The Artful Mind artzine March 2023

THE ARTFUL MIND

SEAN HUTCHEON

Photograph By Bobby Miller

MARCH 2023

The Fine Art of Printing Fine Art.

· Giclée and Photo

· Digital Reproduction of

· Photo Restoration and Repair

Playa Santa 22 — Virginia Bradley

THE ARTFUL MIND

MARCH 2023

THE WAY WE LIVE OUR DAY

SALLY TISKA RICE

Artist In A Beautiful Direction

INTERVIEW BY H CANDEE 8

SEAN HUTCHEON

Fine Art and Commercial Product Photographer

INTERVIEW BY H CANDEE PHOTOGRAPHY BY BOBBY MILLER 18

DON LONGO

Visual Artist

INTERVIEW BY H CANDEE 26

THE ARTFUL MIND VIRTUAL GALLERY ...34

ASTROLOGY FOR CREATIVES

With Deanna Musgrave - March 2023 39

RICHARD BRITELL | FICTION SOMETHING FOR OVER THE COUCH—

Cat Turd In The Cathedral CHAPTER 20 ...40

Publisher Harryet Candee

Copy Editor Marguerite Bride

Third Eye Jeff Bynack

Advertising and Graphic Design Harryet Candee

Contributing Writers

Richard Britell

Deanna Musgrave

Contributing Photographers

Edward Acker

Tasja Keetman

Bobby Miller

ADVERTISING RATES 413 ‐ 645 ‐ 4114

artfulmind@yahoo.com

issuu.com | Instagram

FB Open Group:

ART GALLERY for artful minds

The Artful Mind

Box 985

Great Barrington, MA 01230

Lyn Horton

“Lines become a vehicle in art-making that can persuade the viewer how to see. The transition of my lines from being abstract to being referential took no effort. The shift happened when I untangled the interior of my mind and looked through the studio window.”

https://www.instagram.com/lynhortonphotoart http://www.crossmackenzie.com https://lynhorton.net

Elevation red, 2018 Colored pencil on black rag paper, 22” x 60”

Branches black and white #1, 2018 Ink on rag paper, 22” x 30”

Branches white on black #7, 2018 Colored pencil on black rag paper, 22“ x 30”

RUBY AVER STREET ZEN

Growing up on the South Side of Chicago in the 60s was a history rich and troubled time. As a youth, playing in the streets demanded grit.

Teaching Tai Chi for the last 30 years requires a Zen state of mind. My paintings come from this quiet place yet exhibit the rich grit of my youth. Movement, shape and color dominate. Ruby Aver - 413-854-7007 rdaver2@gmail.com, Instagram: rdaver2

BRUCE PANOCK

The core of my work is landscape. But it is only the beginning. I use the landscape to help me share how I see what is around me. My work incorporates my dreams, how I see the social conflict that is part of our lives today, how I see what we are doing to our earth.

Though due to my health I am relegated to the digital darkroom, I refer to the photographers and methods used in the past, whether film photography, wet plate methods, or such other methods as were used. Among the photographers who have inspired me are Anne Brigman, John Gossage, Jerry Uelsmann, Dorothea Lange, and Sally Mann. I also refer heavily to Japanese Brush Painting, and the Abstract Expressionists. Bruce Panock - 917-287-8589 www.panockphotography.com bruce@panockphotography.com

THE BOX

Step inside “The Box” and be prepared to have your mind expanded! This funky new art gallery located in Hudson, New York is shaking up the art scene with its cutting-edge exhibitions and thought-provoking conversations surrounding innovation in arts, culture, and community. With a focus on pushing boundaries and sparking new ideas, “The Box” is a must-visit for anyone looking to be inspired and challenged. From interactive installations to dynamic discussions, this space is the perfect destination for art lovers and curious minds alike. Join us every Saturday and Sunday from 12-6pm

THE BOX - 454 Warren St., Hudson, NY at Nolita’s Café and Gallery.

Angel Mixed Media on Board (with Resin)

GUY NOURI

MATTHEW FRANCIS

FLEETING MEMORIES, PHOTOGRAPH

ILENE RICHARD ILLUSTRATOR / PAINTER

Ilene is an established fine art figurative painter. She is known for her expressive and colorful paintings, as well as her use of line which has become a signature style of her work. Ilene’s work is highly consistent and recognizable. Having worked as a published children’s book illustrator for many years has helped Ilene create a narrative with her work, which often features people in whimsical and fantastical situations.

Ilene is a Past Board Member of the National Association of Women Artists and artist member of Rockport Artist Association and Museum.

Ilene Richard – 978-621-4986, www.ilenerichard.com, ilene.richard@gmail.com, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ilene-Richard-IllustratorPainter/109216825770985

MARK MELLINGER

Practicing art for 60 years and psychoanalysis for 40, Dr. Mellinger’s careers concern language, spoken and unspoken and what transcends language. In painting, collage and constructions of wood and iron he is drawn to the physicality of materials.

Eschewing predictability, Mellinger explores the possibilities of materials and media. Our lives and our world are dissolving. We must cherish our experiences for all they're worth.

I’ve moved my studio into an exciting new artist’s collective in the Berkshire Eagle Building, 75 South Church St, 3rd floor, Pittsfield. Mark Mellinger - 914-260-7413 markmellinger680@gmail.com

Sean Hutcheon

ERIKA LARSKAYA

Confinement and Breakaway examine the mental state of struggle to make sense of our environment, both physical and psychological. I incorporate childlike drawing to represent nonconformity; the unadulterated state before we get confined by rules, commitment, insecurities, and other “add-ons.”

“I distress and repair parts of the painting, as we do within ourselves. The drawings of floor plans and elevations, which I use as a starting point, create a sense of enclosure, which I expand by continuing the lines outward, breaking the structural pattern. This alters the sense of confinement, breaking away from the [rigid, static] norm”.

Erika Larskayahttps://www.erikalarskaya.art

WAKING UP TO A NEW DAY FROM BREAKAWAY SERIES MIXED MEDIA ON CANVAS, 36"X48"

SOLAR FLARE ACRYLIC ON CANVAS 10”X10”

GOLDEN HARP

Erika Larskaya

"As an abstract artist, I search for ways to represent the invisible, subtle, and unexpressed. I am driven to lay out fleeting and intangible experiences on physical surfaces". —Erika Larskaya

Erika Larskaya Studio at 79 Main St. Torrington, CT www.erikalarskaya.art

If Bridges Could Talk Mixed media on canvas 36” x 36” x 1.5”

Ionized Plasma. Triptych. Acrylic on canvas 40” x 90". 2023

Underwater Rhapsody, watercolor and collage,

SALLY TISKA RICE

ARTIST IN A BEAUTIFUL DIRECTION

Harryet Candee: Sally, when I visited you in your studio I saw that you were working on a large, yellow-toned drawing. Can you tell us about this composition and how it relates to your other works of art?

Sally Tiska Rice: This particular piece is on Arches 300 lb. cold press paper, 29”x 42”. Gorgeous paper! I have painted large, for example, an acrylic painting titled, Mount Snow. This is a triptych on gallery stretched canvases. The three canvases were clamped together and painted as if it were one large work. The center canvas, 30”x 40”, along with the two outer canvases, 24”x30” makes it a total size of 7.3’x 2.5’.

The painting that you saw is a work in progress, and the largest watercolor for me thus far. A couple contacted me in regards to a previous painting that I painted, Birch Leaves, and requested a larger, similar one. Large enough to go behind a couch. Laughing….. A few days later, ironically, a friend sent me a link for a terrific sale on Kilimanjaro, 300 lb. cold pressed watercolor paper. My husband Mark, was talking with Kyle, a friend, about the large paper and told him how

much I was looking forward to the mystery of creating large watercolor works. Soon after, Kyle arrived with a box of Arches 300 lb. cold press paper 29”x 42”. The paper was such a thoughtful gift. I couldn’t wait to get started on these two works. One on each of the larger sheet sizes— a mini series, per se.

As far as my composition, I lay out the shapes, paying attention to creating various sizes with a standard number two pencil in hopes that it draws interest to the viewer. The goal is to keep the main interest in the one third area. This technique is attempted in most of my work with the exception of portrait commissions.

I noticed while looking at your art, that you call rendering with pencil, ‘painting’. Can you tell us why you describe it this way?

STR: I believe that you are referring to my pencil painting, A Story To Tell. I refer to this as a painting because I use the same or similar techniques with graphite pencils or pastels as I do with wet mediums. Using a variety of graphite pencils ranging from very hard to very soft. Holding the

pencil in different angles helps with tightness and looseness. I am working with layers, and multiple blending tools. Blending tools include both clean and older coated paper blender sticks, fingers and different types of erasers that are used to smear softly and not to erase. All of these techniques are mindfully blended and layered. It is more of a painting than of a loose sketch.

What does it mean to be an artist in today’s world? By putting forth your work to be viewed, is that daring for you?

STR: I have a shy side and although I painted ink borders on stationery for Crane Stationery, it was mostly behind the scenes. Exceptions to this, was demonstrations at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City and at the Stationery Factory. It was part of my employment, so I just did it. I always had a passion for creating. After painting for eight hours at Crane, I would go to my studio and paint some more. This was very freeing and allowed me to nurture my own creativity. I am always planning to paint different things. Whatever I am looking at in my mind, I am painting the scene.

Sally focuses on blending and layering to achieve depth and dimension. She can be found experimenting with light and color in an effort to create a piece of art that will be enjoyed. Sally employs many different techniques into her artmaking including acrylic, watercolor, oil and pastel.

Interview by Harryet Candee Photographs Courtesy of Mark Newton Rice III

What were some of your childhood memories relating to art and creativity?

STR: My late parents were very creative. Both had always had projects going. Mom was fantastic at knitting and gardening . She made all of her children beautiful sweaters, hats and mittens. I also remember creating with her terrariums with multiple houseplants. Dad made Halloween costumes, tied flies for trout fishing, created three dimensional sculptures and many practical boxes and containers from metal. He was working regularly on blueprints in the evening after I was put to bed. I would sneak downstairs to see what he was doing, and he would give me a pencil and a glass of milk. When I got sleepy, he would zoom me back upstairs for the night. So many fantastic memories!

How would you describe some of the ways art has been a soul supportive therapy for you?

STR: Wow, where do I start! As an awkward, tall, shy teenager, I felt a belonging in the art rooms at Pittsfield High. I think these art rooms shielded me in a huge way from peer pressure.

I had a fourth spine surgery last April, and creating art even in small ways. It helped to get my mind off of the pain.

Art is therapeutic and healing on all levels. I get lost in time when being creative and can easily forget my worries, pain, even when to eat. A big part of recovery for me, was pencil paintings and then moving on to watercolor mainly because of the materials were very lightweight and portable. I find using these materials makes it easy to stop and start a project when needed.

Your studio doors are always open while you are there. I get the impression you welcome visitors all the time? How do you get work done if that’s the case?

STR: My first away from home working studio was on North Street in Pittsfield. It was an amazing group of talented artists that were always working with the doors open and kindly critiqued one another’s artwork. Sharing many tips and ideas was really fun. Through the years the artists changed and many of the new artists there worked with closed doors. I missed the warmth of working together and due to my health, I was having a hard time climbing up the steep stairs to my little space. A couple of the artists in this previous group moved into the Clock Tower. It has free handicap parking and a elevator. My husband and I met with the building owner and building manager. It worked with my budget because the utilities were included. I feel blessed to have this small super bright studio in the historic Clock Tower building. The building is open nine to five pm and clients can easily park and visit. Usually there are several Clock Tower artists working in their new spaces.

I love having my door open where I encourage and share ideas about supplies and techniques. It’s a friendly group, and we all cheer each other on. Having the door open makes me feel connected.

What are some responsibilities that go along with being a part of the Clock Tower artist group?

STR: The group although new has had multiple meetings, planning agendas and advertising for events. We all pitch in in some way such as lead-

ing and organizing meetings. Others with advertising imagery. There are creators and controllers of social media platforms for the group. I have signed up to be the connection or contact person with our local Pittsfield First Friday Arts Walk committee. In this task I reach out to the other Clock Tower Artists monthly, requesting new images of their work and updated contact information that I send to the art walk committee in one email file. I am a strong believer of working with and being a part of the community. I also think that having some consistent monthly events and open hours gives the community and tourists something that they can count on. Also, our new work helps to intrigue and welcome visitors.

What were your experiences as you transitioned your way into the Clock Tower?

STR: Before moving to the Clock Tower, several years ago, when the First Fridays Arts Walk had started I had a fantastic opportunity from a local business store owner to fill a small empty store front to show my art work for the summer. This was a great networking experience allowing me to meet many artists along with the opportunity to be juried into a North Street art group . Although I presently live in Peru, Massachusetts, I was born and raised near the edge of a large wooded park in Pittsfield, MA. I loved my childhood near the woods and being close to nature was important to me and my family.

I feel inspired by the scenery of the mountains, lakes and trees but, Pittsfield is the heart of the Berkshires, and even though at that point I was Continued on next page...

“Mount Snow” Sally Tiska Rice

“Edith” Watercolor on 140 lb. cold press paper

“Koi Fish” Watercolor on 300 lb. cold press sheet

“Berkshire Blueberries” Watercolor on 300 lb. cold press paper “Juicy Pink Grapefruit“ Acrylic on gallery stretched canvas

known as an artist by friends and colleagues, moving to my studio space to Pittsfield was to get my work out of the kitchen and into the public eye. Giggling…. and I still have works in progress in the kitchen.

Is there anyone behind the scenes that you are particularly grateful to for their total supportiveness in your artistic endeavors?

STR: I am a faithful person and my gratitude is here firstly.

I have strong support from my husband, Mark who encouraged me to find a studio space. He is mechanically talented and was easily able to respond to my ideas and dreams of such needed items, like the fixtures and the layout of the studio space. Mark made it happen. The first two spaces involved lots of cleaning, sanding and painting, each with a hanging system and gallery-style walls. He has done this not once, but this is my third studio space outside my home. My daughter SarahJane has encouraged me to do my artwork since she was a child. I would drop her off at dance school and then paint with the

girls or volunteer on the Berkshire Carousel before picking her up to go home. Even though she is grown and has moved out of state, she still shows up to support me at events and open studios. I am also super grateful to family and friends that share my work on social media posts and show up for me.

Who was always there as an art mentor for you?

STR: There isn’t just one person that comes to mind. I mentioned my parents in a previous question but in addition to them, I have older siblings and cousins that have that artist flare. I have enjoyed painting and creating with all of them. I can recall painting with my cousin Sharon. I sat on a blanket in her yard as a small child. I remember when I was a teenager, my team of teachers included Carl Fritz who was dramatic, funny and sometimes tough. Another teacher, Nicholas LePore, would question my sense of adventure and award me when he thought the design worked. I took classes at Berkshire Community College, and of those, I credit the influence of color combination to Dwight O’Neil. A close family friend,

David Babcock, a builder and artist himself, introduced me to Walter Cudnohufsky. Walt is a wonderful landscape architect who paints with watercolor. He is not only an amazing art teacher, but has been an influence with life lessons. My cousin Joanie Tiska Kennedy is an established artist in North Carolina. I had a great time visiting her where she gave me a tour of her studio as well as some galleries that feature her work.

Do you have a particular vision you want fulfill?

STR: I think that there’s already a plan created for each of us, and we are just here going with the flow. I try to proceed as thoughtfully and productively as I can. Having been told that I should pick one style and one medium and stick to it in order to find my place, I find that is too strict and binding for me. A big part of creating should be to go with your emotions and do what is right at the time. You will find my work can be realistic, tight, loose, and sometimes even on the edge of abstract fantasy. Within this wide spectrum, I have worked with many mediums going with what moves me at the time. Continued on next page...

“Woods at Dawn” Acrylic on 140 lb. paper

“Oxalis Acetosella” Watercolor on 300 lb. cold press paper

“Birch Leaves” Watercolor

The goal is to spread happiness through my artwork. Not to lose sight of the fact that sincerity, passion, and consistency you have for your art in actuality, steers the interest of art buyers towards you.

In terms of selling your art, what importance do you place on that part of being an artist?

STR: Collectors have an emotional bond with the work that they buy. Usually, it’s mentioned that they enjoy a certain painting because it’s connected to a particular memory. Possibly, a place they have visited or reminds them of a loved one in a sentimental way. During conversations with a client ordering commissions of loved ones, I try to make a connection and learn what he or she enjoys as hobbies, music. I try to bring into the painting not only their physical appearance but also their personality.

Are you an active gallery and museum goer?

STR: Absolutely, I love to go to fellow artists re-

ceptions. They offer networking and you get to meet some terrific people. I like to take a quick video, with permission, and share it on social media to promote the shows.

How absorbed are you in being a part of the big picture– art world scene and news of what well known, on the rise artists are creating? Do you read magazines such Art News just to keep up with the Jones’s of the art world?

STR: My current collection of art magazines are Plein Air Artist, Watercolor Artist and of course The Artful Mind. I have been listening to podcasts on YouTube while I paint from Eric Rhoads. He shares events, tips and features some fabulous artists.

What follows for you now in terms of what you would like to do with your newly found freedom?

STR: Well, I love to travel. I think it would be outstanding to attend some large art events around the world. Not only to learn from the demonstra-

tions, but to experience painting with those I admire.

What feeds your imagination and makes you smile?

STR: I am definitely inspired by the beautiful Berkshire scenery. We live in one of the best places in the world and are blessed with the ever changing four seasons. I really take in the beauty of simple things: sunrise, sunset, droplets, reflection and shadows.

I love having studio visitors and talking about the work on the walls with them however, my shy side has me smiling and blushing a bit. It makes me happy when visitors discuss their feelings and interpret the images they see.

Thank you, Sally! Z

http://www.sallytiskarice.com

sallytiskarice@verizon.net

“Autumn Gold” Watercolor

“Barred Owl” Watercolor on 300 lb. cold press paper,

“A Story to Tell” Pencil painting

“Hinterlands” Watercolor on 300 lb. cold press paper

RICHARD ALAN COHEN

Discovered World-19, 24 x 48 inches

Fine Art Photography in Limited Editions

“Elements of the landscape used in unique ways to highlight my reverential relationship with the environment”

www.RichardAlanCohen.com

Richard@RichardAlanCohen.com

Instagram: @richardalancohen

World View-1, 20 x 20 inches

Discovered World 3, 24 x 48 inches

“Rio Grande Gorge” New Mexico. 20”X24” Oil on canvas

THE MAGIC FLUKE

The Magic Fluke Company designs and builds innovative musical instruments in the Berkshires. Dedicated to our community using locallysourced materials whenever possible, our instruments are engineered with modern methods and materials for quality sound, play-ability, and legendary durability. In addition to our renowned Fluke, Flea and Firefly ukuleles and banjos, we offer an acoustic/electric travel fiddle, electric bass, five string banjo and mandolin. Customized top printing and laser engraving is available as well as repairs of most stringed instruments.

The Magic Fluke - 413-229-8536

Factory and showroom on Rt. 7, Sheffield. Hours: M-F 9 to 4:30 or call for an appointment.

CAROLYN NEWBERGER

Watercolor painting, mixed media, and a practice of drawing from life form the body of Carolyn Newberger’s work, with an emphasis on human connections and experience.

An avid and award-winning artist in her youth, Carolyn returned to art after an academic career in psychology at Harvard Medical School. Her work has received many awards, including from the Danforth Museum of Art, the Cambridge Art Association, Watercolor Magazine, and the New England Watercolor Society, of which she is a signature member.

Many of Carolyn’s performance drawings and plein air paintings accompany reviews and essays she writes, often in collaboration with her husband, Eli, for “The Berkshire Edge,” a publication of news, arts and ideas in Western Massachusetts.

Carolyn Newberger -617-877-5672 www.carolynnewberger.com cnewberger@me.com

SHARON GUY

I am inspired by scenic areas that have beautiful light, especially early in the morning and later in the evening before dark. Once I find a place that inspires me, I visit often, and make small plein air studies, sketches and reference photos. Some of my outdoor paintings are finished works, and some will be used as studies for my studio paintings. My technique involves using a personal, expressive style, with vibrant colors and some abstraction. I look for big shapes and patterns in nature and I try not to cover them up with too many small details.

My nature art helps me feel more balanced and less stressed. There is something very healing about going out into the woods or walking barefoot on the beach. The paintings that come out of these experiences give my collectors a sense of serenity and help them remember their favorite outdoor places. I like to use my art to bring the beaches, mountains, and forests into people’s homes and offices.

Sharon Guy - www.sharonguyart.com Sharonguyart@gmail.com

PLEASANT VALLEY SPRINGTIME, WATERCOLOR, 12” X 16"

CEDAR POINT, OIL ON PANEL, 12”X 9”

rdaver2@gmail.com | 413-854-7007

Instagram: rdaver2.

FRONT ST. GALLERY

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

by Don Longo

www.donlongoart.com

Floating Leaves Photograph

Unmuted, Acrylic dyptique on canvas 36”x 48”

RICHARD ALAN COHEN FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHY

I create landscape images to highlight my reverential relationship with the environment through which I walk daily. My process begins with the discovery and exploration of a subject, and then moves on to imagining what the image could become. I see landscape as an invitation to the viewer to enter imaginary worlds, ones which may suggest past or future visions, offshoots of the moment that the shutter clicked. I take natural details of streams, waterfalls, moss rocks, and decaying tree trunks and put them in new contexts building imagined landscapes and new worlds. These provide a larger perspective that emphasizes the importance of climate change to even the smallest niches within nature. I give my images an otherworldly appearance to impart distance from the ordinary reality in which these spaces are threatened by global warming and to pay them respect as places of beauty.

I use perspective and scale to magnify tree stumps into craggy cliffs and small waterfalls and streams into mountain cascades. I pause at natural wonders to make images of them to preserve their existence and enlarge their importance as records of what natural beauty can be. I wish to set apart their beauty from threats of climate change by keeping their settings pristine, their surroundings otherworldly, their scale majestic.

As I have unbound myself from representing reality, I have freely expanded the time of the image far beyond the duration of one shutter click, compositing pieces of the landscape with satellite views, stars, and galaxies. A great advantage of making art is the ability to recapitulate reality. A photograph is an opportunity not to copy nature, but to allow the imagination to take one to new places.

I print my own images using archival methods to last, with technical excellence, and in limited editions to increase its value.

My work is exhibited in national and international galleries and has been acquired by noted collectors.

Richard Alan CohenRichard@richardalancohen.com, www.richardalancohen.com, Instagram: @richardalancohen

LYN HORTON

No simple explanation for what I do as an artist exists. Any explanation would involve codifying a state of mind, a way of life, a means to see, a principle of understanding, a consciousness of totality.

My intentions become a question of how to comfort the audience by alerting it to what can be perceived in my work without my help. My work tells the tale that is as much about the viewer as it is about me: it invites the viewer to come in and be exposed to its energy and to discover all aspects of what is seen, to be placed in a state without dimension, to be without history, to focus the mind, to rest the soul, to bond with the eternal, which, I, as the artist, can only indicate.

Moments are fleeting. We know we have been through them because we somehow make memories of them. Yet, it is for this reason that I imagine my memories so that you can look at those imaginations in proximity to an immutable, timeless, indescribable holiness that takes me through this life.

https://www.instagram.com/lynhortonphotoart http://www.crossmackenzie.com https://lynhorton.net

BERKSHIRE DIGITAL

Since opening in 2005, Berkshire Digital has done fine art printing for artists and photographers. Giclée prints can be made in many different sizes from 5”x7” to 42” x 80” on a variety of archival paper choices. Berkshire Digital was featured in PDN magazine in an article about fine art printing. See the entire article on the BerkshireDigital.com website.

Berkshire Digital does accurate hi-res photoreproductions of paintings and illustrations that can be used for Giclée prints, books, magazines, brochures, cards and websites.

“Fred Collins couldn’t have been more professional or more enjoyable to work with. He did a beautiful job in photographing paintings carefully, efficiently, and so accurately. It’s such a great feeling to know I have these beautiful, useful files on hand anytime I need them. I wish I’d called Fred years ago.” - Ann Getsinger

We also offer restoration and repair of damaged or faded photographs. A complete overview of services offered, along with pricing, can be seen on the web at BerkshireDigital.com

The owner, Fred Collins, has been a commercial and fine art photographer for over 30 years having had studios in Boston, Stamford and the Berkshires. He offers over 25 years of experience with Photoshop, enabling retouching, restoration and enhancement to prints and digital files. The studio is located in Mt. Washington, but drop-off and pick-up is available through Frames On Wheels, 84 Railroad Street in Great Barrington, MA (413) 528-0997 and Gilded Moon Framing, 17 John Street in Millerton, NY (518) 789-3428. Berkshire Digital - 413 644-9663, www.BerkshireDigital.com

LYN HORTON, GRASSES 3, 2021 DETAIL 2, 22.25 INCHES H X 60 INCHES W COLORED PENCIL AND MARKER ON BLACK RAG PAPER HOPPER

LYN HORTON, INSTALLATION, VELVET AND LANYARD, BERKSHIRE COMMUNITY COLLEGE FACULTY SHOW, 1981

SEAN HUTCHEON

FINE ART AND COMMERCIAL PRODUCT PHOTOGRAPHER

Hi Sean. Can you tell us about your interest in filmmaking, writing and music—all of which have been important components of your life in the development towards your present career as a commercial product photographer?

Sean Hutcheon: I recall being drawn to music when I was around 6 or 7 years old. One Christmas, I got my first cassette deck with a couple tapes – Oldies and The Culture Club and I listened to them constantly. Shortly after, I discovered Michael Jackson’s Thriller, and I think that was the first time I felt moved and swept away by music. Like the hairs standing up on the back of your neck kind of feeling. I also remember, at my cousin’s wedding, in like 1986, the DJ played Bob Segar’s, Old Time Rock n Roll. And again, I was completely floored. It was that song that I discovered beat and rhythm. It was like a spiritual awakening. That part in the song, towards the end, when the guitars drop out and it’s just drums and vocals, made my heart jump into my throat – pure joy. That part of the song is so soulful, and huge. From that point on I started hearing and listening to music differently, and it’s been a lifelong search to seek out music that gives me that same feeling I felt when I was seven years old. Also, around that same time, I started piano les-

sons. I really enjoyed it, but I was too young to really understand reading music and music theory. I mostly just improved. Taking what I did know about scales, and make my own songs up. But, I eventually lost interest in the piano. Today, though, I would love to learn again. One of my lifelong goals is how to play Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata.

Going back to Michael Jackson’s, Thriller – I was obsessed with the movie, The Making of Michael Jackson’s Thriller, directed by the great John Landis. It was that film that opened the door to filmmaking for me. The film is a behind the scene’s / documentary on the making of the video Thriller and I was so amazed and interested in everything that went on behind the camera. The lights, the direction, the relationship you saw with John and Michael, the acting, the make-up process that Michael went through. I knew I wanted to do that. I wanted to make movies. My sister, Kelly, and I would rent that video every weekend and we would watch it over and over. I would just study everything. It made me happy and I felt super connected.

Years, later though when I was around 12 years old, I really started to take action on my movie making dream. I discovered I had a niche for

doing impression. These impressions morphed into their own characters. The thing is with these impressions, is that I would get into the mind of the character. It was if I channeled their soul into mine. It was a special talent that I knew I had and wanted to explore that deeper. I studied people. I watched and listened. I was drawn to do impressions of people who I thought were characters: Funny, interesting and who I connected with. If I did an impression of someone it meant I liked them and saw something in them that was unique. Anyway, I had this childhood friend, Dave, who had a WILD imagination. He really REALLY loved movies. We both discovered George A Romero’s films, Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead. Those films made me pick up a camera and start creating. Dave’s passion for film was equal with mine and when we were together we clicked and our imaginations together was really special. After school one day, we made our first short. I was acting and he was camera and sound effects with my keyboard. The plot was: I was impersonating a neighbor’s mother calling for her son. Probably three minutes running time. But that sparked everything! Our shorts became longer, more ideas, multiple camera angles, soundtracks and eventually

My imagery stems from a background in filmmaking, writing and music. At the end of 2021, I started a new venture as a fine art and furniture photographer who has mostly shot a variety of mediums for Christie’s in NYC, Stair Galleries and Naga Antiques in Hudson, NY.

Interview by Harryet Candee Photographs of Artist by Bobby Miller

Photograph by Bobby Miller

led to writing our own scripts. That’s what we did after school. We made movies. I had to be creative, this was part of who I was and was going to be.

At a horror movie convention in Pittsburgh, I bought a few screenplays. I think they were Day of the Dead and Dawn of the Dead. It was my first time seeing an actual script for a movie. I went back to the hotel we were staying at and read them both. Taking note of the format on how it was written. Those scripts taught me how to write for film. I used them as a reference on when I would start writing for myself.

My first script I wrote was From the Alley that was based on an experience I had during a visit to NYC in the early 90’s about a homeless man pestering two teens for spare change.

My second script was The Wild Ride that was about a troubled school bus driver who loses it and takes a bus load of kids hostage. Not much materialized from these stories, but I was discovering my imagination. I was learning how to put my imagination and the pictures I saw in my head into words. All of this was happening when I was around 14 years old.

What experiences can you recall that opened up

the doors to these artistic venues and have stayed with you up until now?

SH: With music, I started lessons when I was about 15 or so. And I excelled very quickly. Another talent discovered. I played in bands in middle school – playing mostly Nirvana and The Jesus Lizard covers. Playing the drums taught me about being vulnerable in the arts. As with acting and filmmaking, I played with feeling, I played hard, and I was good. Being behind the drums, I was fearless. I didn’t care what others thought and it was my way of communicating. And I had plenty to say. I ended up joining the jazz band, and forming a band my senior year called Sensei. I would describe us as a pop – punk/hardcore band. We were heavy, but with really catchy licks. In this band however, I sang.

Sadly, we dis-banded in 1997, but those guys are still my best friends today and when I moved to New York 16 years ago, two of the members, Scott and Dan and I, formed an instrumental metal band called All City.

In addition to music, in high school, I recently completed my first feature film. A Friday the 13th tribute film called Friday the 13th To Hell and Back. I made this alongside with Dave. Filming on Friday nights, and every weekend for about six

months. It was a grand achievement. Shot on Super VHS. We made front page of our newspaper, had a premier for it and everything. It has gotten a lot of recognition as one of the first “fan films” of the Friday series and has a small cult following.

Because of the success of my movie, I was asked to join the production team for a theatrical haunted hayride located in Bucks County. For the Hayride, I helped write scenes and then build the sets. Unlike other hayrides, I wrote dialog for the characters. Sure, there was some improvisation but for the most part it was all scripted. Actors from Philly and New York were hired and there, I was doing something so wonderful, that was so successful. I stayed on the production team for a few years. Through connections with local Philly actors, I had an opportunity to audition for Tony and Tina’s Wedding, and I immediately got the part. The thing was, to make the call time on Friday evening, I had to skip my last class, to drive to South Philly.

Again, I was 17 years old and part of another huge production. And I was getting paid for it. Living the dream. I was acting and I was playing music. Continued on next page...

Over-sized bronze sculpture I shot on location for Christie’s. This is an Auguste Rodin entitled Les Trios Ombres

Shot for Christie’s

For Naga Antiques in Hudson, NY All photos on this page courtesy of Sean Hutcheon

Who do you live with now?

Right now, I live with my partner Samantha. And my 2-year-old Border Collie, Norman. Sam and I have been together for three years now. We been through a lot together in those years. We started dating right before the pandemic and months later we were bouncing around from Airbnb to Airbnb upstate, working remotely. And when I say working, I mean hanging out trying to survive the unknown. Two years later we bought our sweet little home in Craryville. Sam works mostly in NYC. She’s a wardrobe stylist and she’s been really busy. She is a hard worker.

In 2021, Sam and I moved in together in South Williamsburg in an apartment that opened up in her building. Less than 24 hours in moving all our stuff in, we jump in the car to pick up Norman from a farm in Lancaster, PA. Never did I know that my life was going to change forever. Norman is a special, special animal who I love dearly. So here we were, in Brooklyn with a Border Collie Puppy. I didn’t expect the amount of work it would be, but also never expected the rewards of raising a puppy. It was a full-time job, but I loved and still love every moment of it. He’s my best friend.

You mentioned to me how much you love living in the Hudson area. Tell us why?

SH: There is so much to love about the Hudson Valley! First off being in nature is something I truly value. I am so grateful to wake up in peace and quiet, look outside and watch the birds or the other critters on my property. I love the community. I have met some wonderful people since I’ve been up here who have offered me advice, and opportunities for work, or have taken the time to say hello and talk to me. Even though I am more secluded up here than the city, I feel more connected here. I feel very lonely when I am in the city. This is where I’m supposed to be. I like that I can drive 15 minutes to go swimming in a lake and stop off at my local coffee house and grab an iced coffee in the summer. I like that I can build a fire in my yard in the fall and play frisbee with my Border Collie. I like that my partner and I can head to Zinnia’s Dinette on a cold winter’s night for seafood. And being up here makes me slow down a bit. And forces me to enjoy the little things in life.

At this time, you are working in NYC. How do you find bouncing back and forth from up here in the woods, to the city? Is going from one place to another a big change for you?

SH: Yes! It is a big change. When I first moved up here about a year and a half ago, all my clients were in NYC. To work all week in the city, fight traffic on a Friday evening just to head back to the city a day later was rough. It completely exhausted me. My partner and I started to head back on Monday mornings. That was a little better as I had two full days up here, but I still felt that dread of going into the city. It’s the culture shock that really affects me. One moment you’re in your safe space, in your home, and the next you’re immediately immersed into chaos. For a long time, I

would completely shut down when I was back in the city. It’s not what it used to be. Life is so much harder.

However, in the last few months, I got two clients up here now in Hudson. I shoot for Stair Galleries and Naga Antiques that keep me very busy. So, I am able to spend much more time at my home. I am so grateful for Colin Stair and Jim and Maggie Marinaccio for giving me a chance to shoot for them. So that being said, the travel back and forth has lightened up drastically and is much more manageable.

The first thing I do when I come up here is go outside and play with Norman, my Border Collie. And I look forward to the early mornings here. I love to have a coffee, put on a cassette, and gaze out my front window.

Curious about your photography work at Christie’s as well as the work you do in Hudson. SH: I started shooting for Christie’s about a year ago after I reached out to my friend who was managing the equipment and studios at Rockefeller. She put in a good word for me and they brought me in for a test day and to train. I was then put on a flats set shooting framed paintings. To be honest, I’ve never seen an operation quite like it. The studio is massive with high quality strobes and shooting on digital medium format. The message at shooting at Christie’s is to shoot at the highest possible standard, take your time and make your work look beautiful. At Christie’s, I am able and it’s appreciated that I tap into that inner artistic core. The complete opposite message Amazon had which was shoot 60-70 pieces of product a day and don’t take your time. At Christie’s and if I’m shooting furniture, or sculpture, it’s not uncommon to finish the day with 2 pieces shot. Through the year, I started on shooting flat artwork, then I started working at their warehouse in Brooklyn shooting objects on tabletop. I then started shooting vintage wine at a wine warehouse in the Bronx and recently been shooting interiors of homes with private collections. I can say I’ve learned a TREMENDOUS amount about in the past year and I’m so grateful and proud to shoot for Christie’s. I really love it and it never feels like work. I realize that shooting fine art is a unique skill set that not many people can do what I do. In Hudson, I have a few clients that I shoot fine art for. The shooting pace is a bit faster, but what I can do is provide similar results I can give to Christie’s, I just work a bit faster and think faster. The more I can learn, the better I can make decisions. Therefore, saving time and money. The chemistry is about the same from city and Hudson work. I’m surrounded by people who love art and we all appreciate it.

As far as your personal photography work is concerned, what are you working on now?

SH: I am slowly starting to edit for a photo book. It’s an incredibly daunting task and I’m still thinking on what direction I want to take it. I feel stuck as I don’t know how to make a book.

I shoot everything 120mm color film. My camera of choice is my Mamiya C330. I use an 80mm

lens and a 65mm lens. It’s an all manual and sometimes temperamental.

My process is completely intentional. I don’t shoot all the time. It’s very specific when and where I go out. Take for instance, I was in LA last fall. I get to Balboa Island and I immediately start scouting. What am I drawn to? What is interesting? What will look good in the morning or evening light? Then I sit on it and think and those places that stick with me, is what I’ll start with. I only shoot in the morning or late afternoon. Recently though, in the afternoon. I go to those locations I like and as I shoot, that’s when the magic happens. I get into the “zone” and start to see other things and I get swept away by imagination and inspiration. Every shot I take is 100% planned and thought through. There are no snap shots ever. The framing, exposure, composition, focus, depth, is completely intentional. And when I have my film processed, I do not do any image editing or manipulation except for cropping and lowering my black point. Film photography is done through a camera, never through photoshop.

Where do you look when you are needing ideas or visual information for an upcoming shoot? I bet there is a lot of work prior to the actual shoot, yes?

SH: Yeah, there is sometimes a quite amount of research before a shoot and I dig for inspiration. Something that I think might be a cool idea, how the light is, how the products are placed and the mood of the story. All of these things I consider before a job. It’s important to me to always have a clear expectation and a game plan and that everyone involved is on the same page. I don’t need to be working out the creative right when I get on set. It takes away from my job which is to execute the plan that was previously discussed.

How does the photography work that you are now doing feel like it has emerged and risen from your inner artistic core? When does it just feel a mundane part of making a living? Working for oneself can be very different than when working for someone else, do you agree?

SH: That’s a great question. Naturally, when I am working on my personal work, it comes from the heart. Always, Always, Always. If I’m not feeling it, I won’t do it or shoot it – whatever it may be. With my commercial work - now that’s tricky. If I don’t have any creative say when I am on a job, then it feels completely mundane and I am totally checked out. But, since I am providing a service for a client, I have to go along with it. No matter what I think about the creative direction. This mostly applies to e-commerce photography. It’s boring. Period. With e-commerce imaging everyone only cares about numbers and not the creative process. It’s gotten really bad over the last few years. But I’ve learned to accept that and try to be grateful that I’m making a living doing what I love, and worked hard to get here. However, I do have clients that give me complete creative control. And that’s what gets me excited. It keeps me challenged and engaged. And I can tap into that inner artistic core to provide the very

best results.

I worked for Amazon Fashion for 8 years. My last 3 years there I was shooting fashion. There was absolutely nothing creative about the process. It was stale, overdone, disappointing. At the end of my career at Amazon, I didn’t want to shoot ever again. They took something that was precious to me and mangled it into something that now drained me. At the end of the day, the last thing I wanted to do was to pick up or even look at a camera. Those years at Amazon taught me a very important lesson though – that I did not want to shoot on figure or fashion photography.

Can you tell if any, what artists you follow and who gives you momentum in your work?

SH: I was never big on following other artists / photographers. I only have a few photobooks of others people’s work. I never looked at an artist’s work and said I want to do that style. I end up randomly finding artists that have a similar style as I do. William Eggelston, Steven Shore, and Joel Sternfeld are a few who I admire. I mostly get inspired from movies. When I see a good movie, I see greatness.

Artists who give me momentum are the fellow photographers at Christie’s. They teach me about lighting, I can ask them questions about how would they light something that I find challenging, and I have grown in my career from watching them and picking up on their technique.

Are you seeking new clients for your photography work these days?

SH: Yes! I’m always looking for new clients. I really want to shoot for Dia: Beacon and a big

goal of mine is to shoot for the Met, or Moma. My work stands out from the others because I’m clear headed and insanely reliable and treat others with the utmost respect. I’m a no non-sense person who will deliver results at the highest possible standard.

You mentioned how you prefer nature as your photographic subject appose to portraits. Is there any reason why you prefer nature to the human form?

SH: As an introvert, I find it challenging to connect with people easily. It takes me time to open up. And if I’m shooting portraits, I would need to have a connection with my subject to result in a powerful image. I prefer shooting nature because I can go out to shoot and not feel like I need to hurry to get a shot. I can take my time, I can think, and I have the space to work out what I’m envisioning. It’s less distracting than photographing people.

Regarding your filmmaking, you have won some awards in your lifetime. Tell us more about those films?

SH: My first award was for my 16mm color short Oh, How the Tables Turn which I made in 1999 I think. It was about a man down on his luck who was turned down when asking a stranger for money. But then “the tables turn” and the man’s luck turns around, and later runs into the woman who didn’t help him before. She was down on her luck, but instead of the man turning his back on her, he decided to help her. It was an honorable mention as I believe all the bigger awards were for films for the advanced film III class. That year

I was in Film II, so it was an honor to be recognized alongside some really talented filmmakers I befriended. This film I edited on a Steenbeck film editor. Completely manual, cutting and splicing film and my sound. A process I brought to movie houses when I was a film projectionist in my 20’s to my early 30’s.

In 2000, I was in film III – and that was the year I earned Best Traditional Film – Traditional meaning I shot on film and edited by hand. The running time was almost 15 minutes. I wrote, directed, composed a score, casted, produced, and edited. The film was titled No Direction. It was a parallel story about one guy having no sense of direction, and the other guy having no sense of direction when it came to his life. The two characters end up meeting each other, and each one giving them the direction they needed. This film also won an Honorable Mention at the Bucks County Film Fest.

After that I didn’t make another film until 2007 when I was taking classes at the New York Film Academy. I made a super short 1 minute 30 second film. The objective was to shoot with no dialog or sound, and create a total landscape of sound in post-production. I shot on 16mm reversal film, and had it transferred to digital and it was my first film I edited digitally. I was working in a film rental house, so I could get all these pro lights for a really cheap rate too. The film was called A Tale of Forgetting. It’s about a guy who needs to mail in his taxes, but along the way to the post office, he drops his keys and doesn’t realize it until if he goes back to get his keys, he won’t have time to mail his taxes in time.

Continued on next page...

This was an exterior location shoot – shooting on a roof in Brooklyn. I shot this on 120mm film.

This MARKUS LUPERTZ sculpture named “Titan” I shot for Christie’s. I had to go to a rigging warehouse where it was being stored to shoot it because of the size and the weight. It was over 7 feet tall. All photos on this page courtesy of Sean Hutcheon

Also, in 2007, I began production on my last film to date. I was asked by the New York Film Academy to look at their projection booth and offer advice on how to get it up and running. In return, the school allowed me to enroll into another filmmaking course for free. I’m like this is it, I’m going to make Pool Stories Pool Stories I wrote originally as a feature. It wasn’t completed yet, but there was some really funny stuff in there. I decided to rewrite it into a short. This was my biggest production yet. And I knew I needed help. All I wanted to do was direct on this. I brought on my DP friend from Philly, and recruited some classmates to work as my crew. And I casted, produced, edited and directed. It was an incredible experience. At the time I was flat broke from my drinking, my credit cards max’d out from buying film stock, but I made it work. I shot in my apartment and my girlfriend’s apartment. The best part was working with the actors. Something that I never had the chance to really do because I was always behind the camera. It was really fun directing and my vision came alive. Getting the actors to do what you envision is magic. I submitted it to a few film fests around the country, and it ended up winning an Honorable Mention at the New York Short Film Fest in 2008.

Pool Stories is about a miscommunication between four friends about when to meet up at the public pool. I love that film and it means so much to me. I’m super proud of that one.

Do you think one day you will dig up a cherished idea for a film and set forth into making it happen? Can you reveal to us what it is about? What challenges would there be?

SH: Oh Absolutely. About 15 years ago, I wrote this short script about a brother and sister arguing over health benefits. It’s pure comedic gold. I go back and re read the script sometimes and I still crack up over it. That’s how I know that I probably don’t need to go back and rewrite. But I think

about that short all the time. The challenges would be time and money. I would want to shoot it on 35mm color film. I would most definitely need production help. I would want to go all out on this. A big-budget short.

When you notice your brain is racing with ideas, and you have to slow it down at least to write down some of those ideas going on in your head, what helps the situation? When the wheels turn too fast, you…?

SH: When the wheels start turning, and they turn all the time, writing it out is the best way to make sense of it. But also, I sort through it in my head. I do that most of the time, but I do have to ground myself in order to do that. Going on a hike or even mowing the lawn – is a great time to think and I even sometimes just have to verbally talk it out to myself. I will say though, when I sit down to write, that’s when the wheels really get going. Like I have this vision of a scene, or an idea that was sparked from something someone said, and I just start writing out that scene. I have no idea where it will go, but when I start wring out dialogue and characters start to come alive. Take for instance – I had an idea about a hot air balloon and a guy who has a temper problem – that makes me laugh – The working title is Hot Air. I started writing out a dinner scene and it’s kind of going somewhere I didn’t expect. Everything I write is comedic. I need to make myself laugh.

What have you battled with in life so far? How did it help or hinder you as an artist?

SH: At the time of my Tony and Tina’s era, there were always after parties. And that’s when I started to drink. I was mostly not into drugs or drinking too much as I always put the arts before that kind of stuff. I never used when I was playing music and never used anything when I was being creative. But alcohol consumption started to become a normal part of my everyday life.

I started to really drink when I was around 20 years old. I was going to community college, and excelling in all of my creative subjects. This is also the time when I discovered photography and film. I always had felt inadequate, less than, and not good enough. I constantly carry pain in my heart and when I drank, that pain and sadness went away. But, I would be damned if booze was going to control me. I managed my drinking as best as I could. Waiting to drink until I was done a project, after band practice, after school. Never during. That was a promise I made to myself. However, the more I drank, the older I got, the hangovers intensified, as did the shame and embarrassment I felt. So, I kept drinking to not feel those feelings. Long story short – eventually booze became my top priority, and my dreams were quickly fading away. I lived in a bottle for 20 years until shortly after my 40th Birthday, where I checked into rehab, and have been sober for 4 years now.

Booze never helped me as an artist. As I still had goals, I was putting in half the effort, also struggling with fear of success.

I recall winning an Honorable Mention at the New York Short Film Fest for my film Pool Stories in 2008, and I didn’t know what to do with that success. That same year, my band won the Battle of the Bands, in Brooklyn. Like my dreams were coming true. But there was that feeling of not being good enough and I chose to drink instead. Getting clean was the best thing I have ever done for myself. As soon as I started to work on myself, to love myself, I have been producing the best work I have ever done. I take those feelings I have and put it into my photography. Feeling is what was missing for so many years. I mean, I learned so much over the years, in my craft, and no matter how sick I was, kept moving. I feel when I moved to the city, that was my downfall. But on the other hand, I pulled myself out of that hole and learned so much about myself in the process.

This shoot was one of those magical days. This was at Pennridge High School in Bucks County, PA. Everything about that day worked out. The light was spectacular. My exposures were spot on. I enlarged this for my sister and it proudly hangs on my nephew’s bedroom wall. -Sean Hutchen

This image was part of my Covid quarantine project. This is in my then apartment building and the image went on to be selected for a 2021 Photo Exhibition in Bucks County. -Sean Hutcheon

Even though I shot these on 35mm, I really enjoyed this series/project of the Ashokan Reservoir and the Catskills I did in 2019.

-Sean Hutcheon

Tell with us about your family?

I grew up in Bucks County, PA with my mother Sharon, father, Ron and my sister, Kelly. This is a hard question and I could go many different ways with this. My childhood was painful. My father broke my heart at a very young age. He abandoned me. And was emotionally abused my entire life up until he passed around 13 years ago. I was terrified of him. And I spent most of my life living in fear. My childhood is painful thing for me to talk about so I’m not going to get into it. My pets saved me. Music saved me. And I had many outlets to release my emotions.

My mother is an artist. Oil painter. When I was younger she painted a lot and did some really nice work. Mostly of landscape. She still dabbles here and there, and I have a few of her pieces at home. My sister is a very talented woodworker. When she was in middle school, she built a queen-sized bed frame. It was wonderful. She still creates and sells some pieces from time to time.

My grandmother might be the most talented person I’ve ever met. Her and my grandfather build their house together on Buckingham Mountain, near New Hope, PA. She was also a skilled woodworker with this incredible studio in her basement. She made practically all the furniture in her house with exception from antiques she was handed down over the years. Her home was like a museum. She had an impeccable eye for design and interior design. There was a big story on her in our local newspaper years ago. I have many of her paintings and birdhouses she made. On my father’s side, I can’t recall anyone being into the arts. They were blue collar workers. I did see a talent in my father – he was an incredibly hard worker. Was always doing something. He was a general manager for a commercial heating and air conditioning company. His team loved him. I saw that when I worked a couple days in the warehouse one summer. And the respect his coworkers gave him was something else. I learned

how to work hard from my parents. My mother was always working on our home, in the garden, cutting the grass. I grew to appreciate hard work and to enjoy the results.

Curious about your music. What does music mean to you?

SH: I keep music very close to my heart. It’s a part of me. I keep the joy I have with music private, so I can’t get hurt. I’m protective of the bands who shaped who I am today. I really need to trust the person who I share my music to. If they understand it, they understand me. I connect with people on a high level if we share the same tastes in music styles and artists.

I have been lucky to have been in 4 impactful bands in my life. My high school band Sensei of course, who I mentioned earlier, but there was also Tower, All City, Blue Sky Law and Systems. In the group, Tower, the music we were playing was raw and powerful. Kind of like Tool meets Alice in Chains. Mike (guitars) was an incredibly gifted musician. And Sean (vocals) was a natural talent. He had a crazy vocal range. Mike and I had a special bond where we were always exactly on the same page when we were playing. That bond and understanding is similar to “Shining” - able to communicate without saying a single word. And for me – I’d like to say it was around this time I “peaked” as a drummer. I was playing at a very high level. I was playing hard, tight, and smart.

Tower played a ton in Philly and we recorded a 4song ep in this studio in Manyunk. It was my first album I played on and I was so proud of myself. After the album, we played more and started writing new material. And let me tell you, this material would have gotten us a deal. I have no doubt. But I dis-banded, because they wanted to kick the band in high gear, but I was in school and working on my films. I probably could have made it work, but I was also struggling with my demons, so I

chose to leave the band and only concentrated on film.

All City was my first band in NYC. The style of music was instrumental metal. And I was reunited with my best friends Scott and Dan, also from Sensei. And there was so much excitement around this new project. Here we were, three high-school friends and bandmates reunited in NYC playing music. We practiced in Harlem and eventually we found a closer rehearsal spot in Queens. We practiced at least three times a week. Always writing, always arranging, always coming up with ideas. We all took it very seriously and we were all equally totally invested and committed. We all played our first show as All City at a trashy local bar in Greenpoint, Tommy’s Tavern. And we played so loud and hard, the audience kept wanting more. I will never forget my first show in NY. Now that’s a special moment. We went on playing for a few more years, playing in the 5 boroughs. We probably played a show once every couple of weeks. As time went on we got better – individually and as a band. Our writing became smarter, arrangements became more obscure, and we were listening to each other better. We never got into the studio, to record, and the band just naturally faded. It happens – but it happened with no hard feelings or drama.

Shorty after All City, I took a trip with my then girlfriend to San Diego to visit her college roommate. That’s where I met Rob. Rob liked the same music I did and Rob played the same style of music I did. We were instantly friends. Rob booked a rehearsal spot for us to jam. And Blue Sky Law was born.

Rob moved to NYC a few months later after that visit and we got to work. The project was just Rob on guitars and me on drums. I’d like to say our style was post-punk. Heavy dis-chordy riffs and huge groovy drums playing on the downbeat. We ended up recording our first ep at Seizures Palace Continued on next page...

Part of a recent project of Balboa Island and Malibu, Ca Project

Photograph from a past trip to Palm Springs, CA Photos on this page courtesy of Sean Hutcheon

We played shows for a couple years, mostly at these smaller clubs in Brooklyn. The crowning achievement for us though was winning the Brooklyn Battle of the Bands in 2008. We ended up being in a tie with another band for first prize and each band had to play one more song for a tie breaker. So, we go up first and we both look at each other and we both knew we were going to play, a hard-hitting new song we recently wrote. And we played it flawlessly and put on a hell of a performance. The crowd went nuts. And it was then I knew we would win.

We later had a few write ups on us, a couple interviews, and we put out a second ep. That second ep was one of my worst drum performances – I remember showing up to record so hung over, I could barely get through a song. I was hurting bad.

The band Systems was a side project of Blue Sky Law. It was Rob and me, but we recruited a bass player and another guitarist. It was a short-lived project. We played one show. But we did record a 6-song ep, but we never had it mixed and mastered. However, last year Rob and I were talking and we decided to finally have a few songs mixed and we released them in early 2022.

What music do you enjoy listening to? You’re a guitar player, what do you like to play?

SH: If someone were to ask me: “Who is Sean Hutcheon?” I would say go listen to Helmet’s 1992 album Meantime. That record truly defines me as a person. I discovered Meantime in 1993 or 1994 and it was another life altering experience. I put the record on in my room, and listening it to the first time I became paralyzed. I thought to myself, ‘This is it. This is what I was searching for.’

The music was so heavy, but so groovy. The band plays so tight and in the rhythm section, the drummer plays on top of the beat and the bass is juuust behind and that chemistry works so well. The drummer is John Stanier, who is still my favorite drummer.

Other than Helmet, I tend to listen to the heavier stuff. I love Quicksand, Hum, Isis, and been really

into Cave In lately, but I also love the softer rock: Phil Collins, Squeeze, Steely Dan, Genesis. I like to listen to cassettes and have a wide range of music in my collection – Bands like Cop Shoot Cop to Sade. The older I get the more interest I have in exploring music of all types. What I will not listen to is rap, hip-hop or R&B. It does nothing for me.

I naturally transitioned to guitar from drums. I always dabbled on guitar, making up riffs. And trying to teach myself as best as I could. I play guitar by ear. Whatever sounds good to me is right. I don’t know the notes I’m playing, I don’t know scales. All I know is when it’s right, it’s right. The style of guitar I play is heavy, dropped tuning stuff. It’s very rhythmic. I can hear the drums in my head when I’m writing.

Have you gone to any good concerts or theatre lately? Can you recommend any new films?

SH: Since the pandemic, I’ve been to one show. I saw this band I like, June of 44. I used to go to shows ALL THE TIME. Now a days, you go to a show and everyone has their phones out taking pictures and video. No one is present. No one is enjoying the show and allowing themselves to get lost in the music. It sickens me. I’m not as quick to jump to see live shows anymore. It’s not what it used to be. But I’m fine with that. I’ve seen a lifetime worth of live shows of the bands I’ve always wanted to see. I’m satisfied.

I don’t really go see live theater, but funny you should ask, I just watched Angels in America for the first time which was adapted from the play. I was blown away by the writing in that. It reminded me of Sorkin a little bit. Brilliant writing. I also just re-watched Alexander Payne’s Sideways for the hundredth time the other night. If I need a good comfort film, this is my go to. It is the perfect movie. I relate to all the characters one way or another, especially the character Miles played by Paul Giamatti.

How do you see people now surviving after COVID?

SH: Oh boy. Well, everything changed during the pandemic. I think the way people isolated themselves had a deep impact on how we now communicate with one another. I feel there is this underlying fear and resentment that’s stagnate in the air. But it wasn’t just COVID, there were heavy political stuff happening at the same time! For me the pandemic really messed me up. I detached myself from everyone. And my relationships with a handful of really good friends changed. We were all adjusting – running with the punches. When it was time to go back into the world again, I wasn’t exactly ready. I resented that I just made all these life adjustments, and now I have to readjust again.

What invigorating opportunities can you see happen in the near and distant future for you?

SH: I’d like my business to keep expanding. Taking on new clients with different imaging needs. Additionally, in the back of my mind, I envision having a studio of my own either in a nearby town or in my basement or on my property.

If you were granted three wishes, what would they be?

SH: To win an Oscar. To see Holly and Bailey again. To be happy.

Thank you, Sean!

Web: seanhutcheon.com

Email: sean.hutcheon@gmail.com

YouTube Channel to view Pool Stories and A Tale of Forgetting:

https://www.youtube.com/@SeanHutcheon

Link to Blue Sky Law: https://blueskylaw.bandcamp.com/album/gravity-made-us-run

Link to Systems: https://wearesystems.bandcamp.com/releases

The Salton Sea – The most mysterious places I’ve been to. These images I showed in a group show at a Christie’s Staff show in 2022 -Sean Hutcheon

DON LONGO VISUAL ARTIST

I have always been intrigued with both visual and actual textures so I love exploring what different textural methods and materials can do to enhance contemporary abstraction. Each painting explores the art and design of this element of art from realism to abstraction. My inspiration has always been landscapes and atmospheric perspectives and how they make you feel when you look at them. Different viewpoints give you different feelings. Sometimes they come from my past travel experiences and other times they come from my thoughts and just appear on the canvas while I do them.

Having been a public high school art teacher you must have learned a great deal about art and ways of seeing from your students. It must have been a two-way street in the classroom, yes?

Don Longo: Having been a high school art teacher and mentor for 33 years (37 years total), I have always wanted to see the different ways students create art. Some are very logical and some are more abstract. I never wanted to force the students to only see it one way or even my way. I wanted them to learn the basics of each element of art and principle of design but to explore their own abilities within these parameters. I always started the lessons with images of professional artwork along with student versions of past classes. There were a variety of styles presented so they could design and create on their own or follow the incorporated lessons step by step. I demonstrated with an overhead projector, always allowing them to imitate if they needed

(this more so in a beginning art class). Of course, they had a rubric of what they were graded on but I had to keep in mind their abilities which were all different.

It must be in many ways hard to blot out those years of students and their ‘in-your-face’ ideas. In

what ways do you still hear the echoes of your students? Do you find their odd or fresh ideas they shared seep through and resurface through your own current artmaking?

DL: In high school art classes you have age ranges from 14 years to 18 years old. Maturity levels from those that can’t sit still to others whom you never hear a word from. There are some who listen and try each lesson to be the best and others who just do the lesson and get it done or not hand in anything at all. My job was to let them feel as if they accomplished something in their work from the smallest elements to the finished and polished design. I would often let them bring in objects of their own to draw as well as having them work in sketchbooks both in class and at home. They were constantly drawing or painting. I felt this was a good way to make them feel successful as much as possible. I never wanted them to feel bad about their art. We would often discuss ways

Interview by Harryet Candee Photographs Courtesy of Artist

Don’s art studio in Texas

to make it better without degrading them for what they had already achieved. Art is very personable sometimes and no one wants to be criticized, especially in front of their peers. So for me, I always tried to be aware of this and make creating art fun no matter what ability they had.

Art is personal, art is developmental, art is in the eye of the beholder, but there are rules that make art attractive and beautiful. Confidence is built by their mentors as well as by their friends. My job as their teacher was to not let them be afraid of learning and experimenting. One learns from their mistakes and one must not take it personally. That is a concept I always wanted them to take once they left the classroom.

I say that to myself as I create my paintings. If you follow the principles of design using some of the elements of art, then how can it be bad? If I feel good after I finish a painting, then that is good enough for me.

Abstract art allows you to feel a sense of freedom in process. Do you find that to be true?

DL: Abstract art definitely allows you to be free with your design and creation. Although you can

break rules, I believe there should be elements of design and color theory that make it attractive, at least me. There are some abstract artists who break with this tradition and if that’s where they want to go, then that is up to them. They are the creators. Who is to say you can’t do it that way. Creativity is in the mind of the creator. But for me, I want to look at the art I create and feel good about how it makes me feel and hopefully how it makes others feel when looking at it.

What are you currently working on, Don?

DL: I am currently working on perfecting my designs of contemporary abstractions. I am adding textures here and there to invoke interest while using color values and design to possibly create an emotion. I am not thinking about anything but design and color theory and as the painting develops, I will either stop as I like it where it’s at or continue pushing it to see what develops.

You mention evoking one’s emotions as one of your key point reactions from viewers. Can you explain what it is about your work that would create an emotional reaction?

My recent body of work came from my first visit to Cozumel last year. I was there on a diving trip with my husband and close friends. It was our first dive lessons in deep water. Because the first day of diving was taking place after a long evening of storms, the water was very choppy. Our boat ride out to the dive spot was also very choppy and I got seasick. I have always had equilibrium problems. I was so sick I couldn’t finish the dive and decided I needed to get back to the shore. My mind played tricks on me that whole day and I had to rest to get my body back to normal equilibrium. I decided not to go diving the next day and would spend it instead walking the beaches and relaxing. Once the others left for diving I took a walk along the beach until I got to a secluded area. I sat there, looking out at the beautiful waters, sky and natural setting and wondered what my purpose was to be there if I couldn’t dive again. I knew there was a reason so I started to take pictures of my surroundings. Once I got back home (after never diving again) I took those pictures and painted them. Instead of just doing them as realistically as the photograph, I added textures and used a Continued on next page...

Silence of Fresh Snow, Mixed media, Acrylic and Enamel, 14” x 18”

Iberostar Reflection, No. 1, Cozumel Memories, 12” x 12”

Two Old Friends, Acrylic, 36” x 24”

new painting method I was trying out. This time, instead of just acrylic paint over the textures, I used enamel acrylics spray paint and diluted it here and there with mineral spirits till I was satisfied with the process and the look it gave the paintings. I also used acrylic tube paint to enhance areas of interest in a slight abstract way in adding and/or taking away color through pressing and pulling plastic over the paint. I kept playing with this method until I was satisfied with the enamel technique, plastic pulling and pushing over it and adding acrylic paint to finalize the process. This gave me different textures than I ever had before. It also gave some emotion to the piece which I wanted. Here I was in paradise and yet I was a bit unbalanced (so to speak) about it from my diving experience. I wanted to evoke that beautiful scenery but also give it a little bit of feeling with color choices and textures.

What is the general size of the canvas you like to

work with? What does it depend on?

DL: The general size of the canvas I work on is 24”x 24” as it’s more controllable with my painting process and the amount of paint I use but have done work on as large as 36” x 36” canvases. It’s more of a challenge to work with this size with my techniques. Acrylics and enamel spray paints tend to dry fast so you have to add extenders to them but I love challenges and have no problem working on this size canvases. I would paint on 36”x 36” and 36”x 48” size canvases on a commission basis only as I don’t have a lot of extra space in my studio and these sizes need space to work on.

I am looking at one painting that sold, called Colorado Stroll, and also looking at Blue Canyon. (also sold!) I am wondering if you can explain the difference in the thinking process, technique and objective. These are beautiful yet are two different styles.

DL: I use two different styles when it comes to painting; realism and contemporary abstraction. Through my realism paintings, I use them as a process to refine my skills and to practice my techniques of small details and control. It is challenging for me to paint as a realist because what you paint is what others will observe as real. To paint a photograph of a real place and make it look real on canvas is tedious and challenging for me. I enjoy these challenges being an ex-coach who likes to be pushed to a higher level of achievement. That’s why I was drawn to the Norman Rockwell paintings as they were almost like a photograph but had emotion attached to them by their viewpoint and style.

I also enjoy the fluidity of contemporary abstraction sometimes coming up with images that some will see as real and others will see as abstractions. I like to paint these images with unusual colors as well as trying to evoke an emotion through them.

Sitting on the Banks No. 5 Cozumel Memories series, Acrylic

Cozumel Memories, No. 6, Acrylic, 16” x 32”

Colorado Stroll, 24 “x 36” Blue Canyons, 24” x 48”

Living in Texas, do you find the artists’ market viable these days? Tell us about the galleries you are affiliated with?

DL: Living in Texas since 1978, I have travelled around the state to areas I have never been to before. I grew up in mountain areas and rarely if ever saw a flat landscape like I did in Texas. New England has beautiful colors and textures that inspire many painters but Texas had a unique quietness to it with its flat plains and serene colors of greens and browns. There were old barns, old cars, and old fence posts from days gone by sitting out in the open fields. These images invoke a time gone by. So I started painting Texas scenes that were very realistic but also had uniqueness to them in textures and colors. The color choices I used where not always the colors of the scene in front of me. I wanted to show that feeling of aloneness, yet a feeling of a purpose in being there.

Galleries in Texas are growing. Dallas is a cosmopolitan city and has a large gallery scene although most of these galleries are high end galleries only for the professional artists who already have a following to them. It is very hard to even get noticed by these galleries. I have sent my work and my website to them but they have never responded and that’s their choice. I don’t get offended by it.

Luckily there are smaller galleries that I have been able to get into for a show or for a length of time. A few of them have closed as the art business is a tough business to profit from. Before COVID hit, I was doing POP-UP SHOWS in various towns where a company would sponsor an evening for artists to sell their work. These shows were lucrative for me. I had to bring my work in, set up my paintings and do the transactions all in one day. No overhead rent, no percentage given to the es-

tablishment having the shows. But since COVID hit, there hasn’t been any more of these pop-up shows. So, I needed to look elsewhere and keep sending my work into new galleries and businesses. Right now I am represented by a new gallery in Dallas called ARTONMAINDALLAS. It’s a six month contract and they do all the publicity for the artists. Of course, I do my own publicity for my work as well online, social media sites and emails.

You grew up in the Berkshires and now you are living in Texas. Tell us about what went on between the time you lived in Lee and having moved to Texas.

DL: I was born and raised in the Berkshires, growing up in Lee, MA. I had a wonderful time growing up there. After high school, I left for college at Westfield State in Westfield, MA where I graduated in the summer of 1977 with a degree in Physical Education and a minor in Art. Since I had changed majors in the middle of my sophomore year, I had to do my student teaching the fall. This put me in the job market in January of 1978. Luckily I got a job in a residential state school for disabled youth as a physical education teacher. That following summer, I knew I wanted to further my education by getting a Master’s Degree but I couldn’t afford it unless I got a teaching scholarship or fellowship. I applied to a variety of colleges around the nation for PE/EXERCISE PHYSIOLOGY and Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, TX called and gave me the best offer. They waved my tuition and fees while paying me $600 to work in the intramural department and coach their men’s soccer team all while attending classes for my degree. So off I went.

As a coach, I was able to travel around Texas

playing other colleges in the state. I applied to many different high schools wherever I went. Sherman, just 60 miles north of Dallas gave me an offer I couldn’t refuse and so I ended up there and have been in Texas ever since.

Have you been in a one-person art show at a gallery? Do you feel ready for that now?

DL: I have never done a one-person show. I would be open to it since I have a large body of work from small to large canvases. I have display boards to hang the work on and tables to display prints. But as of now, I don’t know anywhere that has one-person shows. Normally, galleries and art venues show a multitude of artists at one time. Those I have done over the past few years.

As far as famous artists go, who would you consider especially inspiring or of a mentoring nature for you?

DL: There are a couple of famous artists who I consider to be my mentor. The first was Jon Gnagy, who taught me through his books about shape, color and values. The second was Norman Rockwell. I grew up a couple of miles from his studio in Stockbridge, MA. I would ride my bike to his studio and try to get a glimpse of him working. I would also visit his museum, which at the time, was on Main Street in Stockbridge. I would spend hours looking at his paintings and illustrations. What I enjoyed the most was his depiction of every day American life and the emotion or feeling you get when you see them. The third is a combination of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist artists from Vincent Van Gogh to Edouard Manet, Claude Monet and Paul Gauguin. Their use of color placement in short strokes gave their paintings emotion with textures. I was lucky to Continued on next page...

Reflection, Mixed media, Acrylic and Enamel, 20” x 20”

Mountain Passage, Mixed media, Acrylic and Enamel, 24” x 24”

visit the VAN GOGH MUSEUM in Amsterdam once and was overwhelmed with emotion. I was especially touched by the last painting on the tour, Wheatfield with Crows. I sat there in awe and almost cried. I could feel his pain in those waning days of his career. I made me sad and was one of the first times I ever had an emotional reaction to a painting. So with those artists and styles, I try to emulate those same colors, textures and feelings they evoke in my own paintings.

How do you wish to see your abilities and skills to develop?

DL: I love to experiment with paint and see where it takes my art in color, design and texture. One of my goals is to continue to explore abstract landscapes with textures. I want to work on larger canvases to challenge me. I want to use larger quantities of paint in buckets instead of tubes. I want my mind stimulated in my studio but also for my spirit to be relaxed in the process. Time goes by so fast when I am painting. I love every minute of it.

Do you have a supportive and loving partner in your life? In what ways would this person be there for your artistic vision?

DL: Al Dawson. I met him in 2008. We dated exclusively for the next 10 years before we were married in 2018.

We share a wonderful life together. He is supportive of all I do and what I want to do. After retirement, we built a studio in our backyard which the both of us were going to use, he for his Reiki prac-

tice (a hobby of his) and me for my painting. He works full time for SOURCE AMERICA on their Regulatory Assistance and Training team. He does Reiki on the side and practices it in a room in our home as the studio has been taken over by my art work. He is nearing retirement and we are looking at turning part of our garage into his own art studio as he loves to carve Totem sticks and create stain glass window designs. He is my best cheerleader and supports my craft wherever it takes me. He looks at my work while I’m doing it and often asks questions about the process. He gives great feedback. He is always there by my side at my art shows and gallery shows. He is my best friend, my heart and soul and my partner in life. He makes the journey here more fun and loving. He supports me in all I want to do and all I want to accomplish.

What ambitious plans do you envision happening for you in the upcoming future?

DL: I want to continue to paint, to explore techniques and to share my art with any and all. I want to continue to be challenged but I also would like to settle into a groove with my work. I want to keep enjoying what life has to offer. I am a lucky man. I have love, I have good health, I have family and friends and I have purpose. Each day gives me time here on earth and I want to make the best of it.

So tell us, Don, what makes you smile?

DL: What makes me smile? Well, a homemade German Chocolate cake, No. 1. But all kidding

aside, I enjoy being in my studio. I enjoy learning about new methods and application of textures and paint.

I get inspiration from nature so wherever there is beautiful nature, I will find composition. I do love to travel as long as it’s comfortable. I enjoy the SW in New Mexico. I enjoy the beaches of San Diego. Mountains and streams relax me as do open plains. I am a true Libra. I need balance, nature and truth. My European roots intrigue me. I hope to visit both Italy and Ireland in the near future with my husband to do some research. I am drawn to France as well as the UK/Scotland. As I have written earlier, landscapes of all different kinds intrigue me in the senses they create. So the more variety of landscapes I experience the more variety of paintings I can do.

At some point would you want to revisit your hometown in Massachusetts?

DL: We have our 50th high school reunion scheduled for Columbus Day weekend in October so I am planning on coming back to Massachusetts for that.

Thank you, Don!

https://www.donlongoart.com

First Snow, Berkshire Memories, Acrylic and Enamel, 16” x 20”

Winter Solstice, Mixed media, Acrylic and Enamel, 24” x 24”

LONNY JARRETT FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHY

Light

MARY DAVIDSON

Mary Davidson has been painting on a regular basis for the last 16 years. Davidson’s paintings are a two-dimensional decorative visualization of line, color, design, shape, patterns, and stamping. As you begin to study the paintings, you will find the foreground and background tend to merge, with overlaid patterns. “I love the intense complexity and ambiguity of space and dimension.”. The effect can be startling: the longer you look at the piece, the more you see.

Davidson’s New Hat series consist of 70 paintings. “I start with a basic drawing, building with color and shape, coming to life with gesture and flow. As the title suggests, the hats are important, and the millinery designs emerge. There is much joy in their creation and my passion for playful designs is reinforced by their bright colors, linear rhythms and patterns leading our eyes around and through the painting. My newest series is even more abstract, with an even stronger emphasis on design. I do like to use stamping, along with painting, because I love the result. When I finish with a painting, I adhere the canvas with mat gel to gator board, creating a nice tight surface. My paintings are always framed.”

Mary Davidson - PO Box 697, South Egremont, Massachusetts; 413-528-6945 / 413-717-2332; mdavidsongio@aol.com, marydavidson83155@gmail.com www.davidsondesigncompany.net

LONNY JARRETT

My initial memory of awakening to the creative impulse was hearing the first chord of the Beatle’s, Hard Day’s Night when I was six years old. At that moment I knew something big was happening and I had to get on board! I began studying at the Guitar Workshop, the first guitar school in America. I’ve performed music most of my life and currently play jazz fusion with my band Redshift.

My interest in photography blossomed as an electron-microscopist publishing neuro- and molecular- biological research out of UMASS/Amherst and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx in my early 20s.

As a life-long meditator, martial artist, musician, and photographer everything I engage with comes from the same unified intention toward engendering the true, the good, and the beautiful. In my landscape and nature photography I endeavor to capture the light that seeps through everything.

Lonny Jarrett -

Community: Nourishingdestiny.com

Books: Spiritpathpress.com

Art: Berkshirescenicphotography.com

Teaching: Lonnyjarrett.com

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS WITH MUSIC

“Pictures at an Exhibition – A Gallery Stroll” will be held at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center on Sunday, March 26, at 4PM.

A work in ten movements by Modest Mussorgsky that was inspired by a visit to an art exhibition, “Pictures at an Exhibition” is a showpiece where only the most virtuosic pianists dare to tread. It is also a perfect point from which to explore the common language of music and art, which share not only terms such as “line, rhythm and color,” but also considerations of structure, narrative, counterpoint, etc.

The program offers other “pictures in time”: Granados’ musical portraits from his opera Goyescas; Franz Liszt’s St. Frances walking on the waves; Debussy’s Sonate with its commedia dell’arte storyline; and the Hogarth-Stravinsky connection for the opera The Rake’s Progress

The final picture of Mussorgsky’s work is a majestic depiction of his friend Victor Hartmann’s sketch, “the Great Gate of Kiev.” Images will be projected to accompany the music. Pianist Max Levinson and Metropolitan Opera soprano Danielle Talamantes join cellist and artistic director Yehuda Hanani.

CEWM – Tickets available at cewm.org

MY NEW HAT SERIES #5

THE ARTFUL MIND

VIRTUAL GALLERY 3.2023

“It’s up to you to decide who my ladies are and what they are thinking. They only came to me with the first stroke of a brush and a little paint. I don’t know their stories or where they hale from. I only know that they now exist, and some will love them, and some will not. Such is the life of a woman.”

-Mary Ann Yarmosky

Mary Ann Yarmosky: 413-441-6963

myarmosky@comcast.net • Face Book Instagram maryannyarmoskyart.com

MARY ANN YARMOSKY

The Saxaphone Player

NanaKyi

The Daffodil

Spring Symphony, Watercolor, 12” x 16"

Return of the Hummingbird, Watercolor, 16” x 6"

Watercolor, 8” x 6"

MARK MELLINGER

Mark Mellinger : 914-260-7413

The Clock Tower Business Center, 3rd floor, 75 South Church St, Pittsfield, MA markmellinger680@gmail.com

Gangsters, 2023. Acrylic and pencil on canvas. 10"x10"

Sawfish, 2021. Saw, pine, doorknobs and dried paint, 16"x 54"x 6"

Relic, 2021. Scrap steel and marble. 13"x15"x5"

Each image is part of a limited edition. There are several sizes available. Each piece is priced according to size. Images are unframed and printed on Hahnemuhle archival papers.

Bruce Panock: 917-287-8589

www.panockphotography.com bruce@panockphotography.com

FRONT ST. GALLERY

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

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

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

Front Street, Housatonic, MA. Gallery open by appointment or chance anytime. 413-5289546 at home or 413-429-7141 (cell) www.kateknappartist.com

nyuk-nyuk

MARGUERITE BRIDE COMMISSIONED WATERCOLORS

If you have a special occasion in your future, consider commemorating it with a painting. A new home? An old home that you are leaving? A special vacation scene? It is nice to create longlasting memories with a painting. A custom watercolor painting of a wedding venue, a home or other special location is always a treasured gift for any occasion. Commission work is always welcome.

We painters who live in the Berkshires are very lucky. There is always something inspiring to paint just by looking around outside. The inspiration never stops, no matter the season. I have painted nearly 200 paintings of the Berkshires and nearby region …. the iconic spots we all know and love, bucolic hillsides and landscapes, funky downtowns with their unique buildings, marketplaces, rivers, lakes….if it doesn’t move I have probably painted it. If you are interested in seeing these paintings, please visit the “Berkshires” gallery on my website. Many originals are still available and fine art reproductions can always be ordered as well.

Marguerite Bride – Home Studio at 46 Glory Drive, Pittsfield, Massachusetts by appointment only. Call 413-841-1659 or 413-442-7718; margebride-paintings.com; margebride@aol.com; Facebook: Marguerite Bride Watercolors.

MARY ANN YARMOSKY

From the moment we are born we long for a way to be heard. For some words suffice, for others there needs to be a deeper form of expression.

That is how artists are born. Where one might send their message through an instrument in the form of music, another might write poetry or prose. Still others speak in something more tangible through painting, photography, pottery, or sculpting. Words only bring us so far…art is the language of longing…a longing that is never fulfilled.

I have always found expression through art. At the age of five I began speaking through the piano that sat waiting expectantly in our den, an instrument that brought me peace throughout the years. Later I took to creating through fashion design, dreaming up and constructing costumes for the Boston Opera Company and outfits for the fashionable elite of Newport, Rhode Island. From there my path took many twists and turns as I lived a life as a wife, mother, caretaker and pursuant of a professional career.

TWO HAIKUS

A lone Blackbird sits dressed always in mourning for the fallen snow

A brown leaf shivers atop the barren maple the wind ushers home

—Rose Oliver

It was when my youngest son passed away unexpectedly several years ago that my longing to be heard returned with a vengeance. Words did not suffice. There are no words to express that kind of grief and longing for what is lost. On that journey of anguish, I met other women who had or were experiencing their own kind of pain. I marveled at their resilience and ability to go on despite different kinds of loss or simply dealing with the uphill complexities of life’s challenges. Through paint and a bit of canvas I began to recover my voice, but it’s not just my voice. The women I create in paint are a composite of the many amazing women I have met and continue to meet. I paint their humor, their joy and their hidden heartbreak and longing. These women do not exist except on canvas and their stories are yours to imagine. Hear them.

Mary Ann Yarmoskymaryannyarmoskyart.com

© Andrea Feldman

COUNTRY ROAD, WATERCOLOR

KATE KNAPP

Astrology for Creators (March 2023)

Saturn in Pisces Transit: Restriction with Art, Drugs and Spirituality?

March is one of the most significant turning points for 2023 as, both Saturn and Pluto will move signs. I’ve already written about Pluto moving into Aquarius, which you can read about in my January and February 2023 columns. This month, I will focus on Saturn moving into Pisces starting on March 7, 2023, for three years and contemplate how this might impact the world of creators. I will outline a general overview of themes associated with Saturn in Pisces, give some examples of how it impacted art in the past and how it could manifest in the next three years.

A General Overview of Saturn in Pisces Transits: Saturn is a karmic teacher that often brings in restriction to create growth or it calls us to get serious in our commitments. In a more toxic manifestation, it can create authoritarian leaders who restrict based on their own subjective perceptions of an ideal. Saturn has been in Aquarius for the past three years which started on March 2020. With Aquarius representing “the people” and humanitarian efforts, we saw a lot of restriction coming from the government towards “the people” in the form of lockdowns or authoritarian resistance against protests. As of March 7th, 2023, Saturn shifts into Pisces bringing restriction, lessons, and a call to commitment in areas ruled by this sign such as art, spirituality, the transcendental, healing, the subconscious, dreams, healing, escapism, illusion, deception, drugs, and alcohol. As an example, there may be more attention paid to the harmfulness of spiritual cults and legal restrictions will come into effect to limit any harm caused by them. Simultaneously, there will be renewed interest in society towards spirituality that is more serious, committed, routine, and grounded.

What is interesting about this transit is that Neptune has been in Pisces since April 2011 and will remain there until 2026 with Saturn. I anticipate this might create some tension as Neptune, would be increasing the qualities of Pisces while Saturn will be trying to restrict it. What this feels like to me is something becoming more serious around drugs and/or mind-altering substances. As an example, the Neptune in Pisces has likely been contributing to more energy around drug addiction since 2011 but, during this three-year Saturn transit we may see authorities stepping into consider restrictions. Overall, when I think of these transits it feels like an episode of the recent show “Nine Perfect Strangers” (spoiler alert) where a group of people meet up at “Tranquillum,” an expensive wellness retreat, to find out that their spiritual guru, Masha, has been dosing them with psychedelics, mushrooms and MDMA without their consent for the purpose of healing and a spiritual hallucinogenic experience. Eventually things get out of hand. If you added in some artificial intelligence (A.I.), robots, virtual reality, and art therapy into the mix of that show, I think you will have the flavour of 2023-2026. I think things will get a bit messy in these areas in the next few years, very much like the final episode of that series, to bring us to the point where we see where the restrictions will be needed. There is often a mess when creating something new and through trial and error we find a balance that is less chaotic. Sometimes it is the restrictions that create

the healthy balance for the transcendental to be experienced.

Restriction and Art in the Past with Saturn in Pisces Transits:

One of the recent times that Saturn was in Pisces was between 1935 – 1938. What is most striking about this time when thinking about a toxic expression of Saturnian restriction is the Nazi Regime in Germany. Between 1933-1945 the Nazi Regime censored “degenerate art” based on Adolf Hitler’s personal artistic preferences for Classical, Greek, or Roman art and distain for 20th century modern art. One of the artists whose works were banned and, in some cases, destroyed during this time was that of the German avant-garde painter, Elfriede Lohse-Wächtler. Specifically in December 1935, she stopped painting after a traumatic event where she was forced into surgical sterilization on the grounds of Nazi eugenicist policies. On July 19th, 1937, an exhibition was mounted by the Nazis in Munich called, Entartete Kunst (“Degenerate Art”).

Of all the artworks of this period, what strikes me as having the most Saturnian seriousness and restriction is Picasso’s Guernica (1937) which depicts in a Cubist style the bombing of Guernica, a city in Spain's Basque region. Not only is this painting embodying Saturnian seriousness that examines war but, if you think about it, Cubism, by its virtue, includes a simplification (a Saturnian restriction) of forms. I find it interesting that in the next Saturn in Pisces transit of 1964-1967 the art world saw the Maruki Gallery established in 1967 that became a permeant home for the Hiroshima Panels by Maruki Iri and Maruki Toshi which expressed the consequences of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Both of these significant works are also monochromatic; restricting colours.

It is also notable that restriction of forms and colours went to the extreme in the 1960s and early 1970s with Minimalism, which stripped away the elements of art or music until there was almost nothing. It was about getting down to what was essential and thus using restriction to find meaning. While this movement happened before, during and after the Saturn in Pisces transit of 1964-1967, it is important to consider that planetary energy is like waves which starts showing influence before, peaks during and then fades away after the transit happens.

What is Next for Art with this Saturn in Pisces Transit?

I feel that once Saturn moves into Pisces, we may start to see lawsuits and restrictions placed on A.I. art such as it being limited as to how much it can source through Stable Diffusion from living artists. I think further restrictions will be placed on A.I. art once the dangers of the illusionary (Pisces/Neptunian) qualities of it are revealed, such as how it can completely create false online identities or a reality of a person without their permission. We already have this happening to a certain degree with fake Facebook/Instagram/Twitter accounts but, with this transit, it may go to an uncontrollable level. On the opposite end of the spectrum, a digital illustrator, Ben Moran, was rejected on December 27, 2022, from a Reddit forum because his work looked too much like, and was mistaken for, A.I. generated art. Going forward, how will we be able to tell what is real in terms of images, photos, artwork, and videos? If it is at this point now, imagine what it will be like if A.I. humanoid robot artists come into play. Could it become hard to tell what is human?

It is important to acknowledge that there have been artists harmed by A.I. generated art and Stable Diffusion when it overtly steals from living artists to the degree of replicating elements of their signatures however, I also want to offer how this technology could create a positive manifestation. I have been wondering if the Stable Diffusion technology and A.I. generated art may be a first and important step towards virtual reality which will be-

come a new form of art medium in the future. I see this art form as being very aligned with Pisces as it would promote illusionary worlds of escapism. There may be certain types of virtual creations that would simply be impossible for a single human to input into code however, through Stable Diffusion the artist could become a director or creator of an entire virtual world. Just as the invention of the camera didn’t replace painting, I don’t see this new art form needing to replace human artists however, certain boundaries (Saturn) would need to be put into place as to not harm living human painters, sculptors, digital artists, etc. Even human artists have legal limits when it comes to what they can source in visual materials such as respecting copyright restrictions. This new art form may be the beginning technology of the holodeck we first saw on Star Trek: The Next Generation. While the Neptune in Pisces transit tendency towards addiction gives me some concerns about Lieutenant Barclay style “holodiction” (see Star Trek TNG 3x21 "Hollow Pursuits") my mind also goes to the healing benefits (which is also very Pisces). In the right conditions with the right counselling guide, a grieving person could create an artificial reality where they get to process some of their grief with an A.I. version of their lost loved one. It may not be real but, it could assist a client in certain phases of healing. This has already happened on a smaller level in the case of Marina Smith, an 87-year-old woman who passed away in June 2022. At her funeral in the U.K. a version of Marina Smith was able to address guests and answer questions through an A.I. system that generated a holographic and conversational video experience created by StoryFil. Personally, if my mother passed, I wouldn’t want to talk to an A.I. version of her at the funeral. For me, those conversations are a sacred experience that happen in dreams, visions, and synchronistic happenings. For others, this technology might assist in their grieving process. It could also become an addiction that cuts one off from the real world, as was the case for Lieutenant Barclay. The other caution I have with A.I. generated art or Stable Diffusion is the loss of developing one’s creativity by sourcing it out to technology to do it for us. I see this as a shadow aspect which could disconnect us from what it means to be human which, in my opinion, has to do with our ability to be the creator, connect with our own spirituality and be in relationship. In the highest expression, technology should be opening us up to have more time to develop these aspects. Right now, technology is starting to take over the creative parts and most humans are still doing the grit work that keeps them from exploring their creativity. I become concerned that if society largely disconnects from human actions of creativity and connection that it could forget what being a human is and relinquish it without a second thought.

I feel very cautious about where technology is going and how it impacts art however, in a healthy balance and in certain situations such as discussed in the former, it could be used to create a new art form, promote healing, and empower. While it is important to acknowledge that Stable Diffusion has caused harm to certain artists and some boundaries need to be put in place, this technology may have needed to happen for later advancements, such as something like a future holodeck-like technology, to be created. Saturn’s energy coming into play may assist to push for compensation to the artists who were harmed but, also put in place reasonable restrictions on Stable Diffusion technology that still allow it to grow into its own artform. I think what this period is about with Saturn coming into Pisces is asking ourselves, “What restrictions will be needed so that this new artistic technology can take on the more positive manifestation without causing harm?”

Deanna Musgrave is an artist, energy worker, channel, astrologer and hypnotherapist. You can contact her through her websites at:

www.deannamusgrave.com www.artisthehealer.com

Something For Over The Couch PART 20 Cat Turd In The Cathedral

My father had been involved with the woman named Nena, at the time of his death. I never could have imagined it. Nena had made a deep and permanent impression on me, but it was the old, presumably insane Harmonica man that disturbed me the most.Why would I be bothered by this old man calling me Van gogo? Let me explain. I said in the first chapter of this story. “My older brother would introduce me to his friends saying, “This is my brother Dicky, he paints pictures.” This was said in jest, but it revealed the notion that painting pictures was something that simpletons do. Then there was my mother who seemed to be convinced that painting pictures was an indication that I was not normal. This was some oddity of my own family I thought, but the visit to Nena’s restaurant exposed me to the prejudice of the poor to the fine arts. Nena and her father were poor in a way I had never witnessed, because it is one thing to read Dickens and imagine you know what poverty is. For Dickens poverty involves suffering and desperation, but it is picturesque suffering, a suffering we almost want to partake of. But when you actually enter the environment of poverty it is not at all picturesque. On my way home from my visit to Nena’s I stopped half way and went into our city's new museum of modern art, and for the thousandth time I stood in front of their Jackson Pollock painting, the most important painting in the museum's permanent collection, even though its paint was hardly even dry. I stood there looking at it and I thought, ‘What would the Harmonica Man think of this painting, and this gigantic empty room in which it is being displayed?’

To put it bluntly, it was an object that would have made any poverty stricken man puke, because if spilled and splattered paint was a thing to be respected to the point of idolization what possible alteration in the conduct of their own life could lead to a more favorable outcome? I was reminded of what Voltaire, the art critic, had said about Pollack. “Paintings done on the garage floor are indeed something to be looked down upon.”

The art museum I was standing in that afternoon was a grand and imposing structure. Not only was it grand and imposing it was without ornament and composed of gray granite slabs, and in the center a wide staircase leading up to the entry. If it had a motto engraved above the entryway, it might have said, “Oh visitor, prepare to feel humbled, as you stand before the greatest art created by man (and women). But what might one think if being hectored by the building, you went in and all you found in the center of the gigantic room was a pedestal with a cat turd on it. But, you say, there might be some bad art in museums, but surely no cat turds, no one would

put a cat turd on a pedestal and expect you to respect it, perhaps pray to it, even on your knees. But there are cat turds that are worshiped in some places, for example:

My Uncle Frank and my Uncle Joe made a trip to the old country because we have relatives in some village in Calabria. At Christmas during the annual family feast we all asked them what it was like, but they were ‘men of few words,’ as the saying goes, and at first they said nothing. Then Uncle Frank’s face clouded over and he said, “We went in, we looked around, we emptied our pockets on the table, we came home with our suitcases empty. It was, it was,” but words failed him to describe the poverty of our relatives in Calabria. Uncle Joe said nothing at all. Later, when Uncle Frank had a few glasses of wine he began to talk more fluently about our relatives and their village. He said, “It's all poverty everywhere but in the center of the town there is a magnificent church, like you could never find in America. It was built to house a relic, the finger of Saint Jerome, they said. The finger was in a reliquary, coated with gold and diamonds. Inside we saw the finger and it looked like a little cat turd. People come in, light a candle, and then kneel down and say prayers and beseech the cat turd.” Then Uncle Frank began to laugh a loud drunken laugh until Uncle Joe banged his fist on the table and cried out, “Stop it.”

I thought about the church with the cat turd as I looked at the Rothko located in a less important position in our museum. I asked myself, ‘are these paintings great works of art, or are they really just cat turds in a reliquary.’ But I wanted to be a modern artist more than anything, and everything was conflicted. The next day was Saturday , and I headed for my job where I was paid three fifty an hour to visit with the Doctor’s wife, who was also my art teacher.

I wanted to tell her about my trip to Nena’s restaurant, and to describe my strange encounter with that woman and her father, but when I began to tell my story I suddenly realized I couldn’t bring myself to talk about Nena. I had an uneasy feeling that she would be annoyed by the subject, so I did not mention her but instead I started to attack the art museum, as if I was personally offended by the art in the collection. She listened to me patiently till I finished , and I ended my dissertation by saying, “How can art be great if it insults the understanding of the common man?”

After a moment she said my name, actually what she said was, “Oh Richard Richard Richard, whose side are you on. Remember when your father died, you said if there was a switch you could pull to stop the world, and throw everything into chaos, you would pull it. Do you remember how angry you were because a fly on a windowsill in your attic had life, and your father did not. Do you recall how you destroyed the bathroom of that gas station, piece by piece day after day, till it was a ruin. Well Mr. Jackson Pollock is just like you, or you are like him, because he is pulling that switch over and over again, impotently you could say, because he stopped nothing except his own life, in the car wreck that ended his pathetic drunken life. And in his rage against our society in which he had no part, there were two groups cheering him on. people you find in our prisons and insane asylums, who feel rage and hate for our society in which they also have no part. And on the other side, all those millions of people who

go to work each day, and work like on a treadmill, next to their open graves. They too would tear everything up, throw their typewriter across the room and curse the nearest stranger, if they only could. They long for their life to be like one of Jackson’s paintings, wild, free, unconstrained by the rules of either art or society.

But what happened to him? Look magazine looked at him and his paintings and decided that he needed to be on the cover. They did not want their viewers to admire or appreciate his paintings, they wanted to simply ridicule such obvious trash. The title read, Pollaok, the greatest artist in America? To them it was obvious that his paintings could never be anything other than the stupidity of the modern art movement. On a national scale it was the exact same thing as ‘This is my brother Dicky, he paints pictures,’ because popular culture has always assumed that modern art is just a butt for jokes. Then, because of that article Jackson discovered that he was suddenly world famous. All it took was some ridicule in a national magazine, to launch his career. But he was a person entirely without the emotional or intellectual equipment to deal with the situation. He was already an alcoholic when all this happened to him. A friend of mine saw him drunk late at night, sitting on the curb in the street. He was saying, ‘I am the greatest artist in America, aren't I?’ He was so combative and difficult that at the height of his career he had no representation.”

“What is representation?” I asked her.

“Representation is when a gallery agrees to sell you work, and give you shows.”

What followed this question and the answer was an explanation I could hardly believe. Hanna explained to me that artists never sold their own work. That one had to be represented by a gallery, and the gallery would take half the money. Also, not having representation meant you could not have a real career as an artist. I listened to her with a strange growing irritation, and finally I said to her. “I sold a painting to your husband and I did not have representation.”

“Richard,” she replied, "he only bought the painting in order to get you to mow the lawn on Saturdays, he doesn’t have any interest in paintings.”

To this shocking revelation I just sat there mute, and Hanna's face became crimson with embarrassed regret over what she had said.

“Well then, Hanna Hanna Hanna,” I said, “who represented Rembrandt, DaVinci and Michelangelo, and who gave them shows. Isn’t it all phony baloney? I see, it is all the stupid stuff your former husband was involved with isn't it?”

“Well,” she said , “It can’t be helped, it's the world we live in, if you don’t like it, write to the Pope, and ask if he will commission a painting for over a Vatican fireplace.”

—Richard Britell

PARTS 1 THROUGH 19, AT SPAZIFINEART COM (SHORT STORIES)