Tam April 2015

THE ARTFUL MIND

APRIL 2015 MONTHLY BERKSHIRE ARTZINE

ALLEN TIMMONS CRAFTSMAN AND NATURE LOVER

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ALISON WEDD

THE SOURCE FOR PROMOTING ART SINCE 1994

“I'm planting a tree to teach me to gather strength from my deepest roots.”

-Andrea Koehle Jones, The Wish Trees

SCOTT TAYLOR INTO THE WOODS

MARGARET BUCHTE

Cows are enjoying the mild Spring air, resting and relaxing near the river in Ashley Falls

413. 528. 2846 margaretbuchte@gmail.com Margaret-Buchte.fineartamerica.com on facebook Margaret's Originals P.O. Box 79, Sheffield, MA 01257

ART SHOW & SALE

May 2, 4 - 7pm Stationery Factory 63 Flansburg Avenue, Dalton, MA

THE ARTFUL MIND ARTZINE APRIL 2015

In every light will you will look different

THE MUSIC STORE

ALLEN TIMMONS PHOTOGRAPHS BY ALISON WEDD

Allen Timmons Craftsman and Nature Lover Harryet Candee...8 The Trip to The Museum Part II Richard Britell 12

Planet Waves for APRIL 2015 Eric Francis.....14

Simply Sasha Recipe for APRIL Sasha Seymour...15

Fiction Sampler from The Virgin of Hopeless Causes MOTHER Amy Tanner ... 16 Contributing Writers and Monthly Columnists Eunice Agar, Edward J. Bride, Richard Britell, Eric Francis, Sasha Seymour, Amy Tanner

Photographers Edward Acker, Cassandra Sohn, Jane Feldman Sabine Vollmer von Falken, Alison Wedd Publisher Harryet Candee

Copy Editor Marguerite Bride

Advertising and Graphic Design Harryet Candee

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 • APRIL 2015 THE ARTfUL MIND

What better way to welcome spring than to gift yourself and those you love with MUSIC! 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, her 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; Ukeleles - 50+ different models: Soprano, Concert, Tenor and Baritone, acoustic and acoustic/electric, six string, resonator and the remarkable U-Bass! You might even hear Dr. Easy play a banuke.

How about a Cordoba Cuatro?

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.

Alvarex 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.

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

SABINE PHOTO ART

Photographic one on one workshops, scheduled throughout the winter and spring 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. March 1– May 31, 2015 A published and collected fine art photographer, Sabine has a number of specialties. One of these is a focus on commercial and editorial portraiture, collaborating with professionals to provide their publishers / labels with an image portfolio. Her talent lies in both choosing the location and working with the subtleties of lighting. Her eye for the “Yes Moment” results in timeless imagery. She has the talent to bring introspection to the art of life style photography. She is the interviewer, catalyst and imagemaker. Her INSIDE and OUT studio is located in Stockbridge, MA. Signed books: “WOODLAND STYLE” and “ SHELL CHIC “, M. H. Marshall, published by Storey, all photography by sabine.

She is a member of ASMP, The International Center of Photography ICP, and the Wedding Photojournalist Association, WPJA. Sabine Vollmer von Falken - For more detailed info please contact Sabine Vollmer von Falken Photography at info@sabinephotoart.com tel. 413-298-4933.

Advertise in The Artful Mind this coming season and watch your PLANS grow! email us at: artfulmind@yahoo.com 413. 854. 4400

SPRING EXPOSURE! APRIL 2015

HISTORIC NORTHAMPTON 48 BRIDGE ST., NORTHAMPTON, MA fAST fORWARD fILM SERIES Sunday, April 19, 3 pm Transformative Aesthetics of Eccentricity and Visionary Art filmmakers Brian Comfort and David Bendiksen will show and discuss their work

museums & galleries

510 WARREN STREET GALLERY HUDSON, NY • 518-822-0510 / 510WARRENSTREETGALLERY.COM Diana felber: “Our Woods in Oil and Watercolors”. Opening reception April 11, 3 - 6pm

BING ARTS CENTER 716 SUMMER AVE, SPRINGfIELD, MA • 413-731-9730 Sally Curcio’s art exhibition Competitive Landscapes, April 3- June 13. Reception Saturday April 4th, 5 to 7

CCCA 209 WARREN STREET, HUDSON, NY Trees and Skies in all mediums! Jurored by Hudson artist, Gretchen Kelly. Over 45 artists welcome Spring with landscapes in all their magnificent forms!

HOMESPUN THEATRE at LAUREN CLARK fINE ART GALLERY 25 Railroad Street, Great Barrington • 413-528-0432; Lauren@LaurenClarkfineArt.com / www.LaurenClarkfineArt.com Staged reading of The Language Archive By Julia Cho The cast includes Samantha Cullen, Joshua Briggs, Hana Kenny, Glenn Barrett, Deborah Morris, and Annie Considine. Directed

by Amanda Steurer. April 11 at 7pm and April 12 at 3pm . Suggested donation of $15.00 per person.

RECENT WORKS BY BERKSHIRE ARTIST KENT MIKALSEN “Questioning Reality” Artist Reception: Saturday, April 4, 4-5:30, April 1 - 30 Six Depot Gallery, West Stockbridge, MA

JOHN DAVIS GALLERY 362½ WARREN STREET, HUDSON, NEW YORK April 4th, solo exhibition by David Hornung. The work will be on display through April 26, reception for artist April 4, 6-8pm

GOOD PURPOSE GALLERY 40 MAIN ST., LEE, MA Come and celebrate the Earth with us! April 10-May 18

Workshops/classes

Drawing by Linda Baker-Cimini

Month of APRIL: Six Depot Gallery, West Stockbridge, MA

LAUREN CLARK FINE ART 25 RAILROAD STREET, GREAT BARRINGTON, MA • 413-528-0432 / www.LaurenClarkfineArt.com; Lauren@LaurenClarkfineArt.com The official launch and book signing of Belle fox-Martin’s new Book “Misplaced Day”, Saturday, April 18,4-6pm.

MARGUERITE BRIDE NUARTS STUDIOS, STUDIO #9, 311 NORTH ST., PITTSfIELD, MA MARGEBRIDE-PAINTINGS.COM • 413-841-1659 Original Watercolors, house portraits, commissions, lessons.

“Travels with Missie - the Artists’ View”, thru April 13; reception Mar 14, 2-6pm @ St francis Gallery, South Lee, MA. OXBOW GALLERY PLEASANT STREET, NORTHAMPTON, MA • 413-586-6300 Paintings and Drawings: Lorna Ritz April 2- April 26.

Reception: April 10, 6-8pm

Call for artists

OTIS ARTS FESTIVAL Saturday, July 25, 2015, indoors at the farmington River Elementary School, 9am to 3pm. for application, go to www.townofotisma.com/culturalcouncil

FRONT STREET GALLERY 129 fRONT ST., HOUSATONIC, MA • 413-274-6607 / 413-528-9546, OR CELL AT 413-429-7141 Housatonic Gallery for students and artists. featuring watercolors by Kate Knapp (Saturday and Sunday 12-5pm or by appointment)

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. Opening reception: May 2, 57pm.

WHITNEY CENTER FOR THE ARTS 42 WENDELL AVE, PITTSfIELD, MA Ron Ramseay & Samantha Talora: A Sondheim Trilogy, Part I, Sat April 11 & 25, 7:30pm. Doors open at 6:45, $20

SCHANTZ GALLERIES 3 ELM ST, STOCKBRIDGE, MA • 413-298-3044 www.schantzgalleries.com A destination for those seeking premier artists working in glass.

(11 - 5 daily)

SCOTT TAYLOR STATIONERY fACTORY, 63 fLANSBURG AVE. DALTON MA. • 413-443-4660 Scotttaylorpaintings.com / scotttaylorpaintings@nycap.rr.com “Into the Woods”, opens on May 2, artist reception 4-7 p.m.

THE EMPORIUM 319 MAIN ST, GT BARRINGTON, MA • 413-528-1660 www.EmporiumGB.com Artist Leslie Klein now showing March 27 – April 30. This series of necklaces for girls and women of every age, created by clay artist Leslie Klein of West Stockbridge, MA. Curated by Sherry Steiner

ST. FRANCIS GALLERY RTE. 102, SOUTH LEE, JUST 2 MI fROM THE RED LION INN “Renewal of Spring” opening, April 25, 3-6pm. Runs april 17 May 25. Exhibition includes art by children of Dago Kogelo, Kenya. Many more artists! Come and enjoy!

music/theatre

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS WITH MUSIC THE MAHAIWE, GT. BARRRINGTON, MA • 413-528-0100 www.mahaiwe.org Surveying the Centuries, The New York Wind Quintet Saturday, April 18 at 6pm

BERKSHIRE FESTIVAL OF WOMEN WRITERS BERKSHIREWOMENWRITERS.ORG / INfO@BERKSHIREWOMENWRITERS.ORG April 12, the free monthly Lean In Women Writers’ Circle will focus on food writing, with special guest Jennifer Trainer Thompson. April 25 our Spring Reading Series continues with “What Matters,” a free program hosted by Michelle Gillett & four Ways Books, featuring readings by Sara London, Rachel Eliza Griffiths, Camy Thomas and Michelle Gillett. At the Great Barrington Train Station, 5 p.m., with a reception to follow. May 2 our Spring Reading Series concludes with “Women Writing on Labor, in Honor of May Day,” a reading of local women authors hosted by Jennifer Browdy at the Sandisfield Arts Center, 4 p.m.

Tickets $10. The deadline for submissions for this program is April 15; see the festival website for submission guidelines. May 3, acclaimed novelist and memoirist Dani Shapiro will give a special festival presentation entitled “The Permission to Write,” at 2 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 1089 Main St, Housatonic. Tickets $15.

SABINE VOLLMER 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.

March 1, 2015 – May 31, 2015 Please send us your calendar listings no later than the 10th of the month prior to publication

Read our collection of 50+ issues online at ISSUU.COM

THE ARTFUL MIND APRIL 2015 •3

Eleanor Lord

Lauren CLark Fine art

Join us for the Launch of

Belle Fox-Martin’s Latest Book Saturday, April 18 from 4-6pm

Reading Book Signing Refreshments

510 WARREN STREET, HUDSON, NY WWW.510WARRENSTREETGALLERY.COM 518-822-0510

LAuREN CLARK FINE ART

25 railroad St., Great Barrington, Ma 413. 528. 0432 www.LaurenClarkFineArt.com

FRONT STREET

Painting Classes on Monday and Wednesday mornings 10 - 1pm at the Studio and Thursday mornings 10am - 1pm out in the field.

Open to all.

413-274-6607 413-429-7141 (cell) 413-528-9546 Gallery Hours: Saturday and Sunday 12-5 or by appointment 4 • APRIL 2015 THE ARTfUL MIND

FRONT STREET, downtown HOUSATONIC, MA

DIANA FELBER

510 WARREN STREET GALLERY

510 Warren Street Gallery is pleased to present the recent work of Diana felber, “Our Woods in Oil and Watercolors” during the month of April. The opening reception is Saturday, April 11 from 3 to 6 pm. Well know Brazilian accordionist Vitor Conçalves will provide the musical entertainment during the opening.

Often the inspiration for art comes from just a few yards away from the artist’s studio. Diana felber, spurred by the acquisition of Juma, a dog “gift” from her apartmentdwelling daughter, rediscovered the woods behind her house. Becoming more familiar with it every day has led to this body of work which she has explored in oils and watercolors. Each day offered new awareness and these paintings are a compendium of those sense perceptions of texture, moisture, growth and color.

The colors of the fall, in particular, provide the vibrancy felber was searching for in her return to oil painting. Watercolor being her more comfortable medium in previous explorations of nature has fine representation in this show.

The choice of medium was determined by the subject at hand and whether a boulder or a burl, felber’s brush captures it’s essence and it’s place in the larger landscape. felber has fine-tuned her painting skills over the years through the mentoring of teachers she considered a very strong influence on her two-dimensional practice. Coming from the clay studio, she discovered her love of drawing and painting in the Berkshires and was influenced by such well-known artists as Gerhard Richter.

In many of the works in this show, her love of abstraction is evident as we are led up close to the floor of the forest, the growth of lichen and bark, the emergence of flora, the smells and sounds of leaves as we are moved to notice more deeply the energy of the natural world.

510 Warren Street Gallery, Hudson, NY., Gallery hours: Fridays and Saturdays 12 – 6pm, Sunday 12 – 5pm; 518822-0510; 510warrenstgallery.com 510warrenstgallery@gmail.com

BERKSHIRE FESTIVAL OF WOMEN WRITERS SPRING INTO ACTION

following our super-successful March 2015 season, the Berkshire festival of Women Writers is expanding its programming this spring, with several events coming up in April and May. On April 12, the free monthly Lean In Women Writers’ Circle will focus on food writing, with special guest Jennifer Trainer Thompson. Thompson is the author of more than 16 books, including The Fresh Egg Cookbook, Hot Sauce!, and Jump Up and Kiss Me: Spicy Vegetarian Cooking. Her books have drawn acclaim in the national press, and she’s been on hundreds of talk shows, including Live with Regis, CNN, and Good Morning America. Women writers are welcome to bring their own short pieces of writing on food to share (500 words max). Hosted by Berkshire Magazine Editor Anastasia Stanmeyer and festival Director Jennifer Browdy at the Shaker Dam Coffeehouse and Stanmeyer Gallery, 2 Main St West Stockbridge, 3 – 5 p.m.

On April 25 our Spring Reading Series continues with “What Matters,” a free program hosted by Michelle Gillett & four Ways Books, featuring readings by Sara London, Rachel Eliza Griffiths, Camy Thomas and Michelle Gillett.

At the Great Barrington Train Station, 5 p.m., with a reception to follow.

On May 2 our Spring Reading Series concludes with “Women Writing on Labor, in Honor of May Day,” a reading of local women authors hosted by Jennifer Browdy at the Sandisfield Arts Center, 4 p.m. Tickets $10. The deadline for submissions for this program is April 15; see the festival website for submission guidelines.

On May 3, acclaimed novelist and memoirist Dani Shapiro will give a special festival presentation entitled “The Permission to Write,” at 2 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 1089 Main St, Housatonic. Tickets $15. There’s always a lot going on at the festival! See the website for more information, including event tickets and registration.

Berkshire Festival of Women Writers Berkshirewomenwriters.org

LAUREN CLARK FINE ART HOMESPUN THEATRE

HOMESPUN THEATRE is thrilled to be returning to the Lauren Clark gallery for a staged reading of The Language Archive By Julia Cho. The play tells the story of George, a man consumed with preserving and documenting the dying languages of far-flung cultures. Closer to home though, language is failing him. He doesn’t know what to say to his wife, Mary, to keep her from leaving him, and he doesn’t recognize the deep feelings that his lab assistant, Emma, has for him.

The cast includes Samantha Cullen, Joshua Briggs, Hana Kenny, Glenn Barrett, Deborah Morris, and Annie Considine. The production is directed by Amanda Steurer. The readings will take place April 11 at 7:00pm and April 12 at 3:00pm at Lauren Clark fine Art. Tickets will be available at the door 30 minutes prior to the show at a suggested donation of $15.00 per person.

Lauren Clark Fine Art - 25 Railroad Street, Great Barrington, 413-528-0432; Lauren@LaurenClarkfineArt.com; www.LaurenClarkfineArt.com First a howling blizzard woke us, Then the rain came down to soak us, And now before the eye can focus — Crocus. ~Lilja Rogers

“Der spring is sprung. Der grass is riz I wonder where dem boidies is?” ― Anonymous

THE ARTFUL MIND APRIL

2015

•5

KATE KNAPP

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

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

Classes at front Street are for those wishing to learn, those who just want to be involved in the pure enjoyment of art, and/or those who have some experience under their belt.

A teacher for many years, Kate Knapp has a keen sense of each student’s artistic needs to take a step beyond. Perfect setting for setting up still lifes; lighting and space are excellent.

Kate Knapp’s paintings are also on display at 510 Warren St. Gallery in Hudson, NY. Please stop by to see all the many works of art by exceptional artists.

Front Street Gallery – Front Street, Housatonic, MA. Gallery open by appointment or chance. 413-528-9546 or 413-429-7141 (cell).

MARGUERITE BRIDE WATERCOLOR ON CANVAS

COLLINS/EDITIONS formerly BERKSHIRE DIGITAL

After seven years of working for artists and photographers as Berkshire Digital, we have changed our name to collins|editions. We are a fine art reproduction service that offers the highest quality digital photography & reproduction of paintings as well as Giclée printing on archival papers and canvas with sizes up to 42” x 90”. Artists & photographers use us to create limited editions of their images. Private collectors and galleries use us to document their collections. Whether the reproduction needs are for archiving, printing, books, magazines, postcards or internet use, BD adheres to very strict color controls along with delivering stunning detail by using either a large format camera with a Better Light™ digital scanning back for making giclee prints as well as the best DSLR cameras for publication & internet uses.

In addition to the photography and printing services, collins|editions also offers graphic design, enabling clients to create show announcements, post cards and brochures. The website, www.CollinsEditions.com has a complete overview, lots of information and pricing.

The owner, fred Collins, has been a commercial photographer for over 30 years having had studios in Boston and Stamford. He offers 20 years of experience with Photoshop™ enabling retouching, restoration and enhancement. The studio is located in Mt Washington but dropoff and PU can be arranged at other locations.

Collins|editions studio, 220 East St, Mt Washington, Massachusetts; 413-644-9663, www.CollinsEditions.com

It’s been a long cold winter but it’s always cozy in an artist’s studio when it is blustery outside. Marguerite Bride has spent the winter in creative preparation for the exhibit season that is now underway.

Never one to get “stuck” in a rut, Bride has been experiencing with a new watercolor technique that results in a finished painting that some folks have likened to a “fresco”.

Watercolor on canvas can be challenging and unpredictable, but always interesting and the results are often very rewarding. After many weeks of “practice and experimentation” with the surface and mediums, Bride created a “tutorial” so others can see the technique used. Visit Bride’s website and search on “Watercolor Canvas” for the details.

An Irish-themed exhibit, “Travels with Missie – the Artists’ View”, can be seen at the St. francis Gallery in South Lee, MA until April 13. Bride is one of four artists exhibiting in this show of painterly expressions of our trip to Ireland in May 2014. Most of Bride’s Irish paintings are watercolor on canvas.

Visit Bride’s website “What’s New” page or her facebook “Marguerite Bride Watercolors” for the latest exhibit details and show schedules. Lots will be happening this spring and summer. Always available, prints and fine art note cards of her images at Red Lion Inn Gift Shop, Lenox Print and Mercantile, St. francis Gallery, Hancock Shaker Village and Bride’s studio at Nuarts Studios on North Street.

Commissions for vacation and house portraits are welcome at any time. It’s not too soon to think about 2015 holiday gift giving. Visits to Bride’s studio in Pittsfield are by appointment. If interested in watercolor technique lessons, contact the artist, some spring times are available for private or semi-private. See website “Lessons” for more information.

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

A most wonderful place to meet, eat and drink!

6 • APRIL 2015 THE ARTfUL MIND

RTE 20, NEW LEBANON, NEW YORK

“Great art picks up where nature ends.”

-Marc Chagall Photo: Jane Feldman

FRONT STREET GALLERY KATE KNAPP

MARGUERITE BRIDE, BIKE

ST. FRANCIS GALLERY RENEWAL OF SPRING OPENING

Returning to the Berkshires from Kenya with a renewed and stronger sense of the value of people, art and creativity as well as the freedom to become is a gift. This gift comes from working with all of the wonderful individuals that make these projects and trips possible.

The inspiration and validation of these ideas are seen in the work of people both in the art community and the children of Dago Kogelo in Kenya who worked with us creatively.

Turning swords into plowshares, there is Drew Cameron, an Iraq war veteran, who founded the Combat Paper Project with Drew Matott. Transforming material and themselves by making paper out of cut up combat uniforms, they create a new story by transforming and deconstructing these garments of war. Their creative process is both humbling and inspiring as well as empowering and creative. It becomes bigger than themselves and creates a new sense of purpose for all those they touch.

Carrie and Alton Barron believe that creating objects “by hand” is an important part of wellness and being surrounded by this inspiration is essential. It enables people to deal with life’s challenges by encouraging creative action, thinking outside the box.

A glass artist from Washington D.C., Therman Stantom also has a strong belief in the transformative power of art.

He uses his talents in hospitals, schools and communities in need. He creatively manages to get those around him to share in both the concepts and the actual creation of the sculptures.

The Gallery will display the unbelievable work created by the children of Kenya. Their creative journey turning discarded tin into works of art demonstrated that exploring the artistic possibilities and learning how to joyfully and creatively move outside boundaries is as essential to life as food shelter and health care. As they became absorbed in the making of these creations they became empowered in the process of finding themselves by what they touched and how they transformed these rusty pieces of tin into beautiful art. These colorful sculptures will be on sale in the gallery so that the profits these children generate can be put back into their community as money to buy new needed roofs for other homes.

Joining their work will be similar colorful abstract work by local artists complementing and adding to the beautiful visual experience. All of these works of art bring ideas to life and enlist the viewer to join in the exploration and find their own voice emerging from these paintings and sculptures. Please come to the gallery to find yourself on our walls.

The show will celebrate the renewal of spring from April 17- May 25 with our celebrated artist reception on Saturday, April 25 from 3-6pm.

St. Francis Gallery - Rte. 102, South Lee just 2 miles east from the Red Lion Inn. Gallery hours: Friday thru Monday 10-5pm.

LAUREN CLARK FINE ART MISPLACED DAY BY BELLE FOX-MARTIN

The official launch and book signing of Belle fox-Martin’s new Book “Misplaced Day” will take place on Saturday, April 18, from 4-6pm at Lauren Clark fine Art in Great Barrington, MA. This engaging collection is read front to back and back to front (known as tête bêche), enhancing the physical juxtaposition of resonant poetry at one end and quirky, often prose at the other. Belle fox-Martin’s poetry has often been likened to the work of frank O’Hara and her prose would be at home on NPR’s Selected Shorts.

Belle fox Martin writes as witness to a wide sweep of themes, embracing old love, peace, nature, solitude, revenge, aging and even fantasy as in the Isle of Bloat written in five parts about a one armed community. Then, there is the soliloquy of a pet pig (Couchon Noir). Some prose pieces are like linear conversations, charming in their own right. There is imaginative imagery throughout, and then the surprising play on words in the story The Organ Recipient.

The poetry section read from the other end is very different from the prose pieces; more abstract, metaphorical and often playful. Some may remind the reader of a lengthy dream sequence as in Retrospective. Then there is A fist full: a prompt that leads to streams of consciousness that actually texture the page.

This is Belle fox-Martin’s fifth book to date and it most certainly reflects her eclectic experiences as a Licensed Congregational Minister, artist, social worker, and writing teacher. She lives in Stockbridge, MA with her wife Cheryl Hutto and their two standard poodles.

Misplaced Day, published through Troy Books in hardcover and soft cover is also available on Amazon, at The Bookloft in Great Barrington, as well as Troy Books.

Lauren Clark Fine Art - 25 Railroad Street, Great Barrington, MA 01230, Lauren@LaurenClarkFineArt.com; 413-528-0432; www.LaurenClarkFineArt.com

SCOTT TAYLOR INTO THE WOODS

A ROAD LESS TRAVELED, SCOTT TAYLOR

Soon after artist Scott Taylor moved his studio to a larger space he got busy developing a new body of work. The studio is at the newly re-purposed Stationery factory on flansburg Ave. in Dalton MA. Taylor’s event will be the first art show and sale ever held at the factory.

The show, titled “Into the Woods”, opens on May 2 with an artist reception from 4-7 p.m. It consists of 34 paintings that take the observer on a color filled sojourn, where Taylor’s trees take center stage. To start, much of the work suggests a more representational style but as the viewer moves along on the “hike” the work becomes more abstract.

Taylor said “the management of the Stationery factory and I have been working non-stop since the beginning of the year to pull this show together. There is so much history in this building and it’s turning out to be an amazing space.

My purpose in moving to the factory is to have the room in my studio to paint larger scale work. Now I can’t wait for the public to come and see the space, complete with my work on the walls.”

The exhibit will be on display through July 31st, and can be seen after the opening on May 2 by making an appointment with the artist at scotttaylorpaintings@nycap.rr.com.

Stationery Factory, 63 Flansburg Ave. Dalton MA. Scotttaylorpaintings.com, scotttaylorpaintings@nycap.rr.com, 413-443-4660.

“In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.”

-Margaret Atwood, Bluebeard's Egg

THE ARTfUL MIND APRIL 2015 • 7

ALLEN TIMMONS Craftsman & Nature Lover Interview by Harryet Candee

It’s been a long winter, I bet you’re ready to hear birds chirping and flying in and out of your hand-made bird houses. What is it like in the winter for the birds where you live? Are you feeding, clothing and providing shelter?

Allen Timmons: This is the longest and coldest winter in the twenty-six years I’ve lived in New England...but, it’s over now and spring is here. The birds are singing and love is in the air. Soon there will be flowers and butterflies and all thoughts of the cold will have been forgotten. I’m always amazed by our wildlife and what they do to ensure their own survival—like hiding seeds behind the bark of a tree, or several chickadees roosting in a birdhouse to keep warm. Outside my shop is a very large Walnut tree that was covered in nuts this past fall, just as it was the year before, except that last year not a single nut hit the ground. They were all plucked and carried off by two red squirrels. Not one remained! They knew that a hard winter was around the corner.

Our feeding station is a big part of our winter entertainment.

When I’m late putting out fresh seed in the morning, the Chickadees, Nuthatches and Wren’s will fly all about me in a flutter, sometimes landing on my head or on my shoulder.

Some have even become tame enough to eat right from our hand. I feel everyone should have this beautiful experience.

Now is the time we stop feeding the birds because soon the bears will be out and as we all know, bears love bird seed.

Also, it’s important that our feathered friends don’t become wholly dependent upon us and they must learn to scavenge and hunt for their native diet which carries many trace min-

8• APRIL 2015 THE ARTfUL MIND

Photographs of Allen Timmons by Alison Wedd

erals and nutrients that can’t be supplied alone from store bought food.

This time of year, I love putting out nesting material in our feed station: dog hair, short pieces of yarn or fabric. It’s really fun to watch them collect these things and build their nest.

Setting out my houses for the spring is exciting. I look forward to watching the birds court, build their nests and hear the little chirping sounds from within.

It’s a feeling that you know you’ve done something good.

It gives me great pleasure. As for clothing, I leave that up to Mother Nature.

If you make birdhouses, its obvious you love birds, bats and nature, in general. What is the connection for you?

I think the connection is that I’m doing something good for the planet. It might not be important to some, but in reality it’s very important. I’m not only crafting art, I’m also educating people about serious issues like the overuse of pesticides and chemical fertilizers. The loss of habitat and the responsibility we each share bare good rewards to this land.

Yes, there is a powerful connection there.

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in NE Alabama, in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains.

What childhood interests did you discover loving that may be linked to your present art? The detailed work

and miniature scale of your birdhouses are mesmerizing and wonderful.

Thank-you, Harryet. I love what I do. It started with a single event when I was six-years-old. That year for my birthday, in March, I received a child-size, true-to-life carpentry set.

It came in a metal case with a handsaw, framing square and hammer. Plans to build a simple birdhouse with a couple pieces of wood. I remember using the side edge of my grandfather’s front porch as my work station because it was the perfect height for me. I was so little that I had to stand on top of the wood while cutting it so it wouldn’t move. Well, I accidentally cut an inch or so into the porch, and when my grandfather saw this he was furious. Somehow I managed to finish the birdhouse, or a somewhat likeness thereof, and nailed it to the side of a big old pecan tree outside my bedroom window. The next morning I ran to the window to behold my masterpiece and the thing had turned upside down!

I had put only one nail on the bottom and nothing on top.

My heart sank, but before I could muster another thought, a Sparrow flew out. Immediately another bird flew back in with nesting material stuffed in it’s beak. This continued for some time as I stood there, probably for days, amazed at this awesome thing I had made. I remember thinking, “Wow, its built so well that the birds love it anyway!”

After that, it became a constant thing for my mother to find baby birds hidden in my room. I became a mother bird’s worst nightmare.

When I was about seven or eight there was a really tall dead tree up the road that was as straight as a telephone pole.

Not a single limb on it. About 20 feet up, a Red Headed Woodpecker had a nest and every time they all would fly in and out, I could hear the babies chirping. It was like some kind of hypnotic music I couldn’t resist. Believe it or not, I managed to put my arms around that tree and get myself all the way up to their hole. Just as I was about to reach for their babies, that Woodpecker mama latched hold of the back of my head and went loose. TAP! TAP! TAP! I let go of both hands and down I went, landing on the grassy lawn—flat on my back with the wind knocked clear out of me. I must have rested there for half an hour before I could catch my breath and cry. And I did! I cried all the way home, but it didn’t stop me.

I’ve had almost every critter there as a pet at some point in my life, mostly from people bringing me injured or abandoned birds that I would nurse back to health and most cases, released them back into the wild. I don’t like cages. Cages are prisons for innocent creatures that are meant to be free.

It wasn’t a spark but more of a flame of inspiration that overtook me. By the time I was twelve, I think I had read every book in print on birds.

Do you work along? Tell me about your workshop, describe to me how it benefits your creativity process.

Would you do something more to it to make it more efficient?

Most of my time is spent alone. I rarely allow anyone in my shop. It’s my private, personal space. It’s where the creative process takes place. Some of my projects are extremely involved with a lot of math that is only in my head. I rarely draw anything out other than a few calculations. I’ve been doing this for so long its almost second nature. Nancy, my wife, who does all of my painting has been my chief helper from day one. I taught her everything I know and now I think she’s better at it than I am. She loves it, and we enjoy working together.

At the moment my shop is perfect for what I am doing. Its bright and warm and I love being next to our gallery. Upstairs I have a music studio where I do my writing and practicing. It has wonderful energy. Nancy has done an awesome job in the gardens surrounding the property, as well as inside the galley. I feel very blessed to be where we are.

Birdhouse by Allen Timmons, photo by Jenna Gazaille

At what time in your l i f e d i d y o u s t a r t making birdhouses as a serious occupation? What was the turning point when you realized that your specific uniqueness was in the detailing and reproducing real homes into miniature size?

Nancy and I were living in North Conway, NH, running the handicap ski program for the Mt. Washington Valley area. This was a volunteer position. In 1992 our daughter Emilie Jewel was born. With just my income to support us I was constantly trying to think up something that could earn a few extra hundred dollars a month. One day, while at the local dump, I noticed a pile of lumber behind a large sign that read ”NO PILfERING”. I gave the dump attendant a pleasant enough attitude so that he allowed me to load up my truck as long as I looked like I was unloading.

I went home with the scrap and built four birdhouses that we ended up taking to Kennybunk Port, Maine a week later. We already knew the area well so I decided on going into a shop to show the owners my birdhouses. Nancy stayed behind with the baby and uncovered the other pieces. When I approached the owner inside she acted like it was nothing she’d ever seen before. She asked if I had more, and ran out of her shop leaving me standing there.

When I followed her, a crowd gathered around Nancy. They were all carrying on over the pieces she had uncovered. The owner pushed her way through the crowd then turned and grabbed me, pulling me away, asking me, “What do you want for these?” My head was spinning and I was just trying my best to play it cool, so I must have been a little too slow in answering because before I could get a word out, she blurted, “Will you take $250 for this one?” Real calm and casual-like, I replied, “Uh, I suppose.” “Will you take $200 for this one $850. I would have taken $250 for the whole lot! Inspired, like never before by the birth of our daughter, and now this, we sang and laughed all the way home. It was the beginning of a wonderful journey.

It took me sometime before I realized what I had, I thought I was just dealing with a fickle shop owner.

Nancy began to set small goals and would say things like, “I will know you have made it when you sell on Newbury Street in Boston.” So off we went. I sold to LaRouch, and Maria told me that my work was like a breathe of fresh air.

I had my work juried by The league of NH Craftsman and became the first juried member in my medium in their entire history. I believe it was about this point I began to realize the value of my work.

The league was wonderful to me. They gave me a boost of confidence that when I walked into a fine shop and mention that I was a member of The League of NH

Birdhouse by Allen Timmons, photo by Jenna Gazaille

Craftsmen, they knew I was somebody, and my work was something to be reckoned with. It made everything easier.

Now being surrounded by all these extraordinary and exceptional artists and craftsmen of this association, it became my new challenge—one that had made me feel that being a member I had to truly prove myself worthy.

Are the birdhouses you construct meant to be just for birds to live in? Can they also be made as sculptural structures for home and garden?

A great deal of my work has nothing to do with birds at all.

They are actually architectural sculptures—replicas of client’s homes or historical structures. Some are my own creations, designed to be a focal point in a garden or home. I’m not sure exactly, but, I estimate that about half of my structures never make it outside as originally intended. I’ve heard all kinds of reasons why they will not be placed outside such as, “The birds will poop on it.” And, “I don’t want it to get weathered.”

I always know what I’m doing before I start. In fact, I have such a detailed picture in my head, that it makes it very easy for me to describe it to a client. I love challenges and thrive on them. I rarely say no to creating a house, and I never had a client unhappy to the best of my knowledge.

Who has inspired you to build these beautiful creations?

My wife and daughter inspire me to be the best that I can be.

Of course, I’m inspired by nature and obviously architecture, too, but, also, greatly by people and their vision. I love working with people; going through the process of making a vision into a reality. I love to see their excitement and enthusiasm and then their satisfaction and pride. It’s one of the most pleasurable experiences, one that repeats itself over and over again.

I love it! Most of all, the one thing that inspires me above CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE.....

THE ARTfUL MIND APRIL 2015 • 9

ALLEN TIMMONS

Birdhouse by Allen Timmons, photo by Jenna Gazaille

everything is that I am truly grateful for all the experiences in my life. Be it good, or bad, life is beautiful; truly grand when you live it.

Have you received any major recognition, won awards, been published in international publications that you can say has helped you develop your work?

Well, I’m on the cover of The Artful Mind, that’s a major cool. Thank-you, Harryet. You have made me very proud. …Nothing International. Nancy would love for us to exhibit at the Chelsea flower show, in England. I was written up numerous times in the past. The Boston Globe did a nice feature story on my work in the early 90’s. I was in Country Living Magazine, June 1994. They used my work in photo shoots. I exhibited at the 1994 Boston and Worcester flower Shows, and in 2000, The Philadelphia flower Show. Also The Nassau County Museum of Art. I feel proud from all the people I’ve met and their letters they have written to me. One letter was from the Norman Rockwell Museum which is displayed in my gallery. Also, a letter from The Nassau County Museum of Art, Emily frick, Mass Turnpike Authority, and many others. These are my treasures. They tell the real story.

What do you prefer your art to be called?

Most of what I do is referred to as Architectural Sculpture.

These are all types of true structures, from barns to tree houses that are built on a smaller scale for outdoors. Birdhouses are a small part of what I do now, and 90% are commissioned pieces. They are all original one-of-a-kind. I never repeat myself. That’s what makes them unique and special.

10 • APRIL 2015

THE ARTfUL MIND

Where do you find material to use? That must be the fun part!

I recycle as much material as I can find. People are always bringing me things they have found in their barns or left over from remodeling projects. I wish our local dump would recycle construction materials.

Bud Candee supplies me with my Native White Pine and I get my cedar from Berkshire fence, in Sheffield, where one of my tree houses are on display.

A couple of years ago one of my wife’s clients had a tree come down across their driveway during a storm. While I was cutting it up to remove, I discovered a Wood Duck nest in the beautiful old cavity. You can see the scrape marks from it’s bill on the inside of the walls. It now sits as a crown jewel in my nest collection. I’ve been offered several hundred for it, but won’t sell it.

You live in Great Barrington and have a beautiful gallery in the back of your house. What do visitors expect to see when they pull into your driveway? There is a big light green sign on the front lawn that says Backyard Heirlooms and it’s virtuously impossible to not be curious and want to stop to check things out.

Thank you, Harryet. It’s Nancy who deserves the credit for much of what is in our backyard. She is an awesome gardener. When people walk off the street, it’s Nancy’s gardens and all the colors that excite them. Once they enter into my world that all changes. Most visitors are overwhelmed, ending up enjoying themselves. I must add, this is our first attempt at having a gallery and the experience has been truly wonderful.

What are your favorite spots in the Berkshires that you find to be most inspirational to you?

Oh Gosh! Is there any place in our beautiful Berkshires that won’t inspire me? Norman Rockwell, Edith Warton, Chesterwood, to name just a few. I love living here for this reason alone. We are blessed to be surrounded by such natural beauty. Our history and culture is rich, and we have one of the best art communities in America.

I agree. Do you think your childhood family has anything to do with what you create with your hands and heart?

My grandfather was a whittler and so was his brother, who carved gun stalks and pistol grips for people all over the world. My aunt was a beautiful painter who had lost an arm in a cotton mill when she was fourteen. My mother is a talented dressmaker who made all of our daughter’s dresses.

There were a lot of talented people around me growing up.

How long does it take to complete an elaborately detailed birdhouse?

They vary tremendously. I’ve spent as much as a year, but most are a matter of days or weeks. I have a kid’s tree house building kit that I’ve been working on for several years now that I just completed. 90% of my work is commissioned, so I have budget and time restraints that keep me in bounds.

Have you had some well-known people buy your sculpture? Anyone stand out in your mind the most?

I’ve had so many impressive clients through the years it’s really difficult to say which one stands out the most. I was commissioned by Emily frick from The frick foundation

Allen Timmon’s gallery is located at 525 South Main Street in Great Barrington, MA

and Museum to build a dovecote for her husband. When I delivered it to her home in New Jersey, I brought Nancy and Emilie with me for the experience. It was a very special moment for all of us. The late Karl and Marianne Lipsky were very dear friends of ours. As a gift, I made Marianne a simple garden shed Wren birdhouse. All of us were sitting out in the back, and she had the birdhouse on her lap, stroking it like a kitten. This touched my heart deeply. It was probably one of the greatest compliments I’ve ever received.

Have you taught people how to make bird houses?

I love teaching and working with young people. My first aspiration in life was to be a teacher. Inspiring other gives purpose to life. I’ll be instructing a class at the Renaissance Art Center in Great Barrington this spring. We’re going to be doing a really cool “DR SEUSS” swallow house. That will be a lot of fun. I always try to have things that are for everyone.

She’s a terrific woman, a talented gardener and my best friend. We started “Bloomin Idiots” gardening together about 14 years ago. Today she maintains over 25 gardens in South .County with our daughter, Emilie, along with a full-time crew. I still work with them when they need me, or when I need a break from my work or, in need of some grounding.

What other interests do you have that keep you engaged in the arts, in education, in keeping a stable, good life?

I have a lot of interests other than my art. I spend at least two hours everyday practicing my guitar and writing music. I’m not a very good performer but I do enjoy playing on open mic night occasionally. I’ve “Just as the bird sings or the butterfly soars, probably written close to one hundred songs. Most because it is his natural characteristic, so the artist works.” are worthless but a few are good ones. Never had a -A. Gluck desire to be a rock star. It’s just a part of me, something I get a lot of satisfaction from. My wife tells me it was my poetry that wooed her. She has boxes of my What’s on your upcoming schedule for the birdhouses poems and short stories. These are mainly put back for our and other architectural sculptures? daughter.

Oh Gosh! I’ve got a busy summer in store. There are tree I’ve been told all my life that writing is my true calling. houses to build and birdhouses and bat houses to put up and I can’t see it. Right now they’re just too many things I want dreams to make come true. I just finished an art show at the to do. I think I’m saving it for when I’m older. You know…

Renaissance Art Center where I will be teaching a class this ”The final Chapter”, so to speak. spring on my craft. I’ll be exhibiting at the “Shire City SancNancy and I just celebrated twenty-six years together.

tuary show” on May 2nd and 3rd. All my attention has been focused on our gallery. As for the future, I’m going to keep on doing what I’m doing and enjoy the ride.

Why do these architectural houses make you so happy?

Harryet, I can’t tell you how much I love what I do. Sometimes I feel like I’m cheating life. It’s almost spiritual in certain ways. I don’t understand where it comes from or why it’s chosen me. All I know, is that I have to let it out in one way or another. I feel beyond blessed at times and realize it’s a gift—a gift that’s meant to be shared. Sharing my art makes me happy.

What else would you like to express in this interview?

If there is anything in life I’ve learned, it’s that no one goes it alone. I’m nothing without those who support and encourage me and to those I constantly lean on.

They are the ones who make me shine. Through them I find strength and all the inspiration I need. Especially my wife and daughter who know the “real me” and yet— they are still by my side!

One last thought, Harryet and I’ll be silent. I believe each and every one of us have a special gift.

Whether it’s writing, painting on canvas or a house, gifts are supposed to be shared. When we share it with someone we are blessing them. When we bless others, we become a blessing. So, I ask everyone to find someone to share your gift with, and don’t deny them any longer the blessing they so desperately need and deserve. Peace brothers and sisters.

Thank you Allen!

www.Backyardheirlooms.com THE ARTfUL MIND APRIL 2015 • 11

THE TRIP TO THE MUSEUM Part II Richard Britell

for each Rembrandt there are a million Rembrandt-like paintings; for each Caravaggio, a million Caravaggiosque canvasses.

All of these works, with 90 percent of their surfaces restored in museum workshops, made their way at the turn of the twentieth century to American museums to satiate an appetite for European culture. What these paintings are about as a rule, nobody knows.

Some are religious, but more are mythological, and many are historical. They all share a desire to present unclothed figures in contorted poses in which agony, tragedy, despair and desperation plunge muscular men with blue tinted flesh toward moments of religious epiphany.

In these paintings most of the forms are swallowed up in murky shadows, but light from mysterious sources lights up a part of a face whose eyes turn toward heaven. In those eyes the moisture of future tears is rendered with sensitive delicacy. Along the lower eyelid one can see tiny strokes of almost white paint, tinted with a little ultramarine blue. Such was Agnes festini’s description of those paintings as an adult; no ideas or categorizations crossed her mind at nine years old. These were paintings in a museum; therefore they must be great masterpieces, but even at nine years old she could feel that there was a direct connection between the meaningless first prize picture in the annual show and these figure paintings in the secret room.

Years later she summed up her childhood impressions say-

ing: “Those paintings are like the idiot children of royal families; the museum, like a palace, is their home. Because of the accident of their birth they were accorded the respect and admiration their ancestors were accustomed to receive from everyone, yet the entire situation made one acutely aware of the deficiencies of a system of royalty when it is applied to art history.

All the while she was looking at these paintings, one after another, she was aware that in the corner of the room was a marble statue of a man on a pedestal. This was the notorious marble man with something supposedly broken off and glued back on that she had been told about. At that age she knew absolutely nothing about such things but she was curious.

When modeling their figures, the Greeks liked to have the entire work consist of one complete piece of stone, but often because of the shape of the block or the difficulties of the pose it was necessary to sculpt individual forms separately and attach then later by means of holes drilled in each piece and connected with a pin.

This piecemeal form of sculptural construction is very noticeable and when the forms are undamaged one can see a seam, but if the form of an arm or leg is broken off, there is a hole where the connection had been. The statue that Agnes was looking at out of the corner of her eye was of this type. She was reluctant to have a look at it, but was extremely curious as to why there was a hole where the opposite of a hole should have been.

She decided to have one last look at the Egyptian collection, but before she left the paintings room she walked up to the marble man and had a look at it. What she saw made absolutely no sense to her; it was inexplicable. She took a very close look, and suddenly felt a sharp pain in her right ear lobe. It was thus that Agnes had her first introduction to the museum director’s secretary, many years ago. She was led by the ear out of the room of the secret paintings and broken sculpture, as if she had been committing a crime by looking at a two thousand year old piece of marble with a hole in it.

Agnes was not sure what the secretary intended to do with her ear, but from her experience in school, she imagined that her ear would be conducted to the museum’s equivalent of the principal’s office, where it would receive a reprimand, and then a call would be placed to her parents. If you have been led someplace by the ear then probably you remember that it puts you in a position where, although you can’t stand upright, nevertheless, you are compelled to try and walk as best you can, limping and hobbling along. Although the journey by pulled ear may not last very long, nevertheless it is always traumatic. In a moment all of the injustices of human history can come flooding into your brain; scenes of the Spanish Inquisition and the Salem Witch trials flash before your mind. Stumbling down the museum’s marble steps trying to keep from falling, Agnes felt a connection to all those who have ever been unjustly accused of crimes they not only did not commit, but didn’t even know were crimes.

It is being pulled by the ear by some idiot in a position of authority that surely gave rise to the Magna Carta. It is not that the Magna Carta was written immediately after the ear pulling, the document my have been written many decades after the event. It is the unjust punishment administered in a humiliating way that makes a person desire to upend society, as they know it, and replace it with some-

thing else; anything else will usually suffice. Agnes had experienced ear pulling and related affronts in school where she knew instinctively that she had to accept it, but in the museum it was a different matter. Since she did not know the secretary, and the secretary did not know her, at the right moment she snatched her ear free and fled out the door. But she was mistaken. The secretary did know her because she did part time bookkeeping at her school. She was one of those women who think that their authority extends beyond the limits of the institutions in which they are employed, and firmly believed that their impulses had to be correct since they are able to find confirmation for their actions in the religious tracts they like to read.

Agnes went to the corner and waited for her mother to come and pick her up. On the way home she said not one word about what had happened in the museum, and hoped the incident was over. But at dinner the phone rang and she had a sudden flash of fear that it was possible for some total stranger to track her down to her home and inform on her.

Indeed it was the secretary bookkeeper calling to tell her mother and father that Agnes was in the museum that afternoon looking at the dirty sculptures. Her father said, “To my way of thinking there aren’t any dirty sculptures in the museum so I am not sure exactly what you are referring to.” He was silent for a while listening, and then he said, “You simple-minded idiot, don’t ever call here again,” and he slammed the phone down into the receiver.

This all happened long ago when it was still possible to slam a phone down into its holder with the acoustical effect of anger.

Agnes, sitting at her place at the dinner table, burst into tears of familial pride. Her trip to the museum left a lasting impression on her. The room of dark paintings and the sculpture did not interest her. What she found most interesting was the prize winning painting in the annual show. To Agnes it was not exactly the gray painting that captured her imagination but the conversation she overheard about it. “How can it be,” she wondered, “that a picture of nothing at all could be twice rejected, and then subsequently win first prize?”

A child of eight believes that adults know all there is to know about everything, and a child of thirteen knows that adults are all idiots and wrong about anything they ever talk about. Usually, some time between eight and thirteen years of age, some event occurs to cause this revolution in thinking. for Agnes it was that conversation about the gray painting. It was a positive proof that all important adult decisions were based on nothing at all.

She wondered, why couldn’t I next year, paint a big picture all red, or all orange, and then win first prize myself? She did not enter the museum again for a few years except to view the annual exhibits, and finally she entered her first picture in the annual competition. She was fifteen years old at the time. She did not do an abstract painting however, and she did not expect to win any prizes. She painted a still life, and put it in a gilded frame. ~ from “NO CURE fOR THE MEDIEVAL MIND,” Richard Britell

JANE FELDMAN

PHOTOGRAPHY JANEFELDMAN.COM

JANEFELDMANPHOTO@GMAIL.COM

12 • APRIL 2015 THE ARTfUL MIND

Renewal of Spring

Celebrate the renewal of spring from april 17- May 25 with our celebrated artist reception on

Saturday, april 25 3-6pm.

Children’s sculptures from Dago Kogelo primary school

Saint Francis Gallery

LEE. MA (next to fire dept.) complete schedule: www.saintfrancisgallery.com 413.717. 5199 open fri-mon 10-5 pm

1370 Pleasant street. route 102

THE ARTfUL MIND APRIL 2015 • 13

Planet Waves

ARIES (March 20-April 19)

Eric Francis

APRIL 2015

tify your environment. If you find yourself in an unusually ambitious phase, this will help you keep your life in balance. Get enough rest. Nurture yourself to the point where your old insecurities start to seem trivial. This kind of emotional self-care will foster better decisions, but more than that, the appreciation of your success. It’s true that you may feel, at times, like you’re playing a fast game or traveling above the speed limit. It’s vital that you take many conscious moments each day and remind yourself that you have created a life that is well worth living — and live.

This month will be full of surprises, though mostly you will surprise yourself with your ability to come up with creative solutions to problems that others would dare not touch. The thing you must do, however, is take control of your money. Make sure that your approach to the various challenges of life uses money as the last line of resort. Correspondingly, you would be wise to turn your attention to generating and accumulating money, the better to secure your ability to fulfill your long-term plans. This is going to take determination, a measure of shrewdness and most of all, discipline. Steer as clear as you can of the burdens of others. It’s not that you don’t care; to the contrary, you do. The issue is that others will depend on you if they can, as if calling in old favors or compensation that exist entirely in their imagination. follow this theme through the next few months — it’s essential that you establish yourself in your actual, present-moment here-and-now rather than being drawn backwards into the past. Point your mind, your senses and all of your intentions forward. Use your intelligence to know where you are headed at any time, and keep turning yourself in your chosen direction of travel — no matter how many times you must choose again.

TAURUS (April 19-May 20)

What’s happening in a relationship is an expression of a process within you — one over which you might seem to have little control. That, however, is not true. To establish your dominion over your own mind, the first step to take is to observe yourself carefully. In particular, keep an eye on what most would call ‘unconscious’ processes, feelings, ideas and expectations.

Those have power over you to the extent that you withdraw awareness. You will have power over them to the extent that you raise your awareness. Once you start paying attention, you’re likely to notice that there are specific ways that you’re seeking freedom from a certain kind of confinement that has grown old for you. I would define confinement as a need to remain stable in a certain element of your identity, seemingly for its own sake. But now you are changing in ways you cannot contain in any previous personality construct. You are waking up; you are finding yourself; you have tasted a measure of freedom, and you want more. You may be wondering if you can have all of this without up-ending your life as you know it. That is a question you can only answer through experience, though it’s clear that certain long-standing factors of your existence could use a little friendly shaking up and shaking loose.

GEMINI (May 20-June 21)

It’s time for you to establish a conscious relationship to the protective forces in your life. You have been through plenty, and most of the situations you were certain were the most dangerous or threatening have turned out to be reasonably easy to handle. This is a demonstration of many factors that are basic to your existence. You might call them luck, but actually your sense of adventure provides you with a certain inoculation against danger. Your conscious willingness to take risks has this odd quality of clearing the way for you. Your charts are describing an invitation to involve yourself in some kind of unusual creative or romantic endeavor. You might feel that this is way over your head, or a bit too dangerous. Really, you seem to be perfectly well sustained and supported by your environment; there are forces standing guard over your life. As part of that, you are being reminded how far is too far, should you ever need to know. Within your chosen range, you have plenty of emotional and artistic territory to explore, and you can do it with gusto. The feeling you want is precisely the one where you sense yourself close to some inner edge; close to a breakthrough; willing to say something you’ve never said in a way you never imagined you would.

CANCER (June 21-July 22)

14 • APRIL 2015 THE ARTfUL MIND

PlanetWaves.net

Your professional life is going through an accelerator that you have long suspected was going to kick in at some point, and you may be surprised at how far beyond your own expectations developments in your life take you this month. You will need to influence the flow of your life with some care and subtlety, by applying a conscious strategy. While you’re doing this, the place to invest your energy is into your home. Your home is your grounding; it’s your source of strength and the place where you seek inner harmony. Take advantage of this gift that you have. Keep your living space clean and spend as much time there as you can. Take some tangible measures to improve or beau-

LEO (July 22-Aug. 23) You may need to carefully balance long- and short-term plans, and make sure that your actions and choices support both as consciously as you can. You are finally starting to figure out that you have more potential, and that there is more to life, than what you’ve had in the past. That’s another way of saying you’ve figured out that you have a future; your own curiosity is making that a kind of irresistible destination. There are other factors in your solar chart that are calling for stability, and a reminder that you remain an example to many people who seek your guidance and your leadership. That calls for focusing on the day-to-day elements of your life; of attending to practical matters with devotion; and of acting in accordance with your values with each decision you make. No matter how far you want to go, or to what exotic or interesting destinations you may feel called, you will get there one step at a time. Your freedom is something you will be able to access in direct proportion to your integrity. One paradox you may be experiencing is how freedom can feel a little strange when all eyes seem to be on you. It’s true that you’re being scrutinized, though not in the ways that you may think. In sum, what you accomplish is what matters the most.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) Resist the illusion that others have more going for them than you have going for you. Your charts describe a scenario where you may feel like you’re lacking in some essential ingredients for success. You may have the sensation that you’re looking down a tunnel at some personal qualities you wish you had. But you seem to be holding the binoculars the wrong way. You might even put them down and size up your environment with your bare eyes. If you do, you will see that you have far more in common with the people around you than you imagined, including the fact that they are looking to you for creative inspiration. Then there is the question of money. It seems that the best success can be had by pooling resources or accessing shared resources. from the look of your solar chart, there is no shortage of wealth or abundance around you. You merely face the question of how you’re going to access those resources, which seems to be through one route only — your trusting relationship with others who share a common mission, values and intentions. It would help, in that case, if you drop any prejudices you might have and get busy having real conversations with those you can partner with on your most valued goals. This will work well for everyone.

LIBRA (Sep. 22-Oct. 23)

It is impossible to lose yourself in a relationship, though it’s questionable whether you can find yourself in one either. But you can remember, and you can forget, and your relationships can prompt you to do either. It turns out that there are elements of your life that you’re eager to leave behind, which would be another way of saying forget. But that forgetting will have the sensation of clearing something out of the way, as if you’re brushing back a veil, or silencing some persistent background hum that you didn’t realize was clouding your hearing. At that point, you may discover that you’re in an entirely different situation than you thought you were. You may wonder how it is that you missed how solid and stable your life has become,

which is something that you can prove to yourself if you do so little as tell yourself the story of the past five years in a paragraph or two. The sensation looks like the discovery that you are where you belong, as long as you don’t have any distractions that would skew your perception otherwise. That, and you are in the company of your peers — or rather, one peer in particular. Work with this feeling. Work with the sensation of change as the experience of clarification.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) Take care of your health, and make no assumptions or snap decisions. Remember that your body has truly amazing resilience.

Know that anything that can possibly ail a person has been cured or resolved, and that a great many issues are the direct result of mental or emotional stress. Your chart is in fact bursting with wellbeing, abundant energy and the quest to do some bold and creative things. Yet you have so much energy that if you go out of balance you might feel like your life is taking its toll on your body rather than supporting your body. Therefore, aspire to balance in the midst of so much rapidly moving energy and so much activity in your environment. Part of balance is aligning yourself with an onslaught of creativity. Imagine that you’re an airplane wing and that if you position yourself correctly, you will experience a sudden lift and gain altitude.

Of course, if you’re not quite aligned in that way, you may feel blown around, held down or paralyzed. So make a series of adjustments and even microadjustments until you feel yourself aligning with the energy both within you and around you. Notice your drive to live in a daring way. Give yourself permission to unravel old, nonproductive patterns and establish new ways of being that light up your whole mind.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) Take a step back and give people the opportunity to take responsibility for their own existence. You grew tired of your own hard luck stories long ago, and it’s time to be finished with those of others. I’m not, however, saying don’t be helpful when you feel moved to do so. Rather, I’m suggesting that the best help you can offer others is not being distracted by their problems. Rather, focus on your own abundant creativity and allow your existence to shock others to their senses. Celebrate the fact of your energy and the simple fact that nothing will stop you. If you are involved in some kind of pro-

fessional artistic pursuits, or doing anything that depends on your originality, I suggest you forget your ideas of what people might think. Instead, work in a way that is only in service of your impulse to create. Every artist, lover or adventurer goes through some trepidation about what others might think. You tend to be among the most immune to such thoughts, though you may be having them now, and now is the time to vanquish them. Your real friends are the people who see how brilliant you are, and who treat you like the treasure that you are to them.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) Have no illusions about the nature of the responsibility that is demanded of you. What is expected, mainly because you’re wanting it, is nothing other than drive, passion and a creative approach to existence. To do this, it’s essential that you motivate yourself every day and at all times. If you find someone around you saying, ‘let’s get going’, that means wake up and remember to stay three steps ahead of the game. You don’t need stability right now, even though you may crave that because it seems in such short supply. You need, I would propose, the excitement of connecting your entire existence to the purposes you aspire to. More than that, it’s essential that you connect all activity, every last thing that you do, to those same purposes.

At your stage of development, nothing can be outside your core mission. Everything must be brought in, connected with, and understood as an element of the same thing, which is you. You still tend to think in the limited terms of security rather than the bold terms of how good your life would be if you dared and succeeded. But nobody else can, in truth, lead you to this place where you know you belong. Others can set examples — and then you can pick up on the rhythm and then take the lead.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Keep grounded, by which I mean stay focused and eat good food. If you were to bounce between concentrated work and keeping your kitchen a productive place, you would feel excellent, and you would nurture the explosion of ideas that seems to be an ongoing phenomenon within you. To say food is another way of saying respecting yourself as a biological entity.

The weather is finally getting warmer and you can take advantage of that by getting involved in some physical activity that may have been impossible through the long, dark winter. Your

charts are favoring something aggressive, like martial arts or pounding balls in a batting range. Anything you do to this effect will help get you out of your head, which must be an extremely busy place. By relieving that pressure, you will become more productive and better able to focus your ideas into the concentrated form that they want to take. Just remember that while you’re in a body, your mind is in a close relationship to your biology, which brings me back to the topic of food. I suggest you plan a dinner party or other food-based event this month, and re-integrate the idea of nourishment with the idea of a social experience. This relationship needs some cultivation in our current era of history, and you’re just the person to make that happen.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) With Chiron in your sign, it’s easy to feel like despite all you’re doing, you’re not getting anywhere. That’s an illusion distinct to Chiron. Really, the truth is quite the opposite. It’s your long, slow persistence that has got you much further toward some specific goals than you think. One by one, every facet of your life has come up for questioning; every system has been (or will be) subject to maintenance; every agreement will be revised and improved; and in the process, you will get to know yourself as you never have before. If you feel like you’re in an ongoing and endless challenge, I suggest you remind yourself that you’re really living your life. You are situated in a society and in a time of history where there is very little offered easily, to anyone. Even those who exploit others are under the constant assault of paranoia about their particular house of cards falling down. At the same time, you are driven by your ideals and your faith in yourself, and you may wonder if you’ve taken on more than you can handle. You may have — and when you discover that you can, in fact, handle it just fine, you will discover that you’ve stretched your capacities beyond what you imagined possible. Therefore, stand up straight, keep your eyes wide open and do what you are called to do every day. ~Read Eric Francis daily at PlanetWaves.net

Simply Sasha Sweet Sliders!

by Sasha Seymour

Let's have some fun this month, shall we? april is all about the joy of spring, and it's many creatures. the birds are back! the bunnies are back! the crocuses are back! Let us welcome them all home by creating some light hearted pleasure. assembling these cookies for family and friends would be an awesome kickstart to making that happen! these are hamburgers that the vegetarian in all of us can enjoy!

P.S. Bunnies like it when you smile.

~ 24 vanilla wafer cookies ~ 12 small peppermint patties ~ 4 drops of green food coloring ~ 12 medium green gumdrops, sliced ~ 2Tbsp sesame seeds ~ 4 small rolls of apricot fruit leather ~ 1/2 cup flaked coconut

1. Put the coconut and food coloring in a bowl and shake until covered 2. Place 12 vanilla wafers flat side down on a cookie sheet. Top the cookies with the peppermint patties.

3. unwrap fruit roll ups and cut them into squares to fit on top of the patties. It will look like cheese!

4. Place sliced gumdrops on top of that and add green coconut.

5. Place the other half of the wafer on top, and brush it with a small amount of water.

Then sprinkle the sesame seeds. It will look like a hamburger bun!

Happy Spring, and keep smiling!

ENJOY!

THE ARTfUL MIND APRIL 2015 • 15

Mothers Amy Tanner

Once the Windhorse was locked up tight, Miranda became aware of music and voices spilling from her parents’ upstairs windows.

Inside, a haze of smoke made the interior of the loft seem eerie, softening the vibrancy of Sybil’s multicolored dresses which hung in a variety of dramatic poses from the brick walls.

Judith, one of her mothers, caught her eye. She rarely missed anything. Judith was tall with piercing black eyes and shoulderlength auburn hair she kept dyed. Her face was rich with what some might call character. Not a beautiful woman, but striking.

Tonight she wore a vintage grey suit reminiscent of Oscar Wilde and her usual tinted round glasses. She took Miranda’s arm, guiding her to an unoccupied corner. Judith was smoking. Miranda

wrinkled her nose. She hated it when Judith smoked.

“How are you, sweetie?” Judith asked loudly in her ear.

“I’m—alright.” Miranda mentally reviewed the past few weeks and felt a strong urge to hurl herself in Judith’s arms and cry.

Judith flicked the ash from her cigarette and waited.

“Ken—kicked me out of his house. I quit my job. No. I met Clementine. Then I quit my job.” She looked up at Judith, feeling teary. “I really don’t know what to do next.” To Miranda’s surprise, Judith hugged her tightly.

“Mimi, I’m sure you’ll figure it out. You’ve taken good care of yourself so far.”

Sybil interrupted this tableau, taking Miranda by the shoulders and marching her away. Miranda looked back at Judith, who merely shrugged her shoulders and turned to talk with one of her guests.

Sybil flipped on a light switch as she led Miranda back down the steps they’d just come up. They stopped at a foyer decorated with multicolored Christmas lights. To one side was the door to the street. At the other end was the back entrance to the shop where Sybil sold her dresses and paintings and—possibly things of a less legal nature. She stood at the bottom of the stairs and faced Miranda.

“What is going on?”

Miranda looked away and sighed. “Nothing. Everything. I don’t know. Ask me tomorrow.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Ken kicked me out of his house. I met Clementine. I quit my job. Here I am.”

Sybil studied Miranda. “Are you and Clementine—together?”

“Mama!” Miranda replied with some impatience. “You know I like men!” At least sometimes.

“What are you going to do, Mimi? You know we don’t have room for you to live with us...”

Her voice trailed off.

“Don’t worry about it,” Miranda said. “We’re going to Tucson. Clem is. I’m—tagging along.” Like I always do. She hated being home. Talking about her life with her mothers, who lived on the vibrant edge of things, always made her feel so boring.

Denise B Chandler Fine Art Photography

tWO VieWS OF Our WOrLD

“Barn” ©2015, Denise B Chandler

a PHOtOGraPHer & a Painter DeniSe B CHanDLer & OLiVe FarreLL

May 1—May 24, 2015

Opening Reception Saturday, May 2, 2015 • 6pm to 8pm tivoli artists Gallery 60 Broadway, tivoli, new York

Denise B Chandler Fine Art Photography is represented by Sohn Fine Art Gallery

www.denisebchandler

16 • THE ARTFUL MIND APRIL 2015

info@denisebchandler.com

fIC To punctuate this, TI Judith’s loud voice floated ON down the stairs: “—But I was Sa too busy trying to contact the dead!” mp Raucous laughter followed. ler “I’m sure we’ll be gone tomorrow, Mama.

But it was—good to see you.” What she wouldn’t give to belong, somewhere.

Sybil reached out and crushed Miranda to her chest.

“Baby. I worry about you.” She smelled like pot. “You know, I think if Jim hadn’t—hadn’t died—” Miranda tried to pull away.

She didn’t want to hear this, or anything about Jim. Sybil wasn’t letting go. “I think you would have been happier. I think you might have done something with your life.” She stroked Miranda’s hair. “You loved him so much, didn’t you?”

Miranda stopped struggling and lifted her eyes. What, or rather who, she saw, made her think that yes, she really did have brain damage, and was probably even now deep in a coma in some hospital, plugged into a life support machine. Standing midway between floors on the old wooden staircase was Jim. Holding a finger to his smiling lips as if to shush her from screaming or something silly like that.

She took in several gulps of air. Sybil responded by patting Miranda’s back. “There now, honey. I’m sorry if I upset you. I get so sentimental sometimes. So,” she said brightly, “what do you think of my new collection?” She gestured to the hanging dresses.

“They’re really—” Miranda looked back at the apparition. At Jim. He was still there. Still holding his finger to his lips. “Really.

Good. Um, Mama? I have to go—upstairs. I’ll—uh—” She grimaced an apology to Sybil, and slowly began to ascend the steps, following Jim. ~ Excerpted from The Virgin of Hopeless Causes by Amy Tanner, available in electronic and softcover versions on Amazon.com & coming soon to an independent bookstore near you! Visit www.amytanner.net for news and other unlikely stories.

“Spring passes and one remembers one's innocence.

Summer passes and one remembers one's exuberance.

Autumn passes and one remembers one's reverence.

Winter passes and one remembers one's perseverance.”

― Yoko Ono