A THOUSAND WORDS

STORY & PAINTING BY ROBERT BECK

TIP TOP

I’VE WANTED TO PAINT in Tip-Top Shoes from the first time I walked through the front doors. Few places shape New York’s Upper West Side identity as this store does.

Tip-Top is a shoe person’s shoe store. The salespeople have been there forever, and not only do they know style and construction, they know feet. And they are really nice—pleasant, helpful, and patient. I painted during the early afternoon, supposedly their slowest time, and they were still busy. Nobody stopped moving, and I had to decide how to incorporate some of the staff in uncharacteristic static poses. They enjoyed watching the image emerge, and I made a bunch of friends.

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Robert Beck is a painter, writer, lecturer and ex-radio host. His paintings have been featured in more than seventy juried and thirty solo gallery shows, and three solo museum exhibitions. His column has appeared monthly in ICON Magazine since 2005. www.robertbeck.net

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exhibitions

Pyrrha Jewelry

Heart of the Home 30 W. Bridge St, #3, New Hope, PA 215-862-1880 & 33 Race St., #1, Frenchtown, NJ 908-628-0347

HeartoftheHome.com

Pyrrha creates sustainable jewelry that holds personal significance for those who wear it. People connect with symbols and their meanings, and the individual way they resonate with their personality, ambitions, struggles or source of joy. The intention with their talismans is to offer inspiration, connection, or simply a bit of comfort. They’re a B Corp, a member of both the Responsible Jewellery Council and 1% For the Planet, and they handcraft the jewelry from start to finish in their certified Zero Carbon Vancouver studio using only recycled sterling silver, 14k gold, and bronze. Come in to see our collection today.

Jennifer Hansen Rolli: Bluish

Silverman Gallery of Impressionist Art Route 202, just north of PA 413 4920 York Rd., Holicong, PA 215-794-4300 Silvermangallery.com Opening Recep. 12/10, 5-8 & 12/11, noon-4 Open W-Sat. 11-6; Sund., 11-4; and by appt.

Silverman Gallery of Bucks County Impressionist Art will feature a collection of recent paintings from this award winning regional artist. Jennifer Hansen Rolli’s newest exhibit, Bluish, is rich with sky and water and bloom—images that evoke open space as well as serenity and calm.

Blue is a consistent color in Rolli’s work, ranging from the indigo of “Blue Hydrangeas in Creamer” to the moody blue of a snowy night in “Midnight Blue.” Rolli is quick to point out the distinction between bluish, and blue. There’s a sense of joy and freedom in her current work—a nod to the newest phase in her own life. With all three of her children now grown and living in different parts of the country, Rolli still feels a deep connection to them, but also sees it as a new start for herself.

Quotidian Images: Contemporary Street Photography

Matias Aguilar, Peggy Anderson, Rob Macdonald Lafayette College Art Galleries Williams Center Gallery 317 Hamilton St., Easton, PA Galleries.lafayette.edu January 23-March 5, 2023 Artist Talk and Reception 2/9/23

Three photographers offer their contemplation on public spaces. The rich tones of Matias Aguilar's work reveal in a moody, even romantic sense a shared bond and personal connection with a neighborhood that has historically mostly fallen off the radar. Yet, the backdrop of underrepresentation in his work Little Manila, Woodside, Queens, NY is neutralized by his faith that the pictures of this neighborhood are rather to be seen and felt, than explained.

Peggy Anderson is captivated by the passing of time through the layering of posters and advertisements in Parisian metro stations. Her work focuses on the enigmatic space created with the peeling and pasting of marketing assets that plays with depth perception. Rob Macdonald’s wandering eye captures hidden moments during his travels. Cities become color-field images that spark memories of a place while simultaneously mesmerize by a disorienting spectacle.

6 ICON | DECEMBER 2022 | ICONDV.COM Bue Hydrangeas in Creamer, 10 x 8 inches, oil on canvas. Peggy Anderson, from the series Paris Metro Posters, iPhone photos, digital prints, size variable. (detail)

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