A THOUSAND WORDS

STORY & PAINTING BY ROBERT BECK

LIKE A BIG PIZZA PIE

YOU HAVE TO LOVEthe moon. I can’t get enough of it. The moon appears oddly all-present sailing slowly through the night sky. I’ve always felt it has a Victorian or Nouveau style to it, which I know is absurd, but if I found a moon Globe Lamp on a Tiffany-style base, I’d jump on it. Jules Verne must have had one.

The elementary storyline is that we only see the side of the moon that faces us, and because it is larger than the viewer, we can’t quite see all of that half. In truth, we can see nearly 60% of the moon due to something called libration. The moon’s orbit around us is elliptical, like a stretched band. It slings out in one direction, comes back, and slings out in the other. When it does this, we get to see more of the leading portion as it comes and trailing portion as it goes. It also wobbles on its axis, which tilts toward us, providing an occasional peek at what is beyond the very top. The moon used to be closer to earth, and a lot warmer too, so over time gravitational forces produced an elongated shape. Front to back (away from us) is longer than the width of what faces us.

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exhibitions

Laura Brady, 30”x 30” (detail)

Winter Show

Bethlehem House Gallery 459 Main St., Bethlehem, PA 610-419-6262 BethlehemHouseGallery.com February 5–April 9 Opening Reception Feb. 5, 6-9pm Wed.–Thurs. 11–7, Fri.–Sat. 12–9, Sun. 12–5

The Winter Show features artists Khalil Allaik, Hazem Akil, Laura Brady, Shawn Campbell, Elaine Soltis and Ward Van Haute.

Director and curator, Ward Van Haute, integrates scenography, grounding each gallery room into a unique interior space to highlight the use of fine art in the modern home.

Ward Van Haute, Stealing Poppy, oils on glass, 20 x 28

Elaine Soltis, Carrying a Greeen Lantern, mixed media, 36” x 25” Justin Helps Abuelo Get Dressed for Abuela’s Funeral, 11x17, Digital Photograph.

Two Girls After Sunday Mass, 8x10, 35mm Black & White film..

Towers: Holding On

Edwin J. Torres Photographs Artworks, 19 Everett Alley, Trenton, NJ Artworkstrenton.org February 1–26 Opening reception February 5, 6–8

On April 4, 2020, Nitza Magalay Garay, mother of Edwin Torres, passed away. It was early in the pandemic—too early to know the risks of undergoing an elective surgery or convalescing in a rehab facility in New York where COVID-19 would take many thousands of lives. Since that time, like many others, Edwin learned what so often is gained through grief: family is safety, stability, purpose.

These are family photos—intimate moments caught on film of the people who loom large over Edwin’s life. Torres. Towers.

Like you, I am an outsider invited to observe. These are the photos he has chosen to show us to preserve the memory of his family. They are honest moments—the kind that take root in our foundation and form a family’s history. I study the subjects to better know the artist: their faces, expressions, posture, surroundings. Their story is one of courage, migration, loss, joy, pain, perseverance, and triumph. It is set in Puerto Rico and the Bronx, NY. They are strong, full of life, flawed, but admirable. This project is dedicated to them, and to the memory of Edwin’s mother, Nitza.

08-16-21, Lee Kaloides.

The Creative Continuum

New Hope Arts, 2 Stockton Ave., New Hope. 215-862-9606 Newhopearts.org

Fri., Sat., Sun., 12–5. Masks required. Through February 28

The Creative Continuum is an Invitational Exhibition and celebrates the creative spark that motivates an artist. It features twelve lifelong art-makers and their work. New Hope Arts’ 20th anniversary season begins by honoring master teachers through February 28.

Art is a tool for sharing, helping, guiding and revealing unconscious motivation in the hands of teachers who use metaphor, theme and storytelling, as well as technique and formal elements, contributing to the “creative continuum.” Recent sculptural works of Guy Ciarcia, most created during the past 20 months of Covid isolation, are the centerpiece for painting, photography and assemblage works by likeminded artists.

Susanne Pitak Davis, Mescalito's Vision (detail)