The artful mind artzine for august 2017

THE ARTFUL MIND THE BERKSHIRES SOURCE FOR PROMOTING the ARTS

SINCE 1994

CAROLINE KINSOLVING PHOTOGRAPHY BY EDWARD ACKER

Free!

August 2017

EDWARD ACKER PHOTOGRAPHER

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

MEMORIES AND DREAMS: the art of Bertil Vallien

photo: Göran Örtegren

August 2017

Bertil Vallien, M-Janus I, 2017, cast glass, 7 x 9 x 4.25 “

Schantz Galleries contemporary glass

Elm Street, Stockbridge, Ma

413•298•3044

schantzgalleries•com

ART

SUMMER SEASON CALENDAR

AUGUST 2017

510 WARREN STREET GALLERY 510 WARREN STREET, HUDSON, NY 518-822-0510 510warrenstreetgallery@gmail.com / 510warrenstreetgallery.com "Grids, Drips and the Drawn Line" paintings by NANCY FELCHER; Guest Artist Peter Head (Friday & Saturday, 12 - 6, Sunday 12 - 5 or by app)

LICHTENSTEIN CENTER FOR THE ARTS 28 RENNE AVE, PITTSFIELD, MA locoMOTION: Karen Chase paintings: Aug 3 - Aug 26; opening reception Sunday Aug 6, 4-6pm; attire: anything black and/or white, Live Jazz. Hours: Wed-Sat 11-4pm 413 - 822 - 6073 to arrange to view paintings

ARGAZZI ART 22 MILLERTON RD, LAKEVILLE, CT argazziart.com Ongoing exhibit

LISA VOLLMER PHOTOGRAPHY NEW STUDIO + GALLERY 325 STOCKBRIDGE ROAD, GT. BARRINGTON 413-429-6511 / www.lisavollmer.com The Studio specializes in portrait, event, editorial and commercial photography : by appointment. The Gallery represents Sabine Vollmer von Falken, Thatcher Hullerman Cook, Carolina Palermo Schulze and Tom Zetterstrom. (Open daily from 11-4pm closed on Wednesdays)

BERKSHIRE ART MUSEUM

NORTH ADAMS, MA 159 E MAIN ST, NORTH ADAMS, MA 413-664-9550 Sculpture by Robert Wilk

BERKSHIRE REGIONAL ART GUILD DOWNTOWN PITTSFIELD, INC, FIRST FRIDAYS ARTSWALK 33 DUNHAM MALL, PITTSFIELD, MA Opening Reception: Friday, September 1st, from 5:00 to 8:00; Artwork on display for the month of September

CHESTERWOOD 4 WILLIAMSVILLE RD, STOCKBRIDGE, MA The country home, studio, and gardens of America’s foremost public sculptor, Daniel Chester French. Open to the public and a gift for all to see this season.

CLAIRE TEAGUE SENIOR CENTER 917 SOUTH MAIN ST., GT. BARRINGTON, MA 413-528-l881 See the newly rehung permanent collection. Eunice Agar paintings. Regular Hours: Monday- Friday, 8:00 AM 3:30pm CLARK ART INSTITUTE 225 SOUTH ST, WILLIAMSTOWN, MA ORCHESTRATING ELEGANCE ALMA-TADEMA AND DESIGN Through September 4

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

DENISE B CHANDLER FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHY & PHOTO ART 413-637-2344 or 413-281-8461 (leave message) *Lenox home studio & gallery appointments available. *Exhibiting and represented by Sohn Fine Art, Lenox, MA. DIANA FELBER GALLERY 6 HARRIS ST., WEST STOCKBRIDGE, MA 413-854-7002dianafelbergallery.com Opening August 5: Three Artists, featuring the works of 2 • AUGUST 2017 THE ARTFUL MIND

artists who believe in protecting our natural world. Discover timeless original artworks by cutting edge contemporary artists in a historic Great Barrington building. The exhibition will be up through the end of August 2017.

MASS MoCA 1040 MASSMOCA WAY, NORTH ADAMS, MA 413-662-2111 Chris Domenick: 50 Days. On view now.

Sarah Brayer, Warner Friedman, and Harriette Joffe. This exhibit will run until September 10 with an opening reception Saturday, August 5, 6-8pm. (Open 11-6pm, closed Tues.)

FRONT STREET GALLERY 129 FRONT ST, HOUSATONIC, MA • 413-274-6607 Kate Knapp oils and watercolors and classes open to all.

GOOD PURPOSE GALLERY 40 MAIN STREET, LEE, MA • 413-394-5045 Esperanza Vive! featuring work by Dr. Michael McManmon and student work from the College Internship Program (CIP). Opening Saturday, August 19, 5 - 9 pm to enjoy Mexican food, music, and art. The event is open to the public at no cost and the exhibition is open from August 8 until October 2.

JOHN DAVIS GALLERY 362 1/2 WARREN ST, HUDSON, NY • 518-828-5907 art@johndavisgallery.com Ongoing exhibit

LAUREN CLARK FINE ART 325 STOCKBRIDGE RD, GT. BARRINGTON MA 413-528-0432 Lauren@LaurenClarkFineArt.com www.LaurenClarkFineArt.com NOCA in the Berkshires, glass art work thru Aug 20;

L’ATELIER BERKSHIRES 597 MAIN STREET, GREAT BARRINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS www.atelierberks.com. • 510-469-5468 natalie.tyler@atelierberks.com “FLORA & FAUNA”, an exhibition of artworks by

MARGUERITE BRIDE HOME STUDIO AT 46 GLORY DRIVE PITTSFIELD, MA 413- 841-1659 or 413-442-7718 MARGEBRIDE-PAINTINGS.COM FB: MARGUERITE BRIDE WATERCOLORS Original watercolors, house portraits, commissions, fine art reproductions. Seasonal scenes always on exhibit at Crowne Plaza, Pittsfield; Studio visits by appt. On Saturday, August 5, she will hold her 3rd Annual Home Art Sale, at 46 Glory Street, Pittsfield from 10am – 3pm (rain date August 6). Here you will find some older framed paintings, also prints (collographs), drawings, and lots of unframed originals, and many special specials. Each year she also features some new paintings as well.

August 19-20 --- Stockbridge Art Show - Main Street, Stockbridge, Mass. Juried fine art and craft show sponsored by the Stockbridge Chamber of Commerce. This is Bride’s 3rd year exhibiting in this show. Held rain or shine, free admission, ample parking. Hours: Saturday 10am - 5pm, Sunday 10am - 4pm.

MORRISON GALLERY 25 NORTH MAIN STREET, KENT, CT Turbulence Series: Greg St. John

NORMAN ROCKWELL MUSEUM 9 GLENDALE RD, STOCKBRIDGE, MA • 413-298-4100 Reinventing America: Rockwell and Warhol, thru Oct 29 *Norman Rockwell Museum has been proud to take part in Dance For The Arts, a unique collaboration between cultural organizations in the Berkshires this summer. Join us at the season wrap party on Thursday, August 31, 710 p.m. at The Egremont Village in Egremont, MA. All proceeds go to benefit MASS Creative, a state-wide organization supporting the efforts of our creative community.

R&F HANDMADE PAINTS 84 TEN BROECK AVENUE, IN MID-TOWN, KINGSTON, NY • 845-331-3112 Encaustic paints and supplies, gallery ROBERT FORTE

WWW.ROBERTFORTE.COM

Atlantic Gallery 548 West 28th St., NYC October 17 through November 4. Opening reception is scheduled for October 19, 5-8:30 pm.

SAINT FRANCIS GALLERY SOUTH LEE, MA Ongoing exhibit of art

SCHANTZ GALLERIES 3 ELM ST, STOCKBRIDGE, MA • 413-298-3044 schantzgalleries.com The Art of Bertil Vallien. Memories and Dreams, The Art of Bertil Vallien, from August 4-27. A destination for those seeking premier artists working in glass

SCULPTURENOW: GUIDED TOUR OF EXHIBIT THE MOUNT, LENOX Sundays at 1:30 PM

SIENNA PATTI CONTEMPORARY 80 MAIN ST, LENOX, MA MEG ARSENOVIC, AMELIA TOELKE through August 16, 2017; SOLO EXHIBITION: MELANIE BILENKER MOTHER. August 19 - September 18, 2017. Artist reception Saturday, August 19 4 - 6; artist talk: Sunday, August 20 11am.; IN THE GALLERY New and archival works by gallery artists including Helen Britton, Julia Maria Künnap, Jamie Bennett.

SOHN FINE ART GALLERY, PRINTING, FRAMING & WORKSHOPS 69 CHURCH STREET, LENOX MA • 413-551-7353 Contemporary photography by local and international artists. We also offer photographic services, archival pigment printing and framing services.

THE INVISIBLE FOUNTAIN 116 PLEASANT STREET SUITE #206, EASTWORKS BUILDING EASTHAMPTON MA • 413.896.8073 invisiblefountain.com NOT NOT ART is the newest showing of paintings by Luke J. Cavagnac at gallery open: Monday - Friday + sometimes on the weekend. Please come to the Opening/Party:Sat Aug 12, 7-10pm

THE RIVER ART PROJECT STOCKBRIDGE STATION, 2 DEPOT ROAD, STOCKBRIDGE, MA 413-298-5163 www.riverartproject.com Up through September 4, 2017. Housatonic Valley Association August 9, 6-7:30 pm. Housatonic River Initiative Presentation: August 16, 6-7 pm. Bart Elsbach, Mary Sipp Green, Stephen Hannock, Scott Prior, and Jim SchantzGallery Hours: Open Thursday – Sunday 10:30 – 5:00 or by appointment VAULT GALLERY 322 MAIN ST, GT. BARRINGTON, MA • 413-644-0221 Marilyn Kalish at work and process on view, beautiful gallery with a wonderful collection of paintings

WILLIAMS COLLEGE MUSEUM OF ART 15 LAWRENCE HALL DR #2, WILLIAMSTOWN, MA 413-597-2429 Lex and Love: Meleko Mokgosi, thru 9/17. In two new chapters in his Democratic Intuition project Meleko Mokgosi (Botswana, b. 1981) Williams ’07, investigates the irresolvable contradiction that is democracy. Presented together for the first time at WCMA, Lex and Love con-

sider the daily experiences of diverse populations who occupy southern Africa.

EVENTS

BERKSHIRES ARTS & CULTURE FESTIVAL www.berkshiresartsfestival.com/#sthash.uloipj1K.dpuf

AUG 17-20: Now in its 16th year, the Berkshires Arts Festival is recognized nationally as one of the most respected annual summer art events in the country. The festival is rated by the Berkshires Visitors Bureau as one of the top ten "Hot Spots" in Western Mass and is highly recommended as one of THE places to go for family get-togethers. With its relaxed atmosphere, great food, fantastic art & fine crafts, there are plenty of things for the entire family to enjoy. See website for locations.

BIDWELL HOUSE MUSEUM Sat, Aug 19: History Talk: Cuffee Negro, Berkshires’ First Black Real Estate Agent by Bernard A. Drew, Berkshires Historian and Author. Members: $10. Non-members: $15.

Held at Tyringham Union Church, Main Road, Tyringham.

10 a.m.

SANDISFIELD ARTS CENTER 5 HAMMERTOWN RD, SANDISFIELD, MA 413-258-4100 Soil and Shul in the Berkshires: The Untold Story of Sandisfield’s Jewish Farm Colony, presented by Lorraine German, Aug 27, 11-12:30pm THE 8TH ANNUAL BERKSHIRE DRUM & DANCE FEST BERKSHIRE COMMUNITY COLLEGE BOLAND THEATER IN THE KOUSSEVITSKY ARTS CENTER, PITTSFIELD, MA To support the Tamarack Hollow Nature and Cultural Center: Fri Oct 13, 7pm

MUSIC

CLUB HELSINKI HUDSON 405 COLUMBIA ST., HUDSON, NY Club Helsinki Hudson • 518-828-4800 Suzanne Vega: Aug 11, 9 pm show. Please go to website for complete schedule.

HUDSON HALL 327 WARREN ST, HUDSON, NY

Hudson Jazzworks Special Guest Artist: Guitarist Freddie Bryant with pianist Armen Donelian, saxophonist Marc Mommaas and Workshop Participants; Sunday, August 13 at 4:30pm.

Preceded by a free talk with the artists at 4:00pm. Tickets: $20 General Admission, $16 for Members & Seniors, Free for Students

LES TROISE EMME WINERY 8 KNIGHT RD., NEW MARLBOROUGH, MA 413-528-1015 Live music through the summer with Jeffrey Folmer, Aug 12, 1-4pm; singer/songwriter and Bruce Gregori, guitarist, Aug 19, 1-4pm

The Color Purple, Oct 7-14 SHAKESPEARE & COMPANY 70 KEMBLE STREET, LENOX MA Two Wharton Comedies Performances Run August 17 - September 10

WORKSHOPS

HUDSON HALL 327 WARREN ST, HUDSON, NY HELLO@HUDSONHALL.ORG

Tin Can Papermaking with Kenneth Polinskie Tuesday - Thursday, August 15,16, 17 from 4-6pm Ages 8-14. Come turn your old newsprint, comics, laundry lint and paper towels into beautiful handmade notepaper, pulp paintings and hanging ornaments with master paper artist, Kenneth Polinskie. Space is limited, registrations recommended

IS183 ART SCHOOL OF THE BERKSHIRES

13 WILLARD HILL ROAD, STOCKBRIDGE, MA 413-298-5252 x100 is183.org A great selection of art classes in all mediums this summer.

Start planning by checking out the schedule available on line now!

R&F HANDMADE PAINTS 84 TEN BROEK AVE, KINGSTON, NY 800-206-8088 Pigment Stick Fundamentals: Served with a Side of Experimentation: Wednesday Aug 23 - Fri Aug 25. Cost: $400.00

FILM

CLARK ART INSTITUTE 225 SOUTH STREET, WILLIAMSTOWN, MA Free Film: Neruda Aug 21; 7:00-9:00pm. Join us on Monday evenings this summer for Picasso in Film. This series features films in which Picasso and/or his art is a seminal aspect of the film’s narrative, plot, or the artistic creativity of the film’s protagonist.

artfulmind@yahoo.com

ISSUU.COM 413 854 4400 artfulmind@Yahoo.com

THEATRE

BERKSHIRE THEATRE GROUP THE GARAGE 11 SOUTH ST, PITTSFIELD, MA Berkshire Theatre Group announces a brand new series, the $10 Music Garage. This series is devoted to presenting emerging musicians and regional talent.

PROCTORS 432 STATE ST. , SCHENECTADY, NY

THE ARTFUL MIND AUGUST 2017 • 3

THE ARTFUL MIND ARTZINE AUGUST 2017

A LINE IS A DOT THAT WENT FOR A WALK ..... . . . . . .

WAYNE DONELON Photographs...Natalie Tyler Interview...Harryet ...14

ANGELA MANNO

BARBARA DONCASTER

Photographers: Jane Feldman, Janet Soderberg and Jean Jacques Dubois Interview...Harryet ... 20 CAROLINE KINSOLVING Photographs Cover and inside: Edward Acker Other photographers credited Interview...Harryet ...32

JEFF LINK Photography by Lee Everett Interview...Harryet ...42 JENNIFER PAZIENZA Photos supplied by artist Interview...Harryet ...48 EIKO OTAKE Interview and photography by Sydney Keyes...54 JOYCE SILVER Interior Photograph by Natalie Tyler Interview...Harryet ...56 FICTION: Virginia Woolf and Dostoefsky Richard Britell ..58 Grandma Becky’s Recipes

Laura Pian ...41

Paintin’ the Town! by Natalie Tyler ....59

Contributing Writers and Monthly Columnists Richard Britell, Laura Pian, Natalie Tyler Photographers Edward Acker, Lee Everett, Jane Feldman Sabine von Falken, Alison Wedd Publisher Harryet Candee Intern Sydney Keyes

Copy Editor Marguerite Bride

Editorial Proofreading Kris Galli Advertising and Graphic Design Harryet Candee

artfulmind@yahoo.com Quote Meister Bruce MacDonald

413 854 4400 ALL MATERIAL due the 5th of the month prior to publication

FYI: ©Copyright laws in effect throughout The Artful Mind for logo & all graphics including text material. Copyright laws for photographers and writers throughout The Artful Mind. Permission to reprint is required in all instances. In any case the issue does not appear on the stands as planned due to unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control, advertisers will be compensated on a one to one basis.

4 • AUGUST 2017 THE ARTFUL MIND

WATERMEDIA Studio/Gallery “a working studio”

by Chance or Appointment (cell) 561-632-2017 413-528-2120

345 State Road Great Barrington, Massachusetts

www.barbaradoncaster.com

SCHANTZ GALLERIES CONTEMPORARY GLASS THE ART OF BERTIL VALLIEN

Schantz Galleries will be exhibiting: Memories and Dreams, The Art of Bertil Vallien, from August 4-27.

“I like working with themes. They’re like maxims that might be used to set off a whole chain of events. Glass offers opportunities like no other material. It has everything. It has an inner power of suggestion; it has light, heat and cold. Interior depths have always appealed to me more than the outer surface. For me, the blowing room is the center of everything. It’s like ladling matter out of a volcano and watching the glowing lava turn to ice. Knowing the exact moment at which to capture a shift of light or expression and wrench the secret from the glass is what it’s all about.”

From the Crystal Kingdom in Sweden to Schantz Galleries in Stockbridge, comes this exhibition of Vallien’s signature sand-cast glass works reflecting the artist’s thoughtful exploration of the multi-faceted relationship of the human journey.

Bertil Vallien’s focus on looking inward is achieved in myriad ways, one of which is his unique glassmaking technique. A leader in the Swedish glass industry for more than 40 years, Vallien formulated his own method for casting glass in sand that creates depth and radiance in the material. Artworks are driven not by their final appearance—although their visual impact is stunning—but rather by their content. Vallien’s preparatory sketches are carefully considered blueprints of both the external form and the inner details.

Layers—both physical and psychological—are created through a multistep process. Surface textures result from the imprint of objects placed on the walls of the mold, which are also dusted with powdered metal oxides to release color. As the molten glass is poured into the mold, Vallien incorporates a variety of objects from sheet metal and glass threads, to figures and other colored forms. Once the glass cools, the suspended animation reveals itself in full glory. Light reflects off the brilliant surfaces and assorted angles of the perimeter, but more dramatically it emanates from within.

Schantz Galleries Contemporary Glass, 3 Elm Street, Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Exhibition Hours: Open daily, 10 - 6pm; Tel: 413-298-3044 www.schantzgalleries.com

FINE LINE MULTIMEDIA STING PHOTOGRAPH BY LEE EVERETT

LIVE PERFORMANCE PHOTOGRAPHY AND VIDEO

Fine Line Multimedia provides single or multicamera video of music, dance and theater performances. Services include: scripting and storyboard art, videography with professional high definition cameras, high quality audio recording, sensitive lighting design and creative editing with the latest non-linear editing system.

For the past 45 years Fine Line Multimedia has provided audio/video performance production for The Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood, Berkshire Performing Arts Center, National Music Foundation, Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic, United Way of the Berkshires, Arlo Guthrie, Rising Son Records, Bobby Sweet, World Moja, Phil Woods, Grace Kelly, Heather Fisch, Opera Nouveau, Ellen Sinopoli Dance Company and many more.

Fine Line was established in 1970 by Lee Everett in Lenox, Massachusetts. Everett came to the Berkshires after studying Advertising Design and Visual Communications at Pratt Institute and working for years as an Art Director in New York. He taught Art in local schools and began a full-service multimedia studio in Lenox specializing in the Performing and Visual Arts and other business and industry.

With Photography, Graphic Design, Advertising, Marketing, Audio/Video Production, Website, Social Network Creation and Administration together under one roof, Fine Line can satisfy the artistic communications and promotional needs of a wide range of clients.

Please look at some examples from our portfolios of work on our website and use the contact information on the site to get further information, to see more samples, photographs or video reels, for professional and client references or for a free project consultation.

Fine Line Multimedia - 66 Church Street, Lenox, MA; www.finelinelenox.com Contact: Lee Everett, 413-637-2020, everett@berkshire.rr.com

PETER DELLERT, EVOLUTION 4

LAUREN CLARK FINE ART STEEL, COPPER, ALUMINUM, BANDSAW

Lauren Clark Fine Art, in partnership with Mary Childs, presents “NOCA in the Berkshires”, works from the renowned North Cambridge Glass School and Studios, Cambridge, MA. This group of dedicated artists and educators present glass art work varying in style and technique, and includes pieces by David J. Benyosef, Carrie Gustafson, Peter Houk (Director of the MIT Glass Lab), Caleb Nichols and more.

These talented and innovative artists are core members of the thriving Boston based glass community, and we are proud to bring their work to the Berkshires.

Also premiering is the opening of Lauren Clark Fine Art Sculpture Garden, a presentation of the best New England Sculptors working in exterior and interior installations. Among the sculptors in the show are Peter Dellert, Wendy Klemperer, Shelley Parriot, Robin Tost and Joe Wheaton and others.

The glass show runs from July 22 through August 20. The sculpture show is ongoing.

For more information please visit LaurenClarkFineArt.com or for personal contact email Lauren@ LaurenClarkFineArt.com or call the gallery at 413.528.0432.

"Love is the voice under all silences, the hope which has no opposite in fear; the strength so strong mere force is feebleness: the truth more first than sun, more last than star."

— E.E. Cummings THE ARTFUL MIND JULY AUGUST 2017 • 5

THE RIVER ART PROJECT JIM SCHANTZ

BARBARA DONCASTER

On a hilltop overlooking the Berkshire Hills is Barbara W. Doncaster at Cranberry Hill a working studio. Barbara’s watercolors are unique. Her landscapes capture the beauty & reality of the Berkshires and the Maine coastline. Her abstract views that are simmering just below the surface is her landscapes, come to full bloom with her rendering of the world of botanicals. Her florals leap from the watercolor paper and immerse us in a boundless array of color.

Her wonderful sense of color makes each painting uniquely different from another, sending the viewer into a vast garden of shape, form, and design.

Barbara Doncaster’s working studio is located at 345 State Road, intersection of Routes 7 & 23. Take Rte. 23 East, one mile on left, Great Barrington, MA. 413-528-212- / cell: 561-632-2017. www.barbaradoncaster.com

FRONT ST. GALLERY KATE KNAPP

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

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

All levels and materials welcome. Private critiques available.

Classes at Front Street are for those wishing to learn, those who just want to be involved in the pure enjoyment of art, and/or those who have some experience under their belt. Perfect if you are seeking fresh insight into watercolors, and other mediums. A teacher for many years, Kate Knapp has a keen sense of each student’s artistic needs to take a step beyond. Perfect setting for setting up still lifes; lighting and space are excellent.

Peek in to see!

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

We face a time when our efforts to protect the environment and our rivers is more important than ever and water and air are of prime concern. Artist and gallerist Jim Schantz has organized an art exhibition for this summer that will honor the river. The River Art Project is an exhibition that features several nationally recognized painters who work with the river as their subject matter including; Bart Elsbach, Mary Sipp Green, Stephen Hannock, Scott Prior, and Jim Schantz.

The exhibition runs now through September 4 at the Stockbridge Station gallery space. The historic station was designed by architect Frank Waller. Built in 1893, it last served as an operating railroad station in 1960. The interior of the station has been slightly renovated to present the works with proper lighting and additional wall space.

The central mission of this exhibition project is to raise awareness of the beauty and importance of the river environment and offer opportunities to educate on how we can protect this valuable resource. The exhibition includes an educational component to present programs with environmentalists who can speak about protecting our water and air, and offer ways to be proactive in this regard.

On Wednesday, August 9 from 6 – 7:30pm Housatonic Valley Association’s Berkshire Director Dennis Regan will discuss his experiences and adventures from his ten-day 150 mile paddle from Hinsdale MA to the Long Island Sound. Tim Gray, Housatonic Riverkeeper, presents “An Introduction to the Housatonic River Initiative” on Wednesday, August 16 from 6 – 7:00pm.

Go to www.riverartproject.com/river-resources for more details on upcoming presentations and to listen to The River Art Project’s first River Presentation, President and Hudson Riverkeeper Paul Gallay’s “Who Doesn’t Want Clean Water?” Half of the net proceeds of the sale of each painting will be donated to these River organizations that are actively working to protect and preserve the Housatonic and Hudson Rivers.

Stockbridge Station, 2 Depot Road, Stockbridge, Massachusetts 01262 Tel: 413-298-5163; www.riverartproject.com Gallery Hours: Open Thursday – Sunday 10:30 – 5:00 or by appointment.

"We're all a little weird, and life's a little weird.

And when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love."

6 • AUGUST 2017 THE ARTFUL MIND

— Dr. Seuss

ROBERT FORTE

ro b e r t w i l k

FLIGHT FROM TYRANNY

WWW.ROBERTFORTE .COM

red/silver petal

berkshire art museum

h - 6 ' X l - 10 '

rwsculpture.com

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

Also available for private critiques.

Open to all. Please come paint with us!

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

Front Street, Housatonic, MA Kate Knapp

THE ARTFUL MIND AUGUST 2017 • 7

Mary Carol Rudin

Let Them Eat Cake - Chocolate

Signed, limited edition, GiclĂŠe prints available

View Mary Carol’s website for paintings on people, still life, landscapes, skyscapes, abstract and more...

www.mcrudin.com

marycarolrudin@earthlink.net

ELEANOR LORD

ro b e r t w i l k

ELEANORLORD.COM red/precarious

urbanite theatre, sarasota, fl

h - 6 ' X l - 10 '

rwsculpture.com

THE ARTFUL MIND AUGUST 2017• 9

10 • AUGUST 2017 THE ARTFUL MIND

ro b e r t w i l k

Kris Galli

Rose Gold

Oil on Canvas, 36x36

On View at Lauren Clark Fine Art, Great Barrington

krisgallifineart.com

menage a trois church street, lenox, ma

h - 6 ' X l - 10 '

rwsculpture.com

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JANE FELDMAN

www.janefeldman.com JANEFELDMANPHOTO@GMAIL.COM 917-710-5546

THE ARTFUL MIND AUGUST 2017• 11

COLLINS | EDITIONS

Opening in 2005, as Berkshire Digital, did fine art printing mainly for artists represented by The Iris Gallery of Fine Art before opening our doors to the public. We do color calibrated printing on archival papers. These archival prints, also known to many people as Giclée prints, can be made as large as 42” x 80”. Photographers & artists also use us to create limited editions of their images.

In addition to the printing services, collins | editions also offers accurate digital reproduction of paintings and illustrations for use in books, brochures, magazines, websites and postcards. Our website, www.CollinsEditions.com has a complete overview of services offered, along with pricing.

The owner, Fred Collins, has been a commercial and fine art photographer for over 30 years having had studios in Boston and Stamford. He offers over 20 years of experience with Photoshop™ enabling retouching, restoration and enhancement to prints and digital files.

The studio is located in Mt Washington but dropoff and pick up is also available through Frames On Wheels, located at 84 Railroad Street in Great Barrington, MA (413) 528-0997. Digital files can be easily loaded up to our FTP site. collins | editions studio - 220 East St, Mt. Washington, Massachusetts; 413-644-9663, fred@collinseditions.com, www.CollinsEditions.com

ISSUU.COM Read over 25 issues of The Artful Mind page by page!

GOOD PURPOSE GALLERY KAREN JACOBS, SUNSET 7, 30 X 40”

DIANA FELBER GALLERY WALTER FRIEDMAN, YOUNG LOVE, 90 X 84”

THREE ARTISTS

The Diana Felber Gallery will be opening a new show on August 5 called Three Artists, featuring the works of Sarah Brayer, Warner Friedman, and Harriette Joffe. This exhibit will run until September 10 with an opening reception Saturday, August 5, 68pm.

Though each of these artists works in very different styles, they are all well known in their respective worlds. The gallery is proud to present them in an exhibition this summer, where each is presented in their best light.

Sarah Brayer, a resident of Kyoto, Japan for many years, has taken on more than a lifestyle of Japan – She “paints” in a most original style – using “washi” paper – a handmade product into which color is added, creating many different effects – dreamy – ethereal – even nighttime skies.

Warner Friedman, well known to the Berkshires and far beyond, brings us his best work: architectural frameworks, with views to the countryside, whether a river, or cornfields. Sometimes he pairs his artworks with a painting that pays homage to modern masters like Picasso, Modigliani or Stuart Davis.

Harriette Joffe has been shown in galleries in Santa Fe and the Hamptons for many years. “This year we are pleased to bring some of her prolific work to the Berkshires. We will be showing her storied work, fables from the Bible and Fairy Tales.”

Diana Felber Gallery - 6 Harris St., West Stockbridge, Massachusetts; 413-232-7007. Gallery hours: open daily except Tuesdays, 11am - 6 pm.

ESPERANZA VIVE!

Good Purpose Gallery is pleased to present Esperanza Vive! featuring work by Dr. Michael McManmon and student work from the College Internship Program (CIP). Focusing on the gorgeous scenery and colorful life of his new home, his pieces invite the viewer to go on a visual journey of Mexico.

Join us for an opening celebration on Saturday, August 19, from 5 to 9 pm to enjoy Mexican food, music, and art. The event is open to the public at no cost and the exhibition is open from August 8 until October 2.

Dr. McManmon began exploring his artistic passion by drawing trees, and now works with a variety of mediums including pen, ink, watercolor, tempura, and photography. Dr. McManmon is also a speaker, writer, and psychologist, as well as the founder of the College Internship Program. CIP is a post-secondary program serving students on the Autism Spectrum and those with Learning Differences. Dr. McManmon is diagnosed as having Asperger’s Syndrome and continually supports and exhibits within the Good Purpose Gallery. By exhibiting his unique pieces in the gallery along with CIP students, we get to see how his style and theirs are unique and vibrant, embracing colors and shapes in distinctive ways.

The Gallery is honored to host this exciting and colorful exhibition of artists of various ages and ranges of neurodiversity. We seek to highlight and display their talents and this show is a wonderful display of artistic ability.

Good Purpose Gallery - 40 Main Street, Lee, Massachusetts.

413-394-5045; gallery@cipberkshire.org. Gallery hours: 10am – 4pm daily. For more information on the Gallery, visit our website: Goodpurpose.org or follow us on Facebook and Instagram or email us at gallery@cipberkshire.org for more information.

“The observation of nature is part of an artist’s life. It enlarges his knowledge, keeps him fresh, and feeds inspiration.”

- Henry Moore

12 • AUGUST 2017 THE ARTFUL MIND

ELIXIR

“Where did the summer go?”, is what many people are saying when August arrives. Certainly this summer had more rain and cooler days than many summers, making it seem shorter than others but, it is more than that.

We, the human species, tend to experience everything in terms of time and space. We live outside of the moment, always thinking of what is next or what has been. When we occupy ourselves in this way, we miss the moment we are in, right here, right now!

Often when people are eating delicious food, they begin to remember other foods they have enjoyed, or hearing a piece of music, think of another music memory…memory can also take us out of the moment …

What if we were to REALLY EXPERIENCE FULLY the moment we were in? If we truly slowed down enough to “see” and “hear” each other and the life around us?

This doesn’t mean that we exclude our memories or our plans for the future, it means we bring them into the moment, making the moment richer, while staying IN the moment.

Wilder captures this concept in “Our Town” when Emily goes back to her family after she has died and begs for her mother to really SEE her! The stage manager says in one of his monologues, “Everyone knows there is “something eternal”…

I have a beautiful first memory of my great grandmother, Grammy, and I rocking in her chair and looking out the window of her second floor apartment in Portsmouth. We are sipping tea while we watch the world passing by in the streets below. That tea, in that moment, has become “eternal” because it was FULLY EXPERIENCED! Any of you who have visited ELIXIR, know that it is not just a place to get delicious food and tea… just as the art of tea is a moment suspended in time, so is ELIXIR. In addition to our pure, peaceful ingredients and intentional preparations, we foster the MOMENT! We encourage our visitors to really take the time to experience the moment. It is an essential aspect of our philosophy and it is why our food and atmosphere have such a unique quality.

If you have not been to ELIXIR, we invite you to come and experience the moment suspended in time, and yes, we have a tea blend named after Grammy that evokes the first memory of the eternal moment.

May the rest of your summer be blessed with many of these moments!

ELIXIR - 70 Railroad Street, Great Barrington, Massachusetts; www.elixirgb.com; Facebook: elixir; instagram elixirllc; organictearoom@gmail.com; 413-644-8999.

ro b e r t w i l k

red/silver petal

berkshire art museum

h - 6 ' X l - 10 '

rwsculpture.com

THE ARTFUL MIND AUGUST 2017 • 13

WAYNE DONELON ARTIST & CRAFTSMAN

Interview by Harryet

Harryet: Were you a playful child, or did you just become playful after discovering you can make all these wonderful kinetic and stationary sculptures by just handling some wood and wire?

Wayne Donelon: I guess I’m still a playful child. I did start making things at an early age… when given a rubber band I could play for hours. I received a jigsaw at about age eight, as my friend Paul Heineken had one. We built small things, but I mostly remember the boats powered by rubber bands going around our bath tubs. Fingers are still intact.

With effortless joy you create animals, flowers, chairs and odd combinations of objects. I am wondering, is this a full-time career for you that has taken shape over the years?

Wayne: No, this is not a full-time career, just something I do when the mood strikes or I need to create 14 • AUGUST 2017 THE ARTFUL MIND

Photography by Natalie Tyler

something I saw… a pigeon in the park, a tennis player, a mama bird feeding the kids.

How did it start?

Wayne: One day about six years ago, I parked my truck in front of the Sanford Smith Gallery on Railroad Street. Sandy asked where I got the bird on the radiator cap. I said, “I made it!” He asked if I wanted to have a show, and I said sure, and asked him what he would need. He told me to make a dozen things and bring them to the gallery.

He called each day for more items as they were being purchased. A week later I received a call… a woman asking about my art. She said she was told to get some of my items for the Folk Art Museum In NYC. She asked, “How long have you been doing art?” I said, “A week.” She laughed…

A month or so later I was carrying a bird with a

party hat on, and playing with it on Newbury Street in Boston. As I was crossing the street, a man (George Sommer) asked where I got the bird. I said I had made it, and he asked me if I would make some for the Arts and Crafts Gallery, so I said sure, why not. One month later I was their featured artist, dong a window full of chickens.

As for my paintings, I often stopped at Kate Knapp’s studio in Housatonic. She asked me to come and paint, so I bought some poster paints and a canvas and showed up. She asked what I would like to paint. My truck, I said. She put me in the street with my supplies and I did a painting of my truck. Nice.

When I got home, I felt I could do better so, again, I painted my truck. I took a photo and sent it to my friend Charlie Flint… and also saw an ad in a magazine asking for submissions, so I sent it in. They put it on the back cover! They asked how long I’d been

Up the stairs into the world of Wayne Donelon’s studio painting. “Well, this is my second painting,” I replied.

There must have been a time in your life when had a conventional career, where you had to work for someone—possibly finding yourself bored or not challenged, or too challenged.

Wayne: I was a world-traveled salesman, selling industrial equipment and solving problems for manufacturing and such. I worked for or represented about 35 companies over 40 years. I mostly ate lunch for a living. Life was always an adventure, seeing how all kind of things are produced. I was always able to simplify a solution for the buyers.

Tell us what your childhood days were like. Where did you grow up?

Wayne: I grew up in central New Jersey in the town of Highland Park, a mile-square town where everybody knew everybody. In the 1950s life was a ball.

Sports and Boy Scouts took up lots of time, and I rode horses until age nine (doing great in the Madison Square Garden Horse Show).

From tiny to super large, you have tinkered and created things that move. What is it about movement and the act of turning that has fascinated you? Does it stem from one experience or just an overall love of motion?

Wayne: Who doesn't want their toys to come alive?

Think Pinocchio…

You don’t drive an average car. What is your relationships with the wheels in your life?

Wayne: Ah, the automobile. I just love that you can sit down move some levers and go pretty much anywhere. I did love coasting downhill on my bike… now I can sort of coast uphill, too. And my favorite car is my 1928 truck. I have had it for years.

Visiting your studio left Natalie and I feeling that this very busy and fun place is your sanctuary.

Have you put a lot of time into creating spaces that you thrive in? Or do you just love the art of collecting and placing and randomness, so it all looks like a wonderful museum?

Wayne: Not a sanctuary, just a place to make a mess and not have to clean up. No thought as to where things wind up in the space, just fun to see my STUFF. I think of it as The Museum Of Stuff.

Does fantasy have a lot to do with your art-making? Where do you generate these ideas that you’ve repeated in your designs over the years?

Are you interested in sci-fi?

Wayne: No fantasy. These are real things I see all around, each day. Not much of a science fiction person. Or am I? What is your all-time favorite film and/or book?

Wayne: Perhaps Same Time Next Year, or A Year In Provence. And most children's books.

What inspires you on a daily basis?

Wayne: Life, people, objects… when you are a kid, everything is interesting.

Continued on next page...

THE ARTFUL MIND AUGUST 2017 • 15

Wood and wire critters are constructed from found materials such as wood trim moldings, used wire, roof flashing and tire tube scraps

Wayne Donelon’s WooD anD Wire Critters Random, found objects make your mental gears turn. So how does a finished sculpture come to fruition when you have all these odd pieces collected and placed in front of you?

Wayne: The pieces are just begging to be reinvented.

Sometimes they sit awhile before they give me direction. Other times it’s like looking at clouds… you just see something.

If your life could be any different in any way, what would you change?

Wayne: Life is just super as it is! With all of the bumps, bruises and smiles.

Do people find things for you because they think you might possibly use them for a future art project?

Wayne: Rarely do people find or give me things for my projects. Most people don’t even know I make these things.

16 •AUGUST 2017 THE ARTFUL MIND

Contemporary American art is defined by you as… what?

Wayne: ART: Something created by a person—and it never WAS before.

How important is it for you to be in the artists’ market and gallery scene? Do you work at marketing much?

Wayne: I get more acceptance discussing art when people find out I make art, and I show them my YouTube stuff (WMDFORD). I do no marketing.

Playing with my stuff as I walk or eat lunch often gets people buying them. As Jason from Zinc said, “You’re not leaving with that horse!”

I also donate many items to fundraisers. But, again, people don’t usually know where they came from.

What in life holds your focus and challenges you, other than your art?

Wayne: Not much holds my focus for long (well… the stock market). My art is done quickly, so I get it

done while still excited.

What do you find most exciting and interesting when looking at the old masters’ art and sculpture? Any particular period of time in art history that’s your favorite? Why? Wayne: Ah yes… I am amazed at how they had to make everything: paint, brushes, frames and surface.

I did make some of my own paint brushes for a while… it took way longer then the painting!

All time periods produced great ideas. But there is something about the early 20th century…

Have you ever done any extreme sports? I would guess you might have participated in some great adventures! Climbed the Himalayas lately?

Machu Picchu? Or built a house with no corners?! Maybe you are a homebody?

Wayne: Nope... but I was an All-American javelin thrower. As far as adventures go, they are a regular Continued on next page...

wayne donelon pool painting and more sculptures

PHOTOS BY NATATLIE TYLER

Wayne’s sculptures can be found in the American Folk Art Museum in New York City as well as in various stores throughout New England

THE ARTFUL MIND AUGUST 2017• 17

Wayne Donelon’s window sill filled with found objects and fun furniture

occurrence with me, maybe because I always talk to people.

Do you work alone or with a partner, when it comes to your large sculptures—and also with the environment you’ve so skillfully carved out that surrounds your home? Or cooking, perhaps?

Wayne: I do my art alone… not many would get what the hell I am doing. Plus everything is done start to finish… NOW. Cooking is a quick as my art… fry up a filet from Guido’s, salt, pepper and eat... maybe some bread.

Wayne, what do you consider to be really funny? Anything make you LOL? Wayne: Real life is always good for a belly laugh, which means it is a daily happening.

18 •AUGUST 2017 THE ARTFUL MIND

When things don’t work out the way you have planned, do you tend to start over or start something new? Do you plan out your art pieces, or wing some of them depending on how you think they’re suppose to turn out.

Wayne: They all seem to work out. I do some planning with small sketches. I guess it’s lemons

photos: Natalie Tyler

and lemon aid. Because start-to-finish is quick, all is just fine. I don’t judge any of it! And then… something is that never was.

What was the best treasure you ever found, and what did you do with it?

Wayne: My imagination... always in use and willing to share.

What are some of your pet peeves?

Wayne: I have no pet peeves! Just glad to be here, and there is no time to fix the world… I just enjoy life… and pie.

What in your life has had a “happy-ever-after?”

Wayne: Life itself, and all its wonders.

When was the last time you got a real kick out of something you did, and what was that?

Wayne: Most everything I do is joyful… the best I can’t mention. But: I just cranked my car to start it, had a banana split for lunch, hit a great tennis shot and drank out of a hose!

Some say a sense of humor is like a dose of penicillin…

Wayne: More like oxygen!

Another view of Wayne’s studio and a series of photographs taken over the years of the same automobile he still loves to drive

What is your leisure time filled with? Do you attend the theatre, go see a film?

Wayne: I make a list of the goings on around here and go to most everything... plays, music, openings, town firsts and thirds, sports, garlic festivals, craft shows, flea markets, movies, Goodwill… I’ll go to the opening of a door.

And I really enjoy going to lunch!

What is your favorite pastime?

Wayne: Getting up and enjoying the day is great. My favorite pastime is a personal relationship.

What is your favorite season, and why?

Wayne: The one we are in, which up here covers all of them, some days.

Wayne, why did you fill in your pool?

Wayne: Water was too cold, and the animals were using it more then I was.

If you had three wishes, what would they be?

Wayne: I’m good, thanks.

If you could do something that you were never able to do, what would that be?

Wayne: I guess I’d be an artist. Oh, wait—did I make it?!

Where do you see your favorite art ?

Wayne: Anywhere I look. Kid’s art is the best, or the art from CATA. People doing without judgment. Just the joy of the moment.

Are you having an upcoming show of your work?

Wayne: I guess this article may force a show...

What are you presently working on?

Wayne: Answering all these questions.

What is your favorite saying—or something you hear yourself saying often?

Wayne: “How did you make that?” Just interested.

Thank you, Wayne!

Wayne can be reached at: wmdinc@roadrunner.com

THE ARTFUL MIND AUGUST 2017 • 19

Harryet: The opportunity to participate in your workshop would be such an amazing experience! How do you teach the enjoyment of color and light in painting? What will be the goal for the students?

Angela Manno: The most enjoyable part of my teaching, I think, is the actual heightened perception of color. Students leave after the first day noticing more colors than they ever had before.

The trained eye is capable of seeing thousands of color variations. The goal for my students is to perceive true color in the landscape, or even inan indoor still life, and begin to translate that into their paintings. My next workshop will be in Charlotte, Vermont in autumn, which will present a great opportunity for participants to enliven their art no matter what their level of expertise.

You are primarily a painter, so what made you decide to teach and give lectures?

Angela: The image evokes emotions at the heart level, but the word reaches the intellect. I am a natural teacher and so want my message to be as clear as possible. I am speaking now about my classes and writings in ecological spirituality. My art classes are a way to share my joy of painting en plein air.

Do you find that one or the other is easier to do? Teaching or painting, that is.

Angela: Painting is easiest for me. Preparing a class, a lesson plan, presenting theoretical material takes a lot of energy. I have a little stage fright so it makes it more challenging than teaching and demonstrating my art approach.

ANGELA MANNO Artist photo: Janet Soderberg

Interview by Harryet Photographs supplied by artist

20 • AUGUST 2017 THE ARTFUL MIND I LOVE YOU JEFF!

What is it about Monet’s painting techniques that attracts that passionate focus for you?

Angela: When I read Monet’s words, “All I have done is to look at what the universe has shown me in order to bear witness to it with my brush,” I realized that’s what I’m doing too. His techniques, which have been developed at the Cape Cod School of Art in order to teach them, are quite technical and somewhat counterintuitive, but the results can be phenomenal. When I discovered plein air painting, I was able to immerse myself for the first time in my subject matter.

This method of painting outdoors from life opened up an entirely new world and painting experience to me; it is more than just painting.

Much like an outdoor sport, it is physically demanding, and the constraints of time and weather are constant features. Plein air painting requires a blend of patience and alacrity as well as a unique kind of concentration—a state of mind that is both relaxed and alert—and the ability to be fully present in each moment. The objective, no matter what medium I am working with, is to bring my viewer along to see the world as I see it, the way it fascinates me and the way it pulls at my heart. What I see is numinous Beauty. My wish is to convey that sense of reverence to my viewers and collectors, and of course, to delight the eye!

What Angela Manno techniques have you added to the cauldron?

Angela: Since the early seventies, during my

travels in Indonesia where I glimpsed my first samples of traditional batik, I’ve been on a journey of discovering a vast number of disparate media, both ancient and contemporary, that have continued to fascinate me over my entire career. When I came home from my travels after a junior year in France (French was my major in college), I found that an Indian man, Jyotirindra Roy, was teaching “batik as a fine art” in New York City. I signed up for classes and was immediately smitten with the medium; there is a sensuality to it, with the smell of the beeswax, the movement of the wax as it penetrates the fabric, and when immersing your fabric into various dye baths. After I felt I had mastered batik as a painting medium, I took graduate classes at the San Francisco Art Institute and began to experiment with color Xerography. I learned that I could apply photographs to fabric using a Xerox machine, and invented my own idiom using this unlikely combination.

The final result was my thirteen-piece, one-woman, international traveling exhibition, Conscious Evolution: The World At One that now resides in the permanent fine art collection of the Smithsonian Institute’s National Air and Space Museum. But I did not stop there. After using this same medium to commemorate the return to space flight for NASA after the Challenger accident in 1988, I began learning outdoor (plein air) landscape painting. I loved using pastel in the field; it is very portable, forgiving and lets you work twice as fast as oils, which is an issue when you’re working in changing light. After years of working exclusively in pastel, I learned to work in encaustic, a wax-based medium with the pigments in the wax.

What is it about your life, your existence, that has prompted you to communicate through art those things that are necessary to thrive and be happy?

Angela: What’s necessary to me as the artist that I am is to make meaning and to convey my thoughts and feelings about nature, self and our planet. I don’t know what compels me to do it… it’s just my nature. One thing that encourages me is the fact of human agency; we’re all capable of contributing to massive change if we understand how. I try to do this through my art.

Tell us about your solo exhibition, Conscious Evolution: The World At One. What did the culmination and aftermath of this exhibit mean for you from an artist’s standpoint, other than, of course, being a great honor.

Angela: The message in this series is global unity, and individual and collective responsibility for the state of the planet. It was and is my conviction that humans have the ability to shape the world into the paradise that it already is. Think about the story of the Garden of Eden. Our planet is an island teeming with life, afloat in the vast “sea” of the cosmos. It’s a miracle it exists. So many of the Apollo astronauts have spoken such profound words about seeing the Earth from afar. One of my favorite quotes is by Eugene Cernan of Apollo 17, the last US mission to the moon: “I stood in the blue darkness and looked in awe at the earth from the lunar surface. What I saw was almost too beautiful to grasp. There was too much logic, too much purpose—it was just too beautiful to have happened by accident. It doesn’t matter how you choose to worship God, or by whatever name you call him, but He has to exist to have created what I was privileged to see. There are no strings holding up the Earth, no fulcrum upon which it spins. Yet as I watched, the world turned from day to night every 24 hours; Continued on next page....

PoPPiES AND EASEl

angela Manno painting en plein air in Provence. Still photo from the French documentary film, Voyage au pays des lavender (Journey to lavender country). Photo credit: Jean Jacques Dubois

THE ARTFUL MIND AUGUST 2017 • 21

‘around the corner’ came two new continents and suddenly the other side of the world was in view. I had to ask myself if I really understood where I was in space and time and history.” I was so moved, I had to make a painting of it and hand wrote a part of this quote on the bottom of the piece to reinforce the imagery. I used this device for all thirteen works.

During the international tour, I was deeply gratified to learn that so many people from all over the world were touched by and agree with this message. I received mail from many different countries expressing their hopes and how deeply they were moved. It was of course a great sense of accomplishment, when the traveling exhibition was at an end, and then in 2000, when the entire series was acquired by the National Air & Space Museum for their permanent fine art collection, with the help of many generous donors, including Tom Hanks, Xerox Corporation, AXA Space and even a Saudi prince who had flown in space on the shuttle.

The after effects also took a personal turn when I became engaged to one of the Apollo astronauts whose words had inspired two of my paintings in this series. In the end, I would better serve as a messenger and artist than a wife and mother. I am convinced I could not have done both. I am in complete amazement at women artists who also have children!

angela manno UrN WiTH GArDENiAS 20x 27” PASTEl oN PAPEr

angela manno HAYFiElD ST PANTAléoN, ProVENCE 36 x 28” ENCAUSTiC AND oil oN PANEl

22 •AUGUST 2017 THE ARTFUL MIND

There must be huge responsibilities when being affiliated with universities and museum programs. What does this part of being an artist actually involve? Is it very time-consuming?

Angela: It’s another mindset altogether! It requires a tremendous amount of research, connecting with the right people within organizations, working with their existing programs or inventing them. Crating, shipping, insurance, registrars, condition reports…

Fortunately, with the various grants that I received, I was able to hire people much more able to carry out some of these responsibilities, although sometimes I was able to do tasks myself with some coaching. I enjoyed connecting with like-minded organizations such as the International Association of Space Explorers, the UNA USA (United Nations Association of the USA) and the Center for Peace Through Culture that sponsored parts of the world tour, and of course meeting such wonderful, good-willed and like-minded people.

Is your art studio your sanctuary? Or, for plain air landscape painting, does it mean many hours are spent outside in order to capture the landscape and its characteristics?

Angela: I spend much more time in the studio now than in prior years, when I was stronger and more resilient and could brave the baking sun, rain and humidity and tromping with my easel, umbrella and pastels through deserts and sand dunes, marshes and mountains. I do still work outdoors on occasion, but closer to home, and of course when I’m teaching plein air painting. But it’s only one of my sanctuaries. My organic garden is the other. It is as much a work

angela manno WHiTE SANDS AT SUNSET

35” x 26” PASTEl oN PAPEr

of art as any painting, although it’s more collaborative… working with nature, knowing which plants enhance each other, how to attract beneficial insects, and all the while paying attention to aesthetics, colors and design.

What was your most challenging location to paint? Why? Angela: Probably at White Sands National Monument in southern New Mexico. I had to hike deep into the wilderness area where there were no human footprints, with my easel on my back and the sun beating down on me. Second would be Provence in the spring, which is wet, cloudy, cold, rainy and unpredictable. My feet were constantly soaked. But the results are worth the pain—a little like childbirth, I guess, although not that painful!

When and how was it for you when you knew you were able to take flight and leave the nest of being a student, knowing you could now paint and explore your newfound rites as an artist?

Angela: It took no time at all, really. I began showing my work while I was still a student at the San Fran-

cisco Art Institute. When I moved back to New York City, I was given a one-woman show and received my first review, which was quite an experience—especially since it was a glowing one. As a result, I quit my job as an actors’ manager and devoted myself to my own artistic expression and to teaching.

Angela, what do you believe is your artistic goal, the one that calls for the inner work you do?

Angela: My goal in life is to be happy and healthy in body and mind and to help foster a healthy planetary society. The latter is my artistic goal as well. I’ve pursued these ends in two ways. One is training myself to be the most effective person I can be, to realize my dreams in my personal life as well as my vision for my art. It involves meditation, visualization, focus, goal setting and generally living in the creative rather than the reactive mode (the latter is a trap we all are susceptible to). This makes me a healthier, happier person, a better change agent and better able to live by example. It infuses my more “archetypal” works that convey my vision of humanity’s optimal parameters.

On another level, I have been exploring my inner

depths—through what Jung would call “psychological art”—and expressing it through narrative, archival photos, personal artifacts and three dimensional works. Through intensive introspection, tracing my family history, dream analysis and even genetic testing, I am creating a multi-media installation entitled Coming Home. The core of this series is my lifelong journey from feelings of separation to a sense of Belonging.

And what do you consider satisfying about the good ol’ act of painting?

Angela: Like any massive undertaking, the beginnings are not as “fun.” Think about building a house or creating a garden from scratch. But you have to do these things to have, in the end, a satisfying and functional result. The same with painting. Laying the undercoats, establishing the foundation, only takes on luster and makes sense after you get these basics down. This is the hardest for many of my students to Continued on next page...

THE ARTFUL MIND AUGUST 2017 • 23

angela manno DiSCoVEriNG FirE BATik AND Color xErox oN CoTToN. 48” x 40”. PErMANENT FiNE ArT CollECTioN oF THE SMiTHSoNiAN iNSTiTUTioN’S NATioNAl Air & SPACE MUSEUM. THE HAND-WriTTEN qUoTE AT THE BoTToM oF THE iMAGE iS BY TEilHArD DE CHArDiN: “SoMEDAY AFTEr WE HAVE HArNESSED THE WiND THE TiDES AND GrAViTY, WE Will HArNESS THE ENErGiES oF loVE. AND THEN, For THE SECoND TiME iN HiSTorY, MAN Will HAVE DiSCoVErED FirE.”

accept as well. You cannot expect immediate results.

So to enjoy what you’re doing you need: confidence, patience and appreciation of all the steps. That’s what grabs me with each different medium. They exercise a different part of your brain as well as of your senses. It’s never boring. When I’m pushing the envelope of a medium, there is a little bit of trepidation exploring uncharted territory, but I remember those three qualities and it helps tremendously. But the sensuality of it all, the effects of the different mediums, is a distinct pleasure. It calms you, engages you fully and leaves no room for rumination (something we all need in these turbulent times).

How do you know when you’re really in the zone and ready to begin a canvas? Are the canvases you start with always white? If not, can you explain?

Angela: I usually know I’m ready a few weeks before I actually start. I first set up my studio with the materials I will need and clear away everything else.

I start with many different colors depending on the medium. I never use a white ground when I’m work24 • AUGUST 2017 THE ARTFUL MIND

ing in pastel. I find it distracting and when you’re working outdoors, it actually distorts your perception of color. With oils, I like to tone my canvas with a warm, transparent color. On the other hand, with encaustic and batik, I start with white since in batik, for example, it’s impossible to go from dark to light, just as in watercolor. So I start with a white fabric and move towards darker colors. You’re over-dying so you have to calculate in advance what colors subsequent dyes will give you when mixing with the color you’re putting on now. It can be a brain teaser.

Do you often have artist books opened for reference when you first begin a painting? How do you begin? Where is the beginning?

Angela: I never refer to other artists’ work, although many have inspired me, the greatest among them having been Gustav Klimt and Claude Monet. Klimt was instrumental in developing my sensibilities in working with mixed media early on (batik and color Xerox). Monet, of course, came later with landscape painting.

I begin with thumbnail sketches from my imagi-

nation or from life. Occasionally I work from my own photographs. Of course, if I’m doing a collage, another person’s photograph may enter into it that is either in the public domain or I use with permission.

An interesting and perplexing issue for artists is, when is a painting considered to be finished? Are there any hints or guidelines artists can use to give an indication that they are near the finished point, so they do not over-paint?

Angela: I cannot say definitively, but in my case it has something to do with losing its radiance. I can say that it is very important to step away from your work repeatedly, so you can see the forest for the trees.

Angela, tell us what it was like studying at l’Ecole des Arts in Lacoste, France. What was your day like there? How did you spend your free time, and how concentrated a learning experience was it for you as well as the others?

Angela: I attended the first session of l’Ecole des Arts in Provence when it was run by Sarah Lawrence

College. The dorms were very modest, renovated stone buildings along the winding cobblestone streets of this 12th-century hilltop Provençal village.

Most of the village was still in ruins back in 1972, with the ruins of the chateau of the Marquis de Sade at the pinnacle. We spent the day learning from great artists such as painter Richard Pousette Dart, photographer Gjon Mili and printmaker Ancei Uchima.

We engaged in photography, printmaking, life drawing and sculpture in the limestone quarries that dated back to Roman times. As for leisure time, it was spent wandering through the sunflower fields, speaking French with one of the local kids and going to the daily markets in each of the small towns, culminating in the now legendary Saturday marché in Apt. One thing struck me, though. The view from the town over the lavender fields was breathtaking, but landscape painting was not in the curriculum. I made a note to myself to come back when I knew I had the tools to do justice to the landscape. By the late nineties I was ready; I had completed a few workshops in plein air painting and was fluent in French, so I could speak to the farmers and landowners and get permission to paint on their land.

What did you really love about your time learning abroad, and was there anything you were more than happy to incorporate into your workshops and lectures here?

Angela: The most significant thing about learning abroad and becoming fluent in French, when it came to my workshops, was actually teaching in France to French speakers. I had thought I would attract Americans, but in fact, the locals were very eager to study with me. That was a sense of real fulfillment: using my language and art training, and living and being in the landscape that I love.

What were some of the pluses and minuses, when compared to studying in the USA? Angela: Frankly, the rent and tuition at a French university was almost nothing compared to the US. The courses were top quality. I was very young when I was there during my junior year, and it was during the Vietnam war. The French weren’t too happy with Americans at that time, so I experienced some difficult times. Unfortunately, I wasn’t aware enough at the time to remind them of their own exploits in Indochina.

“angela manno APiS 9” x 12” EGG TEMPErA AND GolD lEAF oN WooD

Artists sometimes complain that their art doesn’t look good, isn’t right, doesn’t have flow, etc…

Can you make any suggestions to assist in making the journey positive, as opposed to frustrating, so in the future they won’t flock to those sip ‘n paint classes as a last resort?

Angela: Like anything worth doing, you have to give it time and commitment. You don’t even necessarily need innate talent. I have had many beginning students study with me whose work turns out remarkably well. Sometimes beginner’s mind is best. By the way, I don’t have anything against those paint and sip classes if it boosts people’s confidence and makes them unafraid. I think, though, that one Continued on next page...

THE ARTFUL MIND AUGUST 2017 • 25

would become a little bored and curious as to what else they can do. That is when I’d like to catch people, when they’re eager to advance.

Many of us do not understand how encaustic paint works, and how it’s used to its best advantage. Can you give us a little explanation, and tell us why you feel enthusiastic about this medium?

Angela: Encaustic is the opposite of watercolor, which I find very difficult to use. That is because with encaustic (which comes from the Greek to burn in) you have to heat up the wax, which contains the pigment, and keep it heated to move the paint around.

You have infinitely more control. You can and should use multiple layers, creating a diaphanous effect, and you can incorporate collage. It’s a very versatile medium and has an ancient history going back to the Greeks, who used molten wax to waterproof their ships, and to the Fayum mummy portraits in Egypt. angela manno MUSiCAl BrUSH STrokES 32.8 x 48” PHoToGrAPH

Are you aware of some of the hot topics and issues these days for artists and the art world in general?

What might be at the top of your list?

Angela: What’s on the top of my list is not what’s on the top of the art world’s list. What’s on the top of my list is drawing attention to species extinction, the poisoning of our food and water through the use of fossil fuels, nuclear, the rise in the cancer rate and genetically engineered organisms, and changing people’s consciousness. It’s about the survival of life on this planet in its beauty and integrity. There will be no art world, no economy, if artists, farmers, teachers, bankers, doctors, parents and everyone don’t come together to make this their priority, too.

When you do go to gallery openings and galas, what is the most exciting aspect for you, and why?

Angela: When, every once in a while, I see genius. I had this experience while viewing a one-person show at ACA Galleries in Manhattan a few years ago, of the artist Richard Mayhew. His landscapes are imaginary, and through his sensitivity and intimacy with color and the landscape gained over a lifetime (he’s in his mid-nineties now), he manages to take your breath away. Another phenomenon is Alice Zinnes, a Brooklyn artist and Pratt art professor who also paints her imagination. Her canvases are sensual, intuitive, dream-like and gorgeous. Her use of the paint is masterful. They allow you to project your own imagination onto them, while delighting in her technical virtuosity in oils.

angela manno GUArDiAN ANGEl

7” x 9” EGG TEMPErA AND GolD lEAF oN WooD

26 • AUGUST 2017 THE ARTFUL MIND

How do you work with photography and painting simultaneously? What medium gives you what you need on the journey to a finished piece?

Angela: Several media allow for being combined with photography, including batik, encaustic, oil and acrylic. I choose each medium I work in at any given time to amplify my message, for instance the use of batik and color Xerox in my series Conscious Evolution: The World At One. This combination represents formally the message in my art—that merging opposites, in this case human technology and ancient wisdom, can create Beauty, Balance, Harmony and Right Order. I also used this technique (photography and acrylic) in my triptych All My Relations, depicting in symbolic form the unity of the human and natural world. From a technical standpoint, I always begin with a very good idea of where the photographs will go, and they are almost always integrated at the end.

angela manno All MY rElATioNS i: THE PlANTS & THE ElEMENTS, 32” x 32” MixED MEDiA oN MASoNiTE. FroM THE TriPTYCH, “All MY rElATioNS.”

Changing the topic… there is a contemporary icon painting on your website that amazed me with this feeling of heightened fullness and awe: The Earthly Paradise: Icon of the Third Millennium, depicting an image of our earth from space.

I’m just wondering what the quote means: “Angela Manno's recovery of the classical mystical tradition through icon painting and projection into the future with her images of the Earth from space is a profoundly creative and spiritual interpretation of our present situation. This image of the Earth from space is our new icon.”

- the late Dr. Ewert Cousins, Professor of Theology, Fordham University; former President, American Teilhard Association Angela: I’m glad it had that effect on you because that’s what I’m going for. I first have to explain what a traditional icon is as well as its function. Icons (literally meaning “image” in Greek) are considered “windows” to the spiritual world by the Eastern Orthodox Church and are the equivalent to scripture in the Orthodox liturgy. Having been deeply affected by images of the whole Earth that were beamed back

during the space program, as a student of contemporary cosmology and a practitioner of traditional Byzantine-Russian iconography, I recognized there was an important image missing from the canon, and felt the need to create a new icon, which I entitled The Earthly Paradise: Icon of the Third Millennium.

Ewert Cousins, the author of this quote, is one of the world’s foremost scholars in world spirituality and in particular the western mystical tradition. Like myself, he was taken with the image of the whole Earth from space, which to us both, has a sacred, evocative quality.

Separately, we recognized the power of this image to transform human consciousness to our true state of connection, fragility and frankly, miraculousness.

It has held up to decades of trivialization and yet maintains its power, because it is both symbol and reality.

When he saw this image made into an icon, created with the same methods and materials as are used in traditional iconography, he made that statement, and what I think he meant by “our present situation” is the threshold on which humanity stands at this very

moment. We are in a crisis period of survival and yet it is also one of great creative potential. It all depends on the spirituality that guides us; are we predators of the Earth bound to plunder and destroy it and us ultimately (scientific materialism), or are we an integral part of its life (the ecological vision)? Will we will go into the future together as one single sacred community, or will we all perish in the desert? (I am paraphrasing here another mentor, the great cultural historian Thomas Berry). The answer is a spiritual one that demands a choice, and to not choose is also a choice. The alternate image of the future that Cousins wrote about in one of his essays is the image of the Trade Towers burning. My icon symbolizes a paradigm shift, one which will require good will, working in consonance with the technologies of Earth and accepting the conditions under which life is granted us.

Next, I am wondering if you can explain what the ancient floating technique using egg tempera is all about? Continued on next page...

THE ARTFUL MIND AUGUST 2017 • 27

angela manno THE EArTHlY PArADiSE: iCoN oF THE THirD MillENNiUM 13” x 13” EGG TEMPErA AND GolD lEAF oN WooD

Angela: My technique for icon painting originates in the monasteries of 14th through 16th century Russia.

During that time, they used a technique that as far as I can tell is not used in contemporary applications of egg tempera. Today, egg tempera is used mostly as a drawing technique, where the image is made of lines and crosshatching. This ancient technique is more like what we today would call a glaze, which gives the image a more unified and painterly quality.

How and why have these traditional icons you have painted become part of your artistic life?

And can you explain the process that is used for their halos?

Angela: Another fine question! When I lost my studio for a time, I had to work in my living space and so I had to work small. I had always wanted to learn how to use gold leaf and had admired the pictures of angels that I had seen in traditional icons. An opportunity came to study with Russian Orthodox master, Vladislav Andrejev, and thinking I would just learn how to use the materials in one of his week-long

28 • AUGUST 2017 THE ARTFUL MIND

workshops, I signed up. I was hooked at his first lecture. Having been brought up Catholic, it was like meeting a lost sibling. Something was familiar, and yet something was different, strange and compelling.

Every aspect of iconography is symbolic: the layers, the manner in which you draw lines, and the colors.

It teaches you theology and ancient Greek cosmology. It’s a magnificent tradition, intelligent, and adding to that, stunningly beautiful! After my apprenticeship, I continued to create traditional icons on commission and eventually my contemporary icons. It has become part of my expression because of their sheer beauty and because it’s a spiritual discipline. In terms of my contemporary icons, I feel the natural world needs to be honored and venerated as much as any saint or religious figure. After all, we are derivative of the Earth and are dependent for our lives on the web of nature. To answer your other question, the halos are pure gold leaf applied over red bole clay. It symbolizes that though we are “made of clay” (physical beings), we also have a spiritual, divine nature. In the Christian tradition, we

are a marriage of both these aspects. The vermillion line surrounding the halo indicates the promise of spiritual fulfillment and the outer, white one, God’s uncreated energy.

Maybe it’s best to sum up a few things here by asking you, how does the spiritual world relate to you and what you paint, and how do you incorporate it into the life you lead?

Angela: Basically, my art tells the story of my life; my growth aesthetically, personally, ecologically, politically and spiritually. What some people call the “overview effect”—that of seeing the Earth from space—changed my world, how I wanted to live, what I wanted to accomplish both personally and as an artist. It was one of the moments when I fell deeply in love with the planet, and it is represented in all my art. But it’s important to understand what I mean by “spiritual.” The spiritual world is all around us and within us, it’s what maintains the universe and the planets in their orbits, guides our thoughts and the functioning of our biological systems in our bod-

angela manno EPiPHANY 60” x 46” oil oN CANVAS

ies and in the world around us. It is the deep structure of the cosmos, which means that everything is spiritual as well as physical.

My growing series of contemporary icons of biodiversity and endangered species (of which Apis is a part) reflect my deepening conviction that all life is sacred. The result is that I treat it with care and respect. I have tried to have as low an impact as possible, taking public transportation whenever possible, composting and recycling everything, making conscious choices about the food I eat, teaching ecological spirituality and fighting the reckless, malignant forces that are poisoning and destroying our beautiful world.

My new semi-abstract photos are my moment of respite, an attempt to loosen up, be more spontaneous and enjoy this celebration of color and light. I am recovering from two serious illnesses back-to-back, which has made me acutely aware of how soothing art can be when you are visiting doctors or staying in the hospital. My vision for these works is, in fact, to place them in healthcare settings, where people can feel the calm and joy that emanates from them. The illnesses have also resulted in a backlog of projects.

Part of my recovery is deciding which proj-

ects still have life for me, which to let go of, and what is the new work that’s emerging.

So where do you go from here? That can be from here, being in the Berkshires, or from here, with regard to your next destination in the art-creating world!

Angela: I want to synthesize my personal, ecological and political vision in a new body of work. It will also entail combining a number of my mediums again. I am in the development stages now. This will be the most challenging undertaking of my career.

Thank you, Angela for sharing your thoughts, ideas and insights.

amanno@angelamanno.com www.angelamanno.com

ANGElA iN HEr GArDEN

PHoToGrAPH BY JANE FElDMAN

THE ARTFUL MIND AUGUST 2017 • 29

Stephen Hannock, Surface Fog for the River Keeper (Mass MoCA #269) 2017, Polished oil on canvas, 30 x 24"

Featured Artists:

Bart Elsbach Mary Sipp Green Stephen Hannock Scott Prior Jim Schantz August Presentations: Wednesday, August 9, 6-7:30pm. Housatonic Valley Association Presentation. An Overview of the Source to Sound Paddle.

Wednesday, August 16, 6-7pm. HRI Presentation.

An Introduction to the Housatonic River Initiative,

by Tim Gray.

STOCKBRIDGE STATION 3 Depot Street, Stockbridge, MA www.riverartproject.com 413•298•5163 30 • AUGUST 2017 THE ARTFUL MIND

JENNIFER PAZIENZA

July 2017

Oil on Canvas, 54 x 72 inches

jennpazienza@gmail.com

http://jenniferpazienza.com

CAROLINE KINSOLVING

Photo: Edward Acker

INTERVIEW BY HARRYET

Harryet: As an actor and a yoga teacher, can you explain the true benefits of yoga in your life?

Caroline Kinsolving: Yoga is the practice of breath.

I always ask: if we need to breathe in order to live, why not breathe our best? When we take a deep breath in (through your nose, as if smelling a flower) and then a slow breath out (as if blowing out a candle) we calm our nervous system. We spend most of the day taking shallow breaths, especially when driving, which our body registers as fear. Yoga is not just about getting six-pack abs or turning into a pretzel.

It is a practice that helps calm the nervous system through challenging positions. With a calm nervous system, you have a healthier body and a clearer mind and therefore, you are able to function better. Yoga helps me as an actor in numerous ways. It calms me when I feel nervous or stressed. It is centering and allows me to be more present in performance. It also keeps me healthy, which is crucial since actors can't get sick.

32 • AUGUST 2017 THE ARTFULMIND

PHOTOGRAPHY EDWARD ACKER

(THEATRE, MODEL AND OTHER SHOTS SUPPLIED BY ARTIST)

What is the best way for you to prepare for the mindset of a serious role?

Caroline: I think having strong empathy and sympathy helps. Being able to put myself in someone else's shoes is a skill that I try to exercise often, whether I'm acting or just walking down the street.

It sounds like yoga and acting go hand-in-hand for you. How do you benefit in your everyday life from being skilled in both fields?

Caroline: At an early age, I became very aware that we've all got one body, and that's it. When I started doing yoga, I realized that my brain and body felt and functioned better. For an actor, one's body is their instrument. Practicing yoga is one of the many tools I use to try to be at my best, in work and life.

I grew up with a beloved family member who suffered from disease, and I think that gave me the awareness that made me protective of health, and that made me dismayed when watching people abuse

their bodies. It was like watching a violinist bash a Stradivarius around, and then expect it to play well.

I’m an actor in New York and Los Angeles, having spent years working bi-coastally in television, film and theatre. I started teaching yoga as a hobby, because I enjoyed doing and sharing it, and it started to go hand-in-hand with my work as an actor. Sometimes I teach yoga to my co-stars and crew before our performances or during a break on set; it’s a fun way to create community and rejuvenate. My life revolves around movie studios and yoga studios.

How do you prepare for an audition, Caroline?

Caroline: Auditions take an interesting set of mental muscles, slightly different than those required in rehearsal and performance. Part of what I have learned to love about this job is that it is a constant journey of discovery without a clear path. You sort of just continue to bushwhack through unknowns and find incredible lessons along the way. I've been fortunate

to have the opportunity to study with incredible teachers like Kristin Linklater, Mike Nichols, Lesly Kahn, and Jerry Schoenfeld. But the best lessons I've learned regarding auditioning come from Jack Plotnick, an actor and teacher I serendipitously found in LA. He wrote them all down in a book and posted it for anyone to download—for free!

And when he teaches, he charges very little, and proceeds go to the LGBT community. His generosity is such a strong reflection of a true artist: he's not out to profit off of actors, he's out to create and support others. And I believe that is one of the best principles for any audition.

How far do you have to look to feel a sense of security in yourself and your work as an artist?

Where does the path lead to, and where do you mentally go when things get difficult?

Caroline: Jeff Perry (founder of Steppenwolf Theatre Company and star of Scandal) taught me the phrase, "Let it be this time," something he says to himself before every take. It's a lesson of trust: trusting whatever happens, especially the spontaneity that life delivers.

For me, when things are challenging, it's easy to beat myself up over one thing or another. But what serves me as well as the work is trust: trusting the circumstance and those around me. Finding silver linings has supported me through change and challenge.

I know you have a love for poetry, Caroline. The Berkshires are a great place to roam and ramble and create… how are your surroundings conducive to your poetic frame of mind?

Caroline: I don't write poetry at all, but my mother does. Growing up with her influence has given me a deep appreciation for it, and I often turn to poetry to find reason, wisdom and whimsy in this wild world.

I once asked my mother what she believed in and she answered, "Nature."

Living in this area allows for so much of the natural world to give meaning and metaphor to our lives.

What do you think it is about your personality that gets you acting roles? You must have some unique layers that are picked up on… do you think those particular strengths can be taught to others?

Caroline: I think my weaknesses as a person make me comfortable as an actor. I am often idiotically naive, dangerously gullible, and honest to a fault. Yet all these characteristics make me feel at home in a role. And I once was told that I was “bossy for good cause.” I think that about sums it up.

Who are your life mentors and why?

Caroline: There are several: I was very lucky to grow up with parents who modeled how to be good humans and diligent artists. My mother carries a grounded sophistication, a poetic grasp on the world, and she taught me how to appreciate sweet, simple things. My father is a joyful renaissance man who takes such pleasure in his work that it always seems like he is playing. And one of the greatest gifts has been to witness their love for each other. Watching two independent, smart, creative people work together and love one another has been an education in itself.

My godmother taught me the joys of generosity.

She showed me that if everyone did something self-

caroline Kinsolving YoGA TEACHEr

lessly for someone else, we'd live in a better world.

Professionally, I've always been grateful to Christine Baranski for taking me under her wing and being so generously supportive as a mentor.

Dame Janet Suzman has also been a mentor to me.

Every time I book a role, I write to her asking for advice. Once, when I wrote her my opinions on Titania, she put it in her book (a great read), Not Hamlet.

Finally, my sister has always been a powerful influence in my life. Not quite a mentor, but someone who inspires me and expands my perspective, every time we talk. We lead very different lives, for which I'm grateful, because she reminds me of so many things that are just outside my periphery. She's a world traveler, a half marathoner, a volunteer, a rock climber, the list goes on. And although she is younger, she teaches me just by being.

PHoTo: JiM CArMoDY

Do you have close friends who are actors? How do you learn from and teach each other?

Caroline: I learn from every actor I meet. I've always said that actors are a funny group: yes, some are truly terrible people, but the majority of actors I've come into contact with are some of the best human beings I know. They are filled with humanity, brimming with energy, curiosity, verve, bravery, care, and they are smart as hell.

Anjali Bhimani is a dear friend who I've looked up to professionally since I saw her star on Broadway in Metamorphosis when I was in college. We met several years later in LA, and she has been a support ever since. Her energy, dedication and positivity is boundless, and I am constantly in awe of her achievements. Recently, she asked me to be a part of her Continue on next page...

THE ARTFUL MIND AUGUST 2017 • 33

stronger." To this day, I regard Leslie Stevens as one of the most thoughtful actors' actors I've ever worked with.

How did you decide which school of acting would be best suited to you?

Caroline: I didn’t. I went to every acting school that I could. It was actually sort of like coming out of the artistic closet: I was scared to admit who I wanted to be. I would secretly apply to summer programs at Yale Drama, Stella Adler, and then the Royal Academy in London after college and it was only when I got in that I would casually, under my breath, ask my parents if I could go. Luckily, they were very supportive.

I majored in Political Science and minored in Chinese at Vassar. When I came to the end of my junior year, I realized that something still felt amiss—this voice would not be quiet: “You’re an actor.” So, I tapped on the shoulder of Gabrielle Cody, the Dean of the Theatre Department, when we were in line at the snack bar and asked her if I could declare a second major in Drama. Luckily, she too was very supportive.

Caroline Kinsolving WiTH BroADWAY AND TElEViSioN STAr, ToDD WEEkS, iN THE ENSEMBlE THEATrE CoMPANY’S ProDUCTioN oF NEil SiMoN’S CHAPTEr TWo

Caroline Kinsolving WiTH MiA FArroW, CHriSTiNE BArANSki, DoroTHY lYMAN, PilAr DEMANN, AND SUSAN ST. JAMES iN "loVE, loSS, AND WHAT i WorE," DirECTED BY JoSEPH TilliNGEr

YouTube series, and we had the greatest time answering her fans' questions and talking about our lives as actresses.

John Cariani is a person that I always hope that I'll be like someday: he is wildly talented in musical theatre, drama, comedy and writing. And while he has had incredible success, John never forgets his humility and kindness. John is a champion for so many people, and I'm pretty sure that he is the nicest guy in this whole business.

And I'll never forget when I was working on Chapter Two in Laguna and we took a two-day break

34 • AUGUST 2017 THE ARTFUL MIND

to go back to our homes to celebrate Christmas.

Everyone was busily packing up and zooming off to join their families for the holidays, but I was alone and headed to an empty apartment in LA, having just broken up with my long-time boyfriend. Before she had to run to catch her ride, my co-star knocked on my door. When I answered it, there she was standing on my step with a miniature Christmas tree in hand.

She outstretched her arms offering the tree and said, "This Christmas, you're going to go grow your actress balls. Don't worry, you'll have a happy one again, but for now, go be alone, be brave, and get

Where did you grow up and what was your childhood like?

Caroline: I lived in a beloved old farm house that was built in 1793. The barn was converted into an office where my parents wrote their books. My childhood is something that I will forever be grateful for. My parents raised me with love, truth and creativity, and gave me the best education I could have ever asked for. Instead of watching television, my sister and I played in the woods, read and did art projects. Our freedom was encouraged by my parents; when it rained in the summer, my mother would open the door and let my sister and I run out and dance, soaking our pajamas. When I was very young, my father made a little stone pathway down to the neighbors’ yard so that I could help them in their garden. In the evenings after grade school, I would walk through the backyard and go deep into the woods to play by the stream, catch frogs and build forts.

When dinner was ready, my mother rang an old, rusty cow bell. My father would walk from the barn across the field and I would run up through the forest to dinner.

What was your best role?

Caroline: I’ve fallen in love with most of the characters I’ve played, and sometimes fantasize about tattooing all of their names to my hip, like old lovers. Playing Shakespeare’s ladies always felt like putting on an old slipper: a perfect, comfortable fit that allowed me to be completely myself: Viola, Rosalind, Kate, Helena, Titania, Beatrice.

But Vanda from Venus in Fur was like no other experience I’ve ever had. And that’s because of David Ives, the playwright. He wrote one of the most brilliant plays I’ve ever come across. The play kept unraveling new realizations for me every single time I read or performed it.

I wrote to Mr. Ives a few summers later just to thank him for writing such a superb female character and he immediately wrote me the loveliest response, to my great delight. It is one thing to be a brilliant

Caroline Kinsolving WiTH BrETT EllioTT iN "THE TAMiNG oF THE SHrEW" BrETT EllioTT iN "THE TAMiNG oF THE SHrEW"

artist; it is another thing entirely to be a kind one.

When you find yourself disagreeing with the director, how do you deal with communicating what is troubling you? There must have been times when you did not see eye-to-eye, but you knew a solution was needed. Can you give us an example?

Caroline: My father used to be an actor and a director, and I went to him with this exact question before I started rehearsal for something. He told me, “Look, be a good actor and do the work, do the research, share opinions when it is appropriate, but remember: the director is the general and you are the soldier. At the end of the day, you must follow her command.”

And that was a humbling and really important lesson in my education of how to do this work.

If I have to be specific, I can think of two times when my view was very different from my director’s.

In both situations, I reasoned and then I had to show them: prove my point, like a master's student defending a thesis.

Continue on next page...

CAROLINE KINSOLVING WITH BRETT ELLIOTT IN "THE TAMING OF THE SHREW"

THE ARTFUL MIND AUGUST 2017 • 35

Do you have a soul mate, Caroline, to share your life with these days?

Caroline: I'm a pretty private person and shy away from advertising my romantic relationships, but I will say that I've come into a place in my life where I am profoundly grateful for all of the failures, rejections and hardships along the way. I see the things that didn't work out as small miracles that have brought me here, to this wonderful chapter in my life.

I've gone through strangely hard heartache, but once I healed and looked back, I realized how glad I was to be free from those chapters.

During one of these particularly hard times, someone offered, "Isn't it so nice to know that some of the best times of your life are yet to come?!" And I held on to that and it proved itself true. We know nothing about what the future will bring, but what we can do is trust it. I love the miraculous whimsy and serendipity that life so often brings when we let it.

Acting and performing take up such major time in one’s life! Do you even have time for a serious relationship, or are you saving that until you have made it to a certain place in your life? Rehearsals and studying lines can really take up an awful lot of time—I know that.

Caroline: You’re right in that a career in acting is a massive commitment, and I’ve often felt like I have three full-time jobs that sometimes pay like part time. And yes, I certainly had to work hard to find a balance between my professional and personal life, and a past relationship suffered because of that learning curve.

But one of the things I love about being an actor is that you are constantly studying human nature. If you don’t have a plethora of human experiences, you’re not going to be very wellinformed in your work. It’s one of the reasons I try to travel and explore other cultures, because who wants to see a person who has only lived in a black box tell a story about love, life and conflict?

Caroline Kinsolving AS VANDA iN DAViD iVES' "VENUS iN FUr"

But usually, it’s like a relationship: if you want it to last and go well, you’ve got to hear each other and perhaps find compromise. An actor’s gut and a director’s vision are sometimes different operating systems, but when they work together, magic can be had.

Have you ever thought of breaking totally free?

Where is your favorite place on the earth?

Caroline: I know that I will always take pleasure and interest in being creative. It’s in my blood and my backbone, and during the times that I go on a vacation or take time off, I find that I become even more interested in making things, telling stories, connect-

36 •AUGUST 2017 THE ARTFUL MIND

ing and performing.

That said, on the top of my travel list are: New Zealand, Bali, Lucca in Italy, and Claude Monet’s garden at Giverny. I may be headed to Nova Scotia soon.

I’d like to return to Maui and Kaua’i to surf; Kent, Stratford and London for theatre; Paris and Cassis for food; the Isle of Skye for history; Orkney for a visit with Kristin Linklater; and Napoli for pizza at L'Antica Pizzeria Da Michele (which I continue to fantasize over after a slice five years ago). One of my favorite traveling adventures was volunteering over Christmas with children in Tanzania. I’ve wanted to return since the moment I left.

“You are your own best friend”… is this true for you? When do you find yourself most happy with yourself and how your day went?

Caroline: Those are some great words to live by, Harryet, and only this year did I truly start to appreciate the importance of self-love and selfcompassion. I started looking around and found that the happiest, most productive and accomplished people that I admired are the ones who exercise these principals. When I started to research it, I discovered Shawn Achor’s hilarious and brilliant book, The Happiness Advantage, E Squared

by Pam Grout, and Dr. Kristin Neff’s Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself.

These books helped me grow enormously. I think there’s a big theme in our culture of pushing oneself, competing internally, and working to the bone. I certainly have that habit, but I’ve realized that it doesn’t serve me as much as being good to myself does.

When I’m able to work well, play hard, give generously, and rest deeply, I feel at my best.

What are some of the spiritual/religious philosophies that you have learned to keep under your

oNE oF THE MANY FACES oF Caroline Kinsolving

belt? How did you find them, and what about them rang true for you, through thick and thin?

Caroline: Trust the timing of your life. And, “This above all, to thine own self be true.”

I went through a traumatic time when I was living in London. It was my first year out of school and I felt very shaken and unsure of what to believe. I remember that the only thing I felt that I could do was to sit by the Thames and read Shakespeare’s works. I felt my heart healing as things began to make sense again with the help of his words.

These days, the theatre and the outdoors are my churches and temples.

How do you find yourself helping others? Did you ever have thoughts of being a doctor, or a veterinary physician or healer? I know you love animals… it shows in Edward’s photos of you with your pup, and those adorable piglets.

Caroline: Ha! I DO love animals so entirely. When I volunteered in Africa, I got to be with wild elephants in the Ngorongoro Crater and it was one of the most beautiful experiences I’ve ever had.

But I’m smart enough to know that I am not smart enough to be a veterinarian: while doctors learn one body, vets must learn every animal!

I try to help animals in whatever small way that I can. Donating to rescue organizations, spending time in shelters, and opting toward vegan, vegetarian, or

free range meals. It’s unfathomable the cruelty toward animals that our food industry surreptitiously promotes. Adopting a rescue dog was one of the greatest things I’ve ever done in my life. I’ve never quite understood why people breed and buy dogs when there are already thousands upon thousands of dogs searching for homes; it seems so cruel. (And I'll step off passionate soap box now.)

So, how was it you decided to become an actor?

Oh, let me count the ways!

Caroline: I grew up with painters, writers, ceramists, dancers and movie stars. Art was my environment.

When I started playing roles, I felt free to completely be myself, have my feelings and thoughts (better articulated by playwrights), and express my truth. In scenes, it feels like people are allowed to be more human, without the restraint of society; perhaps our best selves, willing to be brave and daring, love and cry, dance and sing. I just wanted more of that.

Are you a fashionista? Do you make a conscious effort to build your personal wardrobe? What is it you love to wear, and tell us about that gorgeous dress you are wearing in the photo!

Caroline: Oh no, I am the farthest thing from fashionable: my favorite outfit is jeans and a t-shirt and brown clogs. I’ve always been called a tomboy and I can’t really disagree.

Photo: Jora Frantzis

When I went to summer camp in Vermont, my first friend was Zac Posen, who grew up to be one of the world’s leading couture designers whose gowns frequent international red carpets. But when we were eleven years old, he used to style me for the camp dances!

Years later, when I was nominated for my work in Venus in Fur, I called him. He is one of the kindest, most generous people in fashion and he is hugely supportive of his friends and artists. He sent me my dream dress for the occasion. It was white cream satin, strapless with a train. He made me feel like a winner. Zac designed all the gowns for this shoot.

The only other fashion moment I can remember was when I was packing boxes to move apartments in Hollywood. I was sweaty, dusty, and just generally disgusting. A friend called me and asked if I wanted to be his date to the SAG Awards… in an hour.

Everything was packed except an Yves Saint Laurent tuxedo jacket hand-me-down. I hastily showered, threw on some heels and the jacket, and jumped into his limo. He won the Best Actor Award that night, but it’s amazing how a little tailored couture can make you feel like a million bucks.

Have you had any fun experiences clothes shopping on Rodeo Drive, or any couturier experiences in Italy—or even a local shop in the Berkshires?

Continue on next page...

THE ARTFUL MIND AUGUST 2017 • 37

x MArkS THE SPoT

Caroline: I don’t really shop. I buy what I need when I can and I’m lucky for good hand-me-downs.

After living in several developing countries, I became keenly aware of consumerism, and I just don’t feel right about buying more than I need and being more of a consumer than a citizen. Sure, I love getting a pair of new pants, but I feel more satisfaction from giving.

As for couturier experiences, once for my birthday, the Danish designer, Britta Kjerkegaard built two dresses, corsets and all, to my body. It was a beautiful experience watching her draping in her Atelier in London.

So you’re a person who loves the simple things and doesn’t ask for too much… do you ever feel you own too many material objects?

Caroline: Mr. Hilgendorf, a wonderful history teacher at my boarding school, Milton Academy, taught me the difference between consumerism and citizenship and made me aware of how important it was to be less of a consumer (earning just to spend) and more of a citizen (participant in community). I strive for this most of the time.

May I probe, and ask you to recall an experience in your life that was traumatic, but that you came through and learned a hell of a lot from?

Caroline: Three traumatic experiences in my life come to mind, but none of which I’d like to put into print right now.

However, how I got through them and what I 38 • AUGUST 2017 THE ARTFUL MIND

Caroline Kinsolving

Photo Credit: Jim Carmody

learned, I don’t mind sharing: The first, I learned humility and that I can’t fix anyone, even with love.

The second, I learned the power in silence and walking away without looking back.

The third, I learned compassion. For myself and even for those who are cruel.

What was one of your finest experiences?

Caroline: When I went from feeling like a wishing wannabe to trying, being and doing everything I wanted to.

Have you ever worked with Shakespeare & Company?

Caroline: I’ve never worked with Shakespeare and Company, although my father had a play read there a few years ago. He went to LAMDA with several of the founders, and Kristin Linklater has always been a friend; I played in the woods with her son, Hamish when we were little.

I’ve worked with a few members of the company on other projects and learned some great tools from their training there.

Here’s what I’m really excited for: In his upcoming performance in October, l’ll be directed by Shakespeare and Co’s former company member and current Director of Music at Shakespeare’s Globe, Bill Barclay. I’ll be playing Ingrid in Ibsen’s Peer Gynt for the adapted symphonic production with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Bill’s collaborations are nothing short of ingenious.

Where do you like to go out to dinner in the Berkshires? What was the most incredible restaurant you have ever been to?

Caroline: I happily eat my way through the Berkshires, and anywhere that serves local, organic, cruelty-free food, I’m there! I’ll always love Dottie’s.

Methuselah is fab. And there’s a stellar Indian place on Main Street in Pittsfield that I used to frequent.

Kripalu has great food—with that incredible view, so I am excited to eat there when I will be a featured guest teacher in August.

Two of the most incredible restaurants I’ve ever been to come to mind: I once was taken to the Orrery on Marylebone High Street in London. It opened up an entirely new world to me, and began with champagne while we read the menu in a separate room from the dining room. We were then seated overlooking a beautiful park and served foams to cleanse our palate between each course. French Foam. I’ll never forget it.

The other restaurant that comes to mind was the Robuchon in Macau, China. I was studying Mandarin for the summer in Beijing and my father came over to visit. We always joke in my family that wherever in the world we are, my father will sniff out the finest French restaurant within walking distance. He somehow discovered that “chef of the century,” Joël Robuchon had just opened his newest restaurant on the island of Macau, which was just a short boat trip across the Pearl River Delta from Hong Kong, where we were staying. When we arrived, we were the only ones there and were welcomed by the entire twenty-

Caroline Kinsolving GETS DoWN AND DirTY WiTH PiGS

person waitstaff. Because it was China, we afforded a full meal, and I will never forget eating a tomato jelly salad while a waiter brought me a velvet stool for my feet! My father and I laughed with wonder.

Food has never been the same since.

Do you have a strong imagination?

Caroline: I imagine I do…(that’s a little joke).

Do you feel you’ve developed it and trained it to work in your favor?

There’s a great line in a Mary Oliver poem called Wild Geese, that I frequently remind myself of: “Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, the world offers itself to your imagination” How can we develop our inner eye and our vision for a better life?

Caroline: Listen.

And breathe.

And then listen some more.

What is your dream, Caroline?

Caroline: Several have already come true. I’ll let you know if the next one does.

How can you attain it?

Caroline: It amazes me everyday how life has delivered so much of what I’ve wanted, but in completely unexpected ways. It’s taken me a long time to grow enough in order to trust the winding curves of the unexpected path, but now, I can look back and see the

proof of where they've taken me.

Photo: edward aCker

What would you like to leave behind when you leave this planet?

Caroline: Cleaner air and purer water.

Many happy dogs.

And more freed elephants.

Tell us your music and dance likes and dislikes, and why.

Caroline: A mixed collection of classical, pop, jazz, country, troubadours and soundtracks. I press shuffle and enjoy whatever fate delivers. At the moment, I just discovered Bill Evans. I really like a good, clean, jazz pianist. I’m revisiting Paul Simon, and I was ecstatic to see James Taylor and Bonnie Raitt perform together at Tanglewood.

My favorite piece is Debussy’s Claire de Lune, because of Terence McNally’s Frankie and Johnny at the Claire de Lune. It’s just one of the best moments of love on stage.

How have the people in your life assisted you in getting to where you are?

Caroline: I am so unbelievably lucky for the friends and courage me. Holy moly, it’s really the only way I’m able to even attempt so much of what I do. From Bainbridge Island off of Seattle, to Vershire, Vermont, to Culver City, California, to NYC, to San Francisco, to Bridgewater, Connecticut, I am so deeply grateful to so many people who have offered words to fly on and shoulders to cry on.

What is your worst nightmare?

Caroline: So much is happening in the world that is beyond my worst nightmare and I think the hardest thing is feeling so helpless within that knowledge.

Hypothetically, what scares me: a world without love and a life of lies.

If you were to live in a different period in time, what would it be?

Caroline: I’m sure it would be interesting. I’ve frequently been told that I would have done better in the 1980’s with Cindy Crawford or the 1880’s with Louisa May Alcott.

If you can create anything—anything! What would that be?

Caroline: Joy. Thanks Caroline!!

If interested in joining one of Caroline’s Yoga class or more you can reach her at: CKinsolving@mac.com

THE ARTFUL MIND AUGUST 2017 • 39

40 • AUGUST 2017 THE ARTFUL MIND

Grandma Becky’s

Authentic Old WOrld Recipes

by Laura Pian We’d always know that summer had officially arrived when our breakfasts consisted of cucumber and cheese toast, and our suppers included cool cucumber and onion salads.

Grandma Becky would return to the Bronx from an extended visit with Aunt Edy and Uncle Milty at their home on Long Island. In her arms she’d hold brown bags filled with fresh garden vegetables which they grew in their backyard. I especially remember the cucumbers she’d bring, probably three to six inches long. I’d wonder how something like that could grow from the ground! Growing up in a high-rise apartment in the Bronx, we never had such a luxury. The only green I ever saw from my bedroom window were the grass patches beside the sidewalk cement. Occasionally we would be graced with yellow dandelions that would eventually fill the air with puffs of flying fuzzies.

Grandma would walk into the apartment, give me a big hug, and put her pocketbook down. She’d say “come”, making a bee-line into the kitchen and in one swift motion, she’d tie on an apron. Her apron was a superhero cooking cape; once she tied that thing on, kitchen magic was certainly about to happen! Grandma threw the cucumbers in the sink and with a brush, she’d begin scrubbing away all the dirt and debris, my job was to thoroughly dry them. She told me that we must make the pickles fresh, right from the ground. And she was right, the fresher, the crunchier! After the pickles were washed and dried, they’d be placed into a large, glazed stone crock for brining.

With today’s modern kitchen conveniences, pickling crocks seem to have almost become a lost art. Since I do not have a stone crock of my own, I found an updated version of pickling cucumbers using quart sized Mason jars which works well for me. You will find this process surprisingly easy. There is nothing like a crisp, crunchy dill pickle topping off a freshly barbecued burger!

Feel free to pre-slice the cucumbers into chips or spears before brining. Pre-slicing the cucumbers will accelerate the brining process, as it opens up the thickouter skin allowing the brine to penetrate immediately. I hope you enjoy Grandma Becky’s dill pickle recipe with my updated version below.

As Grandma would always say, “ir vet zen tsufridn ir hat” (you will be glad you did).

Homemade Dill Pickles

Ingredients: ~ 20-30 fresh, medium sized cucumbers (washed and dried) ~ 1 large bunch of dill (washed) ~ 10 cloves of garlic (peeled and slightly crushed) ~ 5 tsp mustard seeds ~ 3 bay leaves ~ 1 cup cider vinegar ~ 1/2 cup kosher salt ~ 4 quart sized mason jars with covers

Directions:

Begin with preparing your brine. In a large pot, combine 4 quarts of water with brine ingredients (dill, garlic, mustard seed, bay leaves, vinegar, salt) and bring to a boil. Lower heat and bring to a simmer for approximately 20 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Keep in mind, you will need to equally divide all brine ingredients into the 4 jars.

Vertically place cucumbers into Mason jars all around bottom layer of jar, then top with as many more that can fit. Fill jar to top with brine liquid. Cover tightly.

Allow the jarred cucumbers to ferment in a cabinet or dark countertop for at least two weeks. Try to “burp” the jar after about 10 days to allow fermenting gasses to escape.

Don’t worry if liquid becomes cloudy, as this is completely normal.

Place jars in refrigerator, will keep for a couple of months if you don’t eat them up sooner.

Place pickle in mouth and take a big, juicy, crunchy bite. Or as Grandma Becky would say, “have a shtikle pickle!”

Enjoy & esn gezunt! (Eat to your health!)

I would love to hear from you, please send me your thoughts/recipes/cooking stories at laura.pian320@gmail.com.

Your recipe could be featured in a future “Grandma Becky’s Recipes” issue!

THE ARTFUL MIND AUGUST • 41

JEFF LINK Interview by Harryet

Harryet: Jeff, you were involved with the Broadway production of Les Miserables—a show that I adore! Can you explain your part in the musical end of this amazing theatrical experience? Did you have to read the novel? How I loved it! If I could only play the role of Gavroche…

Jeff Link: Yes, I did read the book! In fact, I re-read it as I was performing it. (A lot of reading goes on in the pits.) Absolutely one of my favorite shows to be involved with, so early on in my Broadway career, and I was honored to have been hired. I had subbed on it a few times. “Subbing—whats that?” you ask?

Ah, the bread and butter for Broadway musicians who are between shows of their own. On any given night, the orchestra is thirty to forty percent substitutes.

In the summer of 1994 I was asked to do the See America tour, and that we did, plus Canada. My role in the show was simple: play the bass book like you owned it, and I did indeed! Looking back, one experience stands out. We were in Baltimore on the

42 • AUGUST THE ARTFUL MIND

Photography by Lee Everett

Fourth of July, and there was no show that night. Our company manager was contacted by the Orioles, as in baseball. He reached out and asked if ten of us would like to sing the National Anthem for a day game with the Seattle Mariners. A dream come true for me—I was the first to sign up! In exchange, we got to watch the game from the owner’s private box.

So there I was standing at home plate with members of this incredible cast, in the city where the National Anthem was written during the Battle for Baltimore.

I just got goosebumps writing this! Up in the owner’s clubhouse sitting in a corner was one of the owners, the writer Tom Clancy. I was a huge fan, so I sat with him and we became lifelong friends. In so many ways, it reflected what Les Mis is about. While on tour, two of my fellow musicians and a few cast members carried their families with them… we were one big, crazy family. I became a teacher and a mentor to the kids. Imagine being six years old and traveling with a Broadway show.

Who is your favorite rock n’ roll musician, and why? How big a part did they play in your becoming interested in music?

Jeff: Only one? Not fair! Okay, Paul McCartney…

I’m nine years old, watching the Ed Sullivan show on a Sunday night, refusing to go to bed. There they were. Paul was left handed, like me, a singer, like me, and cute. Yes, like me.

I knew at that moment my life would never be the same, much to my parents chagrin. I wrote my first song at twelve. Wish I could remember it…

There are so many others over the years, but always Paul. Even to this day he rocks!

What was the most colorful part of your musical career? Where were you? Who did you play with?

Jeff: I have so many memories… playing in front of 50,000 people with Sarah Brightman was my first experience in front of such a large crowd. Exciting, terrifying, surreal.

I also performed for President Bush Sr. and Bill Clinton. Afterwards, Clinton came backstage to meet us. George waved to us, and most of us waved back.

It was a show called The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber, with Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman, and it was my first Broadway tour. All 36 musicians were on stage, and we performed in Asia, Japan, S. Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong.

The culture, the food… I was in musician heaven. I made myself learn just enough of each language to get myself into trouble.

Is it true that all musicians are detail-oriented perfectionists? Are you a divo (as opposed to a diva)? In my experience with interviewing musicians, I’ve always had to be very concise with their wording, their explanations, their exact grammatical usage…. it must have something to do with the language they use… musical notes and theory.

Jeff: I would have to say yes and no to the detail-oriented and perfectionist aspect. I know some incredibly disorganized musicians, until they step up onto the stage—then, my God, they become masters of form, improvisation and taste. Thelonious Monk, the great jazz pianist, was like that. He created an entire language with his lack of detail. In his own words, “There aren't any wrong notes, just notes in the wrong place.”

He played those “wrong notes” enough times that they became right notes—the beginnings of bebop.

Written music is nothing more than a road map, a way of communicating with other players. It’s a skill, not a talent, to be able to read music. It makes you more valuable as a musician. Thus my Broadway playing!

So, tell us what you are up to these days? Your Rock On camp is starting up, yes? What will you be teaching there?

Jeff: Rock On Workshop for Young Musicians was created fifteen years ago by an amazing couple, Mary and Akiva Talmi. They wanted to create a safe place for young musicians to be mentored by experienced, older musicians. I have been associated with it for seven years, as their creative director. We have quite a few former students who have since gone on to successful music careers of their own. It’s held at Berkshire Community College here in Pittsfield, the second two weeks of July. We emphasize performance in bands and vocal coaching, and I’ve created a technology side teaching recording technology, which I also teach during the regular school year, there and at MCLA. Do you carry over any lessons from what you teach during the winter, or is that reserved for the college kids?

Jeff: I do, but I have to pare it down because of the time constrictions of having just a few weeks. But the results are still pretty much the same. In fact, I have college students now at both schools that got

their start at Rock On. It’s so rewarding and touching to see them grow up before my very eyes.

Do you create your own syllabus?

Jeff: By contract I have to create them every semester. It’s part of the gig of being a college professor.

And yes, they call me Professor—more often than not the Mad Professor. I take that as a compliment!

What has been your most challenging music gig— playing or teaching—so far?

Jeff: Wow, where do I begin? There are so many.

Here are a few… performing as a high school student with John Cage. He was a Composer In Residence at the University of South Florida. His charts were written in a circle!

Later on, working with an incredible saxophonist, Ernie Watts. We did a short tour in Canada in the early 90s. His music was intense, yet very Zen in so many ways.

And probably the most intense was stepping into Cats on Broadway during a snowstorm and sightreading the show for the first time! I think I lost ten pounds that night!

Are you still playing bass? Are you currently in a band? Locally or internationally?

Yes! I play five different basses, my children as it were. Five-string acoustic; four, five and six-string electric; as well as a fretless bass. Please don't ask Continued on next page...

THE ARTFUL MIND AUGUST 2017 • 43

JEFF LINK

me which is my favorite; they get jealous. I’m in several bands locally, with jazz players Ben Kohn and Charlie Tokarz, to name a couple. I also perform with an incredible singer, Bronte Roman, in the Albany area; and also in an original blues/rock band called TBone Daddy, with Tyler Fairbank. I also travel for jazz gigs in Newport and NYC, and occasional rare gigs in London. I’m currently working on setting up a short tour with a wonderful friend of mine in Amsterdam. My Broadway touring days are over. Wait— never say never! Who knows?

What are some of your fondest memories of playing as part of a touring company?

Jeff: Great question. Being on tour puts the world at your feet. It enabled me to explore and experience every country I've been to. Here are a few that stand out: While in Tokyo I took the bullet train, an experience on its own, down to Mt. Fuji on my 40th birthday, to climb up to the summit from the fifthstation to catch the sunrise.

In Auckland, New Zealand we went to the Waitamo National Park, where we went blackwater rafting. They put you in a wetsuit and miner’shelmet, hike you up into the bush where you enter a small cave entrance to a seven-mile underground river.

Next thing you know you’re in an inner tube, jumping into the darkness of rushing water with whirlpools, going under rock ledges… it culminates in a long dark canal. The guides set off firecrackers, and the ceiling comes alive with millions of glow worms. The colors… aqua blue, majestic greens, all moving in a beautiful rhythm. It was like being in outer space. I had no idea whether they were ten feet or a hundred feet above us. Truly an experience I will never forget.

In Australia, I stayed an extra week after the tour ended and went up to the Whitsunday Islands (there are a thousand of them) and rented a 35-foot sailboat.

I dove with sea snakes and turtles, even got caught in a squall that almost sank us.

In South Korea, as we were driving in from Incheon Airport I jokingly suggested we go tour the demilitarized zone and get some landmine ash trays.

When we got to the hotel in Seoul, sure enough, in the tourist brochure rack was… wait for it, Tour the DMZ! Ha! Yes, we did it, a truly weird and freaky experience. There I was, standing and looking over to North Korea through a big telescope, and suddenly I found myself eye-to-eye with a North Korean soldier staring back at me from his post! All I could think to do at that moment was to give him the peace sign, andhe smiled and did the same!

In 2014 you received a Grammy nomination, for the first ever Music Educator Award. Please tell us about this, and congrats!

Jeff: Thank you! I was blown away. I was nominated by an incredibly talented violinist, Sarah Hubbard. I had mentored her to help her get into Berklee College of Music, where I taught for ten years. Sarah has recently graduated from Berklee with honors, and she’s now touring with the group the Flobots. Out of 20,000 nominees, I made it to the semifinals of 270.

It was a great honor, and said loud and clear that I was doing the right thing.

Photo by Lee everett

I read in your Teacher Philosophy Statement the following: A great teacher is not overly self-con-

science, but is more attuned to the receptivity of their student-audience… I like this statement, and to me it means you have to lose yourself into your student’s frame of mind. But would you kindly put your own meaning into words?

Jeff: By definition, you just described what it means to be a mentor. I don’t want any of my students sounding like me; I help them find their voice and a way to express it to the world and be successful.

When I was on tour in Japan I had four students from years ago waiting for me at the stage door. I was humbled that they remembered me. I was invited to their homes to have a traditional Japanese dinner.

Quite an honor, and I’m still in touch with them.

And here is something else I found interesting in your Teacher Philosophy notes: An unknown philosopher once said, “A teacher's purpose is not to create students in his own image, but to develop students who can create their own image.” It seems to me you must have had some experience with this in order to emphasize this statement.

Jeff: To me, a successful teacher/mentor is like the scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz… stay with me here…

When Dorothy comes upon him at the fork in the road and asks for directions he doesn't simply say, “That way.” No, he points in both directions and describes the possibilities of her choice. I’m that teacher.

Berkshire living is wonderful. Is there anything here in particular that you think makes living in this area a privilege? Something music-related, art-related, life-related?

Jeff: The Berkshires… ten years later and I’m still so in love with it. I lived in NYC for seventeen years, and I have more real and loving friends here than in all my years in the city, although I will still always think of it as one of my homes. The talent—not just in music, but in all the arts, and lovely souls… this is my home. That’s big for me after so many years of traveling.

Being a teacher takes a certain kind of person, with patience and a good temperament. What character traits do you have that make you a good teacher?

Jeff: Well, you just described two of them, but more important is being real and genuine, caring about them as human beings. In fact, I have hired many of my students to perform with me. My drummer in TBone Daddy is my former student. It’s about giving them my trust and a real-world playing experience.

What are your favorite music venues here in the Berkshires, and are there any new ones coming up you would like to give a mention to?

Jeff: Not as many as I’d like. We have Mission, Methuselah, Tavern at the A, the Rainbow Restaurant in Pittsfield. In south county, the Lion’s Den of course, Firefly and the newest, Fuel, which was the Gypsy Joint. Over in Hudson, Club Helsinki is wonderful—Deb has done such a great job. Playing in NYC was tough, unless you had a name and a following. Here, it’s a different world. People want to hear your original material. That’s what makes the Berkshires unique and creative. I love my home and life here!

Were your parents musically inclined? Did they

respect your love for music and support you as you discovered it at such a young age, and never let it go?

Jeff: No they weren’t. My dad loved music—his mother was a concert pianist at the turn of the 20th century—but as he would say, “I play a mean radio.”

I grew up watching the Lawrence Welk show on Saturdays with him… I’m surprised I became the musician that I am! I am one of fivekids, so there wasn't a lot of money for instruments and lessons. So I taught myself, mowed every yard in my little town to buy my first bass at eleven. I was so proud of that.

My parents—mostly Dad—always thought I’d grow out of it. Obviously, I didn’t. Years later when I started touring,they would come to every show when we played Tampa. The best memory was when I opened the Clearwater Jazz Festival in Clearwater FL,where I grew up. My dad was so proud of me.

Do you think of a particular song when you are thinking about love? Can you share?

Jeff: My three favorites that truly touch me when it comes to love are Here, There, and Everywhere by the Beatles, Something in the Way She Movesby James Taylor and You’re My Home by Billy Joel.

All deeply personal and touching.

What is the most difficult instrument you ever tried to learn to play?

Jeff: Cool question. At eight years old I wanted to play drums. I got a little pad and a big set of fat sticks, I learned most of my rudiments, then I sat down at a drum set. I was horrible, couldn't get the whole four-way independent thing… arms and legs.

I can fake a simple rock groove, but give me a bass any day. Piano was interesting. I think I got it from my grandmother… there’s something so logical about it and the harmony I can create with it. I’ve never taken a lesson in my life, totally self-taught.

It’s my second love along with guitar, after bass. My next instrument to tackle is a Chapman Stick. It’s a string instrument that you tap, no picking or strumming. It reminds me of piano; the sonorities and colors it creates are beautiful. Going to be a challenge…

I’ll let you know about that!

What non-musical activities do you enjoy?

Jeff: One of the reasons I moved to the Berkshires was all the outdoor activities one can do year-round.

I love to ski, and roller blading was how I got around NYC. I’d skate to Broadway with my bass on my back. Here it’s a joy to cruise along the bike trail. I’m a passionate reader. Wish I had more time, but with my iPad its easier than ever. I also love to cook! Surprising, since my Mom wasn’t the best. I think it also came from all my years touring, eating out every night… what I would do is, if we were settling down for a longer period, I’d get to know chefs in restaurants I liked. I’d trade them tickets to our show in exchange for cooking lessons. I love cooking Indian, Thai… spices are the heart of a meal.

Of all the places you’ve visited, where do you think the music was most amazing?

Jeff: Every country I’ve visited has its own ethnic music and style, from Japan and Kabuki theatre, to Australia’s aboriginal music, to New Zealand and the Maori war chants. I truly believe my own music has been influenced by it all.

Playing music, directing, producing… in all that you have done, you’ve been among performing stars. Can you tell us a story or two about what that was like?

Jeff: I remember going out after a show to the latenight food markets that spring up out of thin air in the parking garages and parks of Singapore with Sarah Brightman. Hanging with Phil Collins and listening to him play the Irish pipes—awful, bizarre, cool but fun! Performing small jazz gigs with Maureen McGovern in a club, unannounced.There are so many little things on a daily basis when you are touring.

Plato once said: “Music… gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination...” Can you reflect on this quote and relate it to your own experiences? When can you see this really come to fruition for you?

Jeff: It comes to fruition every time I perform in front of people. I hope I’m touching them on some level. I can feel it when the audience is engaged with the band. While in Europe, I discovered that audiences were totally into what we were performing. Japan was the same way. Here in our country we are inundated with music everywhere, so it’s harder to really listen to what’s going on in the moment.

When you are playing music just for yourself, alone somewhere, daydreaming the day away, when you actually get the time to do such a luxurious thing, tell me… what thoughts come to your mind about your life, how it has turned out for you and where you would like it to go?

Jeff: My life is still a work in progress, especially when it comes to music. Think of a pyramid. The base of it is the lifetime of learning scales, technique… as we progress as an artist and performer, it becomes second nature. By that I mean I don't think about what I'm going to play. Music is Zen, it doesn't exist like most other art forms like painting, writing—they’re a static art form, you can look at or read them all day. Once I play a note it’s in the ether. I play everyday for myself. Call it practice, call it a need. It’s my muse, my love, my calling if you will.

I created an entirely new life when I moved to the Berkshires. I knew no one, but I knew I was home, finally. I’ve built it from the ground up here and am proud of what I’ve become to the community, to my students, and most of all to my music. So much more to do. I’m honored to have this opportunity to express how I feel about the Berkshires and my music.

Thank you, Jeffrey! Tell us where you will be performing if there is a venue coming up so readers will go!

Jeff: I perform all over the Berkshires. I play for the art openings at the Norman Rockwell Museum, sit in at Mission, play in Newport at the FifthElement. I’m hoping to get into the Lion’s Den with my jazz group.

Look me up on FB, I keep regular posting on gigs.

Thank you!

THE ARTFUL MIND AUGUST 2017 • 45

HYPNOSIA

THE WONDER SHOW OF THE UNIVERSE

Heather Fisch wants you to know that her newest live theater show, “Hypnosia - The Wonder Show of the Universe,” is a legitimate hypnosis show. But, we're not talking about run-of-the mill stage hypnosis here; this show deconstructs and reconstructs the basis of reality.

“After a haphazard exploration of trance states during the creation of my last theater project, two years ago, I became fascinated by the subconscious” says Fisch, “thats when I decided to study hypnosis.”

“Hypnosia” is part old-style magic show, part social commentary, and part boundary-pushing live theater experience. Premiering at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center on Aug. 18, the show is glittering, sexy, and cunningly contrived. Viewers are invited to access their deepest selves while cradled by the safety net of comedic absurdism.

The show follows H.D. Psychek, a Napoleonic Eastern-European stage hypnotist played by Fisch, and her alluring assistant Rhowena, played by Amy Dawn Verebay, as they turn the traditional “magician with lovely assistant” dynamic on its head and shake out the coins from the pockets of its proverbial pants.

Throughout the action, Psychek produces wondrous demonstrations with various contraptions, magical elixirs and audience participation.

In addition, the show features New York City's premiere Drag King Emcee Wang Newton, along with acrobat duo 'The Wonder Twins' and O Jacaré, a Brazilian strong man who can dead lift 860lbs.

A full score of live music includes international musical artists Angel Espinoza of Puebla, Mexico, Tarcisio Ramos of Estância, Brazil, Brandon Vetrano of Brooklyn, New York and surprise guests from the Czech Republic and beyond.

Elaborate, surreal set pieces and ornate over-thetop costumes impart a richness that is sensual, tactile and gritty. With the help of set-design ace Leo ‘Of Twenty' from São Paulo, Brazil, media-design wizard Nicole Jaquis, hailing from three-hours-North-ofBageshwar, India, and accomplished art and concept director Saadia Shaza, head of Barn Home’s esoterica and arts department, Fisch has created an awe-inspiring visual masterpiece.

Vaudeville-era Magic and Hypnosis Show Friday August 18 at 8pm at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington, MA. Tickets: www.mahaiwe.org

46 • AUGUST 2017 THE ARTFUL MIND

ROBERT FORTE, SELF PORTRAIT

FLORA & FAUNA ART EXHIBITION GEMMA DI GRAZIA HIGH SOCIETY

L’ATELIER BERKSHIRES GALLERY

ROBERT FORTE

ROBERT FORTE, CHASING THE DARKNESS

Robert Forte's paintings continue to explore themes and ideas drawn from experiences in his life and in the world around him. The canvas used as a vehicle of expression as opposed to representation provides Forte with the excitement that makes painting an ongoing adventure and a source of limitless possibilities. Antecedent artists that inspire are the great expressionists Soutine and Schiele, Beckmann, Kirchner and Kokoschka. Forte also enjoys the minimalism of contemporary artists such as Alex Katz and the unique imagery of Bacon, Guston and Kitaj.

The politically catastrophic events now in progress in this country, and the social upheavals worldwide have reinforced Forte's need to give vigorous expression to ideas and emotions that resonate both personally and universally. The anticipated assault on human rights and dignity make it all the more imperative to use the canvas forcefully, both as a reaffirmation of oneself and a reaching out to others. There are many ways and media with which to achieve this, but Forte has concentrated his work on oils, adding acrylics for their adaptability to rapid brushstrokes.

In 2016, Forte was accepted into Atlantic Gallery in the Chelsea arts district of New York City and he is currently preparing for his first solo show at the gallery. The show will run from October 17 through November 4. The opening reception is scheduled for October 19, 5-8:30 pm. Atlantic Gallery is located at 548 West 28th St. in New York City. Accordingly, Robert has been focusing on works for the Atlantic Gallery exhibition schedule for 2017.

Robert Forte - www.robertforte.com

L’Atelier Berkshires Gallery is proud to present “FLORA & FAUNA”, an exhibition of artworks by artists who believe in protecting our natural world.

Discover timeless original artworks by cutting edge contemporary artists in a historic Great Barrington building.

Gemma Di Grazia large scale soft pastel oil paintings of peonies, amaze. Captivating paintings by Marshall Jones and Melanie Vote who both investigate the human and their relationship with the earth.

Claudia Alvarez’s sculpture explores relationships of curiosity and nature, depicting children and flowers.

John Ryan is a sculptor and a puppeteer who carves animals out of wood who are at risk of endangerment.

Natalie Tyler’s glass sculptures raise nature to a state of preciousness.

The artwork is evocative of the beauty inherent in our natural world created by masterful contemporary artists who are inspired by nature.

The exhibition will be up through the end of August 2017. This summer’s Art Salon will be on Sunday, August 6, Marshall Jones will speak about his latest series of oil paintings, Endangered Species Life on a Hostile Planet. Artist talk begins at 6pm, followed by an art reception.

“Scientists tell us that most animals present today—including humans—will not survive our massive presence on earth without our immediate intervention. They also predict a ripple effect on human health and society. Artists deepen our understanding of this interdependency, and help us explore how we feel about animals and our relationships with them.

Together, art and science reach a wider audience with a more inclusive message.” - Dr. Lucy Spelman L’Atelier Berkshires Gallery - 597 Main Street, Great Barrington, Massachusetts; www.atelierberks.com. For more information contact: Natalie Tyler, 510-469-5468, natalie.tyler@atelierberks.com.

AMELIA'S HOLISTIC FACIAL REJUVENATION WITH REIKI LEVEL II

Not your ordinary facial....

Your Extraordinary Facial....

Some Results: *Calming the Nervous System; *Balancing Hormones (great for PMS sufferers and Menopausal concerns); *Releasing TMJ problems (pain or tightness in the jaw near the ear; grinding teeth during sleep); *Lymphatic stimulation and drainage; *Sinus concerns.

The experience: I start with warm, organic tansy tea compresses to relax the face and help let go of negative energies held in the face. Followed with massage of the neck, shoulders and upper arms, releasing the tensions that many of us carry.

While I'm working, my clients often go in and out of a sleep state (meditation) finding deep rest and time to restore the inner being.

FACIAL REJUVENATION is a gentle healer, revitalizer and restorer of well-being. Clients let go of the physical as well as the emotional stresses they have been holding, unaware of its presence.

The face assumes a lightness after releasing the tensions held and worn in the face, allowing a more youthful, vibrant freshness to emerge.

I finish with my organic (locally sourced) herbblend-honey-based mask to exfoliate and gently dissolve blackheads and help heal concerns.

Again, Not your ordinary facial....Your Extraordinary Facial..... AmeliasHolisticFacials@gmail.com - For appointments/ Gift Certificates, call 518-3108314.

MARGUERITE BRIDE MCSWEENEY ARMS, MARGUERITE BRIDE, WATERCOLOR

ORIGINAL WATERCOLORS

Marguerite Bride will be exhibiting at two fun venues during August.

On Saturday, August 5, she will hold her 3rd Annual Home Art Sale, at 46 Glory Street, Pittsfield from 10am – 3pm (rain date August 6). Here you will find some older framed paintings, also prints (collographs), drawings, and lots of unframed originals, and many special specials. Each year she also features some new paintings as well.

August 19-20 --- Stockbridge Art Show - Main Street, Stockbridge, Mass. Juried fine art and craft show sponsored by the Stockbridge Chamber of Commerce. This is Bride’s 3rd year exhibiting in this show. Held rain or shine, free admission, ample parking. Hours: Saturday 10am - 5pm, Sunday 10am 4pm.

Are you thinking of holiday gift giving yet? You should be. Now is a great time to commission a house portrait or favorite scene you would like captured in a watercolor. Paintings (or even a personalized gift certificate, the artist will work directly with the recipient) make a cherished and personal gift for weddings, retirement, new home, old home, anniversaries…..every occasion is special. Commission work is always welcome.

Cards and reproductions are available at: Lenox Print and Mercantile in Lenox, Norman Rockwell Museum Gift Shop, Red Lion Inn Gift Shop, or directly through the artist. Bride’s full portfolio can be seen on her website.

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.

ORANGE YELLOW PETAL ROBERT WILK

ROBERT WILK MAUVES ROBERT WILK

SCULPTURE

Having moved a few years ago from his 20 year retirement in Venice, Italy, to Sarasota, Florida, Robert Wilk decided to re-invent himself, as he's done several times in his life. Having painted, designed and sculpted since his early youth, Robert found it a good time to focus on sculpture professionally.

Robert considers his main medium to truly be COLOR. No matter the material - wood, aluminum or steel - the art emerges from the COLOR. Wilk finds power in his minimalist approach and often provides a lively tension as well, through a feeling of movement or precariousness in the forms themselves.

Robert also enjoys repurposing objects, like chairs, children's colorful socks, stove pipes, for example, or logs in the forest, transformed in various shades of mauve.

Robert Wilk's work can currently be seen at the Berkshire Art Museum, North Adams, MA; MacKimmie Co, Church Street, Lenox, MA; Chestnut Lodge, Lee,MA and at the Urbanite Theatre in Sarasota, FL. Robert Wilk - robertvenice@gmail.com

advertise in the artful Mind!

Be seen! artfulmind@yahoo.com issuu.com to read the issue on line, page by page!

THE ARTFUL MIND AUGUST 2017 • 47

jenniferpazienza of living artistica JENNIFER PAZIENZA Harryet: What are you working on now that you feel is going well and you are feeling really good about?

Jennifer Pazienza: May 2017 and July 2017 are two paintings I have on the go just now. I’m quietly intrigued with what’s happening in them, so I really don’t want to talk about them, or what I’m experiencing at length just yet. It’s too early. At this stage I want to stay with the affect of making them and not rush to conceptualizing them. I can say that my intention is to have a minimum of 6 or 7 in the series and they will follow the seasons.

Over the years of writing columns for The Artful Mind I have mentioned Canadian Curator Tom Smart, currently at PAMA, Peel Art Gallery Museum and Archives in Brampton Ontario. In 2010 Tom wrote the signature essay for the catalogue that accompanied my UNB show, Landscape, Love & Longing, http://www.jenniferpazienza.com/exhibitions/.

Tom and I will be working together again on whatever this new series becomes and I couldn’t be happier. It’s important at every stage of a career to work with people who are supportive, but also constructively challenging, and in whom you have absolute faith. I have that in Tom, he is as his last name asserts, smart! What I mean is that Tom takes great care when engaging my paintings. He

48 • AUGUST 2017 THE ARTFUL MIND

Interview by Harryet

has a perceptual lens that supports his criticism. As a result of reading his writing I come to a better understanding. Not a conceptual painter, I paint from my gut, from hunches, from phenomenological callings, from sensory perceptions, from memory and reverie. Tom is expert at cognizing the felt worlds of artists, at articulating experiences of perceiving. In short, he gets my work and me.

That is something I am definitely feeling really good about!

As this is an Update, and that you were featured a few years back on the cover of the Artful Mind, how would you sum up your artistic work the past years ‘til today?

Jennifer: Well, I am truly in my 60s. My hair is longer and grayer! And we have a new grandson! In short, it has been extremely full and fantastic. It was in the November 2014 issue, https://issuu.com/theartfulmindartzine/docs/tam_nov_iss uu_2014 that you covered my first show in the Berkshires, Un-Earthed at Good Purpose Gallery in Lee. Newly retired professor of art education from the University of New Brunswick, it marked the beginning of my life as a full time artist! Who knew then that we would

have the personal and professional friendship we now have Harryet? Or how that experience would lead to the Berkshire artist friendships and community I am so grateful to have? From the Good Purpose show, I met Sofia Sakharov who made a wonderful video that aired on CTSB. https://vimeo.com/109259420 Phil Pryjma invited me to show with him at his socially conscious St. Francis Gallery, http://saintfrancisgallery.com/. Meeting Nina Lipkowitz during an exhibition of her digital paintings at 510 Warren Street Gallery in Hudson, NY, https://www.ninalipkowitz.com/ led to the inclusion of Spring Suite, in the Gallery’s juried invitational group show there last summer. Diana Felber graciously welcomed my work into a group show at her beautiful West Stockbridge Gallery last November – January, http://dianafelbergallery.com/. The November 2015 Artful Mind included a short interview about the work I presented at the Art & Psyche Jungian conference in Syracuse, Sicily. https://issuu.com/theartfulmindartzine/docs/the_artful_mind_artzine__november_2_ec 2da3f019c95c.

Recently, I learned that my work was included in a photo shoot in Houzz magazine for Designs by Jennifer Owen in Great Barrington.

“I have and continue to build homes that inform my paintings, not of the brick and mortar variety, but paint on canvas, where I safely dream in peace”

aandtheyears ally https://www.houzz.com/projects/2582926/house-inmassachusetts. You and I were having tea at Elixir. Remember? Jenn and I struck up a conversation that led to me visiting her fabulous studio on Railroad Street. She supports and loves working with original art in her designs and so invited Spring Suite onto her studio walls and eventually the walls of this home. In late winter of this year Berkshire Artist Scott Taylor very generously suggested my work to Judy Eddy for the Wild Berkshires show, BEAT’s (Berkshire Environmental Action Team) first exhibition and fundraiser at the Stationery Factory in Dalton, Massachusetts where he has his studio. http://stationery-factory.com/businesses/scott-taylorartist/. Judy was wonderful to work with and the exhibition and fundraiser was a good fit for my root vegetable paintings.

Here at home, I had work in the Fredericton Convention Centre and the Jonathon-Bancroft Snell Gallery in London, Ontario continues to show my work. I have been lucky that several pieces have gone to collectors. Finally, it’s thanks to Pittsfield artist Joe Goodwin that I am anxiously awaiting my shipment of Boston published Studio Visit Magazine, Volume 38, Continued on next page...

THE ARTFUL MIND AUGUST 2017 • 49

jennifer pazienza JUlY 2017 oil oN CANVAS 54 x 72”

Jennifer Pazienza painting at PEi by the sea

jennifer enjoying her time at pei

http://studiovisitmagazine.com/. Bramosia 2009 and Abbondante 2016 will appear in it. Diana Gaston at the Tamarind Institute in Albuquerque, New Mexico curated the issue. Joe introduced me to the juried competition and publication when his work was featured in it last year.

About two thousand galleries, museum curators, and art aficionados throughout the US will receive SVM. In a recent conversation with friends, I was lamenting what I thought was the sporadic nature of my practice over the last three years when my husband Gerry intervened and said, “Oh, you mean all those paintings you made while you weren’t painting?” He brought me up short and I’m glad he did. Although there has been a lot of life lived outside the studio, I was productive. His words reminded me that in the course of a lifetime a practice takes different shapes and has different rhythms.

50 •AUGUST 2017 THE ARTFUL MIND

Over the past year, how do you think you have artistically grown? What challenges over the year have you faced and worked your way though, and may be, are still working on?

Jennifer: 2016 found me away from my New Brunswick home and studio, more than in it. So, just that time away, although something I wouldn’t have traded for the world, presented challenges. A year ago from the writing of this interview I was in NYC attending the birth of our second grandson Oliver. He came early and suddenly. The unexpected gift of intimacy that grew up around the four of us, Ollie, his mother, my step-daughter, her husband and me, because of how and when he came into the world is something I will treasure forever. I wrote about it in the August 2016 Artful Mind, https://issuu.com/theartfulmindartzine/docs/the_artful_mind__august_2016. It was a piece where I riffed on Mondrian’s, Broadway Boogie

Woogie and his early work with trees. That led to the September issue and the inclusion of the painting that was then called WIP, June 2015. On reflection, while it is difficult to point to a single artwork or moment, I believe that the now completed June 2015-17 was pivotal. It was the first time I let a painting rest in my studio, in the background, unconsciously weaving its way into my psyche. Again, I don’t want to say much, but I do believe the current work owes something to that painting.

One of the greatest challenges at this stage in my life and work is living a cross border life. I love and appreciate the friends and community I have in the Berkshires, but Keswick Ridge is the home I made for myself with Gerry for nearly twenty-five years. It’s where I return to I make sense of the world. We are both duel citizens and with family and lifelong friends in the States we have moved freely and regularly back and forth across the border for as long as we have lived and worked in Canada. Without university work to anchor us here, as it once did, life feels different somehow. I’ve been and continue to be an active member of the incredible arts community here, but my involvement in the Berkshires has opened up wonderful possibilities, while raising questions about how it is I want to live whatever years I have left on the planet. Canada is my adopted country. For psychological, emotional and cultural reasons the US is the country whose citizenship I would not relinquish. With its ancient roots firmly embedded in my psyche across the Atlantic Sicily beckons. Questions of home, identity and place, have haunted, challenged and inspired me, and my landscape painting practice for as long as I can remember. You may recall Harryet that my parents died a year apart when I was 8 and 9 and that I was uprooted from my childhood home. “The house protects the dreamer… the house allows one to dream in peace,” writes Bachelard in Poetics of Space. With and in response to these fundamentally diverse landscapes: urban New Jersey, the forested Berkshires, the Sicilian Mediterranean and rural New Brunswick, I have and continue to build homes that inform my paintings, not of the brick and mortar variety, but paint on canvas, where I safely dream in peace.

What new rewarding experiences have you recently encountered?

Although I’ve been retired from UNB for three years, I have continued to supervise the work of Danielle Hogan. I

Jennifer Pazienza painting The Pantheon, Watercolour Jennifer’s paintings in small works show, Diana Felber Gallery West Stockbridge

knew I would take her work into retirement and it has been well worth it. She is an amazing woman, maker, activist and student and it’s been my real pleasure to learn from her. That’s the joy of having a terrific grad student, you learn more than you teach! By the time you are reading this she will have defended her PhD thesis, Just Making It: The Stain of Femaffect on Fibre in Art. It’s an intersectional feminist work that takes advantage of arts-based research, gender and affect theory and speaks to the challenges fibre artists face in a range of artworld contexts. Femaffect is the word Danielle created to define how we might affectively respond to fibre work quite differently from painting and sculpture for example. But the critique does not end there.

It continues until we learn how it is the material femaffect of softness spills into inequalities in cultural realms. Her work will and already has made a great contribution to contemporary feminist art criticism. Part of Danielle’s dissertation work has been her creation of an online gallery named the GAG, Gynocratic Art Gallery. It’s getting quite a lot of attention. You can find it at https://gynocraticartgallery.com/.

For a terrific overview of her practice led, craftivist work visit her blog at, https://daniellehogan.com/blog/, it’s phenomenal!

Do you have any new aspirations for yourself?

Jennifer: Initially, I wasn’t going to answer this question.

I guess I don’t typically think of ambition or aspiration, just stuff I want to do, but I guess that qualifies as aspiration. Most immediately, there is the series I’ve already discussed, but I also plan to do a bit more work on my blog at http://jenniferpazienz.com. Danielle Hogan’s blog is so inspiring. I realize that I would like to develop a more regular practice of painting and writing, reflecting, reading and reporting. Then there are the watercolours.

Can you tell us about your visits to Italy and what went on? Did it inspire you at all in terms of art making? How? Jennifer: We were in Rome for our nephew’s wedding.

He and his husband were married in a civil service in London, UK where they have lived and worked for about 11 years, but decided to have their ceremony and celebration in Rome. World travelers, it is one of their favourite cities. To accommodate friends and family from around

the globe they also chose Rome because they wanted a place, and I quote, “that would guests something great to do during the days before and around the wedding.” They were right! In the past we have driven through Rome on our way to Sicily, but we had our dogs with us then so did not stop over. My dad’s side of the family was from Guarcino, just outside the city. So it was indeed time for me to visit. We took an apartment in the Trastevere (meaning across the Tiber) neighbourhood. It was perfect. The days before wedding events, we experienced the usual suspects, the Sistine Chapel, the Pantheon, and Trevi fountain, but would return to Trastevere, most evenings for a light meal in our Piazza San Cosimato. We loved this working family rione. In the morning the piazza was the stage for the local outdoor market. School was still in session so in late afternoon the market gave way to reuniting of children, adults and dogs. At dusk,

everyone happily made way for the setting up of chairs in preparation for that evening’s outdoor film. We also sought out Trastevere art treasures such as Bernini’s, Ecstasy of the Blessed Ludovica Albertoni in the Church of San Francesco a Ripa. The Church of Saint Cecelia is built over the remains of her house and viewing it concludes at an extraordinary mosaic covered crypt with ceilings I could just about touch! Patron saint of music, we returned one Sunday with Gerry’s sister, our nephew’s mom, and happened upon a choir rehearsing songs in support of transgender equity. All of the wedding celebrations took place in the historic centre, near or on the Spanish Steps, but Trastevere has noteworthy steps too. Scalinata di Viale Glorioso was the site of Sergio Leone’s first film at age nineteen! We gathered for the family rehearsal dinner at the Hotel Russie with its gorgeous views of the Piazza del Popolo. The hotel has a Continued on next page...

THE ARTFUL MIND AUGUST 2017 • 51

Jennifer Pazienza JUne 2015-17 oil on canvas 54 X 52 inches

long history that includes housing Russian Romantic Painters and other artists of note in the early part of the 20th century such as Picasso, Diaghilev and Stravinsky.

Evidence of which can be seen throughout the hotel. We dined al fresco on the Sergej Terrace! The evening before the wedding saw us celebrating on a terrace at the top of the Spanish Steps with even more glorious views of Saint Peter’s Dome and the Borghese Gardens.

Yes the trip did inspire my practice in a way I had not anticipated. I returned to making travel watercolour paintings. Immediate, direct, a bit heavy- handed at first, but great fun and wonderfully meditative. I discovered that although I rarely if ever include buildings in my paintings, in watercolour, I prefer painting structures, especially in Italy! For two years, I have regularly walked passed the John Sergeant catalogue of his watercolours that lay on a countertop between my kitchen and bedroom. Upon returning home from Rome I immediately removed the protective plastic and have studied the images and read it from cover to cover. His Venice paintings are spectacular. I have found that with watercolour, my preference is to make unencumbered, immediate images, rather than studied paintings. I’m finding it is good 52 •AUGUST 2017 THE ARTFUL MIND

preparation for working that way on small oil paintings.

Working small in oil has always been a challenge for me.

The paintings can soon become tight and devoid of the open airiness that large canvases and their demand for full body brushwork can produce. The practice is influencing the larger work too as evidenced in July 2017.

Have you made any new changes to your artistic working space that may have been a huge help towards the creative and focused art-making zone?

Jennifer: Timely question since I just attempted to bring Wi-Fi to the studio by positioning 3 connecting nodes from the house, across the yard and to the studio. It’s important to consider what energy we bring into our workspaces, either intentionally or unintentionally, by technology or people. I was disappointed when it didn’t work, but then realized it was a good sign. To keep the studio as the intentional space for painting without the distraction of working on my blog for example, or interrupting my practice with Google-ing every idea that comes into my head. It’s worked for me for 10 years. As the saying goes, if it ain’t broke?

Tell us what your Canadian-based surroundings look like, and what feelings they conjure up for you when you are looking out of your studio windows, or perhaps, on a leisurely walk with Mela, your pup and/or with Gerry, your wonderful spouse?

Jennifer: What has always captivated my attention is the long view of the St. John River Valley, or as my First Nations colleagues have taught me, the Wolastoqewiyik (pronounced, Woo-luss-ta-goog), the place of the beautiful and bountiful river of the Mig’maw and Maliseet peoples. Currently it’s the immediate landscape that I have overlooked literally as I directed my gaze down river that compels me. The grasses and brush outside my windows.

For a better understanding of the ways the surrounding landscape has played on my practice, visit my website and blog at, http://www.jenniferpazienza.com/. There you will find paintings I made from the last twenty-five years!

What has become unique and very important to you in terms of living the best you can?

Jennifer: Perhaps like many women of my generation, I have spent a life- time trying to be better at________.

Jennifer Pazienza MAY 2017 oil on canvas 54 X 72 inches

Fill in the blank. Well this year, thanks to my darling stepdaughter, I realized that’s it! No more. This is who I am, what I am, how I am. If not one jot changes, that’s just fine! In short, I’ve given up trying to be better, in favour of being. That doesn’t mean that everything’s up for grabs. It does mean showing up mornings on the yoga mat, or at the Y and in the studio without the unspoken, but very real desire that if I do, I’ll surely be better for, or at it. Whatever it is. I already am. It already is. It plays out in intentionality, in preparing and sharing good food with friends and family. In summer, not only taking Mela swimming everyday, but being with her as she does. In winter, it’s about not only braving the elements, it’s leaning into them. It means traveling along side Gerry every step of the way as I walk on. In short, it is to cut myself a break. I’m not perfect. Surprise, surprise! There will be days when none of these things will occur and that has to be okay too. The catch of course is that even as I answer this question, I run the risk of contradicting every bit of what I just said!

Do you have any interesting ART WORLD NEWS to report to us all here? Something you found that is so

very interesting and new? Maybe something you came across somewhere in your travels and speaking to people whom you have re-met or just met, or have known a lifetime?

Jennifer: That’s quite the question! I would have loved to attend the Venice Biennale, but I wasn’t able to this year.

I did, however spend a bit of time reading about Damien Hirst’s much talked about installation, Treasures From the Wreck of the Unbelievable at the Palazzo Grassi. In true Hirst fashion, the exhibit challenges definitions of what art is and its purpose within a market driven economy. http://www.palazzograssi.it/en/exhibitions/current/damie n-hirst-at-palazzo-grassi-and-punta-della-dogana-in2017-1/ Thanks to my dear friend Anna Sapuppo from Sicily, who by way of WhatsApp, treated me in real time, to lots of pictures and her impressions of the event. All written in Italian so I was able to improve my Italian and add to my vocabulary too! Anna said she was able put aside the debate around the works, and instead intentionally experienced them first hand. She explained how she felt no violence, pain or death, but how she came to admire, the

sheer scale and creative genius the depth and range of materials produced. Anna was a graphic designer working in the north of Italy, when she decided to return to her childhood home of Alcala’ in Misterbianco and create the island’s first B&B, agriturismo. We met in 1998 when we stayed there for 4 months with our dogs! Since then we have become great friends with Anna and the family.

Artistically, she invited two commissioned works and it’s my understanding there is a wall awaiting another. Here’s a link to a short video of the farm, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37V7Udm2w6I. In March of 2018 Gerry and I return to celebrate our twenty-year anniversary of making Sicily a home away from home. It will be our 9th stay.

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THE ARTFUL MIND AUGUST 2017 • 53

eiko otake Performance artist

Written & Photographed

by Sydney Keyes

Floating as if belonging to another world Monday July 17th Eiko Otake danced through the space of Pittsfield’s Public Library as part of Jacob Pillow’s pop up performance. Onlookers warily followed her unsure of what to make of this middle-aged woman who seemed to fall somewhere between a character out of a horror movie and some unnatural spiritual being. With limited sound Eiko drew the crowd into her enigmatic space that nobody seemed too keen on getting close to but everyone could feel was undeniably present. Eiko spent the half hour performance in what could only be called a trance-like-state, neither completely here or there.

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Walking this delicate balance Eiko occasionally let out animalistic cries as if awakening the dead or calling on other beings enhancing this other worldly quality she possessed.

Even if unsure of what to make of Eiko’s performance what was clear by the end was the power she possessed to pull us out of our own world for the time being and into hers, one full of pain, suffering and beauty.

THE ARTFUL MIND AUGUST 2017 • 55

JOYCE SILVER FOR THE LOVE OF ART Interview by Harryet Photograph by Natalie Tyler

Harryet: This is a little introduction to you in The Artful Mind. We will be talking about art in the next couple of months. Joyce, tell us a little about your background as a sharp career woman?

Joyce Silver: I've been a businesswoman since 1976, when I was asked to join Ford Motor Co. in the Automotive Division in Detroit. I was a trailblazer, as there were no women in my position at Ford. I had located two women from other departments and joined them for lunch, but management soon separated us.

Unlike many women starting out, I asked for and received fair compensation and perks. I was given great responsibility and was authorized to stop the assembly line.

I quickly realized it was easier to apologize than ask for permission. I changed the design of all cars and trucks by preserving and making deadlines more easily met by both the hourly and executive personnel. Because I was not afraid to get my hands dirty or go anywhere, I learned a lot about management and problem identification and resolution.

In the 1990s, when I owned my own business, I used my skills to procure new jobs. I was relentless.

I would pursue a customer until we had agreement, always mindful that our deals should be a win-win.

I was the only woman on most development job sites as well. Was there chauvinism? Yes! Did I let it deter me? Never.

I have many stories about the business world. I'm delighted to share them.

As an avid art collector, what art do you find most appealing? What are you drawn to?

Joyce: I've been an avid art collector since I was a young woman. I've been drawn to glass and bronze

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sculpture all my life. I like dimensional art. It's more interesting to me then a non textural experience. I've enjoyed museum-quality glass art since the 70s, when I looked but couldn't afford it.

By 1979, I had started my collection in earnest. I added to paperweights and perfume bottles with a Picasso ceramic. Working at Bankers Trust afforded me the opportunity to purchase Alex Katz, Will Barnet, and Vasarely. I am drawn to visual expression and color.

I like glass art because I can interact with the artist and team creating blown glass. The act of creating glass reminds me of a finely tuned ballet, as apprentices, renowned artists and the Maestro come together to create the Master’s new vision. I never tire of this dance!

How do you know if the art you are considering buying will go up in value?

Joyce: I never purchase art for investment. For me, the acquisition of a piece I love is more important then its monetary value. The object I purchase has meaning for me beyond its price. I wish to possess that piece and cherish it. I enjoy looking at my artfilled rooms daily. Though I don't have many pieces, everything I've purchased continues to give me pleasure.

What do you think are the most urgent issues right now that our country is facing, and what is your opinion on how things can be better for all Americans?

Joyce: Our nation is divided on so many levels. Politically, so often Republicans only see red and Democrats only see blue. By that I mean the parties remain locked in their own ideological beliefs, with

the extreme right or left causing polarization in Congress and ultimately, we, the people, getting nowhere.

My solution: I see purple! I’ve been a lifelong Democrat, though no ideologue, who strongly advocates for economic fairness and equality for all Americans, the middle class, the working poor, our veterans, and the unemployed. I don’t believe we should increase the deficit; I think we can find ways to create new revenue. I also believe this country is sick and tired of the polarizing effect of getting nothing done due to the incessant infighting within our two party system. Therefore, I want to create a coalition within our two parties, Democrats and Republicans, who can join me to build this team and support my candidacy for the presidency. This has never been done before. I believe its time has come!

What do you enjoy discussing and chatting about the most with your online listeners? Where can the public hear more of what you think?

Joyce: I enjoy the feedback from my online listeners and speak to the issues of the day confronting us.

From week to week, my listeners may range in number from 100-450 and are usually comprised of openminded individuals, with a few of the listeners being ideological. When we discuss health care, listeners are very interested to learn about the best rated health care systems throughout the world. How little we seem to apply those best practices to our health care woes!

I like Periscope (my Internet Twitter service) because it gives me the opportunity to present my viewpoints, then listen and respond to my listeners’ comments. I've taken an in-depth look at inequality in Trump’s America, health care, climate change, the

Middle East, and Macron's election.

I took a very firm stance on Macron's election to the presidency. I proposed and advocated relentlessly for the French people to unite against Marine Le Pen. I had many listeners from France and impressed upon them the need to support Macron and go against LePen. Macron won, though it remains to be seen how effective a leader he will be for the French people.

Since I am passionate about our economy, I discuss the problems confronting us and offer solutions.

I also answer my followers’ questions, including them and valuing their participation in our "chats.”

I also present PowerPoint slide presentations to back up the facts that I present.

How did your family’s courageous war years affect you and help to make you what you are today—a wonderful, very successful pillar of the community in which you live?

Joyce: I was a child during the war years, and watched for my dad's letters daily when looking for our postman through the letter slot. His stories of survival, travel, bartering, caring for his troops and those he liberated from a German concentration camp remain with me.

He spoke about being hungry and going to the abbeys to barter liquor for food. He was a “mess sergeant” and prepared food for the troops in Patton’s army. When they liberated a concentration camp, my dad started to feed the starving Jews and was ordered by his captain to stop or be shot. My dad told the superior officer to shoot him, because there was no way he would stop feeding his people. He wasn't

shot, nor did he stop providing food to those in need.

He remembers one man coming back to say thanks for helping him. He was dressed in a suit and tie, and Dad barely recognized him.

That's how I was brought up. You help others in need. You're not asked. It’s part of my DNA. Three generations of Silvers have served their country: my dad, my son and now my grandson. I am very proud of their patriotic commitment to America and Americans.

When I had my family carpet business, I hired vets from the Iraq and Afghani wars. I offered deep discounts to vets seeking to refurbish their homes.

When Sandy hit Long Island, my mechanics lost the first floor of their homes. I worked with them, advancing short term, no interest loans, allowing them to rebuild. Unfortunately, because the economy has hit construction workers, their salaries never returned to previous levels. Many now rent out their own homes as they can't afford to return to them.

I believe educating the public is a way of giving back. It is one of my passions! And it is why I’m seeking public office.

Where are you living these days, and how does the Berkshires figure into your life?

I now live on the upper west side of Manhattan, opposite Lincoln Center. I've lived in my building for twenty-one years. Before living in NYC, I lived in Lawrence, NY. In 1994, I had the occasion to share a home in Stockbridge MA for eighteen years. The Berkshires became part of my DNA too! I used to think of myself as bicultural, the best of all possible worlds. Art in the Berkshires, coupled with theater,

museums, and Tanglewood… life doesn't get any better than that.

Plus I had good food, friends, family and skiing.

Even though we had a home and pool, I enjoyed sitting on the porch of the Red Lion Inn, or going to benefits for the Berkshire Theater Festival at Blantyre or at people's homes and galleries.

I still have friends in the Berkshires and go back regularly to the Schantz Gallery, L'Atelier de Berkshires and the museums. There is so much to see and do while enjoying this cultural mecca at a leisurely pace. It's unique, diverse, cultured and scenic. For me the Berkshires are therapeutic and renew my spirit and life. They are part of my DNA! We look forward to Joyce’s first column coming in September. If you have any questions you would like her to answer or discuss regarding the arts and culture in today’s world, send them in to: artfulmind@yahoo.com G

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Virginia Woolf and Dostoevsky RICHARD BRITELL

The above portrait of Dostoevsky was done from one of the few photographs made of him during his lifetime. Photography was just beginning when Dostoevsky was alive, and I happen to think that the photographs he saw influenced him. Either photographs affected him or he was driven by the same desire to record the peculiar idiosyncratic detail of everyday life. Before photographs drawing and painting never attempted to record fleeting but highly individualized detail.

Dostoevsky wasn’t the first writer to do this however; his predecessors were equally keen observers.

Take this example from Gogol’s “The Overcoat.”

“Petrovich reached for his round snuffbox, exactly which one is hard to say, as someone had poked his finger through the place where the face should have

been and it was pasted over with a square piece of paper.”

Or this example from Pushkin’s “Egyptian Nights.”

“He wore a black frock coat already graying at the seams, and a pair of summer trousers although it was well into autumn, a fake diamond glittered on his yellow shirt front...”

But Dostoevsky brings this kind of observation to an entirely different level, both in terms of precision, and in terms of meaning, suggestion, and metaphor. Take for example this passage from “Crime And Punishment.”

“He wore an old completely ragged black frock coat, which had shed all its buttons. Only one somehow still hung on, and this one he kept buttoned, obviously not wishing to shirk convention.

Or this example from “The Brothers Karamazov.”

“The gentleman wore a thin topcoat, stained and patched. His trousers were of a light checked material such as no one wore anymore, and they were so crumpled below the knees that they didn’t reach his shoes, so it looked as though he had outgrown them,

like a growing boy” Sometimes his descriptions go beyond photography and seem to set a stage for cinema, such as this passage from “The Devils.”

“As for the Captain himself, he slept on the floor, without bothering to undress. Crumbs, dirt, and wet puddles were everywhere; a large soaking wet floorcloth lay in the middle of the first room, together with an old, worn out shoe in the same puddle.”

But sometimes Dostoevsky brings literature beyond even cinema in his ability to describe an event in such a way that its visual image can never be forgotten, as in this example from the introduction to “House of the Dead.”

“I asked Katya if she remembered her teacher.

She looked at me without a word, turned her face to the wall and burst into tears.”

And what does Virginia Woolf have to do with Dostoevsky, nothing that I am aware of. But since photography was just beginning in the middle to late 19th century, I gave several examples of Dostoevsky’s writing that I thought illustrated a kind of photographic perception. But there is a passage in “The Idiot,” in which Dostoevsky actually has his principal character describe a photograph.

Below is the passage, the character is Prince Mishkin and he is describing a photograph of a woman whom he will later fall in love with.

“It is a wonderful face, and I feel sure that her destiny is not an ordinary one. Her face is smiling enough, but she must have suffered terribly - hasn't she? Her eyes show it- those two bones there, the little points under her eyes, just where the cheek begins. It’s a proud face too, terribly proud. And I can’t say whether she is good and kind or not.”

“And would you marry a woman like that?”

“I cannot marry at all, I am an invalid” This description makes me think of the famous portrait of Virginia Woolf, from which this painting was made. ~ Richard Britell

RICHARD BRITELL FROM THE BLOG, “IMAGE PLUS TEXT”

“Let us proclaim that the sidewalk can climb up your table, that your head can cross the street, and that at the same time your household lamp can suspend between one house and another the immense spiderwebs of its dusty rays.”

-Umberto Boccioni

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Paintin’ The Town!

by Natalie Tyler

Adam Zamberletti watches the show at Club Helsinki in Hudson, New York

Exhibition at

Stoneover Farms

Stoneover Farm, Suky Werman, Prop.

in Lenox,

Summer Group

Show curated by Noah Post. July

14th-August 25th.

By appointment.

Deslondes

performance and Julia Gottlieb,

at Club Helsinki in July.

Julia Gotlieb with fellow musicians at Club Helsinki

Deslondes perfoming at Club Helsinki

Torrey Oates, Kiki Dufault, and Annabelle at The Group Show Opening Reception, Stoneover Farms, Lenox, MA

Painting by Noah Post, Peter Thorne’s Cloud Sculpture

THE ARTFUL MIND AUGUST 2017 • 59