THE ARTFUL MIND APRIL 2014
Monthly Berkshire Artzine
Since 1994
Robin Crofut-Brittingham Photography by Molly Cosel
St. Francis Gallery
1370 Pleasant Street, Rte 102, Lee, MA (next to fire station)
‘A Fool’s Paradise’
edite cuhna emily goodwin nina rossi gina vernava belinda lyons zucker larry zingale Jürek robert houghton paula stern ted murray linda baker cimini philip pryjma
Jürek, Windows #1, 4” x 5.35” 300ppi
• APRIL 1st to MAY 5. 2014 • Open Friday - Monday 11 - 5pm
“I realize how human I am through my portraits.
What I care about. How deeply I love. To face devastating loss. I paint without censor or shame.”
“I do not hide the suffering or joy of my life. My house is in order – I can do this, now. No limits. Without compromise.”
“Some hold a secret … that I am willing to look at. I tell things most people strive to forget. They are contemplative. I go inward. I own it – these emotions.
To be free.”
VAULT GALLERY
322 MAIN STREET GREAT BARRINGTON MA 413.644.0221 VAULTGALLERY.NET
MARILYNKALISH.COM
2 • APRIL 2014 The ARTfuL MInd
CALENDAR CALENDAR CALENDARCALEND museums & galleries
510 WARREN STREET GALLERY hudson, nY • 518-822-0510 April featured artist: KAThY KORn: WORKS On PAPeR
BERKSHIRE ART GALLERY 80 Railroad St, Gt Barrington, MA • 528-2690 www.berkshireartgallery.com 19th and early 20th Century American & european art and sculpture, contemporary artists
CARRIE HADDAD GALLERY 622 Warren Street, hudson, nY • 518-828 1915 / www.carriehaddadgallery.com under the Influence (of the new York School)Lionel Gilbert, Judith Lindbloom, Russell deYoung and William Bond Walker Reception: Saturday, April 26th, 6-8pm, April 19, 2014 thru June 1, 2014
DEERFIELD ARTS BANK 3 Sugarloaf Street, South deerfield, MA 665-0123 / www.deerfieldartsbank.com Grand opening: Close to home. Artists’Reception: Sun, April 6, 24 pm April 6 - May 30 (Gallery hours: Wednesday - friday 14pm, Sunday 1-4pm, Closed Sat.) FRONT STREET GALLERY front St., housatonic, MA • 413-274-6607 / 413-528-9546, or cell at 413-429-7141 housatonic Gallery for students and artists. featuring watercolors by Kate Knapp (Saturday and Sunday 12-5pm or by appointment) LAWRENCE FINE ART 37 newtown Lane (in the passageway), east hampton, nY www.lawrence-fine-arts.com / lawrencefinearts8@gmail.com new at the Gallery: Suzanne Lafleur
NORMAN ROCKWELL MUSEUM Rte 183, Stockbridge, MA .8 413-298-4100 highlights from "norman Rockwell: Behind the Camera" Thru May 31; Baseball, Rodeos, and Automobiles: The Art of Murray Tinkelman Thru June 15; Wendell Minor's America; Thru May 26; norman Rockwell's 323 "Saturday evening Post" Covers. Open year-round. SCHANTZ GALLERIES 3 elm St, Stockbridge, MA • 413-298-3044 www.schantzgalleries.com. A destination for those seeking premier artists working in glass. (11 - 5 daily)
SOHN FINE ART GALLERY & GICLEE PRINTING 6 elm Street, Stockbridge, MA • 413-298-1025 info@sohnfineart.com / www.sohnfineart.com 3rd Annual Juried exhibition March 28 - May 19, 2013 Public Reception Saturday, May 17, 4:00 - 7:00. Winners will be announced during the reception! Public can vote for "People's Choice Award" at Sohn fine Art Gallery.
SPRINGFIELD MUSEUM 21 edwards Street, Springfield, MA •413-263-6800 evocative watercolors by artist Josie Vargas. The exhibit, titled fiesta: flora and fauna from Puerto Rico, will be on display at the Michele and donald d’Amour Museum of fine Arts from September 10 through May 11, 2014 THE AIDRON DUCKWORTH ART MUSEUM 603-469 3444 / www.aidronduckworthmuseum.org info@aidronduckworthmuseum.org Landscape drawings and abstract paintings by Lorna Ritz “how Colors Sing!” exhibition dates: 26 April-8 June 2014. Reception Saturday, 26 April, 3-6 pm, with a ‘Gallery Talk’ at 4pm
music/theatre
AGLET THEATRE Lakeville. CT high Tea at the Lakeville Town Grove, Sunday, May 4 at 4pm. Backstage at Lincoln Center: Meet Jeff hamlin, Production Manager, Lincoln Center
BARRINGTON STAGE CO. Box Office: 58 union Street, Pittsfield :• 413-236-8888 / barringtonstageco.org The Other Place by Sharr White, directed by Christopher Innvar May 21 – June 14. Performances: Tues-Sat 7:30pm; Sat 4pm (excluding May 24); Sun 3pm; Additional matinee on Thurs, June 12 at 4pmVenue: St. Germain Stage, Sydelle and Lee Blatt Performing Arts Center 36 Linden Street, Pittsfield, MA
BLUE HORSE REPERTORY COMPANY Saugerties Performing Arts factory (SPAf) 169 ulster Ave, Saugerties nY • 518 947-8248 Tennessee Williams, Straight up and Salted with a Twist, an ensemble performance of three short works by the two playwrights, framed by Mr. Williams' observations about life, art, and the nature of the creative spirit. directed by Andrea Cunliffe and performed by Judy Allen*, elizabeth Breslin, Lora Lee ecobelli*, Bob hanley, Byron nilsson*, James Occhino*, Sam Reilly, and nancy Rothman*. friday April 25 and Sat April 26, 7:30 PM, Sun, April 27, 3pm $20 adults, $15 seniors and students. HELSINKI CAFE 405 Columbia Street, hudson, new York 12534 518.828.4800 / info@helsinkihudson.com Some selections: April 11: The Budos Band; April 17: The Mountain Goats with erin McKeown; May 19: The Voodoo Orchestra north MASS MoCA 87 Marshall Street, north Adams, MA Multi-disciplinary Choreographer david neumann presents a survey of pivotol solo works, April 26. A co-presentation by Jacob’s Pillow dance and Mass MoCA. Ticket prices: $20 premium/ $15 general / $10 students. To order tickets: 413.662.2111 or www.massmoca.org; May 9: Theater: Andrew dawson: The Russian doctor; BeCK in concert, Tuesday, June 24. Tickets available at 413.662.2111 x1 or massmoca.org/Beck
tersection of scholarship and the arts. Currently untitled, the debut piece utilizes more than a dozen laws of physics as a means to discover and develop movement, patterns and motivation that deeply intertwine the science with the dance.
events
POWELL HOUSE QUAKER CONFERENCE & RETREAT CENTER 524 Pitt hall Road, Old Chatham, nY • 518-794-8811 / Sharon@powellhouse.org Transitioning: A Workshop for Change Agents, Apr11-13
workshops
HEROINE’S JOURNEY: CREATING YOUR BRAVE, NEW WORLD www.amberchand.com / achand108@yahoo.com A workshop series for women seeking to step into their future with clarity and confidence. date: Tuesday, April 8-May 13, 2014, 79:00 pm, Lenox. hosted By: The Center for human emergence north east. Cost: $325 To Register call 413-822-0551
SABINE VOLLMER VON FALKEN PhOTOGRAPhIC WORKShOPS • 413-298-4933 www.sabinephotoart.com, info@sabinephotoart.com
SPENCERTOWN ACADEMY ARTS CENTER 790 Route 203 in Spencertown, n.Y 518-392-3693 / www.spencertownacademy.org Presents Life Skills Workshop Series. The special workshops, “Leading Your Life: essential Tools for Professional Success and Personal Growth”, will be led by former disney Broadway producer Michele Steckler on April 16, May 21 and June 25 at the Academy Send in your calendar submissions by 10th of the month prior to publication for the issue of The Artful Mind artzine!
NO. SIX DEPOT ROASTERY AND CAFÉ 6 depot Street in West Stockbridge, MA WAM Theatre on Sunday, April 13 at 3:00 p.m. The reading will be followed by a talkback with the actors and director. Blue Stockings is the first in WAM Theatre’s new fresh Takes Play Reading series, which offers new and reimagined works that tell women’s stories. SOUTH BERKSHIRE CONCERTS McConnell Theater, daniel Arts Center www.simons-rock.edu/events Violinist Ida Kavafian and Pianist Peter Serkin, Sunday, April 20, 3:00 p.m., featuring works by Tartini, Schubert, nielsen, Wolpe, and Schumann.
THE U ALBANY PERFORMING ARTS CENTER Tuesday, April 22, 2014, earle, Sinopoli and her company of dancers will present a lecture/demonstration entitled An Interplay of dance and Physics at 2:45pm. In this free event, the two collaborators will show and tell about their experiences. Culminating the entire project, the company will present a full evening performance entitled ChoreoPhysics: Seeing the Science, envisioning the Invisible on friday, April 25, 2014 at 7:30pm which includes the premiere of earle and Sinopoli’s new work traversing the in-
THE ARTFUL MIND APRIL 2014 •3
Kate Knapp, Sicily, Italy
Painting Classes on Monday and Wednesday mornings 10 - 1pm at the Studio and Thursday mornings 10am - 1pm out in the field.
Open to all.
413-274-6607 413-429-7141 (cell) 413-528-9546 Gallery Hours: Saturday and Sunday 12-5 or by appointment FRONT STREET, downtown HOUSATONIC, MA
KRIS GALLI “You Could Never Tell What She Was Thinking”, oil on canvas, 30” x 40”
FRONT STREET GALLERY
Watch my website for details on my upcoming solo show all new paintings, coming this summer in Spencertown, NY Hope to see you there!
krisgallifineart.com
The Gossips
The Gossips ©1948, SEPS. Norman Rockwell Museum Digital Collections.
are back in town!
4 • April 2014
The ARTfuL MInd
nrm.org • 413.298.4100 open year-round 9 Rt. 183, Stockbridge, MA
IS183 SUMMER ART CAMP
This summer, IS183 Art School of the Berkshires’ invites people of all ages to go to ART CAMP! for adult students, intensives, running from June 9 – 13, 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m , offer the chance to spend a week immersed in creativity! Learn to build a coil pot, create paintings inspired by edith Wharton or jump start your creativity with a collage course inspired by yoga. The coil pot and yoga classes are taught at a Citizens’ hall in Stockbridge. The painting class will be held at The Mount, edith Wharton’s home in Lenox. IS183’s intensive classes allow the luxury of time – students spend a week focusing all of their efforts on a particular skill or theme. While the intensives serve as a sort of camp for adults, IS183’s week long summer camps for children aged 3 - 14 run from June 23 – August 15. At art camp, kids can create, explore and especially, have fun! Register before April 30 to receive a 10% discount. for kids, IS183’s innovative summer camps are rigorous – designed to challenge and inspire - but so much fun that kids clamor to learn more! from rock and roll to puppet theatre, ancient egypt to imaginary creatures, each age-appropriate camp will surprise and inspire. Children aged 3 – 4 spend half a day, from 9:30 am – 12:30 pm in the summer camp program, while camps for ages 5 – 14 run from 9:30 – 3:30 each day. early drop-off and late pick-up options are also available. IS183 Art School of the Berkshires is a not-for-profit community art school whose mission is to encourage people of all ages, means and skill levels to enrich their lives through hands-on experience in the visual arts. IS183 Art School, PO Box 1400, 13 Willard Hill Road, Stockbridge MA 01262 Phone: 413-298-5252, www.is183.org
MARGUERITE BRIDE MARGueRITe BRIde, OSPReY PeRCh
WATERCOLORS
Marguerite Bride has spent the long cold winter preparing for summer shows, stretching her scope of subjects and venturing from her comfort zone a bit. Mostly known for house portraits and scenes with multiple structures, Bride has also been painting nature scenes, swamps and wetlands, and seascapes. These new paintings will be “officially” displayed at summer shows and galleries in Lenox, Wickford RI, Marblehead, MA and Pomfret CT, but you can always catch a sneak preview in her studio. A series of new paintings were recently delivered to Celebrations Gallery in Pomfret, Connecticut for their spring exhibit. Included are sunlit country lanes, old grist mills, some downtown village scenes and some musical subjects. Bride is always happy to consider commission work. A subject she particularly enjoys is painting house portraits, and has now done nearly 150 homes locally, nationally and some in europe. Commissioning a piece is much easier than most people imagine. Check out Bride’s website for more information, or contact the artist directly. Bride invites visitors to her studio during “open studios” on each first friday of the month, held in conjunction with Pittsfield’s first fridays Artswalk from 5-8 pm. At the nu Arts Studios you will see up to 18 different artists who welcome the public to see their working spaces and meet with the artists. Marguerite Bride, NUarts Studios, 311 North Street, Pittsfield, Studio #5, by appointment only. Call 413-442-7718, or 413-841-1659 (cell); website: margebride-paintings.com email: margebride@aol.com Facebook: Marguerite Bride Watercolors.
SAINT FRANCIS GALLERY JÜREK JüReK, PAndA, 5” x 5” 300 PPI
After few decades of exploring realism, 2013 brought a sort of personal revolution to Jürek’s life. Search for that ultimate experience has opened new doors. A series of new paintings, “Windows” is his exploration and discovery of a new visual language on “ my new journey into…?” Jürek, who was born and educated in post war Poland, considers his original artistic influences his Mother, who was an artist, and Salvador dali. She introduced Jürek to art history, mythology, love for nature and fundamental skills of artistic expression. One of Jurek’s early encounters with art was Salvador dali’s symbolic painting The Burning Giraffe, a gruesome image of a giraffe with its back ablaze as a symbol of war. “A fool’s Paradise” exhibition runs through May 5th. Other artists in this show include: edite Cuhna, emily Goodwin, nina Rossi, Gina Vernava, Belinda Lyons Zucker, Larry Zingale, Robert houghton, Paula Stern, Ted Murray, Linda Baker Cimini, Philip Pryjma. St. Francis Gallery, 1370 Pleasant St., Rte 102, Lee, MA. 413-717-5199. Open Friday to Monday 11am - 5:30pm and by appointment. www.saintfrancisgallery.com Artist contact: jurekart.com, jurek@jurekart.com
“WHISTLE BLOWER”
JOHN K LAWSON
OPENING RECEPTION @ CHELSEA 27, NYNY APRIL 17 - MAY 10, 2014 TEL: 516 - 655 - 1000
The ARTfuL MInd APRIL 2014 •5
THE ARTFUL MIND
artzine
APRIL 2014
“Day-o! Me say Dayyy-o. Daylight come and me want to go home!”
THE MUSIC STORE
Cover by Molly Cosel Interview by John Lawson ...8
Richard Britell: VIVALDI .....12
Planet Waves for APRIL Eric Francis.....14 Simply Sasha Sasha Seymour......15
Contributing Writers and Monthly Columnists Eunice Agar Richard Britell Stephen Gerard Dietemann Eric Francis Sasha Seymour Photographers Jane Feldman Sabine Vollmer von Falken Cassandra Sohn Publisher Harryet Candee
Copy Editor Marguerite Bride
Advertising and Graphic Design Harryet Candee
Box 985, Great Barrington, MA 01230 artfulmind@yahoo.com
http://issuu.com/theartfulmindartzine/docs 413 854 4400 All submissions for MAY due :: APRIL 12, 2014 (email or call)
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. Disclaimer rights available upon request. Serving the Art community with the intention of enhancing communication and sharing positive creativity in all aspects of our lives.
6 • April 2014 The ARTfuL MInd
COLLINS/EDITIONS formerly BERKSHIRE DIGITAL
After seven years of working for artists and photographers as Berkshire digital, we have changed our name to collins|editions. We are a fine art reproduction service that offers the highest quality digital photography & reproduction of paintings as well as Giclée printing on archival papers and canvas with sizes up to 42” x 90”. Artists & photographers use us to create limited editions of their images. Private collectors and galleries use us to document their collections. Whether the reproduction needs are for archiving, printing, books, magazines, postcards or internet use, Bd adheres to very strict color controls along with delivering stunning detail by using either a large format camera with a Better Light™ digital scanning back for making giclee prints as well as the best dSLR cameras for publication & internet uses. In addition to the photography and printing services, collins|editions also offers graphic design, enabling clients to create show announcements, post cards and brochures. The website, www.Collinseditions.com has a complete overview, lots of information and pricing. The owner, fred Collins, has been a commercial photographer for over 30 years having had studios in Boston and Stamford. he offers 20 years of experience with Photoshop™ enabling retouching, restoration and enhancement. The studio is located in Mt Washington but dropoff and Pu can be arranged at other locations. Collins|editions studio, 220 East St, Mt Washington, Massachusetts; 413-644-9663, www.Collinseditions.com
A most wonderful place to meet, eat and drink!
RTE 20, NEW LEBANON, NEW YORK
Photo: Jane Feldman
Artist Robin Crofut-Brittingham
There are few things more poorly suited to the super-seller, mass-marketing, impersonal transaction and computerized service dominated retail than MuSIC, especially in choosing a musical instrument! This is why small, independent stores like ours, The Music Store, still exist; to give the consumer the chance to play, listen and ask about the instruments in which they are interested. The Music Store, named the Best Music Store by the Berkshire Record, offers fine, folk, unusual and handmade instruments for musicians and music lovers of all ages and abilities, including an extensive selection of accessories including strings, sticks, cleaners, reeds, and heads among many, many others. Acoustic, electric, classical and luthier handmade guitars including the penultimate, gorgeously voiced and darned near indestructible travel guitar - Composite Acoustic's Cargo - nestle happily among one of the widest selection of ukuleles in the northeast. African, Middle-eastern and other ethnic instruments including drums and bells, rattles and ratchets sit beside children's instruments. And unusual locally made instruments including dr. easy's Sonic Boxes (wonderful acoustic and A/e Cigar Box Guitars and diddly Bows) as well as the lovely Stockbridge-made Bamboo Serenity flutes, Walking Stick and Cane flutes rub shoulders with elite luthier-handmade guitars by dana Bourgeois's Pantheon Guitar Shop and Irish luthier John Beckett. Another essential, instrument maintenance and repair is available as well. Sean Barry's Workshop offers expert luthiery at reasonable prices for maintenance, repair and restoration, and access to a private collection of used musical instruments from the 18th century to present day. Also, unlike super-seller chain stores, we offer custom set-up and instrument warranty work free of charge on every new instrument that we sell, for the life of the instrument! Musical motif gifts, sheet music and expert, friendly advice and service are also available, making The Music Store your resource for all things musical here in the lovely Berkshires, the very heart of so much music in the northeast! for brand names of new and used guitars including Composite Acoustic, Kremona, Avalon, Alvarez, Takamine, Breedlove, Loar, Recording King, fender as well as many other lesser known brands of guitars, international and locally made instruments, accessories and gifts of all kinds, The Music Store is the place to be this Spring. The Music Store, 87 Railroad Street, Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Open Tuesday - Saturday 10-6 and Sunday 12-5. Call 413-528-2460 or visit our web site: themusicstoreplus.com
Advertise with The Artful Mind this summer! ALL ART NO Fluff
No. SIX DEPOT GALLERY TRACTOR, MARTIn ALBeRT
FRONT STREET GALLERY KATE KNAPP
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. 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. A teacher for many years, Kate Knapp has a keen sense of each student’s artistic needs to take a step beyond. Perfect setting for setting up still lifes; lighting and space are excellent. Kate Knapp’s paintings are also on display at 510 Warren St. Gallery in hudson, nY. Please stop by to see all the many works of art by exceptional artists. Front Street Gallery – Front Street, Housatonic, MA. Gallery open by appointment or chance. 413-528-9546 or 413-429-7141 (cell).
COWS, CLOUDS & TRACTORS
Photographer Martin Albert will be showing his work at no. Six depot Gallery in West Stockbridge from April 1-May 15. An artist reception will be held on April 6 from 3-5pm. The show, “Cows, Clouds & Tractors,” is about pieces of the landscape that catch your eye. The landscape is all Berkshires. While the subjects in his work are “found,” they appear somewhat removed, as if dropped in. his method involves a good deal of time driving: “I drive by many times—maybe 40 or 50—before I take a picture. If I keep driving by it means it’s stuck with me. I begin to see it as a photograph.” Many of the works in this show are “mug shots” where we see both a profile and a side view of the same subject. The theme started with cows but it’s as arresting—if not more— with machines. Martin has worked in the film and photographic industry around the world for over 20 years. he lives in the Berkshires with his wife, two beautiful girls and two crazy dogs. no. Six depot Gallery is located in the central space of the historic train station in West Stockbridge. It is adjoining no. Six depot Roastery & Café, serving house-roasted coffee, breakfast, lunch and friday dinners. Seating is available in the gallery if you’d like to enjoy your coffee amidst stunning art. No. Six Depot Gallery - info@sixdepot.com, www.sixdepot.com, 413-232-0205.
ANN MARIE SCOTT Ann MARIe SCOTT, BeACh WeedS, 8 x 10”
PLEIN AIR PAINTING COURSES
Ann Scott has a passion for nature…she grew up surrounded by wolves and bears in Campbellford Ontario, Canada and later moved to new York while in grammar school. Scott has lived up and down the east Coast, and has traveled extensively in the uS and europe. Besides painting she has been in TV pilots and by happy accident got a role in a movie called “everybody Wants to be an Italian”. Scott also had an “extremely brief” career as a Sea Shanty singer/street performer where she learned what stage fright really meant, hence running right back to her studio; she has stuck to painting and singing only in the shower ever since. Scott has exhibited widely over the uS and in Canada. She has been a recipient of grants from the Rochester Arts Council, new York State Council on the Arts and Massachusetts Cultural Council, enjoyed artist-in-residencies at the American Academy in Rome, Pouch Cove, newfoundland and in the dune Shacks at the Cape Cod national Seashore. She is represented by the Lyman-eyer Gallery in Provincetown, MA and an exhibiting member of the Provincetown Art Association Museum and Salmagundi Club in new York City. Scott will be offering one and two day plein air painting and drawing workshops starting May 1 running into autumn. These workshops are for everyone beginner and advanced alike. Contact the artist for more information and/or to sign up. Ann Marie Scott - www.annscottpainting.com / annmscott@roadrunner.com
20 YEARS! ANNIVERSARY ISSUE! The ARTfuL MInd APRIL 2014 • 7
time talking and comparing our different approaches to process and how to put one’s work out into the world as a creator. I am hugely grateful to have her input as it comes from a very different but surprisingly related creative field.
Artist Robin Crofut-Brittingham Interview by John Lawson
John Lawson: It’s a pleasure meeting you Robin and I would like to welcome you to the wonderful world of The Artful Mind. I have been an admirer of your portraiture work for quite some time, can you give our readers some history into way you chose portraits as your form of artistic vocabulary? Robin Crofut-Brittingham: Hi John, it’s a pleasure to talk to you and to be a part of The Artful Mind. It’s true my work has been primarily focused in portraiture for some time. When you really try to capture someone, to make an imprint of a particular person it often becomes an imprint of yourself. I put a lot of myself into my paintings and that can be a transformative experience. In my own work I am interested in the emotive qualities of single expressions and how facial structures can take the role of landscape. Each face has its own unique topography and I think that can communicate an emotional landscape even when it is the face of a stranger. The subjects of my paintings are generally derived from found photographs- faces already captured through another’s lens. I myself often know very little about the context or location. I prefer to work with people whose only visual ties to history, memory or place exist in the folds of their skin. Therefore their skin takes the role of a landscape that maps their personal history. Sometimes I leave the background entirely blank so that the emptiness behind a face might inspire the viewer to connect, understand and imagine a context for the subject. I have worked primarily in watercolor for several years now. I find it has the unique ability to bend and sink on paper in a way that most closely imitates the way that skin itself falls across the face. It can be used softly in pools of spilled value or in hard structured layers and there is always an element of unpredictability in the way it dries and absorbs on paper. I think that portraiture will continue to be my primary artistic vocabulary but I would like to push it into new realms and explore new techniques. I am starting to work in color again and I am trying to push myself to explore how much I can do with a face and with 8• April 2014 The ARTfuL MInd
Photography of Artist by Molly Cosel
portraiture as a vocabulary.
You have an interesting name, Robin Crofut-Brittingham, and come from a family of artists. Can you talk a little about your family history and how that has influenced your work? Robin: I think being from a family of artists can make it easier as you commit to a career in the arts. In many families it would be “that is unrealistic” or “is that sustainable?” but in my family its more like “oh god, here we go again.” My mother, Erika Crofut, is an illustrator and she also teaches art at Salisbury School. Growing up in her studio and around her classroom definitely influenced me. She always encouraged me to create things and gave me the tools I needed to do it. She is incredibly prolific and makes things in a huge variety of materials. She makes ceramics, prints, paintings, furniture, sculptures, and boats, among other things. I went down to her house a few weeks ago and she had made a sculpture out of snow with vines and glass bottles all over it. She is constantly creating. Her versatility and energy are often useful and inspiring for me when I want to try something. I went to her last year and said I was thinking about making an installation of birds to go with a series of paintings I was developing. She was in her classroom and just handed me a lump of clay and said, “make some birds.” My grandmother, Susan Crofut, is also an artist and we have always connected through our mutual proclivity for watercolor. My grandmother’s work is very thoughtful and intimate. She does magnificent landscapes and still lives and has incredible control and skill with her brush. Last year the three of us collaborated for a show in Norfolk “Three Generations” which was something we had always talked about doing and I think made us appreciate each other’s work in a new way. My aunt, Anni Crofut Maliki, also lives locally is a jeweler, dancer and all around creative type as well. She has a line of magnificent and very artistic silver jewelry and we spend a great deal of
You work in a large scale and I imagine each piece takes a while to complete, can you describe your artistic process for us, what images you choose as subjects and why you work primarily in black and white? Robin: I recently read an article about Marlene Dumas where they described her portraits as “situations” that describe a mood or a human state. I am trying to create a similar ambience in my paintings. I am interested in transient emotional moments that might flash across a face during the course of an ordinary day. I want the transience of my subjects to expose something about a latent emotional condition that might speak for a larger audience. I work in black and white because it requires the viewer to further imagine and interpret setting within the context of his or her own memories and experience. Without color there is no drizzle of apricot light that might suggest a moment of peace nor an indigo smudge of twilight. Those details are up for others to interpret as they attach their own memories and moods to the strangers I have presented them and those memories belong to their own sense of time and personal history.
Are there any artists you regard as mentors or inspiration? Robin: I have been very fortunate to be surrounded by a lot of artistic mentors locally. There is a very diverse, supportive community of artists in this area. I recently went to see an exhibit of my friend and former teacher Danielle Mailer’s work at Five Points Gallery in Torrington and was very inspired. She has been a huge supporter of my work and I am a huge admirer of hers. I have apprenticed in a few artists’ studios in the area and those artists have been a tremendous influence on me as well. I spent five years working for James Meyer, an artist in Lakeville who taught me so much. He was the first person I got to know who really worked full time as an artist. Seeing his studio practice and being involved with parts of it gave me a platform on which I could develop my own practice and take my work more seriously. There are many artists whose work inspires me. I am sure it is no surprise that I am fascinated by the work of various portrait artists. I remember seeing a painting by Alice Neel for the first time when I was in high school and thinking “that’s how I wish I could paint.” There is so much raw emotion in her figures. Although I haven’t been working in color I actually love vibrantly colorful work and I am currently developing a series in color. Frida Kahlo has long been one of my favorite artists- the bright colors mixed with these dark emotional moments and themes- its magical.
Can you describe an average day in your studio? Robin: I go on painting binges where I am in my studio all day, every day for a week or two. Some of the subjects I choose to paint I choose because they relate to some emotional state I am in or can relate to at a particular moment. When that happens I get very absorbed in the painting and the expression so that I feel I need to complete the piece before that fades. It has always been hard for me to put something down once I have started it. I become obsessed and totally absorbed and that is a great feeling that I don’t try to resist. I try to find a balance between being disciplined and being flexible and open to letting ideas develop. I think a certain amount of each is necessary but if I get too disciplined I think it can hinder me creatively and if I get too flexible then I just descend into a state of extreme procrastination.
As a successful young artist living and working in the Berkshires can you give any helpful pointers to other young artists and can you tell us how the Berkshires effects your work? Robin: I think that the Berkshires have a vast number of resources for young artists. There are many established artists here and many of those artists are part of these small communities so they are people you can genuinely share a dialogue with and learn from because they are accessible. I do think about moving to a city and many people in the art world tell me that you have to “put in your time” in the city art world at some point to stand a chance at building a real career. While I am living here though I am so appreciative of the things the area provides for me. The remote, rural atmosphere is what many artists living in cities desperately seek as they apply for residencies in pastoral, peaceful places to get into a state of relaxed concentration and I have that every day here. There are also so many outlets for creativity here. Museums and galleries and music venues are ubiquitous. Summer in the Berkshires can almost rival many cities with the list of cultural and creative happenings here. I definitely want to live somewhere else at some point to challenge myself but this is a wonderful place to be. I think the most important thing
is to take advantage of the intimacy and remoteness this area has. Spend time in your studio and when you aren’t there get involved in your community and get to know people. I find myself constantly surrounded by different kinds of creative people who are very supportive of one another. I share a house with an accomplished woodworker and musician. A few weeks ago I was frantic and preparing work for a show at the last minute. I finished my last few paintings the night before the show and my housemate and several of my friends stayed up half the night making frames for them in the woodshop while the paintings were still wet. That kind of support, accessibility and collaboration between creators is what’s incredible about being here. Being able to travel as much as I have has also definitely helped sustain my passion for the Berkshires. Having a stable home studio base has given me the freedom to go off on some fantastic adventures. Two winters ago I went to South America and spent a few months travelling around Argentina and Chile. I spent a large portion of the trip in Buenos Aires where I met quite a few artists and got to see some fascinating work. After Buenos Aires I went and lived in a permaculture community where I learned about sustainable building and farming. I kept a sketchbook during that time and being out in the country and speaking another language all the time put me in a headspace where I was able to develop some ideas. Last winter I travelled to Ghana for a month and worked at a home for refugee orphans. Most of my time was spent working on a mural with the children that was painted on the walls of their courtyard. I have always loved that high that comes from being in a foreign place and feeling totally shaken up and excited by everything that you see. It also makes you see your home with new eyes when you get back and you bring so many experiences and ideas home with you. Traveling also shows you the capacity of art as a universal language. You can connect with so many different kinds of people and places through a mutual interest in art and expression. I have been really lucky to take the trips that I have and I hope I can continue doing it for as long as I can.
ROBIn CROfuT-BRITTInGhAM, “WOMAn WITh SWIRLInG hAIR” WATeRCOLOR On ARCheS PAPeR. 27 x 35
Is there a defining moment in your life when you decided you were going to pursue a career as a visual artist? Robin: It has been a process but I think I always knew this was what I would end up trying to do. I have always had a variety of interests that pulled me in. A few years ago it all came together and I realized that all of the experiments and experiences I was involved with outside of my artistic pursuits were eventually all feeding back into my art-making process. Art-making is a discipline like any other in that it involves a process of observation, realization, translation and communication. The whole process is informed by so much more than what you are making so it can be a vehicle for inquiry into really any realm. There is always the reality of trying to make a living as an artist but I think if you make sure art is part of your everyday world the rest will start to fall into place. I try to do things involving art as much as I can. That doesn’t mean everything I do is on the cutting
edge of my creative vision and there aren’t times when it is difficult to justify what I’m doing, but art is consistently part of what I do or informs what I do and that satisfies me. I do remember the day when someone asked me what my profession was and I started saying “I am an artist.” I think that was the turning point because once I started saying that out loud I realized I needed to make sure I was putting my actions behind it. That was when my studio practice became much more disciplined and I started to think about my work in the bigger picture of my life.
Do you listen to music when you are working in your studio? Robin: I like to listen to books on tape. That is one of the things that inspired my art when I was young. I would listen to various books and try to draw the stories I was hearing- I did hundreds of illustrations. My mother is an illustrator so I spent a lot of time in her studio working on my own little table by her desk. I actually had a show of my illustrations at The Norfolk Library when I was about 12. Its funny because sometimes I look at my illustrations from when I was really young and wish I could inhabit the space I was in mentally at that age. The drawings were incredibly colorful and detailed. When you are young you rarely worry about making things look as they appear in reality or whether things “make sense” and that freedom makes for some wild ideas and powerful creativity. Now I sometimes feel pressured to make things that appear a certain way to an audience and that can be stifling to creativity. That’s something I am working to break out of. I would like to do some radical experiments, make work that is nothing like what I am doing now and see what I could find through that experimentation. I do think my fascination with stories has stayed with me and continued to influence the development of my work. I am now trying to illustrate moods and emotions and the histories they imply for different people. I would like to see what would happen if I incorporated more literal historical clues into my pieces.
ROBIn CROfuT-BRITTInGhAM, “MAn WITh WIde hAT” WATeRCOLOR On ARCheS PAPeR. 27 x 35. 2012.
You are currently in South Africa. Can you tell our readers what you are doing there? Robin: The opportunity to come to South Africa came out of nowhere this December. I had just wrapped up a show of my paintings and was finishing a few other projects. A friend of mine is the coordinator for a program based in a small town in South Africa that seeks to improve the lives of young girls through sports. Many of the young girls in the area have to contend with huge adversities simply because of their gender. Before the program was started young girls were being raped and becoming pregnant and they did not have the opportunities of their male peers. The program, SheWinS was developed to provide these girls with a safe space to go when they were not in school and with mentors to help them develop confidence and self respect. The program is primarily a sports program and I am coaching soccer and track and field to girls from kindergarten to seventh grade. However, as part of the program each volunteer brings their own skill set and develops projects based within that. I am working on several mural projects- some of which will be at the school the program is based at for the children to enjoy and one larger mural where I am staying- in a co-housing community founded by two retired Americans who spent their lives working across Africa for the United Nations and who developed SheWinS- among several other non-profit organizations during their retirement. When I am done with the program I will have a few weeks to travel to other parts of the country and see some of the work of contemporary artists here.
ROBIn CROfuT-BRITTInGhAM, “MAn WITh SquInTInG eYe” WATeRCOLOR On ARCheS PAPeR. 27 x 35
You are also an accomplished poet. I find your poems filled with images relating to color. Can you perhaps describe how you relate your poetry to your visual work and would you be so kind as to share some of your poetry with our readers? Robin: I studied poetry in college and I have always loved to write. I consider my writing and my painting highly related. An extensive poetry project grew out of ideas I developed while reading Lucretius’s tome of a text, On the Nature of Things. He presents ideas that are to be one at a time dissected and examined. He seemed to be describing the basic ebb and flow of life: the vacillating tides of thought and self that wind and encircle themselves about the eaves of time. This led me to wonder about how everything in time is connected and how I might think about this for myself. This is something that has been done before. Philosophers, painters, scientists, thinkers of any sort imaginable have tried to answer these big questions and perhaps some of them found some satisfactory answers for themselves. I wanted to make a text that was my own inquiry into these large ideas and explore moments of transition in people and things. During that same time I started painting faces and I always seemed to gravitate toward faces that were between expressions, or in a kind or transitive state- as if they have been captured there and you are a kind of voyeur to a moment that would have been unnoticed. This was related to the types of moments I was trying to articulate in my poetry.
Continued on next page...
The ARTfuL MInd APRIL 2014 • 9
ARTIST ROBIN CROFUT-BRITTINGHAM
ThIS IS A PhOTO Of Me In GhAnA duRInG The COuRSe Of The MuRAL PROJeCT. ALL Of The IMAGeS WeRe AfRICAn AnIMALS ThAT The ChILdRen PICKed OuT. I AM WeARInG A T-ShIRT WITh MY deSIGn On The BACK.
A professor of mine once looked at my poems he suggested that they were like individual scientific observations. Some of them as though I were looking at a wound on my body and describing the way the blood pooled and dried in the open wound. I thought that was a fascinating way of thinking about them. The poems are observations about time and flesh. I wanted to explore the way time manipulates things. I want to explore how faces stretch and sink to reveal character. I will share with you a small part of a larger poem:
sky is spilled out soft bruised pools of cadmium veins of tress stretched into light divergent capillaries of darkness cold has left wounds in the air where the fruit should be wet leaves dangle in their place storms come grass shrieks tumbling thunder turns fills the valley with a low hush sky boils decoction of stars warm erosions of ochre spread like ink dilute the fleshy cadmium black thoughts silted into memory and striations of time fall back into the ground they rest below the earth fertilized by the evening rain when lighting strikes the tree at the root etches the topography of its voice in a crooked line of blackness that paints the night alive thoughts are pushed out of memory back into time by the storm lightning breaks the stillness strikes and shakes the veins of the tree knots at the top vessels filled with warm sap tangled in air where they drain and pull fill with smoked sky the fruits organs of the tree drop back to the earth like gods pushed from empyrean limp mortals chained to the dirt soon to become flesh of the ground rotted into the pulp of history where they will rest until fertilized again flesh left picked of its fertility fades back into the moss stretched across the skin of rocks poured out between the mountains by the gods who sketched us here among the trees the gods rest dormant coiled obliquely somewhere in the brain they perform their rituals in the chest cavity carving cave drawings into the fiber but the body heals them over intent on its own wisdom those gods can never grow back
Are there any other closing comments you would like to tell our readers? Robin: It was a pleasure to talk with you John and I am thrilled to be a part of The Artful Mind. As we have discussed, the Berkshires have a wonderful and very supportive community of artists and creators, and The Artful Mind has a long history of bringing them together and exposing them to one another. I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to be a part of that. Thank you for all of your time! Thank you, Robin!
ThIS IS A PhOTO Of SOMe Of The ChILdRen I WORKed WITh In GhAnA STAndInG In fROnT Of A ZeBRA We WeRe PAInTInG In STRIPed ShIRTS
10 • April 2014
The ARTfuL MInd
SABINE PHOTO ART
INDIA
MARIGOLDS, MYSTICS AND MOUNTAINS
Imagine standing at the foothills of the himalayas and gazing up at a full moon in October. Or, stepping into a world where mystics, mountains and marigolds greet you, where sunset chants touch the sky and temple bells fill the air. A world where you will light a thousand and one butter lamps to the sacred Goddess, sip tea with village women in remote mountain villages, shop in exuberant marketplaces, meander on cobbled pathways leading to the abode of his holiness, the dalai Lama, enjoy yoga and ayurvedic massages, and reside in a lovely eco-retreat nestled in Kangra Valley, the Valley of the Goddesses. Marigolds, Mystics and Mountains, 2014 is a guided journey for women led by Amber Chand in close partnership with Jagori Grameen (Women Awaken!) a non-profit organization in India dedicated to the empowerment of women and girls. In its fourth year, this journey offers travelers a unique and safe way to experience the evocative spirit of Mother India and to engage in a deeper, more meaningful way with all her myriad manifestations. We will arrive in the cosmopolitan city of new delhi and then fly to our himalayan destination. An optional and supplementary 4 day trip to the Taj Mahal and the deserts of Rajasthan is also available. dates: October 12-25, 2014. Cost: $3150 (double occupancy and does not include direct air fare to India) “Not a day goes by that I haven’t thought about some aspect o the trip. It truly was a remarkable adventure, a once in a lifetime experience” R.L. Concord, Mass Mother India Awaits! To learn more about this incredible journey, visit www.amberchand.com or email: achand108@yahoo.com
A master of the subtleties of lighting and the nuance of background, sabine’s eye for detail provides imagery to be treasured for a lifetime. Assignments are tailored to meet her client’s needs- a remembrance for a special occasion or a logo image, which creates an authentic professional online presence. It is to no surprise that she is a sought-after published documentary and editorial photographer with the talent of both: interviewer, provoker and image-maker. The Artful Mind has showcased sabine’s work since 1994, the very beginning of the monthly Berkshire Artzine. Still young at 20 something, sabine’s studio has become a brand for contemporary, unobtrusive, relaxed photography in the european style. did you have a “Sabine” experience? It might be just the time for you to book your first sitting. Photographic workshops are scheduled for this summer: VIeW LIGhT WITh A CRITICAL eYe explore the beautiful light of the Berkshires by taking a weekend photography workshop. In this workshop participants learn how natural light can create drama and subtlety. designed for serious learners who are interested in improving their artistic eye. All participants are asked to bring a digital SLR camera. event dates: May 24 and 25. Photo Art and signed books by appointment: “WOOdLAnd STYLe” and “ SheLL ChIC “, published by Storey Publishing, author Marlene h. Marshall, all photography by sabine can be purchased from your nearby book stores. Signed fine art prints are directly available through sabine’s studio. Sabine is a member of The American Society of Media Photographers asmp. The International Center of Photography ICP and the Wedding Photojournalist Association, WPJA. Sabine Vollmer von Falken Photography Studio www.sabinephotoart.com, info@sabinephotoart.com / 413-298-4933.
WHOLEPERSON MOVEMENT ShAROn TRue On PILATeS APPARATuS
FLOOR OF THE CORE PILATES
Sharon True, a certified Pilates and Pfilates™ (Pelvic floor Pilates) instructor and owner of WholePerson Movement in Great Barrington, is now offering personal and group training in pelvic floor muscle conditioning called floor of the Core Pilates. The pelvic floor muscles are among the core muscles that support the spine and are key to good posture, body ease, and confident movement. While pelvic floor muscles are typically recruited naturally when doing regular Pilates workouts, when there has been trauma to the pelvic floor due to pregnancy, childbirth, surgery, or other sources, studies have shown that training the pelvic floor muscles in a targeted way is even more beneficial. The pelvic floor is actually shaped more like a bowl or a hammock than a flat floor. The muscles connect the tailbone, pubic bone and the two “sitbones,” and they provide support for the pelvic organs. Pelvic floor muscles have a big impact on quality of life. When they are functioning well, life is good! When they are damaged, weak, or not well-coordinated there can be embarrassing problems with incontinence, unsatisfying sex, and a feeling that one’s insides are falling out (organ prolapse). These in turn negatively impact important aspects of life such as work, travel, intimate relationships, the ability to lead an active lifestyle – and creating art! Sharon True’s floor of the Core Pilates can help to get deconditioned pelvic floor muscles back on track. Based on Pfilates™ (pronounced fih-lah-tees), an approach to pelvic floor muscle conditioning developed by a urogynocologist in conjunction with Pilates, yoga, and fitness professionals, her floor of the Core Pilates is a three-part program. first, she offers an introductory workshop that provides an orientation to the pelvic floor and the Pfilates™ exercises. This is followed by home practice with internet support along with a few private sessions to discover an individual’s “best three” exercises. finally, there is another workshop on strategies for incorporating pelvic floor exercise into daily life. The entire program can be learned privately if preferred. Sharon True - for a free consultation via email, contact at sharontrue@roadrunner.com or phone 413-528-2465, 9am-9 pm.
MARGO TROuT Congratulations for twenty years of publishing The Artful Mind! It has been so valuable in keeping the community informed of what is happening in the arts. -Margo Trout
Margo Trout, “Corner of a Field, Early Spring” The ARTfuL MInd APRIL 2014 • 11
ViVALDi
“No Cure For The Medieval Mind” From
PART 1
by Richard Britell
When I was a child, my father worked for the great composer and violinist Antonio Vivaldi in Venice. It was his job to copy out manuscripts and prepare them for the engravers. My father was an adequate violist, and sometimes he had the pleasure of performing in Vivaldi’s works if one of the regular musicians was absent. In Venice at that time there was an institution called the Conservatorio dell’Ospedale della Pieta. It was an orphanage, but unlike its usual counterparts for the destitute, it was opulent and extravagant. It was an orphanage for the female offspring of the aristocracy. Who the parents of these girls were was not known; they were delivered to the institution in secret, in the dead of night. In a darkened street in a wall, there was an opening large enough for an infant; the child was placed in the niche, the door was closed, and a turntable rotated bringing the child inside. even though the parents of these children never saw or acknowledged them, they nevertheless provided them with an insti-
tution suitable to their origin. But it was an orphanage run by nuns and priests and their manner — when it comes to the bringing up of children — was repressive to say the least. Vivaldi was priest, but a priest of a very unusual sort. In Venice at that time there were ambitious artists, composers and musicians who knew that their only possible patron was the Roman Catholic Church, so they took their vows and became priests in clothing and name only. These priests often became wealthy and successful, lived like lords and enjoyed the best food and wine. When it came to the fair sex they indulged themselves to the fullest. One such priest was Antonio Vivaldi. Since he was an employee of the church, he was given the assignment of composing music for a girls’ choir, a choir consisting of the occupants of the Conservatorio dell’Ospedale della Pieta orphanage. If you listen to some of the compositions Vivaldi wrote for this girls’ choir you realized that he must have composed them with a feeling of frustration because he was already a famous composer. But since he was also a priest, here he was condemned to compose simple scale and arpeggio exercises for young girls, music of no consequence to anyone. Added to that, since they were all young girls, and Vivaldi was very similar to myself (here the music tutor tapped himself on the chest) those girls started to torment Antonio in that special way music teachers are always tormented. “They put oil into his flute, they put lard on the pegs of his violin, they touched the strings of the harpsichord when he tried to tune it, in short they did all the things you girls have been doing to me all these weeks.” now the music tutor stopped speaking and gave his students a look. It was certainly a shock and a surprise to discover he knew all along what they had been doing, but then he continued. The reason I know all the things you have been doing to me is because they are the exact same things I did to my music teacher when I was young, and the same as my father did to his teacher. You girls think you have made all of this naughty behavior up yourselves, but the truth is all of these things have been going on for years and years. And if you have the misfortune to have to teach music when you are older it will happen to you also. The persecution of the music teacher is a grand tradition that goes back thousands of years, and you may wonder why it is that the bad children engaged in these pranks are not caught and punished. The answer is very simple. The music teacher looks on with a blind eye because he is kind, because an unkind person cannot master the discipline of music; and secondly, because when one sees children playing the same pranks we played as children it gives one great pleasure. But now back to my story of Vivaldi. Since it was a choir he had to compose and conduct for, it was when the girls were singing that they gave him the most trouble. I say “singing,” but the word really should be “mumbling.” no matter how he encouraged the girls, they were too shy and awkward to try to really sing. If Vivaldi resorted to having them sing the common
For Boys and Girls Sizes starting 3 months
Tiny but Tough!
12 • April 2014 The ARTfuL MInd
tunes of the street they were familiar with he had better luck, and those tunes, since the girls sang in unison, went very well. But as soon as he tried to get them to sing more complicated works, works involving part-singing, they resorted to near silence. Just like myself, he resorted to threats and reproaches and it sometimes happened that they would manage to sing some work of his with adequate feeling. But then fate took a hand in the affairs of Vivaldi. As I said before, the orphan girls were all the offspring of aristocratic parents, and so it often happened that expensive gifts were received anonymously at the orphanage, one of those gifts included tickets to the opera for all of the girls. The girls went to the opera, and they were not impressed. The opera that night was not good, and the singing was not up to par, but what impressed the girls the most was the forced ridiculousness of the entire production. The garish badly painted sets, the dramatic gestures, and the overuse of stage make-up all combined to create a comic impression, and when everyone died at the end because of innumerable stabbings it was all they could do to keep from dying of laughter. In the days that followed, two of the orphanage girls began to entertain the other girls with mock presentations of the opera they had seen. These two girls named netochka and Simmona procured the music for the opera from the music library, memorized several of the duets, and then, late at night performed these works for the other girls in their dormitory. The purpose of these performances was to reduce all the other girls to hysterical fits of laughter. But netochka and Simona were playing with fire. As they got better at doing mock presentations of the opera they gradually began to develop real singing voices. All of the girls were affected, and little by little this prank evolved into complete childish productions of operas, with costumes contrived from bed sheets, carried out in the middle of the night. Meanwhile, when they were back in the music classroom with Vivaldi, none of this was in evidence. All the girls would do was look down at the floor, mumble instead of sing, and watch out for opportunities to irritate their teacher. netochka then said to Simona, “Since he is always complaining that we won’t sing at all, let’s shock him tomorrow and sing the stonmitz out of whatever he gives us to sing.” Apparently netochka was from Austria originally, hence the use of the word stonmitz. The music Vivaldi picked out for the day’s lesson was one of his own works, it began with a solo by one of the girls, and was followed by a chorus in unison. About halfway through the chorus netochka and Simona began to sing with more intensity, and toward the end of the piece the girls were singing with as much passion as they could muster. The effect of the girls singing like that was contagious and all the other girls joined in. The music room echoed with the intensity of their singing. Vivaldi thought they were going to blow his powered wig from off his head. When the lesson was over, Vivaldi asked the two girls who had started the commotion to remain after class. Since what they had done was intended as a prank, and to them amounted to ridicule of Vivaldi’s music and of opera in general, what they were expecting was some sort of punishment. Vivaldi was not one to inflict punishment but they expected to be reported to the head mistress, who would then confine them to a monastery room for a week or two. The girls stood at his desk, he looked at them with his baton in his hand, “Thank you girls, thank you for this glorious day, do the same tomorrow, and the day after,” he said to them. The girls left the music room, suffering from a confusion of mixed emotions. Vivaldi went immediately to the music library to find a piece of music that now stirred in his head, something he had heard years ago, a work by Monteverdi with a title like “Agamemnon.” ~ Richard Britell
WWW.AnnSCOTTPAInTInG.COM
Ann Marie Scott, Brambles #3, 14 x 20”, w/c and paste
I will be offering one and two day plein air painting and drawing workshops starting May 1st into Autumn. For more information and to sign up contact annmscott@roadrunner.com These workshops are for everyone beginner and advanced alike. Let’s get outside and paint!
“The universe is real but you can’t see it. You have to imagine it. Once you imagine it you can be realistic about reproducing it.” -Alexander Calder
The ARTfuL MInd APRIL 2014 • 13
Planet Waves
April is the peak month of the '2012 phenomenon'. I know 2012 supposedly ended a couple of years ago, but in fact the astrology that began that year is now coming to its peak. By my reckoning that happens the last week of April. With limited space there is only so much I can say, however the clearest message I can offer is this is the time to get real about what you've been saying (perhaps for years) that you've wanted to get real about. This is the time to not be dictated to by your fears, especially your fear of change, and your fear of vulnerability. Our whole society seems bent on avoiding these two things, and we will individually and collectively need to get past them so that you can become who you truly are -- and contribute to the world in the ways that you know are necessary. This may not be the month you complete your mission but it could surely be the month that you begin.
ARIES (March 20-April 19) You are prone to intense reactions, though I suggest you keep a grip on yourself this month. Your emotional energy has more than double its usual power, and the planets are set up in a way that, for everyone, lends itself well to chain reactions. Your own planetary picture suggests that you may make judgments based on a mistaken sense of being unworthy of others' love. I strongly suggest you research the facts of the situation and account for your own struggle with self-worth before over-reacting or even responding to something you perceive. Between the potential for misunderstandings and for things going out of control, it would be wise of you to put everything on a one-week delay before you make any accusations or decisions. TAURUS (April 19-May 20) You can be the voice of balance and reason in a group environment because you understand how the dark side of people can emerge when they get together. While most humans fail to notice or choose to look away from this (mostly out of laziness or for fear of being cast out), the fact that you are aware is the best insurance against problems arising. And if they do arise, your understanding the scenario is essential toward finding the solution. here is a clue: In groups where you might expect there to be a collective gain in intelligence, there is often a collective loss. The whole can be equal to less than the sum of the parts. This is of course the opposite of whole-system thinking, and where your awareness and leadership will become extremely helpful.
Eric Francis
GEMINI (May 20-June 21) You may need to push your message a little in order to be heard or even noticed. don't go so far that you threaten your own credibility, but rather make sure that your presentation is colorful and clear enough to cut through the static. Communicate in person where possible; that will save you plenty of energy and allow you the opportunity to come across in an emotionally grounded way. That detail will skip the need for the bright colors -- you personally possess them. So short of getting on an airplane (unless the matter is of top-level importance, particularly to your career), show up in someone's presence and explain yourself, making sure to convey your enthusiasm and love for what you are doing. That is the main selling point.
CANCER (June 21-July 22) The best professional advice anyone ever gave me was to get my ego out of my writing. By that, I understood that the person meant not to be so invested in the seeming success or failure of my work; and mainly, to be open to changing my own ideas. In other words, don't be so attached to a concept that it's not subject to revision and improvement. The more you open up to this notion, the more of that improved vision will come to you. The less you proceed with emotional attachment to what you want to accomplish, the easier it will be. True, this takes some skill, but the bright side is that emoting consumes energy. You will benefit from redirecting that energy into creative options, of which you have many -- both personal and professional.
LEO (July 22-Aug. 23) You may be uncertain whether to be in a total panic or to have unflinching faith in yourself. I am certain that there is no middle ground here; that if you're going to take a guess, go right to the side of faith. You have experienced the effects of crippling selfdoubt enough to know that it gets you nowhere. That alone might be enough to convince you that it's useless, but there's also a spiritual issue involved: whether you think God loves you. If you have any doubt, I would propose that it came from somebody else. It was given to you, rather than being something innate. Your faith and your confidence are your actual property; an innate part of your character. The more time you spend there, the more obvious this will be.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) There's a potent mirror effect going on, though it's essential that you make sure that the reflection you're seeing is clear and not a distortion. When some element of your character is shown to you by someone else, or through someone else, there will always be a loss of clarity. Therefore, don't take what you're shown purely at face value. engage it in a dialog. By that I mean the people and circumstances that seem to be pressing some point, or not letting you escape some concept about yourself. It may be true in some form, and I suggest you be open to how it may not be valid. Weigh truth and validity against the values of learning and growth and you will clarify your understanding of these very interesting pictures.
LIBRA (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) Creative process is often seen by outsiders as something hot. That's usually how it's portrayed when dramatized in a movie or on TV -- as driven by passion or pathos. While there is always some fire contained within the creative drive, and while it may have the occasional solar flare, I've found that it's necessary to be cool, methodical and focused in order to actually get something done. That's what you've got going on right now, if you want it. Yet there's also plenty of heat and glare to distract you; there's as much controversy and emotional complication as you can imbibe. Yet the actual creative productivity thing -- that's about being laidback, alert and self-aware. The risks involved are subtle. Wholesome progress is more likely to come over time, not as the sudden and/or stunning breakthrough.
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SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) Your fantasies will tell you a lot, especially about who and what you want. So I suggest you open the spigot and really let in the
April 2014
images, feelings and information and not worry about whether it's right or wrong. There is deep healing potential in being honest with yourself and equal potential for damage when you deny your desires. The purity campaign associated with both desire and fantasy is a ruse. There is nothing pure about it, though the closest you come to purity is when you're absolutely real with yourself. Yes, it's also true that the bridge from your imagination to reality might open up -- and if it does, it will be for a very good reason, which is specifically about healing something deep and long-denied. And that will feel good.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) don't mistake emotional confusion for misery. On our planet, to feel at all means to feel some pain -- that is why feeling is so unpopular. That said, it won't help to drink your feelings away. You might feel good for a while, but you'll miss the opportunity to address something that may on one level be troubling, but that on another level is of profound meaning to you and which holds a key to happiness. I suggest you not cut yourself off from contact with yourself, especially when yourself is trying so diligently to make contact with you. You're not necessarily the 'get help' type but this would be a good time to have some competent, non-attached feedback and guidance, from someone who can perhaps assist in figuring out what you're feeling.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) Was there someone in your past who left you with the feeling of being unloved? I am talking about before the age of seven. The way you'll know that I'm describing what you may be feeling is that it comes with little onslaughts of an irrational sense of worthlessness. You are old enough, and strong enough, to recognize that this is not a feeling that reflects your current reality. however, if you experience anything like this, it may be compelling enough that you believe it means something. That might be an unresolved childhood situation, of which we humans usually carry around a few. This particular one is coming into focus, which is an invitation to set yourself free. use your mind. use your spirit. Consider the issue when it's not bothering you. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) You seem to be working with devotion to set yourself free from some perceived authority. I would ask: when you reach a point of breakthrough, do you feel any different? There is a seeming external source of power that seems to be casting a shadow over you. Then there is what looks like an inner haze that has the same feeling but is not as solid. The two are related. I suggest you focus on your inner sensation rather than on struggling against any outer circumstance. here is one thought to be alert for: the idea that you must organize your feelings a certain way in order to be lovable or free. Other elements of your chart suggest that if you let go of trying to organize your feelings, you will taste the experience of inner freedom.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) You are becoming aware of many things that you've known for a while, but which are taking shape as being immediately relevant and truer now than ever. I would propose that among these is the power of belief to shape and even direct the flow of your life. Whether something is true or not, whether it is valid or not, whether it has any basis in reality, is secondary to the fact that you might or might not believe it. I suggest you recognize this power, and set out to determine what is true for you, and honor that. When you get to that point of honoring, you may notice a feeling of rebellion, though I suggest you work with that in an understated, cautious and serious way. Be a conservative rebel. do only what you must so that you can be free to do what you want.
PlanetWaves.net ~ Read eric francis daily at
Simply Sasha The Crazy Coconut!
by Sasha Seymour
I love coconut oil! It has replaced olive oil in all of my cooking recipes, and I wanted to share one of these super meals with you all. As always, you can add or subtract any of these vegetables, grains or greens to suit your own tastes. Cut up a sweet potato and roast it if you'd like! Replace the almonds with walnuts if it tickles your fancy! This is a basic list, so play around with it and have fun! That is what life is all about! Peace and Love to you! ~ 2 large beets, cut into squares ~ 1 cup of Brussels sprouts, halved ~ 3/4 cup of chick peas ~ 3 Tbsp coconut oil ~ 1tsp cumin and salt ~ 1 bundle of kale ~ 1 cup quinoa ~ Almonds ~ Sprouts ~ Dressing of choice (I like homemade dressing!) (Preheat oven to 425 degrees 1. Toss beets, brussels sprouts, chick peas, cumin, salt, and coconut oil in a foil lined baking sheet 2. Roast for about 30 to 40 minutes, or until tender 3. Meanwhile, cook quinoa 4. Chop kale and put in a bowl 5. Place roasted vege mix over kale, quinoa on the side, and dust with almonds and sprouts 6. Sprinkle with dressing
Enjoy!
SHARON TRUE, M.A., C.M.A., R.S.M.T.
Artist
Somatic and SomaticMovement Movement Therapist Therapist and TM Instructor Certified Pilates andPilates Pfilatesand TMPFilates (Pelvic Floor Pilates) Instructor Certified
Eleanor Lord
Private, Conscious Exercise Workouts for all ages and abilities featuring fully-equipped Pilates studio in a quiet, country setting in Great Barrington
Classes at Kilpatrick Athletic Center (KAC) at Simon’s Rock College
One of many at...
Pilates Mat Class Tuesdays 5-6:00 Pilates Mat Class Beg/Int. Beg/Int. Tuesdays 5-6:00 PM PM TM Workshop for Fitness PFilatesClass - contact Sharon for current6-7:00 schedule Pelvic Floor Beg/Int. Wednesdays PM 510 Warren Street, Hudson, NY www.510warrenstreetgallery.com 518-822-0510
sharontrue@roadrunner.com
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