Paintings by Carol Baum at Merrimack College

I went to Carol Baum's exhibition of paintings at the McCoy Gallery at the Rogers Art Center at Merrimack College. They are exquisite paintings with both depth and lightness. While there, I also walked the new outdoor labyrinth (in the style of the one at the Chartres Cathedral) at the college.

The exhibit continues through November 20. Gallery hours are Monday-Friday 9-5.

McCoy Gallery

Carol's website

Labyrinth

Photo Exhibit at Newburyport Art Association

I have two pieces in the current exhibit of the Newburyport Art Association Photo Interest Group. Both are photographs of empty billboards taken near the Route 1 traffic circle here in Newburyport with hand lettering with a brush pen superimposed in photoshop. Rather than advertising, these new billboards ask us to slow down and Breathe and Listen.

Newburyport Art Association
October 26-November 7
Reception: Sunday, November 1, 2-4 PM
Gallery Hours: Weekdays (except Tuesday) and Saturday 11-5, Sunday 1-5

Strong in the Broken Places: Healing Art

Last Saturday I attended the opening reception for a wonderful exhibit at the ALL Gallery in Lowell, MA. I am a believer in the power of creative activity to bring comfort and solace to our lives. This exhibit is part of a multi-venue series which includes work by artists and community members. There were works from many groups including family services organizations, homeless shelters, hospice programs,and cancer support groups.

The piece above was made at Casey Family Services and the reflection written was: A place I call home for the soul.

Strong at the Broken Places closes on November 1 when The Art of Healing: The Art of Psychotherapists opens nearby at the Brush Gallery. There are both closing and opening receptions that afternoon. You can find out more about the exhibit and other related events here.

Bookmaking Projects in Spanish

I am so pleased to say that the free bookmaking projects on my website are now available in Spanish. It's a wonderful story of the use of the web for communication and sharing. The translations were done by Lourdes V. Pichardo and Laura Mason Zeisler, M.Ed who kindly donated their efforts. Laura is the Executive Director of Explorations Unlimited, an education consulting firm specializing in training, technical assistance and resource evaluation and development. She had met me at a workshop many years ago. She recently contacted me to ask permission to translate the projects and I asked if the translations could then be posted on the web. She and Lourdes provided the translated texts which I then put into the documents used to create the pdfs and the web pages. Please share this information; I'm thrilled to be able to bring bookmaking to a wider audience. Thank you Laura and Lourdes.

Follow the link at the bottom of the Free Activities page

Word Play at Maudslay

Maudslay is a place of connection between the made world and the world of nature; a place that can be a playground as well as a space to contemplate the beauties of the natural world. Word Play brings letters and a word game to the observation of this magnificent maple. Stand under the spreading branches and find 22 letters which can be unscrambled to form five words (3,6,2,4,7 letters) that are a quotation from William Wordsworth about nature.

Yesterday we installed Word Play at Maudslay State Park in Newburyport, MA. It was one of those wonderful times when the final result looked as good as I had hoped. It was the culmination of a long process. The site was chosen and the plans submitted in May. Then, of course, instead of working on it through the summer, I waited until less than two weeks before to start. I purchased what are called drops, small pieces left over from cutting down larger sheets, of 28 gauge galvanized metal and a pair of snips at Port Sheet Metal and left with instructions from Sandy on how to avoid injury. I managed to complete the twenty-two letters (first cut from paper using some of my old calligraphy teaching handouts as a guide) without a scratch but with a sore hand. Cutting metal is certainly not like cutting paper. I spray painted the letters brown. I gathered sticks, bark, and pine cones and to attach to the letters. I made holes with an awl and then wired the materials on. I hadn't given any thought to time when I made my original plans and it took way longer than I expected. Was my family surprised? Of course not.

The final stage came on Sunday. My husband was in charge of the installation. We had several ideas for getting the letters onto the tree (his favorite one, using a screw gun, was not allowed) and happily found that tying black coated wire around the tree did a great job holding the letters in place. My daughter came along and happily assisted by climbing the tree as well as from the ladder and learned how to tie a square knot.

If you are in the area, please come by Maudslay. There are 35 sculptures in the park and a catalog available to guide you through. A reception and tour will take place on Saturday, September 19 from 2-5 pm.

Find out more about Outdoor Sculpture at Maudslay here.

Find the unscrambled quotation from William Wordsworth in this free pdf.

Found: Outdoor Sculpture at Maudslay

Book Dynamics by Ed Hutchins

Ed Hutchins creates editioned books that are both playful and profound. In Book Dynamics, he has produced a wonderful record of his bookmaking adventures since the late sixties. Through photographs and words, he tells the story of his journey as an artist and a person. He shares his enthusiasm, humor, and commitment to his art and to making the world a better place. Ed's own words are complemented by essays by William J. Dane, Newark Public Library Keeper of Prints and Works of Art, and artists Bertha Rogers and C.J. Grossman.

You can find out more about Book Dynamics at Ed's website.