THE ARTFUL MIND Promoting the Arts in the Berkshires Since 1994
JULY 2015
Corinna May, Actor Photography by Edward Acker
Lauren CLark Fine art PRESENTS
Cynthia Atwood Richard Britell Reggie Madison Geoffrey Moss Gabrielle Senza Joe Wheaton
JuLy 11 through august 2 reCeption For the artists saturday, July 11 • 4-7 pm
LAUREN CLARK FINE ART
25 railroad st., great Barrington, Ma 413. 528. 0432 Lauren@LaurenClarkFineArt.com www.LaurenClarkFineArt.com
MARILYN KALISH
Vault Gallery
413. 854. 7744
marilynkalish.com
Denise B Chandler Fine Art Photography
Roadside Patriotism © Denise B Chandler 2014
Home Studio & Gallery Visits by Appointment New Lenox Rd, Lenox MA 413.637.2344 (Home) 413.281.8461 (Cell) Denise B Chandler Fine Art Photography is represented by Sohn Fine Art Gallery
www.denisebchandler.com
info@denisebchandler.com
ROBERT FORTE
THE HOTCHKISS LIBRARY OF SHARON, CT Presents
Karen LeSage
High July, 44” x 56” oil on canvas, 2015.
NEW PAINTINGS July 1 - August 31
Reception: Saturday, July 11 4:00-6:00
THE HOTCHKISS LIBRARY, 10 Upper Main Street, Sharon, CT. Open 7 days. 860.364.5014 www.hotchkisslibrary.org www.karenlesage.com
artiSt
eleanor lord
"AN AMERICAN ICON", OIL ON CANvAS, 24" x 24"
Appearing at
510 WARREN ST. GALLERY
510 WARREN STREET, HUDSON, NY in July, September and November 2015 WWW.510WARRENSTREETGALLERY.COM WWW.ROBERTFORTE.COM
510 Warren Street, HudSon, nY www.510warrenstreetgallery.com 518-822-0510 the artful mind July 2015 • 1
the artful mind artzine July 2015
“The long and winding road that takes me to your door...” -the Beatles
the music store
corinna may actor Photography for July issue by Edward Acker Interview by Harryet Candee ... 12 wendy a. rabinowitz The Art of Judaic Art Interview by Harryet Candee ... 8
robin tost Fabrication in Metal Interview by Harryet Candee ... 10 artist Karen lesage
Interview by Kimberly Rawson Photography by Rogerio Luz ... 19 fiction: the museum show Richard Britell ... 4
planet waves ...returning in august Eric Francis
simply sasha ...returning in august Sasha Seymour
Contributing Writers and Monthly Columnists Eunice Agar, Richard Britell, Eric Francis, Kris Galli, Kimberly Rawson, Sasha Seymour, Amy Tanner Photographers Edward Acker, Lee Everett, Jane Feldman Sabine von Falken, Alison Wedd Publisher Harryet Candee
Copy Editor
Marguerite Bride
Editorial proofreading Kris Galli Advertising and Graphic Design Harryet Candee
mailing address: Box 985, great Barrington, ma 01230
artfulmind@yahoo.com 413 854 4400 all material due the 10th of the month prior to publication
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. We at The Artful Mind are not responsible for any copyrights of the artists, we only interview them about the art they create.
2 • JuLY 2015 tHe artFuL Mind
only one thing is better than summer in the Berkshires, and that is making MuSiC in the Berkshires Summer. What better way to celebrate the season? the Music Store’s Fifteenth Year in business in Great Barrington has proven many things! We enjoy helping the community, near and far to make music which has been an enjoyable and productive enterprise for us. and we look forward to continuing this mission into the second half of our second decade. We offer wonderful musical instruments and accessories at competitive pricing. We have a good time serving our community, musicians and music lovers. Come see some of the fun . . . Composite acoustic guitars (the forever guitar!) and their peerless travel guitar, the Cargo, a favorite of our own dr. easy, david reed, made of carbon graphite and impervious to most changes of temperature and humidity. You can see it often in his hands in performance locally and abroad. Guild Guitars - Light, powerful, affordable. terriFiC uKuLeLeS! 50+ diFFerent models: Soprano, Concert, tenor and Baritone, acoustic and acoustic/electric, six string, resonator, the Maccaferri-like Makala Waterman uke (made all of plastic for easy portability almost anywhere!) and the remarkable u-Bass! You might even hear dr. easy play a banuke! How about a Cordoba Cuatro? or a Kala tenor Guitar? experience Steel Singing drums (tongue drums with panache!!) or a West african djembe with a SMaSHinG carry bag? or another dr. easy favorite, the Klong Yaw! try takamine for a guitar to suit almost any budget (Limited editions and Great SaLeS, too)! dr. easy can tell you about his. aLVareZ GuitarS - Celebrating their 50th year with BeautiFuLLimited editions! Breedlove - beautiful, american, sustainable. and so many more brands and types, including Luthier Handmade instruments from $150-$5000 . . . . ever heard of dr. easy’s drunk Bay Cigar Boxes? acoustic/electric cigar box guitars, exquisitely made, which bring the past into the present with a delightful punch, acoustically and plugged in! Harmonicas, in (almost) every key (try a Suzuki Hammond ‘Mouth organ’). Picks (exotic, too!), strings (!!), sticks and reeds. Violins, Mandolins, dulcimers, Banjos, and Banjo ukes! Handmade and international percussion instruments! dreamy native american and locally made bamboo and wooden flutes and walking stick flutes! and there is more to delight the eyes, intrigue the ears and bring warm joy to the heart! We remain your neighborhood music store, where advice and help are free and music is the universal language. Working with local luthiers and repairmen we offer stringed and band instrument repair. and we just may have something you haven’t seen before (have you heard the electric Cigar Box Guitars?). We match (or Beat) many on-line prices for the merchandise that we sell, and do so in PerSon, for the most part cheerfully (though we reserve the right to glower a little when asked if we can ‘do better’ on the price of a pick!)! Come and see us soon and help us celebrate our 15th year!!! Your patronage helps the community and makes it a more tuneful and happy place! Cheers! The Music Store, located at 87 Railroad Street in Great Barrington, is open Wednesdays through Saturdays and by appointment. Call us at 413-528-2460, or visit us on line at www.themusicstoreplus.com Happy playing in the musical Berkshire SUMMER!
lauren clarK fine art six from spazi
in 1989 richard Britell and Gabrielle Senza opened Spazi Contemporary art in a beautiful, expansive space in the Barbieri Lumber Mill in Housatonic. this summer Lauren Clark Fine art will pay tribute to a few of the artists she encountered when she moved to the Berkshires that same year. Join us for a reception for the artists, Saturday, July 11 from 47pm. opening the weekend of July 11th is an exciting show of new work by six of the many artists who showed at Spazi from the late 80’s through the late 90’s. these six artists, Cynthia atwood, richard Britell, reginald Madison, Geoffrey Moss, Gabrielle Senza, and Joe Wheaton who showed 20+ years ago at Spazi are all still working, relevant, artists showing in the Berkshires and beyond. Musings on Spazi by two of the artists: from richard Britell, “FirSt SHoW: it was decided to use the huge loft space to present an art exhibit of the works of all the artists who happened to be living in the village at that time. it was a show of 13 artists. they were all neighbors and friends. the show was a gigantic and unexpectedly successful event for all involved. nothing was sold, but it was the sudden birth of an art gallery and an artist community. that is how Spazi began”. From Geoffrey Moss, “the temptation offered by Spazi’s lofty space urged that i “Fill the Gallery”. the director’s wisdom prevailed over my impulse to fill some 7,000 square feet of Gallery; wrong time for ego excess. they allowed the space to work, to harmonize with the pieces. Finally a Massachusetts debut; august 31st-november 4, 1996; new largescale works, with canvases still wet from the studio. i would be showing my iceberg Series, works on paper, a few from a recent solo show in new York, and a separate Gallery area space given to “My Grandfathers Chair,” Brooklyn memories of my Grandpa’s east 18th Street morning prayers, traditionally orthodox, exotic, brooding, talis tsfellin, a less complicated Brooklyn before Brooklyn became artisanal, Hipster, Chic”. there will be five special events associated with the show including artists’ talks, panel discussions, digital visual projections by Joe Wheaton and a performance with Gabrielle Senza. For more information and a list of events please call the gallery or visit the website. Lauren Clark Fine Art- 25 Railroad Street, Great Barrington, MA; 413-528-0432, Lauren@LaurenClarkFineart.com / www.LaurenClarkFineart.com
ARTFUL CALENDAR JULY 2015 visual art
510 warren street gallery HudSon, nY • 518-822-0510 / 510WarrenStreetGaLLerY.CoM Jonathan Pazez, Landscape through photography, abstracts, thru July 26
BerKshire museum 39 SoutH St., PittSFieLd, Ma • 413-443-7171 Hu renYi, immortal Present: art and east asia. represented by Brill Gallery, north adams, Ma. thru Sept, 2015. carrie haddad gallery 622 Warren Street, HudSon nY www.carriehaddadgallery.com earth Sky dream, Landscapes by Six artists Jane Bloodgood-abrams in the upstairs Gallery, thru July 12
cata LiCHtenStein Center For tHe artS 28 renne ave, Pittsfield, Ma • 413 528-5485 “i aM a Part of art” celebration of Cata’s visual artists and writers. reception July 9, 5pm
ferrin contemporary 1315 MaSSMoCa WaY, nortH adaMS, Ma Glazed and diffused, thru aug 16. this survey exhibition focuses on a select group of international artists chosen for their use of fired clay and glaze pigment to convey abstract content. their sculpture, vessels, tile, and site-specific installations reveal intended, abstract results using fluidity, abstraction, & color theory
front street gallery 129 Front St., HouSatoniC, Ma • 413-274-6607 / 413-5289546, 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) gallery at r&f exhiBit 84 ten BroeCK aVe, KinGSton, nY • 800-206-8088 encaustic/Form ii Works by Susan Spencer Crowe. May 2-July 24, 2015.
housatonic Valley art league 79 BridGe St., in Great BarrinGton, Ma• www.hvart.org opening July 1, reception July 3, the annual Members Show will start the summer off with over 100 works on display. the HVaL prestigious Juried Show follows beginning on July 22. the Juried Show reception and award ceremonies will be held on July 24. Mid-august will see the artist’s Choice Show august 17-Labor day with the opening reception august 21
John daVis gallery 362 1/2 Warren St, HudSon, nY • 518-828-5907 nicolas Carone at John davis Gallery with isidro Blasco, Kiki Smith, rachel ostrow and Valerie Hammond, thru July 19
lauren clarK fine art 25 raiLroad Street, Great BarrinGton, Ma • 413-528-0432 / www.LaurenClarkFineart.com; Lauren@LaurenClarkFineart.com SiX from SPaZi, July 11-aug 2, reception Sat. July 11, 4-7pm
marguerite Bride nuartS StudioS, Studio #9, 311 nortH St., PittSFieLd, Ma MarGeBride-PaintinGS.CoM • 413-841-1659 original Watercolors, house portraits, commissions, lessons. Silent auction at the Welles Gallery, Lenox Library; July 3, 4, and 5 – Berkshires arts Festival at Butternut Mountain in Great Barrington
meeting house gallery rt. 57, neW MarLBorouGH, Ma (near oLd inn on tHe Green) NEW MARLBOROUGH 18th SEASON ARTISTS SHOW: Fine Lines: a Juried Show of drawings, June 20 through July 12 & Juried by Jacob Fossum; Idols and Icons: a multimedia theme
show, runs July 25 -august 23; The New Marlborough Artists Show runs august 29 - october 4. Hours: Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays 11-4:00pm morrison gallery 8 oLd Barn rd., Kent, Ct • 860-927-4501 don Gummer on Broadway, nYC, thru october 2015
r&f encaustics 84 ten BroeCK aVe, KinGSton, nY • 800-206-8088 Frames of reference: Works by Lynette Haggard. opening reception Saturday, august 1st from 5-7pm roBert forte artist work on display at the new Marlborough, “idols and icons”, July 25-aug 23, and at 510 Warren St, Hudson, nY on a bi-monthly basis.
sandisfield arts center 5 Hammertown rd, Sandisfield, Ma sandisfieldartscenter.org in the Gallery: July 10-26: Gail Levin, reception July 10, 8-10pm; robin tost, reception aug 8, 8-10pm schantz galleries 3 eLM St, StoCKBridGe, Ma • 413-298-3044 schantzgalleries.com a destination for those seeking premier artists working in glass. scott Barrow photography & gallery 17 HouSatoniC St, LenoX, Ma • 413-637-2299 Photography by Scott Barrow on view
sienna patti contemporary 80 Main St, LenoX, Ma Helen Britton, devils & their Friends; special project thru July 23: Jonathan Wahl, Works on Paper, Simon Cottrell, jewelery
music/theatre
1865 BasKet picnic ViLLaGe Green SoutH, SoutH eGreMont, Ma Sunday, July 19, 12 - 3pm: Step back into time and celebrate the end of the Civil War. actors portray historic residents, and returning soldiers, the 15th Mass Vol. rgt. march and drill at the site of the old egremont inn. Bring a basket lunch and enjoy a lovely summer's afternoon. aston magna music festiVal danieL artS Center, Bard CoLLeGe at SiMon’S roCK Gt. BarrinGton, Ma • 888-492-1283 / aStonMaGna.orG June 18-20, 25-27; July 2-4, 16-18. 43rd Season! renaissance to early classical music on period instruments Subscriptions. Student rush tickets BecKet arts center 7 BrooKer HiLL rd, BeCKet, Ma • BeCKetartSCenter.orG Marty Lasker Lecture Series, Creative expressions in Music and art, 6 Lectures, July 14-aug 11; exhibitions of art: nancy Freedman, Karen Jacobs, Joan Sasson, reception: July 18, 2-4pm
mahaiwe performing arts cneter 14 CaStLe St., Gt. BarrinGton, Ma • 413-528-0100 Paul Taylor Dance Company, July 9-July 12, 8pm , Pink Martini, Monday, July 13 at 8pm, Don McLean, Saturday, august 8, 8pm tanner pond concerts 888.820-9441 / tix: info@tannerypondconcerts.org Brooklyn rider Quartet, July 18, 8pm
the mac-haydn theatre 1925 rte 203, CHatHaM, nY Hairspray: July 2-5,8-12, 15-19; West Side Story: July 23-26, July 29-aug 2; the Producers: aug 13-16, 19-23; throughly Modern Millie: aug 27-30, Sept 2-6...more, see complete schedule online
workshops/classes
sohn fine art gallery 69 CHurCH St, LenoX, Ma denise B Chandler will be in “abstrakt”, June 30-oct 4; Portrait of africa, anton Lyalin, May 15 – July 27, reception, artist talk & Book Signing, Saturday, July 11, 3:00 – 7:00, artist talk 3:00 – 4:00 Book Signing & reception 4:00 – 7:00
BerKshire festiVal of women writers BerKSHireWoMenWriterS.orG / inFo@BerKSHireWoMenWriterS.orG the Butterfly effect: Be the Change. Live the Change. Love the Change. July 20 – 24, the Mount, Lenox.
the hotchKiss liBrary 10 uPPer Main St, SHaron, Ct • 860-5041 www.karenlesage.com Solo exhibit of new work by artist Karen LeSage from July 1 through august 31. a reception will be held on Saturday, July 11 from 4-6:00pm
is183 art SCHooL oF tHe BerKSHireS 13 WiLLard HiLL rd, StoCKBridGe, Ma • 413-298-5252 July 10: Make a Mug! with Paula Shalan. aug 14: drone Photography with thad Kubis. Learn all about Ghostdrone during this demo of the flying and imaging. Sept 11 try your hand at Quick draw! with adam Gudeon.
the dorsKy 1 HaWK driVe, neW PaLtZ. nY 12561 • 845-257-3844 newpaltz.edu/museum Grace Hartigan: Myths and Malls
st. francis gallery rte. 102, SoutH Lee, JuSt 2 Mi FroM tHe red Lion inn opening July 3: “the Magic of realism”. Vault gallery 322 Main St, Great BarrinGton, Ma • 413-644-0221 Marilyn Kalish art work and process on view
wendy raBinowitz:liVing threads Judaica tHe WeLLeS GaLLerY oF tHe LenoX LiBrarY 18 Main Street,LenoX,Ma Judaic Weaving/Mixed-Media artworks. exhibit July 17-aug 13 YaHi or: Let tHere Be LiGHt reception: thursday, July 23, 3-5 pm BerKshire crafts fair 600 StoCKBridGe, Gt BarrinGton, Ma • 413-528-3346 Fri aug 14-Sun aug 16.
harrison gallery at tHe CLarK, WiLLiaMStoWn, Ma / tHeHarriSonGaLLerY.CoM Plein aire Painting Workshop on Stone Hill with instructor Jamie Young, July 18, limited to 15 attendees, call 413-458-1700
saBine Von falKen PHotoGraPHiC WorKSHoPS • 413-298-4933 www.sabinephotoart.com, info@sabinephotoart.com Photographic one on one workshops, scheduled throughout the winter months: BeHind tHe CaMera - Sabine’s eye for detail provides the students with everlasting creative tools. explore the beauty of patterns, textures, layers, depth of detail in the real. Participants learn how natural light can create dramatic or lyrical images. designed for the serious learner who is interested in improving her/his skills. the hope is to concentrate on the artistic and critical eye. You are asked to bring a digital SLr camera. thru Sept 21, 2015
issuu.com artfulmind@yahoo.com
the artful mind June 2015 •3
magical realism
Casey Krawczyk, Transition
July 3 - august 24
Artist Reception: Saturday, July 11, 3-6pm
Saint Francis Gallery 1370 Pleasant street. route 102
LEE. MA
(next to fire dept.)
complete schedule: www.saintfrancisgallery.com 413.717. 5199 open fri-mon 10-5 pm
Gallery supports creative humanitarian work in Kenya
4 • July 2015 the artful mind
front st. gallery art WorK BY Kate KnaPP
housatonic….the town and the riVer, paintings by Kate Knapp, July 4 - sept 7, 2015.
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 413429-7141 (cell).
new marlBorough artists show terrY WiSe, BLue donKeY
meeting house gallery
this summer the Meeting House Gallery celebrates its 18th season of showcasing regional art. Located on rt. 57 in new Marlborough near the old inn on the Green, the gallery will present the work of over fifty artists in three exciting exhibitions. Fine Lines: a Juried Show of drawings, June 20 through July 12 is the Gallery’s first show devoted exclusively to drawing. Participating are many returning artists as well as artists who are showing in the Gallery for the first time. Juried by Jacob Fossum, artist and drawing instructor of Bard College at Simon’s rock, this show features both traditional and nontraditional mediums. idols and icons, a multimedia theme show, runs July 25 through august 23. Some of the thirty artists taking up the challenge of this theme in mediums that range from wood , and fabric through paint and photography are: ann Getsinger, Joan Griswold, Pat Hogan, Maria Gay, elmer orobio, anthony nordoff, Barbara Mulholland, Lucinda tavernise and Lee Backer. the new Marlborough artists Show runs august 29 through october 4. this is a showcase for a limited number of talented local artists to show a larger number of works. Chosen this year are: abbe Steinglass, Jennifer ellwood, Holly Mcneely, Brian Mikesell, James Singelis, timothy Sleeper, Walter Simons and Hope Schreiber. Gallery open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 11 - 4:00.
leadership institute
teen GirLS and YounG WoMen BerKSHire FeStiVaL oF WoMen WriterS tHiS SuMMer
this July, girls and young women ages 13 – 18 will have a chance to create community, write from the heart, speak their truths and step into their potential as a leaders on the issues they care about at a new writing-intensive leadership institute led by founding Festival director Jennifer Browdy, Ph.d., and college senior Grace rossman. the program, called “the Butterfly effect,” will give girls the tools, strategies and confidence they need to step into leadership roles as they pursue their interests and passions. it will be held at the Mount in Lenox July 20 - 24 from 1 - 5 p.m. “We’re invoking the image of the butterfly both as a symbol of transformation, and because of the saying that the wind from one butterfly’s wings can change the world,” says dr. Browdy, a professor of literature, writing and media studies at Bard College at Simon’s rock. “our aim is to awaken teen girls and young women to the power of their own voices, both written and spoken, and to give them techniques they can take out into the world to make a difference on issues they care about. and to have fun doing it, too!” the weeklong summer program will be a springboard for new monthly Leadership Circles for teen girls and young women, to be held under the Festival banner at different locations in the county during the 2015-2016 school year. the Festival will also be inaugurating a new Berkshire Festival of Women Writers teen advisory Council in the coming year, to help plan events by and for girls and young women. the program cost is $500; some full and partial scholarships available. Applications, due by July 10, 2015, available at Berkshirewomenwriters.org
Six from Spazi
Friday, July 10 Panel Discussion with Warner Friedman, Geoffrey Moss and Joe Wheaton Moderated by Robin Schmitt 7-8:30+ Digital visual projection event immediately after the talk by Joe Wheaton Six from Spazi Reception for the Artists Saturday, July 11 • 4-7
Six from Spazi Friday, July 17 Panel Discussion with Cynthia Atwood, Reggie Madison and Gabrielle Senza Moderated by Beck Balken 7-8:30+ Digital visual projection event immediately after the talk by Joe Wheaton in collaboration with Gabrielle Senza Women of Will: Following the Feminine in Shakespeare’s Plays with Tina Packer Reading, Short performance and reception Saturday, July 25 6pm Six from Spazi Artist Talk with Richard Britell Saturday, August 1 • 6-7:30
6 • July 2015 the artful mind
Six from Spazi Artist Talk with Gabrielle Senza Sunday, August 2 • 4-6
housatonic Valley art league "SuMMer SHadoWS" PaSteL BY JudY aLBriGHt
aston magna danieL StePner
aston Magna’s opening weekend, June 18-20, features music of Monteverdi, including madrigals for two tenors, the affecting Lamento della ninfa (with soprano dominique Labelle), and the dramatic setting of tasso’s Combattimento di tancredi e Clorinda – an early study in Middle eastern culture clash, set amidst the 11th Century Crusades. our Saturday afternoon program precedes the Boston early Music Festival’s Monteverdi Vespers and orfeo concerts, all in Great Barrington. our second weekend, June 25-27, is made up of character pieces for viola da gamba and continuo (here the theorbo) by Marin Marais, and dance movements graced by two dancers and narrator illuminating the steps, costumes and implied mores of Louis XiV’s world. the penultimate weekend, July 2-4, features Schubert’s wonderful octet for strings, clarinet, bassoon and horn; plus an oboe quintet by Boccherini, and Mozart’s arrangements of Magic Flute arias for instrumental duos. our season finale, July16-18, features Vivaldi’s the Four Seasons - four dazzling violin concertos inspired by Vivaldi’s own sonnets, and presented this summer with four different violin soloists, plus a recitation of those sonnets, and projections of pertinent artwork. this program begins with a Bach cantata and a lament by one of Bach’s own favorite uncles. Please join us in our forward-looking perusal of the past. Daniel Stepner is Artistic Director of the Aston Magna Music Festival, which runs from June 18-July 18: Thursdays at Slosberg Auditorium, Brandeis University; Fridays at Olin Hall, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson; Saturdays in Great Barrington MA at Daniel Arts Center, Bard College at Simon’s Rock, and The Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center. Information: www.astonmagna.org
SuMMer SHoWS in Gt. BarrinGton
the HVaL, one of the largest and oldest regional art leagues in the Berkshires, will host three major art shows this summer in the old Searles school gym, at 79 Bridge St., in Great Barrington. after many years in Sheffield at dewey Hall, the gym, across the street from the Co-op Market, will be the backdrop for this season’s shows thanks to the generosity of Jane iredale, who donated the use of the space. opening on July 1, with the reception on July 3, the annual Members Show, will start the summer off, with over 100 works on display. the HVaL prestigious Juried Show follows beginning on July 22. this show will feature both HVaL member and nonmember artists in the area whose submissions have passed the scrutiny of the show’s judges. the Juried Show reception and award ceremonies will be held on July 24. Mid-august will see the artist’s Choice Show – an unlimited series of individual selections by the artists themselves, and will run from august 17 through Labor day with the opening reception on august 21. the Gallery exhibition and sale has no entrance fee, the space is handicap accessible and families are encouraged to come and visit the shows. everyone is invited to meet the artists and join in for some refreshments at the opening receptions. opening hours are Sun. – thurs., 11am until 5pm, Fri. & Sat., 11am until 7pm. Besides putting on exhibitions, the Housatonic Valley art League sponsors workshops, demonstrations and lectures for it’s members, offers grants to art programs in area high schools, and is a strong promoter for the creation and appreciation of visual arts. Housatonic Valley Art League - for more information about the League, visit their web site: www.hvart.org, or Facebook page: www.facebook.com / HousatonicValleyartLeague
Jennifer pazienza
For Jennifer Pazienza, the landscape of her beloved Keswick ridge is an increasingly complex gestalt through which she continually transcends the everyday and the familiar. as an artist she invites us to explore this epic narrative with her, and to consider the effects of such a perceptual process in our own lives. the diptych Summer Skies, a 96 x 144 in. oil painting from her series Landscape, Love & Longing is part of a group exhibition “Magical realism” at the Saint Francis Gallery in South Lee, Ma. July 3-august 4 with an artist reception Saturday July 11, 3-6pm. Curator tom Smart writes, “Working through the landscapes Jennifer explores her own myths and histories, the intuitive process, and an emotional connection to the world around her that is direct and intense; subjective and expressive; painterly, ephemeral yet profoundly human. in her hands and through her art, paradoxes and opposites are synthesized, and reimagined in new forms. in the new congruency that is her art, the land becomes more than the particular objective. it is a gloss through which reality is renewed and the eternal might be glimpsed.” Jennifer Pazienza’s work is held in Public and Corporate Collections in the Provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia and in numerous private collections throughout the US, Canada and Italy. Jennifer Pazienza: jenniferpazienza.com / jennpazienza@gmail.com.
the artful mind July 2015 • 7
SaraH,Queen oF LiGHt FroM V'iMoteinu (and our MotHerS) SerieS BY WendY a. raBinoWitZ. WeaVinG/MiXed-Media oF SiLK, WooL and MetaLLiC FiBerS Won MarBLe, on Wood WitH BeadS, JeWeLrY, HeBreW LetterS, roLLed CoPPer, BatiK PaPerS, CeraMiC SHardS, and PraYerS.
wendy a. raBinowitz
the art of Judaic weaVing
congratulations on your upcoming solo exhibit! your mixed media artworks, based on the concept of light in Judaic text, has always caught my attention. not just because of the colorfulness, or shape, but because they speak to me personally about having to be reminded that i have a soul and i am alive. please tell us the main conceptual ideas you’re expressing, and also, the overall explanation of meaning in your art. Wendy: My artworks are deeply rooted in the power of Judaism, nature and the sacred responses of the spirit. they are my way of reawakening and uncovering the soul within. My desire is to honor and sanctify life in my ongoing process of co-creating with “the Great Creator.” My new solo exhibit, ”YaHi or: Let tHere Be LiGHt,” is a series of one-of-a-kind weaving/mixed media assemblages based on torah (old testament: “and God said, “Yahi or: Let there be light,” and God saw the light, and it was good.“), Psalms and other Jewish mystical wisdom texts. i seek to express themes of seeming duality: light/dark; life/death; sorrow/joy; action/quiescence; meaning/futility; love/hate, etc., as we wander through our lives seeking “echad” (the oneness of all).
how did your art work originate? do you have tailors and craftspeople in your family that perhaps may go back a few generations? Wendy: City born and city raised, i come from the South Side of Chicago, where i descended from a long line of eastern european Jewish wanderers, scavengers and rabbis. every morning, starting at age ten, i would awaken early and walk the mile to Lake Michigan’s shore to experience the sunrise, water, birds, clouds and
8 • JuLY 2015 tHe artFuL Mind
the wanderers return Wendy a. rabinowitz
Awakened from my present to my past,
I blithely grab the plumb-line of my soul,
And shimmy down to hallowed desert sand, And hear the ancient, wailing call: “SHEMA YISR’EL”
(LISTEN/HEAR ALL OF US WHO STRUGGLE) And landing, tumble back upon myself, The parched and wandering Jew,
Weaving black letters upon white sacred cloth, Standing silently renewed:
ADAONAI YAH SHECHINAH ELOHEINU
(GOD, SPIRIT, FEMALE INDWELLING PRESENCEGOD, OUR GOD)
Then robed, in time’s remembrance shawl, I scale the golden cord, hand over hand,
And heave my singing body toward the light, To wear the holy garment, loosely bound: ADAONAI YAH SHECINAH ELHAD (God Our God is One)
other living things. i would always bring something back from these excursions---seaweed, branches, grasses, stones and rocks, etc., which i would finger-weave into little mats. this wandering and scavenging began the trajectory of my journey as a weaver artist. it was not until i was an adult and fully into my career of many years that i found out that my maternal grandmother’s family lived and worked in Bielsk, Poland, a center of Jewish weaving and guilds, for hundreds of years. My “Bubbe” (“Grandmother” in Yiddish) Sadie (Sarah) lived with us when i was a child and was herself a very accomplished professional seamstress.
how do you go from concept to conceptual finished piece? and i’m wondering, do you do these in a series? Wendy: i work from my light-filled, free-standing, awesome LiVinG tHreadS JudaiCa studio in Pittsfield, Ma. i had it built on our land ten years ago for my 60th Birthday. i saved and saved for twenty years to create a space that would contain my looms, display areas, material storage and the light and love of the Creator. Before that i worked in a cold, dark basement. My studio is built with natural, green materials and based on the number eighteen for life, the Hebrew word “C’hai.” every dimension, window and shelf is made with this mystical number in mind. My studio was finished a year to the day after a medical challenge prohibited me from weaving at all! each day, when i enter its sacred space, i chant a prayer from Psalm 90 which blesses the “work of our healing hands.” i then “SHeMa,” Hear/Listen, and am guided on what to do next. every act is vital and important, from putting the warp on my beautiful 1905 found loom to dust collection and re-
"tHe BurninG BuSH" BY WendY a. raBinoWitZ. WeaVinG/MiXed-Media aSSeMBLaGe oF SiLK, WooL and HeBreW LetterS, BeadS, WinGS and red CarMine Stone WitH MetaL HaMSeCH (Hand-oF-God) SYMBoL. 24"W X 30"L X 3"d.
MetaLLiC FiBerS on BLaCK CLotH WitH GoLd LeaVeS,
moval and everything in between. often it is not until i finish creating many artworks that i see a theme emerging. it is very important to follow the process told to the Jews in the wilderness by God: “You shall do, and you shall understand.” if i ever forget this injunction and try to understand before doing, i always come out with “dreck,” not so good.
emerging artists struggle with their art. no doubt. from materials to having things “look right.” how would you guide a student of yours in the best direction? what do you tell an artist who may become frustrated and say “AGH!!! I am never doing this again!” Wendy: What i would share with emerging artists (all of humankind actually, since i believe we all have the creative artistic impulse waiting to emerge) is this: “SHeMa: Hear/Listen,” not to the ego, not to others, but to the deep inner voice of the soul. i would encourage these newly emerging artists to act on what they hear/see and to diligently practice their craft, knowing that “the struggle” is inherent in the process of bringing something of worth through. the story of Jacob in torah embodies this dynamic: all night in the wilderness, Jacob struggles with an angel. towards dawn, Jacob emerges with a wrenched hip, as well as a name change: from Jacob to “iS-ra-eL” (one who struggles with God). i have gone through many of these “dark nights of the soul” and know i will again and again, hopefully each time going up the spiral of darkness into the light.
what, wendy, is truly beautiful to you, in life and in the art world? Wendy: all, “all-in-all,” is beautiful, even the ugliest and most brutal has the possibility of being transformed into holiness, wholeness, every day, all the time.
"and God SPoKe FroM a FierY Mountain". by Wendy a. rabinowitz Weaving/Mixed Media of silk, wool and metallic fibers with surface overlay, ceramic, beads and Hebrew letters. 3 feet W x 4 feet L x 3"d
please explain: “Yahi Or: Let There Be Light,” your show title, and what are you aiming to get across to viewers about your beautiful art? Wendy: My newest exhibit “YaHi or: Let tHere Be LiGHt” is based on the first utterances of the eternal one as creation is coming into form. this passage is found in the 1st book of the torah in Bereshith (Genesis 1), and is an outline for the creative process. God here is plural “elohim” (male and female). i love it. also, i am drawing from concepts of light in the Psalms and other Jewish wisdom mystical texts. it is my desire that the viewers of my artwork experience rabbi a.J. Heschel’s words: “Just to be is a blessing, just to live is holy…” often they do experience his words, and will share this with me, in tears. would you ever leave your specific craft/art medium for anything new, different, or exciting? if you happened to have room on your plate to pick up another art form and give it a reasonable and fair amount of focus, learning and concentration, what would it be? Wendy: i feel very honored to have been given a certain knowing that directed me on the right path, after a professional life in the theater for many years. once i put my feet in the Judaic stream of art-making, i was given all the teachers, materials, ideas, supporters, finances, etc. i have needed, and have never felt moved in any other direction. Part of my path is to share what i have learned along the way, and i do so by conducting workshops, lecturing and giving artist talks along the way. tell me what it is about the Berkshires you like, and would you ever want to live elsewhere? Wendy: the Berkshires of Massachusetts are my physical, mental and spiritual home. My husband, Jeffrey Borak and i feel so blessed to live here, among its beauty, culture, and community of
interested and interesting people that so support the arts and artists. We will never leave.
what kind of fun distractions do you engage in? are you a traveler? you do have that gypsy blood! or, have you contently find youself sitting in your studio most of the time? Wendy: i am both a traveler and sitter; gypsy and stable; fun-loving and serious. i enjoy friends, playing, laughing, crying, music, movies, performances and readings, reading, torah study, nature, theatre, hiking, kayaking, singing, dance and dancing, estate sales, women’s groups, community activism, my family and taking care of grandchildren (3), i.e. the seeking and finding and losing, etc. of life.
"All Art is a Healing, a "Tikun Olam" to creation, w. rabinowitz…. this is beautiful. can you elaborate on this thought as we wind down this interview ever so gracefully and with my warmest regards to you.? Wendy: these words came to me in a dream. i wrote them down and have used them ever since. i believe it expresses that the process of creating, viewing and experiencing art has the power to heal the wound of our experience here on earth, and to do “tikun olam,” i.e. to repair the “rip/tear” in the world (“olam”). Wendy’s work will be at The Welles Gallery of The Lenox Library, 18 Main Street, Lenox,MA. Opening reception Thursday, July 23, 2015, 3-5pm. All are welcome. H
tHe artFuL Mind JuLY 2015 • 9
“Green Quilt�, Robin Tost
ROBIN TOST Fabrications in Metal harryet candee: quilts and pillows are traditionally known in the world as being made from natural fiber materials. But yours are made from metal! please explain how you discovered this interesting and inventive perhaps unconventional art of yours. Robin: i started quilting in metal in 2008 after a bike trip through small towns in Vermont. everywhere there were closed, derelict factories, representing the loss of jobs and family security. at the same time, yards were festooned with signs saying "Quilts for Sale", a different source of income. the dichotomy sparked the idea of combining the "masculine" industrial waste material with the "feminine" art of quilting.
and where have you found materials of the metal nature that you work with? Robin: My primary sources are the new Marlborough dump (oops, transfer Station) and Mielke's scrap yard. all the guys in charge are helpful and indulgent of my joy when i find a particularly resonant piece of junk. a friend took a photo of my butt and legs hanging out of the top of a dumpster which he entitled "Portrait of the artist". you must have to know a great deal of math to figure out how to make your patterns work. what back-
10 • July 2015
the artful mind
ground experience has helped you the most in getting your ideas to come to life? Robin: My math skills are minimal, but i obviously like the precision of the designs. Most of my patterns are taken from traditional quilts. i have a collection of books of glorious quilts and visit the american Folk art Museum in nY and galleries with quilt offerings, sketchbook in hand.
have you had any mentors that have inspired you along your journey or possibly before it all began? Robin: not really mentors, but i'm surrounded by wonderful, encouraging friends who have helped me do my work, meet other artists, find places to show and make a happy place for myself here in the Berkshires.
your self taught but have gotten an education. how did your schooling build the path to making art? or maybe schooling had no real connection? Robin: as long as i can remember, i've picked up found stuff, stuck things together, fiddled with wire to make shaped things, made crumbly pots from our lake clay and drawn. i don't seem to be able to walk in the woods or along a road without coming home with pockets full of stuff. at Sarah Lawrence College, i took theatre design and art classes (for a while--got tossed because i wasn't
a "serious artist" as i was drawing a cartoon strip for the paper and "Mademoiselle" magazine). after college, i built and painted puppets for Bil and Cora Baird's Marionettes and made paper-mache` caricatures of my ex-husband's acting roles, followed by life-sized fabric-mache` sculptured figures for galleries. everything feeds into what i'm doing now, but it's a twisted road! how long does an average size quilt take to make from start to finish? Robin: it really depends on the complexity of the design and how much overlay is on it. i have one quilt that's 5 1/2 by 6', made up of 1" squares. that one took eight months. Most of them take 8-10 weeks.
robin, where did you grow up? what was your family life like then and now? Robin: i grew up on an island in a lake near St. Paul, Minnesota. i was the oldest of five kids in a traditional, conservative family with high expectations. as girls, my sister and i were encouraged to be artistic. My brothers were not, but we've all ended up in music, painting, interior design and film so i guess there were more than a few non-traditional genes in the mix. My own kids are both involved in arts; sci-fi illustration and film (production and cinematography, as well as being great parents!)
you must be excited to be in three shows this summer. can you tell us about both and what you have submitted? Robin: i'm really happy to have a piece in the "Sculpturenow at the Mount" show which will be up through october on the glorious grounds of edith Wharton's house in Lenox. then i'll be in "idols and icons" at the Meeting House Gallery in new Marlborough in July. For that one, i'll be doing a construction of wood and metal. Before i started quilting, that was what i did, and i love going back to construction once in a while. in august, i have a solo show at the Sandisfield arts Center so i'm working hard to get ready for that.
so robin. how do you make a quilt? what steps and tools are involved? Robin: First, i design the new quilt and determine colors (dependent on what i've been able to find). i start with a grid, primarily used for the reinforcement of concrete. i cut it to size, grind down the edges and paint it with black enamel. then i cut the metal shapes by hand, with shears, line them up together, mark the location of the holes for the required stitch and punch the holes with a drill press. then i sew the pieces together and onto the grid, using different kinds of wire and diverse stitches. the whole process is ridiculously labor-intensive, and my hands do get poked, stabbed and sliced with regularity. as i am very fond of crushed and rusted bits, i keep up on tetanus shots.
“Chinese Coins/Spring Birches”, Robin Tost
where have you showed your art over the past few years? Robin: i had a solo show a year and a half ago at art 101 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. i have work at Lauren Clark's new gallery in Great Barrington and have showed with ann Jon's Sculpturenow since 2008 (my first quilt). i've been with the Meeting House Gallery since ann Getsinger and Susie Hardcastle started it years ago, and ann found me in my barn and told me that yes, what i was doing was art, and that i could be in their first show.
looking ahead how do you see your art improving or changing or taking on new challenges? Robin: i never know in advance what will happen when i start a new quilt. although i start out with a plan, the actual doing changes as it grows, and things get added or subtracted or layered upon until the finished creature might be a distant cousin of the plan. i'm not cerebral enough to know where i'm going. although i start with a math-based grid, ideas come as the work grows, and it becomes (oooo, boogah, boogah!) what it wants to be.
you obviously find your craft a major joy in your life. how does your art connect with living in the Berkshires (the Shires!) and being surrounded by nature? Robin: You're right, and i love it, and i love that my studio is next to my house. Sometimes i wake up at 3 in the morning, thinking about what's going on out there, and it's a joy to be able to go out (go away, bears) and sit and look at the work in progress. i love living in the Berkshires, and, although most of my quilts are based on the history of new england rather than the ambiance, two of my most recent ones, based on a traditional pattern called "Chinese Coins", are more representational, evoking birches in spring and in winter light.
H
“Star Quilt”, Robin Tost
the artful mind July 2015 • 11
Photo: Edward Acker
CORINN A M AY actor Interview by Harryet Candee
harryet: corinna, tell us why you have chosen acting as your lifelong passion and career? Corinna: i was seduced at a tender age by a powerful, magnetic, tender, witty, romantic, irretrievably sexy man—William Shakespeare—and ruined from then on, as the saying goes, for anything else. the play was Macbeth, i was a senior in college and cast as Lady M—i found myself “rapt withal,” nearly every waking moment my psyche was engaged with the Lady, sussing her: what thrills her, drives her, terrifies her; is she in cahoots with the witches, or their pawn? and when she loses control of this dark bloody thing she’s set in motion—and begins disintegrating— what does that feel like? at the same time, i was taking my firstever voice-for-actors, class, with robert neff Williams, who taught at both Columbia and Juilliard. He was an elegant, exacting teacher. every night i did my 30 minutes of voice practice, then worked on my lines—and slowly the voice work opened me up and this play poured in. in rehearsal, i was experiencing all kinds of impulses. i’d always been pretty controlled as a young actor, so this felt a bit wild, even forbidden… but above all, exhilarating. i thought, if only i could do this for a living, live and work this completely and deeply engaged…i loved doing theatre—acting, tech, all of it. i loved the community, the camaraderie. i’d done some bits of acting in high school. i came to the Barnard theatre department as a freshman taking a lighting design class—we were required to do 20 hours of tech work over the semester, and i’d never done anything of the sort. i signed on to be an assistant stage manager, completed my 20 hours in about a week and a half, and pretty soon i was there all the time doing electrics, props, painting, whatever was needed. two of the senior guys staged an intervention one day… “Look, you’re doing way too much theatre, you’re going to flunk your classes. We know… we did!” i said “Forget you.” (well, something much ruder than that), and, “i’m going to make the dean’s list.” Which, by gosh, i did—then, and every semester after that. even so, i’d had a talk with my own self in my junior year, and sternly dismissed theatre as an unrealistic career path. But after Macbeth… edith Wharton once wrote, “nay, lift me to thy lips, Life, and once more/Pour the wild music through me.” Having felt “the wild music,” i set my sights on becoming a classical actor. and it was a plenty rocky road, but here i am, 18+ Shakespeare roles later, a core member of Shakespeare & Company, one of the finest classical companies in the world.
12 • July 2015 the artful mind
Photography by Edward Acker (as noted)
what are those ties that bind you to the creative process? and are there new approaches and solutions that make the creative process work better, and become easier for an individual to grasp? Corinna: i am endlessly curious!!! My focus at the moment both as actor and teacher is on working with two powerful methods which i first encountered in tandem in my early 20’s: the Feldenkrais Method, specifically awareness through Movement; and Linklater Voice – the two together rocked my world. i do not exaggerate. the Feldenkrais Method of sensory motor learning, learning to use oneself with economy, greater awareness, and ease; and the Linklater technique, “Freeing the natural Voice,” also about ease, awareness, economy, and emotional freedom, all in service of the text. in other words, freeing the mind/body of limiting habits in order to bring the whole self to the task at hand. Moshe Feldenkrais aimed “to make the impossible possible, the possible easy and the easy, elegant.” and Kristin Linklater invites us to discover that “the natural voice is transparent—revealing, not describing… the person is heard, not the person’s voice.” For an actor, this is impeccable foundational work. no longer limited to walking or talking in every role like my habitual everyday self, i can take on the elegant walk and command of a queen, or the lazy walk and harsh bray of a milkmaid. or a queen who slouches and swears like a milkmaid, or a milkmaid who glides among her cows, murmuring imperiously, ruling the barn... Suppleness of body/mind leads to suppleness of voice, suppleness of emotional impulse, suppleness of response, suppleness of performance. one of my teachers that same summer was the actor robert LuPone. He said, you aren’t going to grow into your type till you’re 30; be patient and meanwhile go get some real training. Which i did, at the professional conservatory program at Circle in the Square theater School in nYC, then in my late 20’s at Shakespeare & Company. there i trained both as a performer and a teacher, with Founding artistic director tina Packer, a visionary theatre artist, and the rest of the extraordinary faculty, led by Kristin Linklater herself. She is indeed a great artist and master teacher—particularly gifted in teaching the art of teaching. i became a designated Linklater voice teacher in 2003. in 2007 i went into a 4-year Feldenkrais training in nYC, and so i’m now one of a handful, perhaps 6 or 7 people in the world who are certified to teach both methods. the synergy between them keeps amazing
me, in my own work, and in my students and private clients. Sometimes it seems like downright magic. i recently began working with a master Feldenkrais trainer, arlyn Zones, bringing Linklater work into Feldenkrais trainings she’s designed called Voice, Breath and Posture. We’ve made a dVd for Feldenkrais practitioners and are going to publish a Cd for the public. it’s very, very exciting to be doing this, some 30 years later! the other tie that binds me is community. My colleagues. teaching or performing, i’m surrounded by bright, charismatic, witty, passionate artists, whose job is making people laugh and cry and connect with the whole mystery of being human. What could be better?
honestly speaking, is the acting world of today difficult or easy to get into? after all, there are different levels of success and different audiences that determine an actor’s career… but do people young and old actually have a fair go at climbing the ladder? how did it work for you? do ya gotta live in the city of angels to make it? really now, that must be a myth. Corinna: as you say, there many levels of success. depends what you want to do: simply work, or work and make money. ay, there’s the rub. on-camera work is everywhere—there’s so much internet product, and you can shoot your own movie or webisode fairly cheaply, using digital cameras and crowd-funding platforms—and there are still small groups forming, doing theatre. But making money, especially steady paying-off-a-mortgage, raising-kids money is pretty tough. Show biz is very, very competitive and difficult. My late manager, Brian Glass, liked to say “Look, this business? it’s crazy, and no one is going to fix it in our lifetime.” if you are born into it or drop-dead gorgeous or come out of one of the top training programs, it may be easier to get in the doors, but still not so easy to work steadily. only the very, very, very few make a really big splash, and even then, a career can skyrocket one day and flatline the next. no, you don’t need to live in La, but if you want to be in the big Hollywood scene, that’s where you go. Lots of people are talented and hard-working and hardheaded, but it’s not enough. You also need to be lucky. i sort of floundered after acting school, business-wise, but i managed to get good roles in a lot of nonunion shows, and as i said, found my way to S&Co. then in my
TWO-HEADED: Corinna May, Diane Prusha
photo: Kevin Sprague
early 30’s an actress who’d been my teacher introduced me to her manager, Brian, who took me on and marketed me well, and i began to really work professionally. He was a beautiful human being—turns out he represented robert LuPone, too—small world. Brian died of aidS, sadly. after that, i got my agent, Gary epstein, whom i met through my best friend. So i’ve been lucky. But also, when luck showed up, i was prepared. Best advice i ever got: “this, all of this, is pretend. Make sure you have a real life.”
what parts about the art of acting do you favor? i know, they say “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts…” so, maybe some areas you like more than others, but you know ya gotta work with all areas to complete the art and be satisfied with the end result. i think, corinna, making a story believable is not as easy as it looks! Corinna: true, that. My favorite: i love the exploration, the detective work, doing research, making the elements of the story real for myself—what we call “the given circumstances.” Who is this character? What does she want? What does she need? What’s her favorite music, her perfume, her political opinion—what does she believe in? What makes her laugh? Maybe i need to learn to weave, or to waltz, or fight with a bullwhip. Best of all is the energy of exploration and discovery in the rehearsal room, in collaboration with the director and my fellow actors. diane Prusha and i were rehearsing roMan FeVer in a barn in Stockbridge, with normi noel directing. We were in the middle of a run-through, and suddenly i felt as if my character, alida, swept me aside and took over the room. it became a battlefield, that run-through. alida had one driving need—to annihilate Grace. and she was unstoppable… until the very end, when Grace annihilated alida. alida showed me a new, almost frightening rapacity that day. this kind of “channeling,” it’s not like insanity; i’m still firmly in my right mind. Sometimes it only lasts for a few moments, sometimes for a whole rehearsal or performance, or even two in a row. Lots of actors will tell you about these experiences. For me there’s no predicting it and i can’t will it to happen. Maybe magic shows up that day and maybe it doesn’t. Like in the Mists of avalon—if you are welcomed or blessed, the mists clear and you reach the holy isle of avalon. if not, you land on the regular island. You don’t get to be in charge, you ordinary mortal. My least favorite part: having to pound in lines that just won’t
go in. all writers are not created equal—some language is like butter, some is like bricks.
and not to mention the thrill of acting with others, some of whom have had the fortune of becoming seriously well-known public figures… lesser so than you maybe, or more so than you… corinna, does that really make a difference—where other actors “are” when being side-by-side on film or in the theatre? Corinna: i’ve worked with a few really famous people, like when i was on the national tour of tHe Graduate, playing Benjamin’s mom with a series of Missus robinsons, whom i was understudying as well—Jerry Hall, Linda Grey, Lorraine Bracco, Kelly McGillis and Morgan Fairchild… very different women, yet all exceptionally professional and hard-working. each of them went out of their way to show their appreciation to the rest of us working stiffs—who knew how lucky we were to have the job. We were the only non-musical on the Broadway tour circuit that year! one performance in Fort Myers, FL, i went on for Ms. Fairchild as Mrs. robinson. We’d been rehearsing for weeks and weeks but not until the put-in rehearsal, and of course in the performance, did i actually take all of my clothes off. a 2000-seat theatre… a challenge to the concentration! But the nude scene surprised the heck out of me—quite unexpectedly as Mrs. robinson, coming out of Benjamin’s bathroom and dropping the towel, i experienced this thrilling wave of joy. i thought, she didn’t plan this, this isn’t about simple bored seduction; her stultifying life is killing her and she’s freeing herself of it right here right now, baring her body to this cute 20 year old—i mean, we can argue the appropriateness of her choice, but it taught me again: beware of shallow assumptions, let your character reveal her deeper self to you. who has been your most and least favorite of all the actors you have worked with, and why? Corinna: oh golly, i’ve worked with so many, many wonderful people. that’s what you get when you work in a real company setting. deep, rich relationships, nurtured and burnished over many years, that show up in the depth and richness of the work. it’s a complicated and sometimes pricey model for running a theatre… but there is no substitute. none. read what Zelda Fichandler of arena Stage has to say on the subject.
in the Berkshires alone—my 25 years at Shakespeare & Company, my 4 seasons in the company of the Berkshire theater Group, my 3 seasons in Catherine taylor-Williams’ lovely Wharton Salon company—i’ve developed relationships with so many wonderful artists… too many to list ‘em all, so i’ll name just two. diane Prusha; an actress of great purity, translucently vulnerable, and yet deeply rooted—and also very, very funny. We’ve done quite a few plays together. BtG’s executive director, the stellar Kate Maguire, blessed us mightily by casting us in tWoHeaded, a play about 19th Century Mormon pioneer women Hettie and Lavinia. over five scenes, the two age from 10 to 50, yoked to a terrible secret: the Mountain Meadow massacre, in which their fathers and other Mormon men, disguised as indians, besieged and slaughtered a whole wagon train of men, women and children—for the money, it is thought. that was a harrowing journey, but filled with love, ultimately. i would do any play, anywhere with her. My #1 favorite actor to work with is the sexy silver-haired fella i go home to in the evenings, david adkins. Besides him, i name allyn Burrows—talented, audacious, wicked smart. We did several plays together. He and dan McCleary, another masterful actor—the three of us did Pinter’s BetraYaL with normi noel directing. not a false note from those two gents: keen and sexy and dangerous, yet made me feel i could leap at anytime, from any precipice of emotion or impulse, and one or both of them would catch me. and i have to mention the enchanting women of enCHanted aPriL, diane, tod randolph, elizabeth ingram and rachel Siegel. the men, too. and the cast of tHe MeMorY oF Water! See, i have to stop now, or i’ll just go on endlessly. Least favorite? Won’t name names. But it’s the ungenerous, self-centered, tantrum-throwing, water-bottle tossing, fellowactor-berating, make-up-and-dresser-humiliating ones. no one gets to behave that way. no one is that talented or that irreplaceable. what personal discoveries have you used to help you be a better actor? for some, it can be the blinking of their eyes, or a very deep breath can help them drop into a deep place where their character lives. Corinna: Hummmm. i’m a little superstitious—so some things i won’t say because it might lessen their potency… i do have a ritual Continued on neXt PaGe....
the artful mind July 2015 • 13
SAME TIME NExT YEAR: David Adkins, Corinna May photo: Abby LePage
THE WINTERS TALE: Corinna May (as Paulina)( on the floor), then Ryan Winkles (in background) and Jonathan Epstein (in foreground) photo: Kevin Sprague
do before i go onstage, part of which is going and listening to the audience from behind the curtain, getting familiar with their vibration. and i’m fond of doing tree Pose, to ground and center and remind myself of imbalance coming into balance.
i’m wondering, when do you personally find “pausing”, a direction, to be powerful? during and in-between thoughts and reactions, you know, as pinter might have instructed in his scripts to do. he has said: “pausing and silence is greater than words spoken.” can you get into this a little please? Corinna: interesting question. the trap is in thinking the silence or the pause means you have nothing to say. a more active choice: that you know bloody well what you want to say, but you can’t bring yourself to say it—or are trying to figure out how on earth to word it—or you’re too angry, or too frightened—or too embarrassed—or it might incriminate you. Maybe you’re dying for the other person to speak first, or you’re buying time, or trying to intimidate them. and so on. You can’t just be generally, sort of vaguely, significantly, pause-y all the time—each pause has to be extremely specific. Pinter is a master of beats, pauses and silences, 14 • July 2015 the artful mind
and writes them into his scripts. right now i’m working on tHe uneXPeCted Man at S&Co, and the writer, Yasmina reza, writes this note in her introduction: “a deliberate absence of stage directions. Similarly (except at the end) the necessary silences and pauses are not indicated in the text.” So the actor is trusted—but also clearly instructed—find them and play them, the “necessary” ones. Which will be slightly different for each actor who takes on the role. i am fascinated by actors who can take on many different characters. how has the your range been? and what about the challenges? Corinna: i’ve gotten to play a very wide range of characters: ladies, servants, queens, peasants, children, grown-ups, women, men—american, Polish, British, irish, russian, Scottish, contemporary, classical… i’ve often played 2 or 3 very different people in the same play. in tHe dininG rooM, my roles included a 6 year old at a birthday party and a 60-year-old WaSP hostess; in riCHard 2: dePoSed, i played richard’s young queen, as well as the old duke of York and the usurper Henry Bolingbroke,
My biggest challenge ever was playing both Gertrude and ophelia in normi noel’s HaMLet. it was in the summer of 1990—a 6-actor, 90-minute version of the play, one of the first of the “Bare Bard” series at S&Co. normi was working with Carol Gilligan at the time, and exploring the feminine in Shakespeare in a very particular way; tina was in the conversation too. So the double-casting was their idea. We did it in the Salon at the Mount at 11:30 one night after the Mainstage show came down. Company people crowded into every corner of the room, hanging from the rafters. it went so well, we got a 2-week run the following summer, also in the Salon. the only scene in our production in which the two were onstage together was ophelia’s mad scene. We thought about Sybil… a psychiatrist on the radio was interviewing a woman with multiple personalities. the doctor would ask “Who is coming in now?” So we got interested in how these two personalities compete for control. i wore a crown as Gertrude, and when ophelia “came in” she yanked the crown off, and silently gazed through it, as through a small window at each section of the audience. When Gertrude went to take control, she set the crown decisively back on her head,
saying, “nay, but ophelia…” and ophelia flamed back at her, “Pray you, mark!!!” and with a violent toss of her head, hurled the crown off into a corner. it was intense, having the two come in and out… and it worked. it was exhausting though—i needed a hot bath and 10 hours of sleep every night. roles that psychically demanding require special self-care. it’s easy to burn out otherwise, or to start partying too much, so as not to deal with the residual emotional effects. Healthy actors are likely to have healthy careers.
how wonderful it must be for you to share your passion for acting with a partner who feels the same… tell me about your partner, corinna. he sounds like a wonderful man in many ways. how do the dynamics work with sharing the same or dissimilar interests and opinions, hmmm? Corinna: My pleasure. david is kind and smart and funny and handsome and complicated and charming and breathtakingly sexy! He’s climbed a few serious mountains and would like to climb a few more. He’s a perfect gentleman, but equally at home in the desert being a total rockdawg. He’ll suddenly go on a goofy riff & make me laugh till i cry; he loves my cooking—he can build things and fix things (How lucky am i, right?). i love his poetic soul. and we share strong family ties—i love his mom. My three parents (Mom, dad, step-mom a.k.a. other Mother) adore him. as an artist, david’s what people call a physical actor, he creates the world of the play through his kinesthetic sense. it’s beautiful to watch; he can be quite graceful and elegant, but it’s also what makes him such a natural comic actor; he has a deeply felt sense of what’s funny. His work is complex and intense. He takes risks; he’s willing to reveal not just vulnerability but emotional fragility—and to bring truly stupid funny physical comedy. He’s been with the Berkshire theatre Festival for 20+ years. We’ve done three shows there together, gratitude and respect to Kate Maguire. in SaMe tiMe neXt Year we played lovers who meet once a year for 25 years—that one was particularly fun. We got to be in our sweet innocent 20’s together. Well, semi-innocent. right now he’s doing his own play at the BtG, part of their american Characters series: tHoreau or return to WaLden. it’s a beautiful, courageous play and i am absolutely silly with pride about david’s work, both as playwright and as actor. We had a such a courtship! We met in the Berkshires, through a mutual friend, allyn Burrows in fact. about a month after we started seeing each other, david went off to San Francisco to do tHe MiSantHroPe. He invited me to visit him. the plan was to see his play, see something of California, and then drive back east. a bit of a risk on both our parts—we didn’t know each other that well. We ended up taking the whole month traveling back. as they say in The Graduate, we did the road—david and i and david’s intrepid golden retriever, duse. the redwoods, Los angles, Joshua tree national Park, then to see the Grand Canyon, (my first time). once there, we agreed that just looking at the view was just plain wrong… we had a tent and a stove and packs, so down we went! We walked down in 4 hours, spent the night, got up at dawn (it was early december so daylight was short) and walked the 8 hours back up. it was a blissful trek! i hadn’t backpacked in 15 years, and i kept falling over whenever i took my pack off to rest—my legs were so wobbly—but i just laughed. i was plain giddy with happiness. We arrived at the top into lightlyfalling snow. By 7 PM we collapsed with the dog onto a king-sized hotel bed. We were asleep by 8. i knew he was the one after that trip—i hadn’t laughed so much or felt so alive in years. Magical. Being two actors together—a lot of people say that spells difficulty. i say, sure, what life with what person doesn’t? Yes there is job instability and uncertainty, and lots of time apart, and even when you know that’s the deal, it can be very tough. But then there’s the pleasure and relief of being with someone who uniquely understands the particular stresses, how glorious it is when it works, how hellish when it doesn’t!! We’ve figured a lot out, including how to talk to each other about our work—or not talk about it. We know how to respect the sacristy of each other’s inner workspace—what needs to be kept private. Let there be truth and yet Mystery in life and in art. So that’s my guy. and 15 years later, he still takes my breath away…
Before he came into your life, what kept you busy? where did you live? Corinna: i was bouncing between nYC and the Berkshires, doing mostly theatre. i’d gone to Barnard for undergrad in nYC, then
Photo: Edward Acker
Circle in the Square acting School—a few years later i got married. We came to the Berkshires to work with Shakespeare & Company, and my husband got hired to teach theater at Simon’s rock in GB, so we moved up here. i got my manager, went into the city for auditions, and true to robert LuPone’s prediction, started working a lot in my early 30’s—mostly in regional theater. then in the late-ish 90’s, i stopped being married and moved back to nYC for a bit, but was pretty miserable there. So i moved back to the Berkshires, and within eight days booked six months of outof-town work. Living here, i always got far more work than when i lived in nYC, i suspect because a happier Corinna May went into auditions from the Berkshires… so i was living in Housatonic when we met.
as a child, not all that long ago, where did you grow up, and what was your family life all about? give us a descriptive monologue of life in your youth. Corinna: You are funny, Harryet! ok, a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.... i was born in Frankfurt, Germany. My dad was with the State department—ok, years later i found out what he really did. We were posted there for 7 years, during which time my three brothers and i came along. i was born in a private German clinic, as the army hospital wouldn’t allow my father to be in the delivery room (ah, the early 60s!) and my mom didn’t want to be drugged during the procedure. the Germans were far more progressive about that sort of thing, so my two younger brothers and i were born with my dad in attendance, a wide-awake mom, and a tickle instead of a slap to welcome us into the world.
We went back to the states for a year or so, and then were posted to Vienna, austria. those were the golden years. i remember being very happy. My parents loved living in europe. they took us all over—castles, lots of castles, and palaces and all kinds of museums… we traveled to italy, Spain, Switzerland, in our big hulking grey Peugeot station wagon. it was easy to pile 4 kids, 2 big quilts and a dog in the back seat of the car (no car seats then). My father had excellent German and my mother fluent French so we managed to be understood all over the place. i was 5 when we moved there, 8 when we left. there was no tV programming for children, so we played outside, made up games, rode bikes… my brothers were great playmates, still are three of the dearest and the funniest people i know. i’m so grateful to my parents when i see all of the “helicopter parenting” today. My parents encouraged us to be physically and intellectually adventurous. i climbed any and all trees fearlessly. i read all the time, piles and piles of books— especially fairy tales—and mythology and magic, the Hobbit, the Wizard of oz, Lord of the rings—oh, and all 13 of the James Bond books; my mom was a big fan. We returned to Washington dC in the late 60s. rough transition. Public school, 4th grade; i was oh so uSa-culturally backward! then in 7th grade i started private school, with a raft of seriously bright girls… daughters of congressmen and ambassadors, the occasional Kennedy, and again, a jarring transition time—added to which, my parents were splitting up. i banged into a big old brick wall. i came near to flunking every class that first semester, so… yikes! But i pulled myself out of it. Made friends, figured out how Continued on neXt PaGe.... the artful mind July 2015 • 15
to study—and unexpectedly became a jock, played field hockey, basketball & softball, and started rock climbing, kayaking, spelunking… all of which saved my life. When i was 16 my dad sat me down at the kitchen table and said “i think it’s time for you to know what i really do.” turns out he worked for the Cia, under cover of the State department in Frankfurt and the embassy in Vienna, but he was now in the overt section, so he could talk about it. He worked as an officer and an analyst. and he’s not at all a cloak and dagger gentleman. (He soon retired, becoming a lawyer for children in the foster care system, to give back). So anyway, that was surreal. and turned out he met my mom there. She was on the Beirut desk, she had fluent French, spoke it nearly from birth with her mother. My maternal grandmother was a White russian whose father, betrayed by his cook, was killed by the Bolsheviks in the Crimea, shortly after he’d sent my grandmother and her sister her off to Switzerland for safety, where she met my grandfather, a dashing pilot. that’s a whole other story. i’m writing it. dunno whether it’s a play or a novel, yet.
i’m so glad i asked you that question….okay, what is your birth sign? Corinna: Capricorn, but with aquarius rising and a Libra Moon. as my astrologer (Judith Cummings, a dear friend, a gorgeous writer, an ace astrologer and one of the chief jewels of my life) described it, Capricorn loves structure and boundaries and limitation, aquarius is about dismantling and tearing down structure and limitation, and Libra is about seeking balance and harmony. Paradox, nothing but paradox. a skeptic’s question: do you like television reality shows? sometimes i think they are not “real.” i don’t know why, but like, the Bachelor, (now don’t be a snob!), do you really think there wasn’t something meant to trick the audience of thousands into believing? Corinna: no, no nononononno i cannot Stand reality tV in the vein of the Bachelor and the real Housewives and that excruciat16 • the artful mind July 2015
HOMESTEAD CROSSING David Adkins, Corinna May (photo: Christy Wright)
ing Kgirls show. it’s crass, it’s boring, it’s mewling. Most of it i find to be unbearably contrived—and the dirty little secret of course is that all of those shows have writers, uncredited, busy fabricating drama where there really isn’t any. Bread and circuses, lull the masses. that said, i was once guilty of watching 3 episodes of Hoarders in a row. and i do like the shows where things are created, like Tiny House or Cake Boss or Project Runway—but in terms of popular culture, i think we are in real danger these days of being shepherded, corralled even, into only looking at and watching and reading and wearing things we already “like.” netflix never says “We recommend this movie, which we think might interest you because it is so StartLinGLY diFFerent from the one you watched yesterday. Go on, taKe a CHanCe!” not yet, anyway.
how often do you run to your safety zone these days? i am finding mine more challenged these days, and i like it. Corinna: not often enough, Life has gotten so complicated!! i say to myself over and over, “Simplify, simplify, simplify!” Work in progress.
Photo: Edward Acker
are you content living in the Berkshires? Corinna: i am indeed most content here in the Berkshires. i know i’m beyond lucky to have it as my artistic home. new York City is… well, it’s a fantastic city. i know it well, it feels a lot like home, and i have a great job. But more and more, i just want to be up here. When i’m not working, david and i hike the appalachian trail, i have tea time with my girlfriends, i volunteer at the Sonsini shelter—mostly with the dogs, who patiently teach me about trust and love, regardless of breed, or history—-and i cook! i gaze at the sky, day and night. i collect breezes. i dream about having a bunch of dogs. Maybe 5. right now i have an elderly cat. She singled me out as a skinny little stray kitten in Lee 16 years ago—i gave her a bowl of water and my roast beef sandwich which she wolfed down, and then she curled up in the dirt next to me and fell asleep. So of course i gave her a home.
animals are such a gift. she is a lucky cat! i was wondering, corinna, do you prefer theatre over film? Corinna: they are very different. theatre is more an actors’ medium, but in film you have a far wider reach. in theatre you get to get up in front of a living breathing audience and create an event with them. and you rehearse, so you can experiment with a lot of
SAME TIME NExT YEAR Corinna May and David Adkins (photo: Abby LePage)
ideas and develop really textured relationships with the other actors. on camera, you get pretty much no rehearsal, and you act in fragments, usually shooting the scenes out of order. also in film and tV, the director and the editor decide what the audience sees: your best moment might be snipped to the cutting room floor never to be viewed by anyone, because a weird noise somehow got in and bollixed up the sound, or the other actor muffed a line. But film and tV have this over theatre: a huge audience. that is one of the biggest problems i think we face in the theatre, that so many people simply can’t afford to buy a ticket. in the not-for-profit
arena we have to get ingenious and solve this problem. We need to be available to everyone who wants to go, regardless of ability to pay. i’ve done mostly theatre, although i’ve enjoyed my tV and film experiences. i was lucky enough to star in an independent movie. it’s funny, when i was starting out i used to tell my first boyfriend, just you wait, i’m going to be a movie star in my forties. and exactly 6 months shy of my 50th birthday, i got cast in SPLit endS, directed by dorothy Lyman. Seems the actual “name” star they had suddenly hit it big with another film and dropped out. i’d had a great audition, and my agent, bless his cotton socks, had been on the phone with the producers and director every week to make sure i stayed in the mix, and in the end, we got the call. i had a great time— worked 12 hour days, playing a Scottish hairdresser living in new Jersey who goes up against corrupt politicians and developers who want to destroy her little town—BraVeHeart with blow-dryer and shears. You can rent it on netflix; it’s my Cinderella story!
Photo: Edward Acker
i love this question: in your opinion, what makes a great director? from the standpoint of an actor, and from the standpoint of an audience. and, are you also a director? Corinna: i’ve worked with some terrific ones. in particular, normi noel and i collaborated over and over—Betrayal, Jack&Jill, Roman Fever, International Episode, Fortune And Misfortune, and many others. i count her as the most significant creative partnership of my life. i wouldn’t be the actor or the teacher i am without the sensitivity and discernment i’ve acquired through working with her. another one is andrew Borthwick-Leslie. We worked together on tHe LonG run at the Wharton Salon. He creates visceral, sexy, exciting work, all with great care and intelligence. a great director carries a clear vision of the story, listens impeccably, knows the play inside and out, collaborates gracefully and respectfully. a great director takes responsibility, keeps cool and evenkeeled. a great director trusts the audience, doesn’t dumb down the story, and is willing to challenge the audience while telling a cracking good story. Give them their money and time’s worth! a great director is spare, can give you the one or two notes that move you forward. a great director creates the space for all artists involved to discover and bring forth their own brilliance. With a great director, i the actor end up being better than i thought i could be. Me, i have directed, but it’s not my long suit, and i have no ambi-
tion to pursue it. Whew.
corinna, what other venues in art interest you at this time? Writing!!! i wrote a one-woman play called danCinG WitH tHe CZar that was produced at Ventfort Hall in 2007. right now i’ve got two, maybe three pieces i’m working on, very different, but based on the lives of actual american women. Still way under wraps… but i will say that one is about a woman’s journey though mental illness. Many years ago i co-wrote a play about amelia earhart—a one-woman play i was meant to perform in. We only managed one staged reading. i am sad that i’m too old to play her now—she died at age 39. What an intense creature… a palm reader once said to her “amelia, your character is your fate.” true, that. She took what some called wild chances, succeeding at breaking record after record, sometimes crashing, always coming out alive—until she didn’t. But we need them, don’t we… we love them, our heroes, the ones willing to go further, faster, higher, take those risks, put their lives on the line for us all? yes, and they plow the way for us to be brave enough to take risks and think out of the box. in all of life, what have you experienced, or wish to experience that you can tell us about? Corinna: read PiLGriM at tinKer CreeK, by annie dillard, it’s exquisite and will open you in new ways to the wonders and terrors and joys and savagery and plain prodigal gorgeousness of the natural world. what is one of your solid core beliefs that help you to make your life as wonderful as possible? Corinna: My dad quotes John donne ”Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid.” it reminds me to remain undaunted; there is beauty and grace everywhere, if you only open your senses. in my life, i have failed at so many things the first time out, but there’s always some reason to get curious and move on. i’m proud of my tenacity, and i’m tenacious simply because i want to be feeling alive and vital and engaged, doing the work i do, helping people connect to their whole selves—seeing the transformational moment, the light going on in people’s eyes—it’s magic. no matter how bleak the dawn, right? there is always the sea, or a Keb Mo’ tune, a wee singing wren, or an act of pure kindness somewhere—always something to make you catch your breath, and to rekindle wonder, to re-teach you your humanity. it’d be churlish of me to treat it carelessly, this—i love what Mary oliver calls it—“your one, wild, precious life.” H
the artful mind July 2015 • 17
massBliss eVent!!!
MassBliss 2015 is a first-of-its-kind arts and awareness experience coming to the Berkshires this July 10 -12 at Ski Butternut. this camping festival will feature live performances and workshops in music, theater, yoga, meditation, and fitness. attendees can purchase an all access camping pass for $200, a day pass for $90, or a night pass for $45. throughout the weekend participants can enjoy jazz meditations with the Shinnyo Center for Meditation & Wellbeing, mountainside yoga, bike rides with Berkshire Bike and Board, blindfolded dancing with Pooja Prema, stilt walking, mask making, gongs, and much more. in between workshops, you can choose between live music, theater, and performance art sets from the likes of indie rockers Javelin, ethiopian pop group debo Band, the Brooklyn raga Massive, the nettles artist Collective, and the Movement theater Collective amongst many others. the most unique aspect of MassBliss 2015 is that all of the artists and performance companies will also be offering immersive workshops throughout the weekend. So, you can dance to Javelin at night and join a spacious listening workshop during the day. the debo Band is teaching an intro to ethiopian music, the Peace Poets will host writing workshops, and Brooklyn raga Massive will teach throat singing and intros to classic indian singing. expect lots of smiles. the pursuit of happiness is over. Find your Bliss this summer at MassBliss 2015! Visit massbliss.com for all details.
Linda in Studio
roBert forte
roBert Forte, under Water #2, oiL on CanVaS, 36 X 36”
“although my paintings have a realistic context, my passion for painting is, somewhat paradoxically, a passion for the unknown that lies beneath the surface of perception. For me, the starting point is a need to talk through paint, a conversation, if you will, between something seen and something hidden. there is always a sense of the journey’s end, but it ultimately is the light, the color and even the brushstroke that reveals the intangible in the tangible. in effect, the object or scene is abstracted and reassembled as the painting progresses, in hopefully unpredictable ways; the conundrum that i call ‘abstract realism’. “ this is a departure from first-learned principles - observe keenly and paint accurately - but builds on them rather than discards them. this bedrock foundation robert Forte owes to two wonderful artists, Minerva durham and Cornelia Foss, under whose tutelage he was lucky enough to find himself from the very start. “So often artists, or writers about artists, limn a body of work in ways that are recondite and ultimately unsatisfying. For me, art is an explosion of feeling expressed in an infinite variety of different ways to reflect divergent views of the world around us. even a painting of a wedge of apple pie can contain a subtext that probes beneath a flaky crust. ultimately, art should be accessible both visually and verbally. after all, it is the earliest extant form of communication.” Robert Forte’s paintings are in numerous collections throughout the country, and can be seen on a bi-monthly basis at the 510 Warren Street Gallery in Hudson, New York. Forte’s work can also be seen at the New Marlborough “Idols and Icons” show which runs from July 25 to August 23.
linda Kaye-moses VernaLia and VaSHti
Linda Kaye-Moses’ jewels concern themselves not simply with function, but also with the implicit/explicit narrative capacity of adornment, and enclosure as sculptural form; an extension of her intention to build fully realized objects by constructing jewels within environments or protective dwellings, “nesting Cases”. they often incorporate an original textual element (poem/song/prose). “the unruly Jewels of Linda Kaye-Moses” will be shown at Lauren Clark Fine art august 4-30; an artist reception will be held august 15. the sources of inspiration for her work are varied: ancient artifacts; the architectural fantasies of Brodsky and utkin; the mediaeval reliquary; the mysteries inherent in the work of William Harper, Keith LoBue and dX ross; the complex and complicated structures that speak on many levels of human experience, especially humanity’s delight in the bodyembellished. She is invested in a continuing tradition of adornment extended to a surrounding environment, supporting and protecting the center. the ‘enclosure’, the vessel, the chest, the reliquary that contain carefully selected and assembled precious elements and that reflect intimate symbology, are both her inspiration and her art form. Her work thematically integrates jewelry fabrication techniques (metal clay, engraving, stamping, fold-forming, oxidation/patination, roll-printing, cold connections), enameling, blockprinting, assemblage/collage and precious metals, precious stones and found objects. Her pieces explore the fusion of all these elements with the stories her objects relate, each object speaking as a sculptural encyclopedia of THE OTIS CULTURAL COUNCIL connected and coherent impresents the ages, symbols, and concepts. Lauren Clark Fine Art Eighth Annual 25 Railroad Street, Great Barrington, MA, 413-5280432; Lauren@LaurenClarkFineart.com;
Otis Arts Festival Saturday, July 25 • 9 - 3 pm
Artisans and craftspersons of pottery, fiber, leather, oil and watercolor paintings, photography, quilts, jewelry, wood crafts, and Musical entertainment by
Moonshine Holler, traditional American music, 12-2 pm.
18 • the artful mind July 2015
FREE ADMISSION • Indoors Farmington River Elementary School 555 No. Main Road (Rte. 8), Otis, MA 413 269-4674
“The actor must practice mindfulness. Most people do not. The actor must be awake to life and all of its ramifications. The character's life is his/her own. To be true, it is as if the actor and the character had never met.” -B. MacDonald
ARTIST
Karen LeSage
Interview by Kimberly Rawson November Rain by Karen LeSage
Karen LeSage is an artist based in Lakeville, CT whose large, atmospheric canvases have been described as “a fusion of Rothko and Monet.” Her paintings are collected throughout the US and Canada.
were you always interested in art? Yes. i grew up drawing, painting, cutting and pasting. i went to art school but did not pursue painting as a profession until much later. i chose clothing design as my concentration at the time because, at age 17, i was already making a business of it. in high school i sewed shirts from hand-painted fabric and sold them to my friends. My entrepreneurial streak showed up early. i moved to new York after college and designed clothing and props for the entertainment industry. this led me to fascinating places and people and was an important part of my education. i always painted when i was out of town. i eventually began spending weekends in Litchfield County and when i moved there full-time, painting took over. i am glad i studied design alongside fine art.
where are you from originally? tell me about your background. i come from a small town in eastern Ct. although i did not have much exposure to “the arts” in a formal sense, it was a vibrantly creative environment. My father designed and built houses. My mother wrote stories and sewed lovely dresses. My brothers were musicians. My grandmother grew elaborate gardens, refinished furniture and made curtains for every season. they spoke French, and to this day, listening to the French language sparks all kinds of creativity.
were there certain experiences that stood out? My friend andrea’s parents had modern art in their house, which expanded my imagination. in the kitchen was a Matisse-esque painting of andrea and her sister in colorful dresses. it did not re-
semble them, and was clearly infused with the personality of the painter. it was very large and vertical and the paint strokes chunky and free. i was fascinated by it. to this day i still think about that painting.
have you had any mentors along the way? My high school art teacher, alex Caserta, was an important advocate. My aptitude tests indicated that i should pursue engineering. When i told my guidance counselor that i wanted to go to art school, she was concerned and called a meeting with my mother. Mr. Caserta helped me with my application and portfolio photos. i don’t know that i would have gone to art school without his support. i am also grateful to the painter ira Barkoff. around the time i began painting more seriously, i enrolled in his classes. i was the youngest student and he was very generous to me. He recognized my strengths and helped me develop them. He encouraged me to submit work to a commercial gallery long before i thought i was ready. i have been exhibiting ever since. interestingly, these two men resemble each other physically. if i were casting a movie of my life story, i would cast the same actor in those two roles. He would appear at each crossroads and set me on the right trajectory. are there any historical or contemporary artists that you specifically admire? i consider myself a student of painting, and at any given time, i am investigating the work and lives of certain painters. Currently, those are agnes Martin and March avery. Painting is a solitary endeavor, and reading about the experience of other artists helps keep things in perspective. how would you describe the style of your paintings? i am consistently pulled toward full abstraction, but am intrigued by walking the line between worlds. it mirrors the human experience: We are conceptual creatures living in a physical world. it’s
&
Photography by Rogerio Luz
a delicate situation. i am a minimalist disguised as a landscape painter.
what are your favorite things/places to paint? the Berkshire Mountains continually inspire. they provide color displays that change by the season, the day, the hour. i would like to visit other mountain ranges and paint them.
your career has gained momentum in recent years. what has changed for you as an artist with this level of recognition? i am continually in awe of the way a creative pursuit grows on its own if it is tended to. unseen forces are always at work. the ‘sudden success’ was a long, continual process of getting ideas that intrigue me, wondering if they are crazy, and doing them anyway. no matter how much attention the work gets, my day is basically the same: Get up and go to the studio. But now i get to use better paints. do you try to make a statement with your art? in art and in life, i discover a quiet power when i eliminate the non-essential. Clear the clutter from your house and you will see what i mean. the greatest songs and poems use words sparingly and precisely to great emotional effect. Less is more. except, of course, when more is definitely more. what advice would you give a young artist just starting and wondering where to begin? Cultivate the ability to hear the great ideas that arise and act on them as soon as possible. it will be inconvenient. even projects that end in disappointment develop the habit of “honoring the muse.” When work is done consistently, the muse considers you a safe place to send the really good ideas. F
the artful mind July 2015 • 19
Kris Galli
Wendy A. Rabinowitz LIVING THREADS JUDAICA
UP AND COMING SOLO EXHIBIT
July 17-August 13, 2015 "YAHI OR: LET THERE BE LIGHT"
Judaic Weaving/Mixed-Media Artworks
based on the concept of light in Jewish texts and teachings
Vessel of Light: Shema: Hear/Listen, weaving/mixed-media assemblage
Reflection, Oil on Canvas, 30x30 inches
Represented by Lauren Clark Fine Art, Great Barrington, MA
krisgallifineart.com
20 • the artful mind July 2015
AT
OPENING RECEPTION Thursday, July 23, 2015 3:00-5:00 pm
THE WELLES GALLERY OF
THE LENOX LIBRARY
18 MAIN STREET, LENOX, MASSACHUSETTS
wrshalom@aol.com
www.LivingThreadsJudaica1.com
Robin Tost
“SICILIAN QUILT”
“not Your Grandmother’s Quilt” FaBriCation in MetaL
in the gallery august 8 - 30 Opening Reception Sat, Aug 8 2-4pm
sandisfield art center
5 Hammertown rd, Sandisfield, Ma • 413. 258. 4100 www.sandisfieldartscenter.org
FRONT ST. GALLERY
Kate Knapp, Housatonic
Presents
HOUSATONIC…. The Town and The River paintings by Kate Knapp July 4- Sept 7 2015
gallery hours Sat & Sun or by appointment 12-5pm 413274-6607 413-429-7141(cell) 413-528-9546 Front Street, downtown, Housatonic, MA
JENNIFER PAZIENZA
Saint Francis Gallery Summer Skies
Oil on Canvas
96 x 144 in
1370 Pleasant Street, route 102, Lee, Ma (next to the fire dept.) 413. 717.5199 open Friday - Monday 10 - 5pm www.saintfrancisgallery.com
jennpazienza@gmail.com
http://jenniferpazienza.com/
the artful mind July 2015 • 21
marguerite Bride oriGinaL WaterCoLorS MarGuerite Bride, eaGLe MiLL, W/C
Marguerite Bride’s original paintings are now on display at the “underground Salon”, the new gallery space located at Christine’s Home Furnishings at 15 Bridge Street in Great Barrington, Ma. in addition, Bride will be displaying a wide assortment of Berkshire-themed original paintings and fine art limited edition reproductions at the Summer arts & Craft Show in Stockbridge august 15 and 16. this is Bride’s first time ever exhibiting in this popular outdoor show. after taking a little vacation from painting the Berkshires Bride has recently created a number of new works that will be on display at the Stockbridge show. Can’t get to the show? Fine art reproductions and note cards of her Berkshire images and others at red Lion inn Gift Shop (Stockbridge), Lenox Print and Mercantile (Lenox), St. Francis Gallery (South Lee), Hancock Shaker Village (Hancock) and Bride’s studio at nuarts Studios. Seasonal scenes of Bride’s paintings are always on display in the public areas of the Crowne Plaza in Pittsfield. Visits to Bride’s studio to see originals are by appointment and are always welcome…just call or email. Commissions for vacation, business and house portraits are welcome at any time. it’s not too soon to think about 2015 holiday gift giving. Marguerite Bride, NUarts Studios, Studio 9, 311 North Street, Pittsfield, by appointment. Call 413-442-7718, or 413-841-1659 (cell); website: margebride-paintings.com email: margebride@aol.com
Enjoy the Unique Comfort
22 • the artful mind July 2015
st. francis gallery magical realism riCHard BriteLL, HarLeM Fire eSCaPe, 12 X 22.5”
our summer show Magical Realism is an outstanding collection of works by several of the most talented painters in the Berkshire Hills. this show will run from July 3 -august 24, with an artist reception Saturday, July 11 3-6pm. these are artists who are dedicated to producing the most unique, exacting, and beautifully executed paintings using techniques that in the past have produced some of the most famous and the most beautiful works of our time. Walking into the gallery one can feel the gentle intensity of the creative forces that went into their making. Many of the artists have researched and explored techniques that had been developed centuries ago and translated them into the present work. they excite the senses and engage the mind and the soul the way old masters did before. Many of the themes play with illusion, metaphor and mystery in a magical light, yet their freshness brings them into the present with new ideas and surprise. the gallery is proud to exhibit this collection in this simple church because the space that the chapel provides adds so well to the richness of the paintings that they seem to illuminate each other. the works engage with a poetic beauty and inner wisdom that allows you to go beyond the representational imagery into so much more. Please come and enjoy. Support our local artists and the nonprofit works the gallery contributes to Kenya. St. Francis Gallery - Rte. 102, South Lee just 2 miles east from the Red Lion Inn. Gallery hours: Friday thru Monday 10-5pm.
denise B chandler Fine art LiMited edition PHotoGraPHY deniSe B. CHandLer, eLePHant, PHotoGraPH
denise B Chandler doesn’t follow the rules. Chandler in her excitement and discovery begins with the small details we often overlook. She introduces us to the varied and marvelous patterns in our everyday world that are not noticed. She “instructs” us how to see color, shape, and form using her camera to expose the beauty that she envisions so that we can see more. Shimmering and static patterns, colors, the air swollen with mysterious shapes and movement…all of these are captured in an extraordinary composition. these silhouettes of the “familiar” become fantastic abstracts exquisitely printed and framed as beautiful reminders and works of art. denise B Chandler is represented by Sohn Fine art Gallery at 69 Church St. in Lenox, Massachusetts where various selections of her work can be seen throughout the year. Chandler will be one of the featured artists exhibiting in the upcoming exhibition “abstrakt” from July 30 through october 4. Chandler also offers private gallery visits at her personal studio/gallery by appointment only…please call either of the numbers listed below. Denise B Chandler, Studio & Gallery visits by appointment only. 415 New Lenox Rd, Lenox, MA. Please call 413637-2344 or 413-281-8461 (cell). Website: denisebchandler.com email: info@denisebchandler.com
“In the production of a good play with a good cast and a knowing director there is formed a fraternity whose members share a mutual sense of destiny.” -Arthur Miller
the museum show part 1 (Continued from May issue) from "no Cure For the Medieval Mind" BY riCHard
BriteLL
the question of placement is actually more important than prizes and awards, blue ribbons and honorable mentions. a blue ribbon actually looks rather silly next to a painting, but where a work is hung is the most important message from the artist's point of view. now imagine the feelings of the poor artist whose work is hung in a set of pictures, four in a square, by four different artists. all of the pictures in the set are still life, or perhaps all are figurative work. this sort of treatment says, "this painting falls into the 'thus and so,' category of work, it is, 'this sort of a thing.'" no artist wants to have their work placed into a grouping that categorizes it into a set of similar things done by other artists. Finally one arrives at greatest affront of all, your work is hung, "salon style." Salon style is a wall where hundreds of paintings are hung helter-skelter, as many as possible on the wall surface, from up by the ceiling right down to the floor moldings. the name "salon" is derived from the French salons where as many paintings as possible were crammed into the exhibition space. and yet there is something even worse than that: to have one's work hung salon style and to be placed down by the floor and over in a corner, so that one must crouch down to get a good look at it. Perhaps there is also a door blocking the view and dark shadows because no light falls on the picture. Such treatment has led to many a disgraceful scene between gallery owner and artist, between artist and museum director. in a group show, one can sometimes overhear arguments that end in the slamming of doors. one hears ultimatums and oaths to never darken your doors again, to speak evil of you to everyone. artists are especially guilty of this kind of outburst, and there is hardly an artist's biography that does not contain examples of this kind of exchange. the exhibiting artist, unless it is their first time, never stops to consider that almost all of the others who submitted works were rejected. all the rejected artists are envious of the little painting hung down in the dark corner, salon style, they wish some day to arrive at that dark corner, but alas, a lifetime may go by and the dark corner of the exhibit hall will never be attained. But the artist down in the corner is insulted, and wants to have nothing to do with that museum ever again. Such is the, "theory of relativity," when applied to the life of the artist, and the experience of the vagaries of recognition. one can't forget that Warhol was a great artist, but was consumed by fears that he was second best after Jasper Johns, feelings created by just such subtle considerations as to where in a room one's best works were hung. part ii
the art historian could not have been more correct about this consideration. His knowledge of the problems of gallery placement relative to the feelings of the artists in a group show came from the many years in which he had been asked to be one of the judges for the many gallery and museum shows in which he and his colleagues were involved. He was often selected because he could be relied upon to represent a historical and conservative point of view. He said that many times his judgments had led to confrontations and arguments in the museum setting. "there is nothing quite like seeing an artist enter the exhibition space, their face beet red with anger. they scan the room looking for their enemy and their eye
lights upon your countenance. then, with measured angry strides they walk up to you quivering in silent rage and stand in front of you." they eye you up and down as if mentally comparing you to some insect they intend to crush, and finally their invective bursts forth. they rush from one partial sentence to another unable to decide whether they want to condemn your entire career, your personal life, or just the question of where you have placed certain of their works of art. remarks bordering on death threats are common. the judge's response must be invariably the same. "My favorite reply," said Buboni, "was to suggest that they take their picture out of the exhibition as soon as they liked, and take it down to new York City, and get in the line with all the other artists involved in doing the exact same type of work, and hope it gets the recognition they truly deserve." "Because," he said, "no matter what one may be doing, someone somewhere is doing something similar." that is what the art historian said, but to return to agnes and her first work exhibited in a museum show. What Buboni described was very nearly the truth concerning agnes' still life painting. it was hung in a small room off the main room, and it was hung salon style along with numerous similar works, mostly still life watercolors and landscapes. She did not find it down in a corner or up by the ceiling, but nearly eye level over in the corner. She was certainly not offended by the placement of her work; on the contrary she was overjoyed to see it again in its new temporary setting. She only wished that it could have been in a better mat and frame but there was nothing she could do about it. the show was opened to the public on a thursday after the installation had been completed, and the grand opening was scheduled for Saturday evening from 5 - 7. She invited her parents, but they had tickets to the theatre so they could not attend. She arrived at the museum promptly at five o'clock and found herself engulfed in the most peculiar experience of her life so far. the entire exhibit room of the museum was crammed with people wall to wall, everyone talking at once. everyone seemed to know everyone else, and they were all extremely overjoyed to be seeing each other again. it was so crowded that agnes could not even make her way through the masses of people to get to the room with her painting. For agnes, one of the strangest things about the opening was that everyone was drinking wine from little plastic cups. in a corner she found a table covered with a white cloth on which she found bottles of red and white wine, plus plates of cheese and crackers. She helped herself to the cheese and crackers, and also poured herself a glass of wine, something she had never tried before. after finishing her wine she made her way along the wall trying to look at each painting one by one. at each painting her way was blocked by little knots of welldressed people all talking at once who were oblivious to her attempts to get to a spot where she could view a picture adequately. it was even necessary to slightly bump into people to get them to move an inch or so to make way for her. this was difficult at first but became easier after her second glass of wine. Like a few years ago when she was 13, she was very curious what people were saying about the pictures. the conversations she overheard however had nothing to do with the exhibit or the paintings, as a matter of fact agnes couldn't help but notice that nobody was looking at or talking about the pictures at all. When she finished with her third glass of wine she decided to work her way to the back of the main hall and go in and have a look at her little picture in the side room. Suddenly this became extremely difficult as the exhibit room began to sway and tilt in unexpected angles like a ship at sea. So, she said to herself, this is what happens when you drink wine, the museum room turns into a boat and none of the pictures stay in one spot. You have to have a look at them as they go by, and then wait till they come around again and have another look. there seemed to be something very funny about the tendency of the pictures to float along the walls, and this combined with her light-headed feeling made the opening seem to her to be very comical. the opening was comical for her until a disaster struck. Having made her way to the far end of the small room to the place where her picture was, she discovered to her consternation that where her picture had been, there was just a small blank area of wall. the explanation for the missing picture seemed obvious to her, the powers that be probably decided to hang it in a different spot and so it became necessary to make her way through the entire exhibition and find it. this would have been a difficult project even if she had been clear-headed, but she was far from it. She made her way through the rooms like a little mouse going along as close to the edge of the walls as it was possible in the crowd. She scanned all
the wall surfaces in search of her little watercolor still life to no avail. it took her one hour to tour the entire exhibit space, but her picture was nowhere to be found. it was impossible to be sure she had looked at every painting because of the tendency of pictures to suddenly shift position right before her eyes. She would be looking directly at a profile portrait head numbered 287, and suddenly it would disappear and be replaced in her view by a blue and brown sloppy abstraction number 278. the numbering of all the pictures in the exhibit offered her a solution to her problem. She found the exhibition list and proceeded to go once again all through the rooms, looking at each picture one at a time. Her picture was supposed to be 724, but there was no 724 to be found. Finally she worked up her nerve and went up to a woman who appeared by her nametag to be one of the judges and with her most polite manner tried her best to articulate her concern. She received this pre-packaged response: "Just because you submit a work to the show, does not mean it will be in the exhibit, your piece was probably rejected and you should receive a postcard in the mail." attempts by agnes to clarify the situation were ignored, and even when she tried to point out that her piece was listed in the catalogue as item number 724, the person she was talking to simply walked away from her without any reaction. She made two more attempts with other employees of the museum and finally gave up in frustration. the opening was on Saturday evening. the museum was closed on both Sunday and Monday and it was not until after school on tuesday that she was able to find out what had happened to her picture. She went into the office and spoke to the secretary. it was the very same secretary who had pulled her by the ear three years previously. it was the same secretary whose face she would slap many years later. Like everyone else connected to the museum, the secretary trotted out the same explanation about her work being rejected, and about the rejection postcard, but agnes could see for herself the explanation to what had happened to her picture. it was leaning against the wall in the office. the watercolor had shifted and was crooked in the frame. the frame had to be dismantled and the painting repositioned in the mat. She took it home and fixed it and returned it to the museum. the secretary said, "i am sorry about this, i had intended to call you about it but i was too busy with the opening and didn't have time." on the last day of the show her piece was put back up and on that day she went and paid it a visit, and brought it back home again. all these years later it sits on the mantle of her fireplace. the picture has shifted in the mat and is crooked but she prefers it that way and won't consider fixing it. -richard Britell T
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24 • the artful mind July 2015