK SHAKER VILLAGE 1843 W HOUSATONIC ST., PITTSFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS • 413-443-0188 / HANCOCKSHAKERVILLAGE.ORG Thru Nov 11: While Mighty Thunders Roll: Popular Artists Sing the Shaker. Video and audio exhibition features specially commissioned a cappella recordings of Shaker songs by artistic CLOSE ENCOUNTERS WITH MUSIC POST OFFICE BOX 34, GREAT BARRINGTON, MA 01230.

MAHAIWE BOX OFFICE: 413-528-0100; WWW.MAHAWIE.ORG. CEWM: 800-843-0778; WEB: WWW.CEWM.ORG, CEWM E-MAIL: CEWMUSIC@AOL.COM Andre Hajdu’s Kohelet (Ecclesiastes) for four cellos, narrated by star of film, stage and television Sam Waterston on Sunday, Oct 27, 5pm CLARION LEAF PEEPER CONCERT SERIES 2019 CLARIONCONCERTS.ORG/INDEX.PHP 9/15/19 3pm Xavier Foley, Double Bassist / Composer Hudson Hall, 327 Warren St. Hudson, NY; 9/21/19 5pm The Manhattan Piano Trio w/ Eugenia Zukerman, fluteSaint James Place, 352 Main St. Great Barrington, MA; 10/12/19, 5pmHanzhi Wang, Accordionist, Saint James Place, 352 Main St. Great Barrington, MA; 10/26/19, 7pm Hai-Ting Chinn, Mezzo-soprano in “Science Fair”Erika Switzer, piano and music direction Hudson Hall, 327 Warren St. Hudson, NY

WORKSHOPS

CALLIGRAPHY AND WATERCOLOR MINI ART RETREAT LESLIE WATKINS 860-542-3920 / LESLIEWATKINS@LESLIEWATKINS.COM Sat, Sept 14, Whiting Mills, Studio #508, Winsted, CT. Limited to 12. For registration call or text 860-307-9364

DANCE PILLOW POP-UP: BARKHA DANCE COMPANY AT THIRD THURSDAY WITH SPECIAL CELEBRATION OF NATIONAL DANCE DAY: DOWNTOWN PITTSFIELD, SEPT 19, 6PM FREE For Discover Pittsfield’s final Third Thursday Street Festival, Barkha Patel performs a solo of pure Kathak dance accompanied with live music by Mike Lukshis on Tabla, the main percussion instrument of Kathak, and Rohan Prabhudesai on harmonium.

THEATER COLONIAL THEATRE 111 SOUTH ST., PITTSFIELD, MA • 413-997-4444 thecolonialtheatre.org/ | Pittsfield Oct 12, 8pm: My Mother’s Italian, My Father’s Jewish & I’m In Therapy SHAKESPEARE & COMPANY 70 KEMBLE ST, LENOX, MA / SHAKESPEARE.ORG Present Time Stands Still, Sept 13 - Oct 13 UNICORN THEATRE 6 EAST ST., STOCKBRIDGE, MA • 413-997-4444 berkshiretheatregroup.org | Stockbridge Sept 26 - Oct20, 2019: What The Jews Believe THE MONTEREY COMMUNITY CENTER 468 MAIN ROAD (RTE 23), MONTEREY, MA 413-822-0551 / amber@amberchand.com | Monterey Sept 20, 7:30pm: Searching for the Moon: A Story of Love, Despair, Faith and Forgiveness- A OneWoman Show by Amber Chand

EVENTS 6TH ANNUAL BERKSHIRE POTTERY TOUR Sept 28-29: 6 working pottery studios around the souther Berkshires. Self-guided tours, please find maps at: berkshirepotterytour.com 25TH ANNUAL PARADISE CITY ARTS FESTIVAL October 12, 13 & 14, inside three buildings at the Three County Fairgrounds in Northampton, MA. One of America’s top-ranked shows of fine craft, painting and sculpture, Paradise City features 225 outstanding artists and makers, sensational cuisine, creative activities, a silent art auction to benefit WGBY/PBS and an outdoor sculpture promenade. www.paradisecityarts.com or 800-5119725.

Please send in your calendar listing the 10th of the month prior to publication artfulmind@yahoo.com ISSUU.COM

CARL BERG SUSAN GELLER

11

GHETTA HIRSCH

SEAN McCUSKER

MARK MELLINGER

CAROLYN NEWBERGER ANNA OLIVER

JENNIFER PAZIENZA JANET PUMPHREY

MARY CAROL RUDIN BRUCE SHICKMANTER THE ARTFUL MIND GALLERY presents REALITIES BEYOND THE SURFACE OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2019 2nd Annual Art Exhibit featuring ELEVEN BERKSHIRE ARTISTS #129 FRONT STREET GALLERY in HOUSATONIC MASSACHUSETTS

RECEPTION FOR ARTISTS : SATURDAY OCTOBER 5, 2019 5 - 7pm While supporting your local artists, please enjoy our bistro setting in historic Housatonic during gallery hours OH YOU MUST COME SEE!

THE ARTFUL MIND SEPTEMBER 2019 • 5

LINDA KAYE-MOSES, ACILIUS PIED ALONGE

MARGUERITE BRIDE, WEDDING AT THE MOUNT, WATERCOLOR

LINDA KAYE-MOSES

MARGUERITE BRIDE

JENNIFER PAZIENZA

JEWELS

COMMISSIONED WATERCOLORS

The unruly jewels of Linda Kaye-Moses reflect a delight in the body-embellished, adornment offering the possibility of intimate transformation. Implicit in her jewels is their narrative quality, allowing them to speak with her voice, while conversing with those who will wear them.

Her work fuses jewelry techniques including: engraving, enameling, oxidation/patination, roll-printing, and cold connections, all integrated with precious metals, gemstones, found objects, organic materials, and occasional enclosures, reflecting her interest in archetypal chambers (caves, caches, treasure chests, reliquaries, etc.) while supporting and displaying the jewels.

As she works at her bench, she has a sense of unearthing what lies buried in the materials. . . the jewels are present before her hands begin to manipulate the materials, and all she need do is remove the extraneous material for the jewel to appear.

You can find Kaye-Moses’ jewels only at Paradise City Arts Festival Northampton, MA, October 12-14 (Booth 527).

Marguerite Bride is a Berkshires-based watercolors artist. Besides painting local and regional scenes, Bride specializes in creating custom watercolors…..in particular, house portraits, and paintings of very personal and meaningful places.

Is there is a wedding or anniversary in your future?

Consider a painting of the reception venue as a very special remembrance of the occasion (as is “Wedding at the Mount”). Or perhaps a “wedding book alternative” …a special original painting (a painting of the scene of the proposal) on display at the wedding reception where guests sign the mat. See website for photos of the paintings and the signing events.

Now is the time to commission a painting if you are thinking of a holiday gift…most popular…siblings getting together and providing their parents with a commissioned painting. That is always a treasured gift and fun as well.

Be in touch with the artist to make your plans.

Where else can you still catch Bride’s work?

An assortment of Marguerite Bride’s watercolors small matted originals (spring/summer village scenes in the gift shop at Hancock Shaker Village; also, cards and fine art reproductions of the village.

LOCAL, a lovely high-end craft and art gallery in Lenox (across from Chocolate Springs) carries framed originals, and matted reproductions and cards by the artist. Fine art repros and note cards of Berkshire images and others by the artist are also available at the Red Lion Inn Gift Shop (Stockbridge), Lenox Print & Mercantile (Lenox), Good Purpose Gallery (Lee) and also directly from the artist.

Marguerite Bride – Home Studio at 46 Glory Drive, Pittsfield, Massachusetts by appointment only. Call 413-841-1659 or 413442-7718; margebridep a i n t i n g s . c o m ; margebride@aol.com; Facebook: Marguerite Bride Watercolors

Can you believe it? It’s September already! Gerry, Mela and I had an art and family packed summer in the US. We were in the Hamptons for the Art Fair at the start of July, then onto Pennsylvania to celebrate and assist with the birth of our new grandson. We stayed five weeks before returning home to Canada with a very important art stop in the Berkshires.

Harryet Candee, an artist in her own right, an unwavering arts advocate, and owner/operator of this very magazine for 26 years, has a finely tuned knack for bringing like hearted art folks together. She gathered us for a photo shoot with the incomparable Edward Acker and organizational brunch meeting to discuss our upcoming Berkshire 11 Group Pop Up Show that opens Friday October 5, 5 – 7pm and runs through November at the historic Kate Knapp Front Street Gallery.

Whether you are a seasoned collector, or just starting out, you will not want to miss this exhibition. We 11 are established artists who offer you the very best of our work at respectable prices. The Lure, 42 X 42 inches, oil on canvas pictured here is just one of the paintings I will be exhibiting in the show. I will also have small format works at 8 inches square and medium sized paintings at 28 inches square. Hand stretched and prepared by me and always in archival oils!

Cheers and looking forward to seeing you there!

My work is held in Public and Corporate Collections in Canada and in numerous private collections throughout the US, Canada, the UK and Italy. I have, since 2014, exhibited my work in the Berkshires and have been a constant contributor to The Artful Mind.

Jennifer Pazienza - email: jennpazienza@gmail.com, website: http://jenniferpazienza.com/ and Instagram @jenniferpazienza.

Artist video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xb9WOTpLfI4.

JENNIFER PAZIENZA WITH THE LURE

PHOTO: JOY CUMMINGS

Design is coming to grips with one's real lifestyle, one's real place in the world. Rooms should not be put together for show but to nourish one's wellbeing.

— Albert Hadley 6 • SEPTEMBER 2019

THE ARTFUL MIND

Exhibiting through September Bart Elsbach Michael Filmus Ann Getsinger Mary Sipp Green Scott Prior Jim Schantz At the Historic Train Station 2 Depot Street, Stockbridge, MA September, Thursday - Sunday, 12 - 5pm or by appointment.

Online year round! www.stockbridgestationgallery.com Jim Schantz, September Housatonic Dusk, 2019 Oil on canvas, 36 x 36”

THE ARTFUL MIND SEPTEMBER 2019 • 7

Linda Skipper in studio

BERKSHIRE POTTERY TOUR 2019 INTERVIEW BY H. CANDEE For all those pottery enthusiasts out there reading this, they probably want to know how the 6th Annual Berkshire PotteryTour works?

Lorimer Burns: Berkshire Pottery Tour is a free, selfguided driving tour of six local ceramic studios. Six potters open their studios and sell their wares for one weekend each fall. We have a detailed map available in our brochure or on our website. The tour is designed in a loop, starting at any studio. Participants can easily visit all six studios in an afternoon. This year, our tour weekend is Sept. 27/28.

How did the Berkshire Pottery Tour first begin?

It’s exciting, a real treasure hunt in ways, yes?

Lorimer: Ellen and Paula had been talking about starting a studio tour for several years. I wanted to start a collective to show work as a group at craft shows and offer support and artistic feedback. Paula and I met for coffee and decided on the potters we would invite and with Ellen’s blessing, the Tour was born! September seemed to be the perfect time to celebrate both local artisanal ceramics andthe breathtaking beauty of the Berkshires. The tour is definitely a kind of treasure hunt for pots, sculpture, artistic inspiration and, of course, food. There are fantastic places to stop and eat along the way; 6 Depot, in West Stockbridge, between Ben and Paula’s, The Roadside Diner between Linda’s and Ellen’s, Prairie Whale in GB and there is rumor that Steam will be opening in Housatonic very soon.

8 • SEPTEMBER 2019 THE ARTFUL MIND

PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF BPT MEMBERS

Lorimer, please tell us a little about each artist on board, and also, about their guest?

Lorimer: Dan Bellow has a large-scale production studio near Railroad Street in GB. He makes functional porcelain ware which he fires in his gas fired reduction car kiln with his many apprentices and students but the best of his work, in my opinion, are the gnarly wood fired pots and one-offs. Dan loves to talk about his work so it’s always an entertaining stop along the tour.

Dan will be hosting Brendan Moore. Dan says “I’ve known Brendan Moore for ten years and I love him like a son. He quit Alfred University after his first year to wood fire with our group in New York state. I’ve always liked his work, quiet pots always made with just enough clay, you can see the marks of his fingers, it’s all perfectly organized and there’s obviously a lot of thought in it. He’s an artist at stacking pots in the wood kiln. I like the way he works, too, super focused, quiet. He’s great to have in the studio, and whenever there’s a big project requiring sustained ceramic effort he’s always right there with me because he is my main man.

Paula Shalan’s work is mainly smoke fired decorative vessels. For me, her work holds such serenity and confidence, much like Paula herself. Paula describes the work of her guest, Liz Daly "I find a sweet, heartlifting beauty in Liz’s ceramics. Her attention to color, form, and detail is thoughtful and sensitive, yet a powerful strength holds and deepens the work.”

Ellen Grenadier’s work is perhaps the most iconic and recognizable. Her gorgeous platters, bowls and mugs are impressed with leaves and ferns and glazed deep cobalt, sapphire greens, amber and periwinkle.

Ellen has many collectors and repeat visitors to her home studio in Monterey, where she makes this production line. I have been intrueged to watch her new body of work over time, partially in response to the demands of our annual pottery tour.

Ellen describes her guest artist: “Connie Talbot makes Flameware pots, pots that can be used on the gas and electric stovetop and the grill! Her work has an elegant and timeless quality as she is inspired by pottery, both ancient and modern from around the world. We will be having a cooking demonstration on Sunday using her tangines, pizza stones, casseroles and more. You have to see it to believe it!

Lorimer: My entry into professional ceramics, ten years ago, was wood firing with a group of wild women out in Tolland, MA. It was like a gateway drug. My friend, Nancy Magnusson, said “here, just try this...just one firing” and before I knew it I was driving out there at 4 a.m. to take the dawn stoking shift. Wood firing is rigorous, unpredictable and a little bit crazy so when Nancy moved to New Mexico, I wanted to bring those qualities to the work I was making in my own studio with the added element that I was missing so badly from wood firing ; COLOR. I

Stoneware and Porcelain Decorative and Functional Wheel Thrown and Hand Built Pottery / Lorimer Burns

secretly think of this body of work as inspired by my life-long fascination with the psychadelic experience.

I also have a more approachable body of work centered around a family of glazes called Shino. These recipes handed to me by the master himself, Malcolm Davis, who called shino “The Fickle Goddess” .

I am excited to host Ben Krupka, as my guest, who was an original member of the tour. Ben has shown his work nationally and internationally and is currently head of the Ceramics department at Simon’s Rock. He also comes from a long line of ardent pyromaniacs.

Ben’s work is quiet, minimalistic and very soulful. I have a dinnerware set made by Ben that I just love.

Ben took a hiatus from the tour because he has focused on building his own energy efficient home on his own, having never done construction before. Let that sink in. He lives the hand-made values, bringing his own design aesthetic to the furniture and lighting he is now making for himself.

Lorimer: Ben Evans just completed work on his expanded home studio in Richmond. He, too, has a production line but specializes in slip casting. He is also masterful at glaze chemistry and development. His work clearly shows the direct influence of his interest in architecture and his love of the water. Ben is one of those people that is good at everything he does. Plus he’s a great person, always fun to be around. And such a hard worker. Ben shows regularly at GBAM at the

Farmers Markets in downtown GB and arranges his pots by color and his wins my award for MOST BEAUTIFUL BOOTH. Has anything in the overall plans been added this year to the tour that is new and exciting?

Lorimer:Yes! We are looking forward to four new artists to join us this year. Liz Daly will be showing at Paula’s studio in Stockbridge, Ben Krupka, who is head of the Ceramics Department at Simon’s Rock will be at Lorimer’s studio in Housatonic. Brendan Moore will be joining Dan Bellow in GB. And Connie Talbot, from Northampton will be setting up at Ellen’s in Monterey.

Is your group generally open to new artists? What would be the criteria?

Lorimer: Yes - It has always been our intention to eventually expand and feature more ceramic artists.

This year we are very excited to add the four guest artists and hope to continue this in the coming years.

In the beginning, we decided on a smaller group, to get established as an annual event and to streamline the logistics. Each of the six potters doing unique and different work. I love how we really complement each other so well. Many visitors comment on this. We look forward to adding more local and regional ceramicists each year.

Have you all, or some of you shown together in other group shows in the past?

Lorimer: For the last two years, the potters of BPT have organized a fundraiser called Mugs for Mothers, the weekend before Mothers Day. In 2018, we donated 100% of the proceeds to Multicultural Bridge’s Women to Womens Group. This year we chose The Elizabeth Freeman Center and held the show at Dotties, in Pittsfield. We want to give back to our community and raise awareness for groups and individuals that are more and more often denied rights, resources and opportunities.

Who is the newest member to this pottery group?

Lorimer: Linda Skipper came on in our second year.

It was an easy and unanimous choice.

Dan Bellow: I am a sucker for an all-over pattern, and Linda’s are perfect. She rules her lines out on her pot before she starts so it looks like a globe of the earth.

Each incision is conscious and mindful. I’m way too loose to be capable of that kind of discipline and control, but I admire it when I see it. One of my most treasured possessions is a little Skipper pot in cone 10 porcelain that I glazed in copper green and fired in my kiln in a way that did me proud, too.

Linda Skipper: I was a visitor at the first BPT, enjoyContinued on next page...

THE ARTFUL MIND SEPTEMBER 2019 • 9

Low-fired Earthen-ware pottery / Paula Shalan

ing the tour and the graciousness of the hosting potters. I wanted to buy a piece of each Potter’s work to have and to hold and also to support their efforts. The next year I was invited to join the tour. I felt it was a great honor to be included and I appreciated the confidence they had that I could fit in with their level of professionalism.

different ceramics related courses and began making pots to sell.

Lorimer: I moved to The Berkshires, just after 9/11 from Cambridge, MA where I taught personal safety and self defense to women, and in the Boston public school system for IMPACT Boston. Before that, I lived and worked in NYC where I was a modern dancer. I still dance with The Moving Company through Community Access to The Arts and Dawn Lane and Dancers.

What were people’s professions before they became potters?

Dan Bellow: I’ll give you MC Richards: I was a person. From my resume: I have run a newspaper, covered a legislature, written a screenplay, run an unsuccessful business and lost a pile of money, won a lawsuit, painted houses and sold real estate. Real estate was the worst.

Ben Evans: Before pottery and during college I always worked construction and originally wanted to become an architect. Since graduating college with a BFA in ceramics twelve years ago I have been working in the field of ceramics. I first moved to the Berkshires to be the ceramics studio manager at IS183 Art School. There I started teaching many 10 • SEPTEMBER 2019 THE ARTFUL MIND

Porcelain Green Tea Pot / Ben Evans

Linda Skipper: For twenty years I was involved with the production of the TV show “Law and Order “as their head scenic artist. Before that I worked as a scenic on many films, TV movies, and lots of commercials. Going back even farther, I had gone to undergrad and graduate art schools concentrating on painting, printmaking, and drawing. I had some ceramics classes but the desire to take it on more seriously came once I was free to leave NYC and really live my full time life in the Berkshires.

Ellen Grenedier: Before I was a potter I

Lemon Juicer hand-made and thrown on the wheel / Daniel Bellow

was a child, finding and painting acorns and "selling" them in my yard. I was a teenager learning to use the potters wheel at summer camp. I was twenty-yearsold visiting Kyoto Japan and coming home with a suitcase full of teabowls. So I guess I've always been a potter of sorts, influenced by my mother and aunts who collected, and set tables with the most beautiful antique tableware. The combination of dishes and food has always been a magical for me, and so I pursued making pottery all my life. I've also been a waitress, the owner of Merrimac Smoked Fish, an interior designer, a teacher, and more. But all have been in the hopes of, or support of, getting to my ceramic work.

Paula Shalan is the second of three generations of potters and was an Early Childhood and Art Educator in Bronxville, NY and Chicago.

Are any of the members teachering?

Lorimer: Dan has ongoing classes in his home studio and also loves teaching The Steiner School High School kids.

Ben and Paula, teach the most popular and sold out classes at IS183 Art School. Ben also teaches glaze workshops at Penland School of Craft in Ashville, NC. Ben Evans: Teaching gives me a good balance to my studio practice. I get to share my knowledge and experiences with others and gain a sense of community.

Lorimer: I enjoy teaching ceramics almost as much as I like making pots. I love experiencing the “what if…” moments and liberation of not knowing the “rules”. Clay is anti-intellectual, non verbal, pure proprioception. I believe we all need less talk and more mud.

Ben Krupka: It’s hard to pinpoint only one favorite part of teaching. First, is being witness to the moment someone loses themselves in the material. Second is watching a student gain confidence in their skills and follow their inspiration.

One of the nice things about this open tour is enjoying the drive from studio to studio, but would the weather effect the success at all?

Lorimer: Paula surveyed several event organizers, many of whom agree that the last weekend of September is usually very fine weather! We have had a couple of cloudy mornings but, thankfully, we are in the Berkshires and “if you don’t like the weather wait 10 minutes”.

Linda Skipper: This years tour will be my fifth and each of these years I have trusted that the weather will be on my side because my studio space is very small as is my house, and I’ve chosen each time to display my work outside. I constantly keep my fingers crossed with a minimal back up plan for rain, knowing that all

I can do is move everything quickly inside onto whatever surfaces I have available. We’ve had cold weather with sweaters required and we’ve had really hot weather, but no rain so far. I have my stack of plastic tarps to put on top of the display if it starts to pour, but so far I’ve been lucky. I keep trusting in the goodness of September.

Do you meet after the tour is finished and share stories over dinner?

Lorimer: We do spend an evening together, after each tour, sharing notes and numbers.

Can you share with us one or two stories that make these past years events memorable?

Ellen Grenedier: Last year, when setting up my studio for the tour, I took two pieces out of my archives of old favorite pots that I had not yet been able to sell because they were so special to me. I put a high price on them. Then I put a road sign guiding people to the studio in a new, far away spot, wondering if anyone would see it. She did! and she bought my pot and I was delighted to see that I could let go of it because it was going to a new and happy home.

Linda Skipper: The thing I am most enjoy about the tour is having the chance to make a beginning or a growing relationship with the people who come to visit. Continued on next page...

THE ARTFUL MIND SEPTEMBER 2019 • 11

Slipware pottery / Ben Krupka

Each time somebody claims one of my pots and decides to take it home I have a little ritual. I ask them if I can take a picture of them holding their pot, so I can remember them and which piece they chose. Then for the next tour I prepare a poster that I title “Friends with Pots” and everyone who has bought one at the last tour has their picture on this poster that hangs outside with all of the rest of the display. And my delight, is to be able to see a person with a familiar face walking down the driveway, and I can look at my photos, refresh my memory of their name, and walk out to greet them by name. I’ve had a lot of people come back year after year, and we’ve become better acquainted each time. I find that they feel very warmly treated as they see their photos displayed. This contact in this extra intimate way really is my best Takeaway.

What are the responsibilities of each studio participant that will make the visitors trip run smooth and enjoyable?

Lorimer: Dan does our press and other writing tasks.

Ben is the IT guy. Linda and Ellen bring their keen design sense. I host the meetings and organize the Mother’s Day fundraising event, Paula transcribes meeting notes and pays the bills. We all deliver pots and brochures for shows and advertising.

How does each studio artist prepare for visitors?

12 • SEPTEMBER 2019 THE ARTFUL MIND

Lorimer: Cleaning, cleaning and more cleaning!

Ben Evans: A lot prep work goes into the weekend that may go unnoticed. While firing my last couple glaze kilns, I do a lot of cleaning and organizing in the studio the week before. Let's face it, clay is a messy business, and when I'm in production mode I will slack on the routine cleaning until the kilns are firing. I will also buy some local cider donuts & cider from the local apple orchards in Richmond, as well as others snacks for my guests.

Dan Bellows: I like the Tour because it forces me to clean up the studio and kiln room, get to the bottom of my deep-seated mess. Then all my friends show up and say “Wow, this is beautiful. You’re really well organized.”

Linda Skipper: Besides making my pots, there are many other pieces of the puzzle. I photograph each pot and create a catalog that has reference numbers and prices, and is easy to flip through as the sales are concluded. I make hang-tags for each pot with a reference number and price which then gets attached to the photo in the catalog when each pot sells along with the name of the buyer. I’ve prepared sales receipts that I ask a buyer to fill out with their mailing address and email.

Then there is the setting up of five tables of the dis-

play and making the whole area look inviting. Of course there’s snack food to prepare and set out, chairs to arrange to invite lounging and conversation, and talking through with my blessed team of three extraordinary helpers, how to split up the welcoming, the sales, the photos, wrapping the pots, and also tours with me into the studio without anyone feeling neglected. Our attention to organization usually pays off with my visitors feeling appreciated and able to connect with me, and also with others, who are looking at the same time. My goal is to make it not only a place to purchase a pot that they love, but to give them, and me too, an enjoyable, personal experience together.

Ellen Grenedier: Clean and edit out the pottery so people can see it clearly. I display some of my platters with food and get out teacups for tea so people can enjoy food and pots and feel welcome.

Open Studios are real popular across the country, and I wonder, why do you think this phenomena has surfaced? Are galleries not enough?

Lorimar: Open Studio Tours have been popular among potters, especially within areas that are dense with studios, like NC and Minnesota for several decades, but I think they have been popularized since craft shows became less economically successful 12-15 years ago.

Linda Skipper: I enjoy living with crafts and artwork that I have bought directly from the makers, and I think many people share that feeling of holding the work more precious by meeting the artist where the work is made, and gaining some understanding of the intricacies required to bring that piece to life.

Ben Evans: I think it's because people are interested in seeing the inner workings of an artists studio. Each of our studio's are uniquely different and it shows in our work. The space in which art is made has a profound influence on the creation and maybe it's this link that people want to experience.

Ellen Grenedier: I find that people are fascinated with the idea of making things with our hands. So many folks are now turning to pottery for a hands-on, creative, and possibly relaxing experience. They want to see "behind the scenes", the how and where others make pots and the variety possible with ceramics.

There is time to poke around and ask questions! And many people collect, so this is a fun way to be out enjoying the beautiful Berkshires.

I wonder what have you learned from the past Open Studios that is invaluable to the process and outcome of the next Open Studio Tour?

Lorimer: We spend much of our meetings discussing advertising, how to get the word out there in an age where our culture is so innundated with visual images and commercial efforts. Five out of Six of us are over 55-years-old, so we rely heavily on Ben and his wife for modernizing our approach each year.

We really want to encourage visitors to go to all six studios so we promote that through a raffle of six mugs, one from each of us. To enter, get the brochure initialed at each studio and turn it in at the last one you visit. Et voila, holiday shopping is done!

Ellen Grenedier / Stoneware with leaf motif

What other Open Studios have you visited and enjoyed? There’s about 16 listed on the web, starting in early spring. I would think early fall is ideal for pottery makers, especially if kilns are fired up.

Lorimer: The asparagus valley potters tour was my introduction to open pottery studios. It was especially important for me being able to visit Angela Fina’s studio because she gave me my introduction to working with porcelain at IS 183 workshops. I’ve also enjoyed the Hilltown 6 Pottery tour and art studio tours in New Marlborough and Monterey.

Dan Bellow: I heard about the Asparagus Valley Pottery Tour from my teacher Tom White, who’s been a regular since the beginning. One year, I guested at Molly Cantor’s by the Bridge of Flowers. I know a lot of those potters and admire their work and I like to go play tourist. The most interesting part of the tour for me is seeing how other people set up and manage their studio. I always thought it was a great idea, wanted to do it here.

I think, the map you give people is a main key to the success of this tour? What was involved in the creating of it? Who designed it?

Lorimer: Ellen and Linda, being the furthest from GB were very enthusiastic about creating a perfectly detailed map. Together, they made a hand drawn map, which was so beautiful that it should be archived on our website~

berkshirepotterytour.com

Linda Skipper / Wheel thrown and hand carved

Thank you, and enjoy!

THE ARTFUL MIND SEPTEMBER 2019 • 13

14 •THE ARFUL MIND SEPTEMBER 2019

Jaane Doe Celebrates

her artistic vision in her Directorial Debut of

PAWNS PAWNS is an enchanting music video captured in celluloid right here in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts and set for release in 2019

Photograph by Tasja Keetman

For more information and updates visit: www.Jaanedoe.com www.facebook.com/JaaneDoeMusic www.jaanedoe.hearnow.com

THE ARTFUL MIND SEPTEMBER 2019 • 15

The Meadow John Clarke

JOHN CLARKE PHOTOGRAPHER / ARTIST INTERVIEW BY H. CANDEE

I am looking at a pastel on pigment print, The Meadow, (Sohn FA site) and I am curious to know if you listen to your inner voice; pay attention to what your instinctual feelings tell you to do when it comes to creating art? Many artists go by their skills and what is literally in front of them to work with. What goes on in your mind during the pre and post process?

John Clarke: My art is very much instinctual. I do not start with a vision of what my images will look like when they’re completed. I may start with a conceptual idea, but that is not usually visual. Having said this, the voice I listen to is not just my own…

The Meadow is part of an ongoing series I call The Bridge. It is a mixed-media piece that combines photography, abstract drawing, and music. Pieces from this series begin as long-exposure photographs, usually taken at dusk, when the low light allows for long exposures. While the shutter is open, I gently move the camera, a dance with the scene at hand. This softens the capture, gently blurring the image the way river water wears away the edges of stone. I print the photograph on Moab Entrada Rag paper, a beautiful thick matte paper that is perfect for drawing. Square pieces are printed 34 x 34”. Rectangles are typically 40 x 30” or larger.

16 •THE ARFUL MIND SEPTEMBER 2019

The next step takes some time. Abstract drawing for me is a response to music. I need to find the right music for each image. I work primarily to neo-classical composers like Arvo Part, Max Richter, Michael Nyman, and David Diamond. Once I have the music selected, then a second dance commences, a dance between me, the photographic print and the music. For most of the work in The Bridge series, I draw with chalk pastel and pencil. The music dictates the drawing and infuses my line with a lyrical quality. The dance is one of efficiency, balance and grace. Bouts of drawing are balanced with periods of reflection, making sure the overall effect is in harmony with the background image, the music, and the feeling this combination creates in me. Keeping the music consistent aids in keeping the work from straying too far afield. The same music casts the same spell, making it easier to work a piece over days and weeks.

As far as the pre and post process, I enjoy work that has multiple, distinct stages. Shooting images is one step in the overall creation of this type of work, but it is also an end to itself, completely separate from any thought of drawing or music. The selection of music to work to is more personal, emotional, and can take many months. The studio work is again its own process, drawing off the photographic image, my life-

long pursuit of drawing, and my deep love for and response to music.

How do you know what medium and when to use those choice materials you have to work with?

John: I’m somewhat pragmatic when it comes to what medium to work in. I’m represented by Sohn Fine Art in Lenox, which is a photography gallery, so much of my visual work these days is at least photographically based. My love for abstract drawing and painting brings paint, pastel and pencil into the mix, but paint ripples paper unless the paper is mounted, so I only add paint to my photographic work if I’m mounting the print to wood. Chalk pastel and pencil respond best to the Moab Rag paper. Oil pastels leave a waxy line with little color, so I don’t tend to use them in my mixed media work.

I’m preparing for a show at the Stockbridge Train Station that will open the weekend of October 19th, and for this show, I’m incorporating my writing into my mixed media work, using drafts of my short stories as the background images instead of long exposure photographs. These pieces will be on wooden panels, so I am free to use pencil, oil and chalk pastels and paint.

How has your work over the past 5 to 10 years pro-

John Clarke

gressed in terms of using your developed skills and experience? What have you opened your eyes to for the first time?

John: My photographic vision was forever changed in 2012. My tripod was broken, which basically meant my camera was broken, as I always shot with a tripod to ensure the sharpest focus possible. After almost a year, I reluctantly took my camera on a fall hike at Jug End, thinking at the very least I could document the striking early fall palette of rust, gold and green. Early in the hike, as we headed out of a canopy of trees, I turned around and, without stopping, shot a few images of the tree-covered path. The first of these captures was a revelation to me. The bounce in my step as I walked had blurred the image, creating a photograph that looked like a painting. That single image opened the door to a whole new approach to photography, and ultimately, to visual art in general.

The Bridge series, begun in 2014, had been brewing in me for a few years… how to bring together my love for photography, abstract drawing and music in a meaningful, personal way. It was inspired in part by Nancy Spero’s large-scale piece Cri du Couer that I’d seen in 2013 at the Worcester Art Museum. Spanning three rooms, Spero used a single etched plate and printed it thousands of times in a running frieze. Some-

times clear, often lost in a riot of ink, the piece brought the viewer on an emotional and spiritual journey. The myriad iterations of the printing plate, thousands of combinations of ink and image, was fascinating to me.

I wanted to make that process my own.

It was shortly after my son Orrin’s birth in May, 2014 that I tried my first piece in this style. The goal was to work abstractly, hanging one visual language on the balance of another, letting my abstract line interact with the underlying photograph in unexpected ways, producing an image that lives somewhere between reality and abstraction.

Another absolutely crucial way that I’ve developed is in my personal identity around BEING an artist. I remember in my late twenties being very proud at having come to the idea of NOT identifying myself as ANYTHING… I might be a writer, or composer, a singer, a painter, but those were just facets, different sides of me.

Around that time, I had realized I was greater than any of those individual sides. Naming myself was a limit.

A box. As I’ve gotten older, especially now that I have a family, I realize that the best way for me to keep my creative life alive and paramount in my life is to have it be financially sustaining, or at least not an absolute drain. This in itself was a two-year battle, wrestling with fears that came with placing a financial value on

my creative time and output. But when I finally saw that if I don’t identify myself as an artist then no one else would either, and that however useful my old beliefs of resisting labels and boxes might have been, it was now time to adapt a new belief system that would better serve me and my family in this phase of my life, it was clear to me that I not only WAS an artist, but that I WANTED to be an artist. To keep that alive, I needed to own it.

Have you been daring and experimental? How so?

How not so?

John: I don’t actually feel daring or experimental. It’s possible that my approach or the resulting work may seem that way to others, but I don’t feel like I’m pushing any boundaries, at least not consciously. I’m looking for something that pleases me, something that comes from the depths of me, something that only I can offer the world. This is not necessarily daring or experimental. It just needs to be personal, truthful. I love Robert Henri’s quote from early on in The Art Spirit: “We are not here to do what has already been done.” This simple sentiment is a guiding light for me.

It’s not about being daring. Continued on next page...

THE ARTFUL MIND SEPTEMBER 2019 • 17

John Clarke

Tell us about the photography show you had, ‘Lyrical’, last year at the Sohn Fine Art Gallery last year? I heard it was a huge success!

John: Lyrical was the first overwhelming success I’ve had. I have been putting on my own shows in the Berkshires since 2009, and for many years before that in other areas. To me, success has always been based on the strength of the work. A sale would help ease the financial burden of production, but wasn’t necessary for a show to feel successful. If the work was strong, and the exhibition space looked great, and the opening was full of friends and fans, then it was a success.

Lyrical was my first solo show at Sohn Fine Art in Lenox. We exhibited seven large-scale hand-worked photographs, which were all done in the past year, and three large drawing/paintings from my Alina series (done back in 2007), as well as a few much smaller photographs and drawings. The exhibition showcased the evolution of my work, and highlighted the drawing style that I developed in 2007 and continue to use today. Even though it was winter, seven of the ten large pieces sold. It was a nice confidence boost, as well as my first financially successful show.

What are you exhibiting at the Berkshire Museum this season? Is this one of your bigger venues in your career so far?

John: In the summer of 2018, the Berkshire Museum held its first-ever juried show called Art of the Hills.

My hand-worked long exposure Trees by the Pond 18 • SEPTEMBER 2019 THE ARTFUL MIND

Drive By

was selected, and at the opening reception, it was awarded the third juror’s prize. This awarded me a solo show this year in the museum’s Berkshire Now viewing area. Although not a room in the museum, the work is in a high-traffic area just past the admission’s desk.

The work on view is a mix of drawing/paintings from my 2007 Alina series, newer mixed media pieces from the Bridge series, and pure long exposure photographs. I approached it as a bit of an overview, touching on the major types of work I’ve been focused on over the past decade or more.

John, we all in the Berkshires have watched you and your beautiful family grow. It seems like such a happy and wonderful balance for you. How are you influenced by your family in terms of what to create next?

John: Admittedly, with two young kids at home, a full-time job as printer and framer at Sohn Fine Art, and my practice as an artist, finding balance is hard.

Summer in the Berkshires affords so many events and opportunities, and yet it’s also the busiest time as far as work for both my partner Liz (who is a gardener) and me. Finding balance has always been a challenging part of life. It’s why I quit my band Bell Engine back in 2014. With Orrin on the way and no way to know what to expect, I couldn’t imagine feeling the tug between weekly nighttime rehearsals, weekend gigs and raising a newborn. I continued to draw and work on my short stories at home during that time,

but the band was too much. Now, even my stories have taken a back seat as my visual art continues to gain traction. There’s a great scene in the movie Basquiat, directed by the New York artist Julian Schnabel, where Basquiat and the critic Rene Ricard are in Basquiat’s studio. Basquiat is getting his first real taste of success in the New York City art scene. The phone rings and Rene answers it. It’s someone from Basquiat’s band Gray wondering why he isn’t at rehearsal. Rene takes a message and when he tells Basquiat who it was on the phone, Basquiat remembers that he’s supposed to be at band practice. Rene, realizing the focus and commitment one needs to succeed at this level, chides him, saying, “What are you, Tony Bennet, you sing on stage and paint in your spare time?” Basquiat responds innocently, “Oh, I didn’t know Tony Bennet painted!” Ricard replies curtly, “My point exactly.” It’s so hard to get noticed for anything in the arts. At some point, some focus is necessary.

Aside from this struggle to balance and prioritize, our life together is pretty amazing. Orrin and Maris are happy, beautiful kids. We live in Housatonic, just a short walk into town. We all love the train and the century-old mill complex. A poem I wrote when Orrin was born was actually inspired by the Housatonic water tower. One early evening, late in Liz’s pregnancy, she and I were walking past the tower. She commented on the graffiti at the top and, not noticing an obvious way to get from the main structural legs up to the body of the tower itself, said “Maybe there

John Clarke

was once a ladder…” A few seconds later, a short section of ladder came into view, hidden but right where it should be. This idea stuck with me… the idea of the ladder that should be there but isn’t until, after looking a little harder, you realize it was there, all the time, at the crucial spot.

Orrin’s Ladder Maybe there was once a ladder climbing, climbing through the sky past the things that do not matter past the need for asking why Maybe there was once a ladder starting just below the sky lost amidst the endless chatter hidden from the downward eye Maybe once there was a ladder reaching toward the highest high higher than the sound of laughter higher than our dreams can fly So if there maybe was a ladder waiting for you all this time go find your strength, all you can gather… then climb and climb and climb and climb Both Liz and I have a wonderful collection of images

Branches 1 and 2

of the kids. Although I share some of these on social media, they are more for us and not about me as an artist. And yes, I have been teaching iPhone photography at a beginner and more advanced level since 2014.

What inspires you the most about our natural world? When you are hiking and have you camera in hand, do you expect to see something you have never seen before, or do you seek out what you are familiar with and endlessly captivated by revisiting its beauty?

John: These days, two things in particular continue to inspire and excite me. The first is the use of long exposures. The magic of long exposure is if you gently move the camera, the resulting photograph provides an image of the world that is at the same time true and accurate but one we cannot see with our eyes. It’s pure creation. I’ve developed and continue to refine my own method of moving the camera during capture, resulting in images that feel like pastel drawings. For years, I reserved this type of imagery for the natural world, targeting the beauty of our Berkshire landscape. This past summer, however, I had a residency at the Red Lion Inn, in which I was encouraged to create work based on or inspired by the Inn and its grounds. The long, richly decorated hallways on the upper three floors were very intriguing to me, and after about two weeks of exploring, I took a long exposure of one of the halls as I walked from one end to the other. The resulting image was a shimmering,

blurred image of flattened space, over-saturated with the colors of the lamps, furniture and carpeted floor. I continued walking the hallways throughout my residency, capturing views of the halls and rooms infused with the spirit of movement, the bustle of the guests, the passing of time.

Rainy windows have been another continued source of inspiration. In much the same way that my long exposures offer me a glimpse of a world that is hidden from our naked human eye, raindrops produce a natural distortion, focusing the world in miniature lenses and blurring the background into an abstraction of color and pattern. By focusing on the window itself and letting the background blur, the texture and pattern of the water droplets become the subject, rich and abstract, while the world beyond the window provides the palette.

Curious why you are an avid collector and lover of fossils, rocks and minerals?

John: I loved rocks, crystals and fossils as a kid. Back then, my parents would bring me to trade shows and I’d buy a fossil or a crystal that caught my eye and add it to my rock collection. Although I loved to look for rocks when my parents and I were out, the rocks in my town were not nearly as exotic or exciting as the incredible specimens on display at a mineral show.

In the summer of 2000, my best friend John Roberts and I took a three-week summer trip backpacking on the railroad tracks trying to learn how to ride freight trains. Continued on next page...

THE ARTFUL MIND SEPTEMBER 2019 • 19

John Clarke Trees by the Pond

The second train we jumped brought us to Hazleton, PA, where we got stuck for three days. During our explorations of the tracks around town, I found a three hundred million year old fossil bed of beautiful fern fossils, palm sized pieces of shale and slate imprinted with rust colored ferns. At first, I doubted they were real, since they were just lying out in the sun and no one had collected them already. I thought maybe they were someone’s pottery collection, or a weird, shortterm by-product of the coal region. Later that same day, I found a fist-sized chunk of rock with a vein of quartz crystals running around it. That day re-inspired my love for rocks. I even moved to Hazleton two years later and spent a half a year collecting fossils and crystals throughout the area. I continue to visit Hazleton as often as I can to revisit the land and look for rocks.

The act of discovering a beautiful, natural object like a fossil or a crystal feels very much like the joy of creating an image that has never existed before. It’s like a peek behind the curtain, a glimpse of another facet of reality, like finding that ladder on the water tower after doubting it’s there. To be out in nature and stumble upon the most exquisite ferns baked into rock and realize that the earth made them and that NO ONE has 20 • SEPTEMBER 2019 THE ARTFUL MIND

ever seen them before is magical. It’s pure discovery.

John, how can I introduce you also as a songwriter/musician to this talk we are having? Where are you now with your music?

John: I wish I could say that my songwriting held importance to me right now. Maybe it will again someday.

I can still sing, but don’t have nearly the stamina I did when I played all the time. When I left Bell Engine, we were discussing a second album and were playing live at least ten strong songs that we hadn’t recorded. I regret that we didn’t capture those songs in a studio setting at that time. I also had a collection of fifteen songs that I’d planned to record at home, but recording and mixing is such an isolating pursuit (“headphoneland,” I call it), and it didn’t fit well with being home with Liz and our newborn son. Lisa Anderson and Miles Lally (both from Bell Engine) and John Roberts helped me record my song Train Car Love. (https://soundcloud.com/johnclarkesongs) late in 2014 at my home in North Egremont, but after that, visual art, work and my young family were taking up my time.

Now, with two kids and a growing visual art prac-

tice, I don’t know where my music fits in. But, as I’ve said, music in general continues to heavily influence my drawing, therefore infusing my visual art…

While in college, what studies did you find most interesting? Have you found any of those areas useful in ways to you now? Chemistry, math, archaeology, and a in classical music composition, it sounds right when you are referred to a Rennaisance man!

John: In high school I was a serious student with a strong aptitude for math, chemistry and physics. I could also draw very well. And I was a good athlete. When I was looking into colleges, I wanted a small, liberal arts school that was strong in the sciences. But after receiving Chemistry Student of the Year at the end of my first year at Bates, my interests changed. A visiting professor from Bowdoin taught an archeology class my sophomore year that awoke my imagination. I continued with math another semester, but classes in art history, archeology, philosophy and religion were far more interesting to me by the time I was a junior.

When I was home from winter break in the middle of my junior year, I happened to be home one Friday evening. There was a long-standing rule in my parents’

John Clarke Rain (Housatonic Water Tower)

house… if you were home on Fridays when my dad got back from the video store, you had to watch at least the first fifteen minutes of whatever he brought home.

After that, if the movie didn’t interest you, you were free to go. He was always trying to get us to watch important films, and this was one small way of trying to make that happen. I plopped down on the couch and watched Amadeus with him. This film changed my life.

Although I could sing, I was not a musician. I didn’t read or write music and couldn’t play an instrument other than a few chords on the guitar. But the idea of creating music in your mind and then writing it down from there was a revelation to me. I returned to Bates as a second semester junior and went to the music department chair and pleaded my case. She said if I took nothing but music courses for the next three semesters, I would have enough credits to major in music. So that’s what I did. I wasn’t gifted, but I had a rich imagination and found my way to song writing from my classical studies. The influences of Beethoven and Mozart opened my ears to the nuances of The Beatles and Radiohead. The music was different, but the creative approach and emotional impact was similar. And as a songwriter and singer, it meant I could front a

band.

One thing my dad impressed upon me was that if you pursue avenues that interest you, you are more apt to learn, and the act of learning is as important, arguably more important in certain circumstances, that the subject at hand. Learn how to learn, and then you will carry that skill with you throughout life.

You got what it takes to be an accomplished artist.

What does this statement mean to you? What are your real goals?

John: My priorities are my family and my art. I want for the continued health and happiness of my family, both as four individuals and as a family unit. Artistically, my vision is to transition from working in the studio only after my daily responsibilities have been met to waking up, having breakfast with my family, getting the kids to school, and going to the studio for my daily work. We’re not in a financial situation to do that right now, but I can see it on the horizon. I have a wonderful studio space in Stockbridge, and will be sharing space in a photo collaborative at the old Country Curtains mill space in Housatonic as well. I am particularly excited to be part of this artistic community. And I am

represented by Cassandra Sohn of Sohn Fine Art, who continues to be so supportive and encouraging of new work and artistic growth.

Gaining a reputation in the artworld, especially nationally or internationally, takes a LONG TIME. It’s a long-range plan. Also, there’s no direct correlation between making good work, getting well-known, and selling. Continued evolution and artistic growth seem absolutely crucial to me, and yet anytime an artist has a financially successful body of work, there’s a potential to want to continue with that type of work. Keeping my goals focused on both aesthetic (personal) and financial (public) success seems to me to be course of action at this point.

Thank you, John!

THE ARTFUL MIND SEPTEMBER 2019 • 21

BRUCE SHICKMANTER, SUNSET ON THE HOUSATONIC

KATE KNAPP STILL LIFE

FRONT ST. GALLERY Pastels, oils, acrylics and watercolors…abstract and representational…..landscapes, still lifes and portraits….a unique variety of painting technique and styles….you will be transported to another world and see things in a way you never have before…. join us and experience something different.

Painting classes continue on Monday and Wednesday mornings 10-1:30pm at the studio and Thursday mornings out in the field. These classes are open to all...come to one or come again if it works for you. All levels and materials welcome. Private critiques available.

Classes at Front Street are for those wishing to learn, those who just want to be involved in the pure enjoyment of art, and/or those who have some experience under their belt. Perfect if you are seeking fresh insight into watercolors, and other mediums. Front Street Gallery – Front Street, Housatonic, MA. Gallery open by appointment or chance anytime. 413-5289546 at home or 413-429-7141 (cell)

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BRUCE SHICKMANTER Bruce Shickmanter retired in 2012 from his work as a physician in Berkshire County. After retirement he decided to pursue a long-term interest in watercolor painting.

In his paintings Bruce develops his use of pleasing shapes along with light and color to convey a sense of magic, mystery and movement. He uses the texture and matte finish of gouache to create a contrast with the transparent and ephemeral qualities of watercolors.

The scenes he paints are often places he has come across while hiking or biking or are inspired by a photo that stimulates his creativity.

Bruce’s paintings have been shown at St. Francis Gallery in Lee, MA, The Artful Mind Gallery in Lenox, MA, Chocolate Springs Café in Lenox, MA and in multiple group shows in various locations with the Guild of Berkshire Artists.

Bruce Shickmanter- 413-446-3721, ontrails13@gmail.com

SAM WATERSON

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS WITH MUSIC 2019-20 kicks off with the much anticipated American premiere of Andre Hajdu’s Kohelet (Ecclesiastes) for four cellos, narrated by star of film, stage and television Sam Waterston on Sunday, October 27 at 5 PM. "For every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” These famous words underscore some of the lessons of this sometimes perplexing and always intriguing volume of the Bible’s Wisdom Literature, which ushers us into the inner chambers of the author’s--traditionally said to be King Solomon--philosophical wrestlings with the deepest universal issues of life.

Artistic Director Yehuda Hanani has led the series since its founding, providing entertaining, erudite commentary that puts the composers and their times in perspective to enrich and amplify the concert experience.

Close Encounters With Music - Post Office Box 34, Great Barrington, MA 01230. Mahaiwe Box Office: 413-528-0100; www.mahawie.org CEWM: 800-843-0778; Web: www.cewm.org, CEWM e-mail: cewmusic@aol.com

THE ARTFUL MIND SEPTEMBER 2019 • 23

JENNIFER OWEN INTERIOR DESIGNER PHOTOGRAPHS OF JENNIFER BY TASJA KEETMAN

24 • SEPTEMBER 2019 THE ARTFUL MIND

Jennifer Owen’s example of her interior design talent, featuring works of art in oil on the wall by Jennifer Pazienza

INTERVIEW BY H. CANDEE

How do you manage to narrow down a person’s tastes in order to decorate their home to their satisfaction? Isn’t it a preliminary challenge for you?

Jennifer Owen: Not really. After an introductory phone call then scheduling a two-hour consultation to discuss the details of the project, listening to the client and understanding their vision is the first step.

Tell me, Jennifer, how does it all work behind the scenes? What are the steps involved that you take with each unique client?

Jennifer: Returning to my studio after a consultation armed with notes and photographs of the space, I set to work on pulling the story together. At that point, however, I already have a visual of how I feel the space should look and how I’d like to move forward.

I go to work pulling fabrics, paint colors, furniture, accessories, wallpaper, carpeting, and create a visual story. I then schedule a follow-up appointment with the clients for a presentation highlighting our vision.

Do you often have to work around the art work they want to keep on the walls? That must affect things to some degree, yes?

Jennifer: Absolutely. Very often, clients will own a collection of artwork that is meaningful to them. So of course, that becomes part of the visual story.

Most of us, over the years, have collected favorite objects such as artwork and I feel strongly that they should be incorporated into the new space. These objects often are inspiring to me as a designer.

I work with a lot of talented local artists. I’ve shown and sold their work over the years. Since opening my studio in the Berkshires, I’ve supported and featured local artists such as Rose Tannenbaum, Roselle Chartock, and Jennifer Pazienza to name a few.. We are fortunate to have an incredible creative community of artists in many different mediums.

I’ve also used local artwork in my photoshoots for completed projects, which are then highlighted on my website.

A couple of years ago I purchased 12 vintage Harper’s Bazaar cover from a local antique store. I then took them to Frames on Wheels and together

we chose colorful frames for each individual cover.

This created an amazing collection of 12 pieces, all of which were purchased by my clients.

Two pieces by Rose Tannenbaum are featured in the dining room of my client’s home in Boca Raton, FL. I selected the oil on canvas pieces and they work beautifully with the soft green-blue Farrow & Ball wall color.

Vintage Vanity Fair cover from 1930 was sought and framed by Roselle Chartock. It is now beautifully displayed in my client’s home in Stamford, CT. Jennifer Pazienza is an extraordinary artist who resides in Canada and spends time in the Berkshires. I’ve used several of her pieces in my projects. Striking blue and yellow oil on canvas pieces are shown in a client’s home in Massachusetts. The colors are a perfect companion to the blue walls in the dining room.

These are just three of the local artists I’ve worked with. All of the artists featured I met locally in our close-knit Berkshire community.

Continued on next page...

THE ARTFUL MIND SEPTEMBER 2019 • 25

Jennifer Owen, interior designer

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Three examples of her work

Jennifer looks at her color and pattern choices with Reid Stewart at Peter Fasano Fabrics and Wall Coverings in Great Barrington Photo: Tasja Keetman

Did you always know you would be enjoying the success of such a business you created?

Jennifer: It’s almost happened magically. When you have a passion and you find your path, you tend to follow the path almost without realizing, and suddenly you’ve arrived!

I’m so grateful for what I do every day.

leaves me with a sense of total fulfillment at the end of the day.

What were the very early stages like when you first started?

Jennifer: I worked for Persnickety, an interior design showroom in Rye, New York. I had a high volume of clients, which was exciting and fulfilling.

After giving it a lot of thought I decided to branch out as an independent designer. I set up a homebased office and my long-time loyal friend and assistant at the time would work many weekends and evenings with me to cover the demands of running a small business. It was exciting and challenging at the same time.

Your decorator’s eye is impeccable! What was for you the most challenging of jobs you have taken on?

Jennifer: My client in Boca Raton. I took three trips to Florida to see the space and meet with her in person. It was a large home. We had to furnish it completely, including four children’s rooms. Working out the logistics for a long-distance project was challenging. Everything had to be shipped to a landing dock in Florida. I had to hire installers for window treatments, carpet, and new flooring and coordinate all of this with her contractor. At the end of the project my client was so happy with the results. She wrote to me: “I have to say, and I don’t know how much I’ve expressed it, I get never-ending compliments on my home. You did such a magnificent job!”

When did you find it all getting easier?

Jennifer: I wouldn’t say getting easier, but one does tend to develop a certain sense of “what to do”.

The challenges are always present, however executing the projects with all the balls in the air always

Do you ever get lost in the world of luscious fabrics and have sleepless nights deciding which are the best to choose? What magic formula do you lean towards using in such a case?

Jennifer: I sometimes have sleepless nights thinking

about the excitement of pulling a color story together. I will often present my clients with three choices, but there are endless choices filled with design and texture, colors, and style. I have an incredible collections of samples in my studio, so I’m inspired daily.

By any chance, do you apply Feng Shui to any of your work when in the early stages to make sure the directions are clear where things should go?

Jennifer: Yes. Feng Shui is a 2000-year-old Asian concept that works. For instance, when you’re hanging a mirror, always be conscience of what the mirror is reflecting. Placing a mirror to reflect the outside can bring in beneficial energy if the outside environment is positive, such as a beautiful garden or body of water.

How long can a job take, from start to finish?

Jenn: I like to line up my ducks and stay focused until completion. The longest projects usually are completed within a year. On an average, 3-6 months.

Jennifer, tell us about where you grew up, went to school? Continued on next page...

THE ARTFUL MIND SEPTEMBER 2019 • 27

Jennifer: I grew up in the West Midlands in England. I developed a love of fabrics at a very early age. I went to an all-girls school and one of my favorite classes was sewing. We each had our own Singer sewing machine and we were given assignments. We chose our own fabrics!

I went on to live in Paris for three years and studied French at the Alliance-Francais. In terms of interior design, after spending many years in retail as a buyer in New York, I transitioned into the world of interior design and I did extensive training with the Interior Design Society.

Movement Therapist and works with the elderly, facilitating therapeutic movement classes. They visit me often in the summer.

How did you end up in the Berkshires?

Jennifer: I initially spent weekends here and developed a love for The Berkshires and the energy it exudes. Then eight years ago I decided to move permanently.

And tell us about your family!

Jennifer: I have two beautiful daughters who live in Harlem. They both work in the non-profit sector and are extremely creative in their own right. My oldest daughter Zanny works for a small foundation in New York as a Grants Administrator. My youngest daughter Becky, is a Dance 28 • SEPTEMBER 2019 THE ARTFUL MIND

Framed vintage fashion magazine cover, a nice piece of art added to Jennifer’s interior design plan

Getting back to your business, I just wonder, why is it better to hire you, then say, for me to do the work myself?

Jennifer: The process of interior design and changing your home environment is extremely labor intensive. I have found in my career that many clients are looking for answers to get to their comfort level in terms of how their home looks and feels to them and consequently they tend to go in many different directions which leaves them frustrated. Hence, they seek professional help and immediately have a sense of “getting it done” with the guidance of a professional.

I remember several years ago a client of mine in Westport, CT hired me to redo the entire house. I recall my first appointment with her. All the walls were white and there were many areas that needed help. So, upon leaving the first meeting, I went to work on a color

Jennifer knows her business!

story feeling a little daunted with all the white walls.

The project was completed within a year and my last meeting with my client was bittersweet. We’d spend a lot of time together and she was in tears as we hugged goodbye and she said to me, “Jennifer, I never have to stop at Home Goods anymore. It’s such a relief. Thank you.”

There is so much involved in designing a home or place of business, etcetera… What skills must you be proficient at in order to complete the entire process?

Jennifer: Listening. Organization. Follow-up. Meeting deadlines. Patience. It’s all about building and keeping relationships with other tradespeople so they have your back when you need them, and you have theirs.

Are there any rules you have made for yourself that you follow in your designing? We, as artists, often have distinct likes, dislikes, preferences and wishes. Do you have a set standard that makes you a distinctive designer?

Jennifer: My design aesthetic is clean, transitional.

Simple elegance at its best.

Where have you picked up inspirations along the way? Any one in particular, or any location?

Jennifer: There are a lot textile designers that I love to use. William Morris’ arts and crafts style, Scala-

Photo: Tasja Keetman

mandre has an amazing mill in Italy that creates incredible fabrics, Nina Campbell, who designs fabrics and wallpapers for Osbourne & Little, Romo, one largest fabric houses in Europe, Farrow & Ball paints and wallpaper, located in the south of England.

And of course, returning to Paris. A new renovation is always in the cards!

Thank you Jennifer!

Being good in business is the most fascinating kind of art. ~Andy Warhol

What do enjoy best about your career, Jennifer?

Jennifer: I go into client’s homes and I change their environment. That’s my spiritual mission.

You have won a great award, yes? I do know of the Best of Houzz Award, congrats! Tell us about it, please.

Jennifer: I was awarded the “Best of Houzz Service Award” four years in a row. The Customer Service award honors are based on several factors, including a designer’s overall rating on Houzz and client reviews. It is a great honor to be recognized.

We relaunched our website this spring: www.designsbyjenniferowen.com You can visit our studio at 6 Railroad Street in Great Barrington next door to Karen Allen by appointment or by chance!

Visit out Houzz page to see our most popular pictures and updated project images https://www.houzz.com/pro/designsbyjenniferowen

On your free time, what do you enjoy doing?

Jennifer: I love to walk my two pups Harry & Oliver who bring much joy to my life, cycle, kayak and I love watching British murder mysteries. I’m inundated with interior design publications at all times!

Do you have any great plans for the future?

Traveling? An exciting idea you want to take on?

Jennifer: A trip to Italy! My fantasy is to eat and drink (red wine) all the way through the provinces.

THE ARTFUL MIND SEPTEMBER 2019 • 29

Mary Carol Rudin www.mcrudin.com

A Lady’s Back, Red

Oil on Canvas 18 x 24”

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Ghetta Hirsch Berkshire Oil Paintings

“Brook Road View” Oil on Canvas 2016 12” X 30”

website: ghetta-hirsch.squarespace.com instagram: @ghettahirschpaintings Text or call for STUDIO visits: 413. 281. 0626

Mary Carol Rudin www.mcrudin.com

A Lady’s Back, Green

Oil on Canvas 18 x 24” THE ARTFUL MIND SEPTEMBER 2019 • 31

NATALIE TYLER GLASS SCULPTOR INTERVIEW BY “US”

Where did you grow up? Were you surrounded by nature as it is significant in your art?

Natalie Tyler: The town I grew up in was Encinitas, California, known at the time, as the Flower Capital of the US. It was amazing to look out at the hills, behind our house and literally see them change color as the farmers grew different crops of flowers. I use to hear coyotes at night as was falling asleep. When I was about 12, the tractors came in and started plowing the field behind our house, moving the dirt around. They put in markers to mark the foundations of the buildings they were planning to build. This set fire inside me, as our beautiful little town was changing so rapidly, with all the concrete getting poured. I would sneak out in field at night and pull up all their markers. I did this every night for a couple months. The environmental activist in me was awakened and I felt it necessary to slow their progress. Eventually they won, and the large buildings were built and roads enlarged. The flower fields were gone and so was the wildlife. Unfortu32 • AUGUST 2019 THE ARTFUL MIND

nately the buildings sat empty for 5 years, as the recession hit.

I missed nature something fierce. I had the ocean nearby, but the orchards and farmlands were gone.

More people, more cars and more shopping centers moved in. I was very aware of the importance of nature and decided at a young age, to channel my activism into art.

What aspects of nature have you explored and what messages are coming through?

Natalie: When I started making art, the human form was very important to me, as I used the body as a vehicle to communicate emotion, thoughts and humanity.

When I started gardening, my sculpture changed. I found I could communicate humanness through plants, such as sunflowers. I created a grove of bronze dying sunflowers that are individual and poetic. The sunflowers stand on root systems, balance, despite having no soil to nourish them. I then became fascinated with the

homes that insects build, such as the honeycombs of bees or the webs of spiders. These industrious creatures build structures that support their weight, feed and grow their offspring. The honeycomb became more and more important, especially as the bee population is diminishing. It represents not only a place to harvest honey and a home for bees, but also the key source of survival for us and the bees, as the bees pollenate our food crops. I began a series of honeycombs, sculpted larger than life, in wax, and then cast in amber crystal glass. The combs appear to be drenched in honey.

You have a series of crystal glass animal skulls you have been working on, which animal’s skulls have you sculpted from and why?

Natalie: The crystal skulls series is inspired by the precious carved crystal skulls that were thought to have come from Mesoamerican civilization and hold powerful energies. I am sculpting from actual animal skulls by hand, in wax and then casting them in crystal glass.

Natalie Tyler, Eagle’s Nest in Cast Glass

The skulls don’t represent death as the end, but more so as the afterlife. What we leave behind and what part of our history remains as we regenerate back into the earth. I have created an eagle, human, mountain gorilla, chimpanzee, ram, and African Kob Antelope Skulls.

Why do you use glass as your material for your sculptures and not another material?

Natalie: Glass has become one the main materials I work with. It has both strength and fragility, much like our natural world. It also has such beautiful qualities when light passes through. I have over 20 years of experience casting in bronze, which I also love as a material. About 8 years ago, I really missed working with color. Glass has beautiful color options and translucency that can help deepen the meaning of the artwork.

You have a new piece about to exhibit this Fall, at the Worcester Center for Crafts, tell us about the exhibition and your sculpture.

photo: Natalie Tyler

Natalie: I’m very excited to be a part of the NEW GLASS/NEW ENGLAND Exhibition curated by Jim Schantz of Schantz Galleries. My latest sculpture is called Eagle’s Nest. It is an installation of intertwined crystal antlers that create a large nest. The antlers are all cast in clear glass, making the piece frosted and ghostly. There is a glass egg that lies in the center of the nest and it is covered in white gold leaf.

This exhibition is a survey of new art from leading glass artists in the New England area. Several of the Berkshires very own renowned glass artists will be in this exhibition, such as, William Carlson from Monterey and Tom Patti of Pittsfield. I feel honored to be exhibiting with such acclaimed artists. The Exhibition opens on September 26th and runs through November 7th. It will be at the Krikorian Gallery at the Worcester Center for Crafts.

Bald Eagles nest all around the Berkshires; do you find inspiration from the Eagles here?

Natalie: I absolutely find inspiration from the Bald Eagles here. I feel so lucky when I see one flying overhead or in one of the trees that surround the lake.

Growing up, I was really aware of Bald Eagles being on the endangered species list. I remember feeling so fearful that this majestic animal could cease to exist.

Then when the Eagle regenerated enough to come off the endangered species list, I realized we do have the power to nurture and rehabilitate animals and our environment. The ability for human impact to be creative rather that destructive is a powerful notion. This Eagle’s nest sculpture is built of glass deer antlers rather than tree branches. Deer antlers have evolved over time to mimic the form of tree branches for the deer’s survival. Antlers are strong and long lasting, more so than tree branches.

Have you considered collaborating with another artist on a body of work?

Continued on next page...

THE ARTFUL MIND SEPTEMBER 2019 • 33

Water World by Adam Zamberletti and Natalie Tyler Photo: Lisa Vollmer

Natalie Tyler, EnDanger, JAK the Chimp in cast glass Wildfire in cast crystal glass, Natalie Tyler and Adam Zamberletti

34 • SEPTEMBER 2019 THE ARTFUL MIND

Natalie Tyler, Honeycomb 1 cast in glass crystal

Natalie: Actually the last couple years, my boyfriend, Adam Zamberletti and I have been collaborating on a series of glass sculptures about Climate Change. He is a custom furniture builder and an avid gardener. We are both very creative and connected to nature. One winter, we decided to tap the maple trees in the yard and make maple syrup from scratch. Over an open fire, the whole month of March, we tirelessly cooked down the sap.

The hours spent over the fire pit inspired a new sculpture called Wildfire. We watched as the wood burned and talked about the current wildfires that are like fire storms because of the drought conditions. We pulled out a log we were burning and placed it in the snow to stop it from burning. I took a mold from the burned wood texture and we cast glass versions using and blending different colors of glass, from yellow, amber, red and black. The glass melted in and layered within the sculpture, in such a way that the sculptures when they are in the light of the sun, the logs appear to be burning.

Adam also did some carvings which we cast in glass.

One is called WaterWorld, about the rising sea levels.

Another carving is called Glacial, giving the feeling of being deep inside a glacier, looking through the layers of frozen waters.

What are your family origins? Do you come from a lineage of creativity?

Natalie: My grandparents are originally from the Carpathian Mountains in what was Czechoslovakia.

During World War II, my grandmother was in Auschwitz and my grandfather was in labor camps.

They were both young at that time, very clever and were able to survive the Holocaust. After the war they had no

homes to go back to, so they made their way to Italy where my father was born and eventually immigrated to the US. My grandfather was a tailor and created a fashion business in Los Angeles. They were both were very creative and had an incredible eye for style.

Through my interest in glass sculpture I found my way back to my family origins, as my grandparents are from the Carpathians where Czech Art Glass was born.

Tell us about your classes at IS183 Art School of Berkshires, what do you teach? What has your experience been like there?

Natalie: I teach Mold Making and Kiln Cast Glass Sculpture to artists at IS183. We are really lucky to have this art school here, as it brings together artists to explore possibilities within their own practice. The students I have had are so creative and curious, which makes for dynamic class. The Mold Making class allows for the students to bring in a sculpture they have made, and make a rubber and plaster mold on it. The mold allows them to cast a wax version of their sculpture. That wax sculpture can then be translated into glass or bronze, through the lost wax process. In the Kiln Cast Glass Sculpture class, artists learn to make a sculpture out of wax and then take it through the casting process to finish with a glass sculpture of their very own.

niques with the making of each piece. I am expanding my studio to be a full service sculpture studio where artists can have their visions become sculptures. I work with artists from start to finish on their piece or at any place of the process that they would like me to do. I can be reached at natalie.tyler@atelierberks.com and www.atelierberks.com.

What does the future have in store for you?

Natalie: I’m am savoring everyday of now while we have our warm weather trying to make a bit of time to swim, garden and hike. Most of my time these days is spent in my sculpture studio creating new work. Winter is a good time to hunker down and be creative as the excitement of the Berkshires calms down, as the cooler weather rolls in. I’m thankful for every season here, as each one brings in new inspiration.

Natalie Tyler's sculpture can be seen at L'Atelier Berkshires Gallery in Great Barrington, 597 Main Street, call 510-469-5468 for hours.

Thank you!

In your studio you also offer sculpting, casting and mold making services to artists?

Natalie: The last few years I have been asked by several New York City based artists to sculpt, make molds and cast sculptures for them in either bronze or glass. I enjoy the challenges each piece brings and I learn new techTHE ARTFUL MIND SEPTEMBER 2019 • 35

FRANK MUYTJENS AND SCOTT EDWARD COLE The Inn at Kenmore Hall in Richmond, Massachusetts INTERVIEW BY H. CANDEE PHOTOGRAPH OF FRANK AND SCOTT BY JESSICA ANTOLA

Scott and Frank, to see this joint venture come to fruition—you must feel good! And once upon a time, it was just an idea. How did all begin?

Scott Edward Cole: Frank and I discovered early on in our relationship that we both shared a fantasy of running a country inn. It’s something we talked about for years down the road, and as we passed certain properties in our travels, we’d point it out to one another and dream of transforming it. In Spring of 2017, we both found ourselves at a crossroads, as Frank’s job at J. Crew came to a close, and I decided to sell the Monterey General Store after putting in a solid five years there.

Frank Muytjens: Suddenly, we both realized that the moment had come sooner than later. I left my apartment in Williamsburg and moved up to my house in Hillsdale. And we decided to start looking 36 • SEPTEMBER 2019 THE ARTFUL MIND

for suitable houses. Scott had known about a place in Richmond that he had long been curious about, which had come on the market, and suggested we take a look. It was the first and only place we considered.

Were there other ventures on the burner at the time? How did both decide this was the right adventure to take on?

Scott: This was it. We were ready to combine our households, our passions, and our resources. Our shared interests are many, and perfectly suited for such a venture. We are both passionate about interior design, architecture, gardening, cooking and entertaining. Each of these passions are now the very fabric of our daily lives.

Tell me, what were some of the ideas you each

contributed to overall theme and style of the Inn? Frank: It was important for us to honor the strong architectural framework of the house and let the room proportions and beautiful millwork take center stage. We chose a palette of masculine colors, Navy, Camel, Olives, and Grays, which relate in many ways to my career as a menswear designer.

Scott: We also knew that we wanted a mix of periods and styles when it came to furnishing the house. We took pieces from our own collections and scoured local antique and vintage stores for pieces with character. Above all, we wanted the aesthetic to be layered, and set a tone that puts people at ease.

What resources and references did you have to

Terrace view at the Inn at Kenmore Hall

explore in order implement entire scheme of things? Did you have to do much historical research?

Scott: We were so lucky to have a house with such an interesting and well documented history. The sisters from whom we bought the house possessed a wealth of information and were generous to share it all with us. Melanie was responsible for getting Kenmore on the National Register of Historic Places. And we continue to uncover more layers and chapters.

Tell me about some of the décor items, furniture, artwork, interesting utilities you decided to include? There must have been a lot of time-consuming hand-picking of special items you’re proud of adding into the rooms, yes? Where did you find some of the items?

Frank: We chose, most importantly, objects with a history, patina, and signs of having been “lived with.” Scott and I are both attracted to things that suggest a story, whether it’s a painting, or a chair, or quilt of vintage fabrics.

Scott: And we took the same approach to the modifications that were made in the renovation. For instance, the fixtures and tiles we used in creating bathrooms are classic and timeless in nature and re-

late to the general architectural details of the house.

But much thought was given to the things you cannot see: radiant heated floors in the baths, and a system that ensures that the water pressure and temperature remains constant, even if every guest has them in use simultaneously.

Scott and Frank, how were you able to effectively apply your background expertise and talents on this mission? Scott, you are a musician, artist and chef, and Frank, you were formerly a fashion designer, correct?

Scott: I find that creative people, in general, approach living in a holistically creative way. Expression and passion spills from a particular discipline into other areas. Frank and I both have visual arts backgrounds, our eyes are attuned to composition, form, and the relationship of light and objects. So, whether it’s a room, or a plate of food, or a swath of garden, we both innately have a sense of what is pleasing to us. My approach in the kitchen has always been like painting to me— building layers, textures, blending elements to create a desired taste or aroma.

Frank: My time as a menswear designer comes into play in the approach we took to renovating Kenmore— taking something classic and enhanc-

ing the best elements of it, but also making it fresh and seen through new eyes. These days I’m happiest working outside, planning and creating gardens.

That, too, is like a working on a painting that is always in a state of transformation.

What changes were needed to be made to the original 18th century building and the landscaping in order to make it adaptable and chic for yourselves and your guests?

Frank: We are so fortunate that the wonderfully grand proportions of the rooms, with all their original millwork, had been unspoiled over the centuries. And, that it was incredibly well constructed, and generally well cared for. Still, a tremendous amount of work had to be done. All of the mechanicals, (electricity, plumbing, heating and cooling) were completely replaced. Bathrooms were added or updated. Chimneys rebuilt and relined for the nine fireplaces.

Scott: We’ve been excited to turn our attention outside this year. We recently finished a new terrace in the back of the house, as well as new front walkway. More landscaping, tree pruning and planting, and creating gardens that enhance what already exists on the grounds. We have been cultivating trails Continued on next page...

THE ARTFUL MIND SEPTEMBER 2019 • 37

The kitchen at the Inn at Kenmore Hall

that wind through the meadows and orchard, and into the woodland areas on our twenty acres.

Were there times when you couldn’t equally decide on something? (Cut that tree! NO! That tree must stay! You know what I mean, and personally, disagreeing is a way of learning.)

Frank: We share a general aesthetic, which means we’re usually on the same page. But we definitely disagree from time to time. Often, we end up convincing each other of our respective stances, and then we have to start again! If one of us has a passionate NO about something, we abandon the idea and move on.

Scott: What’s interesting is that we are both stubborn Taureans, who are, at heart, true dreamers.

When I opened Caffe Pomo d’oro in 1993, I had no experience running a business, and I had to 38 • SEPTEMBER 2019 THE ARTFUL MIND

force myself to become an organized, multitasking, pragmatist. So, I tend to be the “problem solver” of the pair. But we are, as is true in all relationships, learning every day how better to work together in all areas.

Can you tell us anything about the history of the house and original owners?

Frank: It was built in 1792 by Henry Sherrill, whose descendants still populate Richmond. He had a lucrative trading post that had been located across the road, and he built this house as a signifier of his wealth. In the 1880s, it became a boarding school for a time, and that’s when it was given the name Kenmore Hall. The young painter, Robert Lewis Reid, son of the couple who created the school, convinced his parents to allow a summer arts program to be held at Kenmore. He was a student at the Museum School in Boston and procured

Frederic Crowninshield to preside over the curriculum. Daniel Chester French, Newton Mackintosh, and Helen Hinds, were among the students, who all became close there and called themselves “Kenmorians.” French and Crowninshield fell in love with the Berkshires during their time at Kenmore, and both returned to build their summer homes/studios later in life.

After returning to use as a private home, it then became a parsonage. And then, a guest house that served many musicians, conductors, and composers who came for the music festival now known, of course, as Tanglewood. Many from the symphony stayed here for the summer. Pianos were brought in, and music was everywhere.

Leonard Bernstein reportedly lived in our Carriage House Cottage for a few summers early on in his tenure with the Boston Symphony. When the Scaduto family bought Kenmore in the 1960’s,

Entry Hall at the Inn at Kenmore Hall

they continued housing members of the symphony, right up until a decade or so ago.

Do you get people asking if the Inn is haunted?

Scott: People ask, but, as far as we can tell, it is not. The house has a palpable peaceful air about it.

My former home in West Stockbridge where I lived for thirteen years, was indisputably haunted, so I feel like I know something of the subject.

Frank: What we CAN feel, is the general spirit of all of the creative energy that has passed through these rooms over the centuries.

What state was the building interior and exterior like when you first bought the property? It must have been like a canvas waiting to be painted, yes?

Frank: The bones of the house were unmistakable and breathtaking. The classic proportions of the rooms are both grand but unimposing. The millwork well preserved. The original handblown windowpanes still largely intact. We stripped

wallpaper to reveal beautiful plaster walls, had the floors sanded and refinished. The sellers of the house had repaired some crumbling ceilings and other repairs to make it more presentable to a potential buyer.

Scott: We were determined to restore, and preserve, without going too far. This house has a wonderful history that spans three centuries, and the last thing we wanted to do was scrub it clean of all signs of having been lived in and loved. As with all old homes, there are many quirks to this house that we found charming and fought to keep. In our butler’s pantry, for instance, is a stretch of countertop of brown linoleum from the 1930’s, which is marked and stained, and has taken on the patina of well-worn leather. We wouldn’t have dreamed of replacing it!

Do you enjoy being innkeepers? What do you really love about it? What are each of your responsibilities to make the Inn run smoothly?

Scott: We really do love it. We’ve been so fortu-

nate that our “audience” has seemed to have found us. They are appreciative of the house, our design, and our hospitality in general. We are not obsequious hosts, and we leave people to have their own undisturbed experiences here, but we are certainly available when needed.

Frank: We both do a little of everything. It was important to be as hands on as possible, especially in the beginning, so that we could fully understand all aspects of what we need to do. We prepare breakfast as a team and tend to all other aspects as well.

Does your canine friend help run the business as well? He is a very handsome pup.

Frank: Dutch, our 9-year-old Vizsla, is an amazing ambassador to the inn. He’s sweet and elegant and loves to be loved. We recognize that not everyone loves dogs, and we keep him out of the public areas of the house, but our guests often request to see him, and he’s always happy to oblige.

Continued on next page...

THE ARTFUL MIND SEPTEMBER 2019 • 39

Staircase at the Inn at Kenmore Hall

Scott, did you enjoy running the Monterey General Store? I so wish it was reopened with the same quality and taste and creativity you gave it.

Scott: There were many things I loved about running the store. It was a dream that I was lucky enough to have realized. I loved that I was able to re-awaken the soul of a village center— to bake pies and scones and croissants from scratch every day, and to create a place for families and friends to congregate. Having previously run a restaurant for nearly two decades, I knew the amount of work that would be required and wasn’t daunted. But, after five years of building and growing, and seven days a week of long days, and short of staff, I was feeling depleted. For the first time in my life, my creative voice shut down entirely. It was all focused only on the store. I didn’t have the energy or the inspiration or the time to paint, or write, or play music. Therefore, for my own health and happiness, I knew it was time to go.

40 •SEPTEMBER 2019 THE ARTFUL MIND

Scott, have you thought of making one of the Inn’s rooms into a working artists’ studio for yourself?

Scott: We have a three-season cabin on the property, originally a poultry house, that I am using as painting/writing studio. It’s a wonderfully rustic space where I have been re-activating my voice, both writing and painting whenever time allows.

It’s a wonderfully satisfying retreat.

Tell us what is the best feature you find your guests like the most?

Frank: Our guests have such kind things to say about the property at large, but most of them praise our breakfast. Particularly when we have a full house, and Scott and I put together a lavish buffet of fresh baked goods, quiche and frittata, clafoutis, fresh fruit, smoked salmon, etc… In the summer guests can eat on the screened porch or the terrace, and in winter we have a roaring fire in the huge dining room hearth.

What has been created within these beautiful walls that you can say is totally unique?

Scott: What is most unique is the general vibe that we have created. When people are traveling, they want simultaneously to feel at ease, but also to be experiencing something special. I think we’ve successfully created an environment that engages all the senses, is inspiring, and is also tranquil. We have some guests that will be returning soon for the 9th time. It feels like home to them. It feels like home to us.

Do you feel you’re both tied down now, and travelling may have to be put on hold for a while?

Frank: We’ve isolated a few weeks throughout the year that are the most quiet, and so we do manage to get away. But we close the inn entirely when we go. In time, we may feel more comfortable turning the place over to a manager in our absence, but not yet. We’re heading back to the west coast and Big Sur after Labor Day!

The Bath at the Inn Kenmore Hall, Richmond, MA

From a decorator’s point of view, what have you used that you find success in mix and matching time periods and styles? What tells you that the schematic flow is working?

Scott: We knew we didn’t want the place to be a museum of period specific furnishings. First, we let the eloquence of the architecture speak for itself.

It’s magnificent. So, we brought in a mix of styles that reflect how we live today. Often, it’s about juxtapositions— hard and soft, rectilinear and circular, dark and light… always finding a balance in an intuitive way. We are both drawn to things with a history, a narrative, signs of having been used. And now, they’re being used again, as part of our story, and that of our guests.

There is so much to love about the Berkshires, especially the mountain views and change of seasons. Do you see yourselves growing old in this place? Is this your true, real home of homes?

Scott: We love everything about the Berkshires. I came here from New York at the age of twenty-

four, so I have been here, in some fashion, for more than half my life thus far. And Frank has been spending weekends here for more than a decade.

Frank: There are a few weeks, usually hitting in March, when winter has gone on long enough, and the quiet, introspective, seemingly endless string of gray days, leads to cabin fever. So, getting away is always a good thing. But I think for both of us, Kenmore, and the Berkshires, will long be our home of homes.

Scott and Frank, can you give us one of your own philosophies you believe in that is on Art, Love and Living a Good life? How did you first come to believe these words you share are part of your heart and soul?

Scott: The world can be a difficult and unpleasant place. So, finding beauty and grace, and sharing such things, is so important. To show care, for a tree and the nature living in it, or for the guests you invite to your home and table. To share joy, to listen

and learn. As artists, it’s our job to seek beauty and truth, and to make it easier for others to see and relate to. Of course, here in the Berkshires, we are surrounded by grace and beauty at every turn. Our friends make gardens, and grow food, and write symphonies. They build with stone and timber. The people who choose to be here, tend to hold these things sacred. We are so lucky to be a small thread in that very rich tapestry.

The Inn at Kenmore is located at 1385 State Rd, Richmond, MA, contact info tele: 698-8100.

Thank you!

THE ARTFUL MIND SEPTEMBER 2019 • 41

GHETTA HIRSCH, GARDEN FENCE 2019, OIL ON CANVAS 8”X 8”

DAWN, 2019 OIL ON BOARD 8”X 8”

GHETTA HIRSCH BERKSHIRE OIL PAINTINGS I usually paint every day. Sometimes I carry my easel and paint a view I have been observing for a while. This kind of “Plein Air” painting requires for me to drive somewhere and lug bags and material, which takes a lot of my day. Last Fall, I was sitting in my garden, having lunch and wondering how I was going to accomplish all the tasks on my daily list when I looked up towards the left corner where I have two apple trees. I loved the dark trunks of the maple trees against the orange and yellows of the leaves. The fence underneath was old and protective in its vertical pattern and its purple/grey tones. It was a natural composition framed by the bright midday light. I finished my lunch, pulled out the color tubes, a canvas and started my work. I was amazed that I had painted so close to home that day. I do love this painting and I am waiting for September to see the corner of the “Garden Fence” again.

“Garden Fence” taught me a lesson. I needed to “see” better! I had combined a restful lunch in my garden with my daily painting task. I decided to look around me and closer to home for my inspiration.

Williams College Sports Fields are very close to my home and I often walk in that part of the campus for my daily exercise.

The following painting is called “Dawn” for the many times the fields offered this quiet, gentle morning view. There is a small pond surrounded by trees, and hills in the far distance. I know every tree, bush and muddy patch of soil in these fields. I had observed this terrain each day dreamingly and now I told myself to “see” it with an artistic purpose. I was surprised when I could do it without carrying my material to the field, just by visual memory!

42 • SEPTEMBER 2019 THE ARTFUL MIND

THE CARETAKER HOUSE 2018 OIL ON CANVAS 18”X 18”

Now I intently “see” with more care, with a goal to paint without wasting my physical energy or my time. I have combined my exercise routine with my painting and I am surprised at what comes to me when I settle myself in my studio!

Here is a small garage that is lost at the entrance of a residential property. I pass by it very often. I observe the shine of the roof after a rain. I wonder about the forlorn closed door and window. I feel like it must have housed someone on this side of the garage. I love how the tall Northern pines add shadows on the unkept meadow and how the pine needles accumulate on the roof in the Fall and stay there all year long. I called it “The Caretaker House” as it is inviting in its aloneness.

We still have a little bit of Summer left and plenty of time for me to paint the Berkshires. Visit my Studio in Williamstown or see my work in Rockport, MA. at Three Stones Gallery and at Southern Vermont Arts Center in Manchester, VT. Mark your calendars for an Opening Reception at The Front Street Gallery in Housatonic, MA, October 5th, 5-7pm. I will be there!

Ghetta Hirsch – website: ghetta-hirsch.squarespace.com, Instagram@ghettahirschpaintings Call or text 413- 281-0626 for questions.

Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude.

—Denis Waitley

JAANE DOE BURNS LIKE FIRE Jaane Doe has been part of the musical machinery, stemming the tides of change for more than three decades. This singer/songwriter, a mistress of reinvention in sound and likeness, has the ability to sing like an angel, or with the fierceness of a lion, sharing a message of depth and substance that comes straight from the heart.

Born in New York, and traveling to the West Coast as a teen, her musical journey led her back East following her union with Andrew Berliner, Chief Engineer, Owner and Founder of the legendary Crystal Sound Studios in Hollywood California. During her music years in Los Angeles, Jaane was hired as a background vocalist for various projects, one of which brought her to Crystal Sound to co-produce Bobby Taylor with her mentor and longtime friend Joe Schermie, original bass player for Three Dog Night.

Jaane, in leopard-spandex, and Andrew, in tie-die T-shirt with red suspenders, met and fell in love, married, and by the summer of 1994 had decided to give up the lifestyle and follow Andrew’s dream to return to Great Barrington where he had attended Cornwall Academy and at 17, earned his pilot’s wings with the assistance of his mentor Walt Koladzda at the Great Barrington Airport. Jaane Doe and Andrew Berliner very quietly assimilated into a happy life in the Berkshires sharing the work of supporting and raising a family together until August 30, 2002, when unexpected tragedy hit and Andrew passed away suddenly from a heart attack.

BURNS LIKE FIRE is a tribute to her late husband and musical collaborator, and signifies Jaane Doe’s dynamic return to the music world. The blending of country-tinged Americana, Folk/Pop into a visual masterpiece with great songwriting, vivid imagery and inspired solos make BURNS LIKE FIRE a memorable album.

In 2018, Jaane Doe teamed up with Annie Guthrie and was a featured performer at WoodyFest in Okemah Oklahoma. Jaane has new material in the works, and directed a music video shot here in the Berkshires, currently in post-production to be released in 2019.

Performance: 10-12: Great Falls Brewing Company 1 RAILROAD PLAZA CAANAN CT. 06018

Jaane Doe Music and more - visit www.jaanedoe.com, www.facebook.com/JaaneDoeMusic, www.reverbnation.com/JaaneDoe, https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/jaane, https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/jaanedoe/214634239

JASON AND HIS GRANDMOTHER CHAPTER 3

HOT ROD I imagined I would find a way to avoid the consequences of Jason being my only friend but he was impatiently waiting for me at the corner of my street the following morning, to start being friends. I soon discovered that Jason wasn’t an imbecile. He knew a lot of things I knew nothing about. He was a walking encyclopedia of trivia about cars. Jason lived, breathed and dreamed about cars, and the entire time of our friendship we never talked about anything else.

But that is not accurate, Jason talked, and I listened to him. It was an endless one-sided conversation, and a lopsided friendship. We would go together to school in the morning, home for lunch, back to school after lunch and then home again in the evening and all the time Jason talked about cars.

He loved certain cars and hated others with a fury.

His most profound admiration however was reserved for a certain thing called a “customized” car. He had a collection of magazines devoted to them.

Customized cars had their own special language, they were chopped, channeled, and Frenched. They had special carburetors, and differentials, with coded names and numbers. Jason’s endless lecture about cars was fueled by the passing traffic and he could identify cars and their engine types, simply by their sounds.

Our science teacher drove a little Nash Rambler, a model with no chrome and those bland inserts where the radio was supposed to be. You would have thought that Miss Pease’s ownership of that car was a personal assault on Jason’s feelings. On the other hand our gym coach had a Buick Special convertible that was black and always kept waxed.

When Jason saw Mr. Roach’s car tears would practically come into his eyes, as if he wanted to get down on his knees and worship that car. All that was necessary was for the Buick to come into sight, and Jason would start telling me various details about it. Because of this I considered Jason, who was fast becoming my only friend in the world, to be a complete idiot.

It was impossible not to be struck by an obvious fact: Jason’s grandmother did not have a car. From the look of things I suspected that she had never owned a car, and probably did not even have a license. Listening to Jason go on about cars I could not shake the sus-

picion that Jason, like his grandmother, was probably destined to never own a car also.

Earlier I had mentioned that Jason was fast becoming my only friend, but I did not elaborate. I became aware of this change as my birthday approached and I began inviting my classmates to my annual birthday party. My annual party was an inevitable affair and so I did not think very much about it until I began to notice that after inviting this or that classmate, their answer was not the, ‘Yes’ I expected but rather the question, “Is Jason going to be there?”

Soon it became obvious that I had to make a choice, either my birthday party was going to be the same as it always was minus Jason, or my party was going to have Jason as my only guest.

All my friends had been behaving strangely, but the party made my position in my class abundantly clear.

My classmates were giving me an ultimatum: reject Jason, or become the same sort of outcast he was. To not reject Jason seemed to be a matter of simple honor, but also, Jason and his grandmother represented a strange, dark quality of life I knew nothing about, and I was attracted to both of them like an innocent to some unknown vice.

The day of my party arriving and having nobody come was such a distressing prospect that I began to look around for some way out of my dilemma. How was I going to explain the change in my status in my class to my parents? Parents may or may not be interested in grades, but when it comes to the question of ones social standing in the classroom, what could be more important?

About a week before my birthday a bizarre situation arose that seemed to offer a way out my crisis. We were in the seventh grade, but the high school was in a large building nearby. Among those high school students was one girl who was so remarkably beautiful that even the boys in my grade knew her by name. We were fond of speculating about her, and wondering who her various boyfriends might be. Her name was Sheila, but she cast such a spell over us that we referred to her as “The Princess.”

She was so attractive that even my brother who was two years older than I had never spoken to her even in passing, and when it came to such things my brother was bold and fearless. So it was with a staggering shock that one day I came out of school to see none other than Jason engrossed in conversation with the Princess, in the parking lot adjacent to the high school.

As I walked across the parking lot toward Jason, my only friend in the world, I discovered that he was not exactly talking to the Princess, but was talking to her boyfriend, a dropout who was the proud owner of a customized car. I could not resist the temptation to get involved in their conversation as an opportunity to actually see what Sheila was like close up.

Jason was asking the boyfriend thousands of questions about the car. He wanted to know the increase in the horsepower of the various engine alterations. I didn’t have anything to say and once in a while ventured a furtive sideways glance at Sheila who was wearing a black sweater with white edging. This was the same sweater she wore almost every single day.

As the two idiots were exchanging their car information I fell to thinking about the car, and the boyfriend. I realize it is cruel to say such things but the

fact was, he was an ugly little guy who has dropped out of high school and I knew him because he was bagging groceries at our neighborhood grocery store. How he managed to become the boyfriend of the famous Sheila I could not even imagine.

He saved up every penny he earned and spent it on his car. A car that over the past few years he had rendered completely idiotic. Close up, rust was bubbling up under the paint over patches of Bondo. The interior beggared description, having been redone with wood grain contact paper, and shag carpet.

Jason was asking the boyfriend what the top speed of the car was, and the car maniac said something or other. It was then that I spoke up. I probably should have kept silent, but I couldn’t help myself. Speaking only to Sheila, I said, “Imagine hitting a tree going a hundred miles an hour, wouldn’t that be something.”

I didn’t intend my comment to be funny, but Sheila went into convulsions over it. I could have left it at that but then I said, also only to her, “It would be like when you hit those big bugs and they make a mess on the windshield,” and Sheila proceeded to laugh so hard her eyes filled with tears. Sheila’s boyfriend did not seem to like my remarks very much because he got in his car, slammed the door, and waved to Shelia to get in.

Then he drove off, not forgetting to spin his tires. An evil thought began stirring in my head.

As we walked home Jason seemed to be lost in thought but after a while he began to lecture me in a new and unexpected way. He said, “You are really lucky Sheila’s boyfriend didn’t attack you. I was sure you were going to get yourself killed back there.” I assumed that Jason was referring to my comment about the bugs on the windshield, but I was mistaken. “You touched his car you know,” Jason said.

“So what, I touched his car.” I had no recollection of having touched the car but apparently I had. For what came next Jason had to stop walking, turn to me and address me in a formal way. “Never, for any reason, ever touch a man’s customized car,” he said in a very serious tone. At first I didn’t understand what he was talking about, but it dawned on me that I had broken some cardinal rule of the idiot car world, and this realization pushed me over the edge, and so I said, “Customized cars are strictly for morons.”

In saying that I had a motive. I decided to put an end to my friendship with Jason by expressing contempt for the thing he loved the most. I thought it was a great plan. How could he be friends with someone who hated the thing he loved so much.

When I ran into Jason on the playground the next morning before the bell rang he acted like nothing had happened the day before. The only explanation I could think of was that he didn’t think I believed what I had said. After all, what normal boy doesn’t love cars? To not love cars was unthinkable, unless of course I was some sort of freak.

In a way I had to agree with Jason. What kind of future was there in the modern world for a kid who did not want to drive a car?

RICHARD BRITELL: FROM THE BLOG NO CURE FOR THE MEDIEVAL MIND

THE ARTFUL MIND SEPTEMBER 2019 • 43

PHOTOGRAPH BY CLAUDIA D’ALESSANDRO

CLAUDIA D’ALESSANDRO THE NATURE OF THINGS The “Nature of Things” is on display at the Sandisfield Arts Center, 5 Hammertown Road, Sandisfield, Massachusetts through September 28. See the show before performances and by appointment.

Opening reception is Saturday, September 7, 2-4 PM. For more information call 413-258-4100.

"Claudia's photography touches our souls with deep joy!" ~ CHR Like John Burroughs, “I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order.” Through my lens, I can capture moments otherwise gone in an instant -- in prints on canvas, aluminum and photo paper -- and keep close the scenes of the beauty and mystery that exist all around.

"She sees with her eyes and feels with her heart." ~ DKAH The Berkshires is a changing, moving and exciting palette with a seasonal and topographical backdrop that has made this region a destination for generations of people seeking a beautiful place just to 'be.'

In late Summer and early Autumn, nature rejoices in her maturity; her fruits are ripe and the depths of her dark greens, golds, russets, purples and reds preside over her landscape. Gathering for winter has begun. Afternoon shadows grow long, dusk is early.

The first chill air creeps in. And the days grow shorter, reminding us of a long winter yet to come.

“Since 1965 I have been a 'been, gone, and now back' resident here (back completely since 1993) and I have come to realize that there is no place that I would rather be. In hills and streams, lakes and brooks, valleys and woods, and from the tops of our mountains, there is everything I need to soothe my spirits and enliven my soul. And there is little that I enjoy as much as catching a tiny bit of that beauty and preserving it for all to see.”

Autumn adorns the Berkshires with her majesty.

And I enjoy trying to catch and preserve as many moments as I can, through my lens.

To order prints or enquire about pricing, including SPECIAL PRICING for Artful Mind Readers, email me at cdalessandro26@gmail.com.

Claudia D’Alessandro - website at https://www.dalessandrophotography.com, Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/cdalessandrophotography/and on Instagram as: dalessandronatura

44 • SEPTEMBER 2019 THE ARTFUL MIND

CAROLYN NEWBERGER, SYMPHONY OF TREES, 15 X 22”

MARK MELLINGER, CHAIRS

CAROLYN NEWBERGER

MARK MELLENGER

I came to art after a long career in psychology, dedicated to the wellbeing of children and families.

Two years in the Peace Corps in Africa from 19671969, the diversity of my extended family, the preciousness of the people I has served in my career, and a life in music have all found their ways into my art.

Watercolor painting, mixed media and collage, and a practice of drawing from life form the body of my work. I draw in real time, in the natural world and as well in darkened performance halls.

There the challenge is to keep a receptive ear and a loose hand in order to capture both performer and sound, with their rhythm, flow, and intensity.

These works illustrate essays and music and dance reviews, some written in collaboration with my husband, Eli Newberger, in The Berkshire Edge, a publication of news, arts and ideas in Western Massachusetts.

More recently, my work has focused on the life and beauty of the forest, a place filled with unexpected discoveries. Living on the edge of a deep forest, my dog, Lily and I have been exploring it together. While Lily leaps and sniffs out rodents under decaying logs, I, with folding stool, notebook and art supplies on my back, records in words and images the forest’s revelations.

My artwork has received numerous awards, including Watercolor Artist Magazine, the Danforth Museum of Art, the Cambridge Art Association, and the New England Watercolor Society. I have widely exhibited in solo and group shows in New England and beyond. A signature member of the New England Watercolor Society, my work is represented by Galatea Fine Art in Boston, MA. The Artful Mind Gallery: OCT 2019 Reception for Artists: Oct 5 5-7pm Front Street Gallery Housatonic, MA To see more of my work as well as professional and personal publications please visit my website: www.carolynnewberger.com

I live in two separate worlds. One verbal and one visual. What they have in common is an attitude of pushing into the unknown; of allowing unconscious elements to take form within consciousness.

I couldn’t live without both.

Art came first, but after a while I began to feel self-indulgent and isolated. I wanted to address problems of mans’ impact on the environment. I went through careers in art, photography, carpentry, ecology and microbiology before landing in psychology at 30. 10 years ago, when we found a loft in Pittsfield, I returned to my first love, art. It’s not like riding a bicycle. I had to start from scratch. I feel I’m just now catching up to where I left off 50 years ago.

I’m not satisfied with a piece for a long time. I’ll put it away and work on something else. I’ll look at it upside down and in a mirror, trying to get a handle on what’s wrong. It’s a very solitary meditation. I might gesso over everything except some small bits that are working; then start over from those. The viewer completes the process. It’s a collaboration.

It’s a thrill when someone “gets” a piece, but I’m OK when they don’t. The connection with the viewer should be as rare and special as marriage.

The Artful Mind Gallery: OCT 2019 Reception for Artists: Oct 5 5-7pm Front Street Gallery Housatonic, MA Mark Mellinger can be reached at markmellinger680@gmail.com / markmellingerart.com / 914-260-7413

"The public is more familiar with bad design than good design.

It is, in effect, conditioned to prefer bad design, because that is what it lives with.The new becomes threatening, the old reassuring."

-- Paul Rand, graphic designer

EDWARD ACKER PHOTOGRAPHER

Time Flies D Get Pictures EdwardAckerPhotographer.com 413-446-8348