WSA, Author at Wellesley Society of Artists

Remembering Maris Platais, Gifted Artist and Beloved Teacher

Maris Platais Age 87, of Carlisle, passed away peacefully on July 18, 2024, after a brief illness. Born in Jelgava, Latvia, Maris and his family fled their homeland in 1944 to arrive in Boston in 1949. Maris was a graduate of the Boston Tech High School. After serving in the United States Marine Corps, he graduated from Tufts University and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts. Maris’ passion for art became his career, first at Dennison Manufacturing Co. in Framingham and later, his award-winning fine art was featured in galleries worldwide.

Art was his passion from the time that he was a child. He developed a highly skilled visual memory and combined that with his imagination to create exquisite pen and inks, etchings and light-filled acrylics. He was an active and long time member of the Guild of Boston Artists. In addition to being a gifted artist, Maris was also a beloved teacher at the Tolles Parson Center in Wellesley and gave artist demonstrations for local art groups including the WSA. His joy of life was infectious and he will be missed enormously.

August Artist of the Month: Meet Robert Savage

August Artist of the Month

Meet Robert Savage

Dr. Savage is a retired surgeon, assistant clinical professor at Harvard Medical School and Past President of the New England Society of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgeons. He is a life-long art lover and started a second career in 2016 as a local art historian, collector and now artist. He is eternally grateful to WSA for all the support and friendship he has received in these new art adventures. He is particularly proud to have been involved in 2023 writing of a 36-page booklet on the amazing 90 Year History of the WSA and celebrating its anniversary with a lecture on the topic at the Wellesley Free Library in conjunction with the Wellesley Historical Society.

Basically self-taught Bob is inspired by the Cape Cod folk art tradition of the Cahoons and Elizabeth Mumford, and the soulful Provincetown and Truro paintings of Anne Packard and Edward Hopper. His work concentrates on iconic scenes of New England, especially the Cape and Islands. During his process he enjoys using different geometric shapes and color experimentation. His latest project is transforming classic, early works by the Provincetown Printers into what he refers to as “white line” acrylics.

He formerly curated two art blogs on Facebook: the Wellesley Collection Art Review and Friends of the Rockport Art Association and Museum. He has published over one hundred brief biographies on AskArt.com and consulted for the Massachusetts Horticultural Society on art acquisitions.

His personal collection has been featured in the American Fine Art Magazine, and he is a frequent art history contributor to the Wellesley-Weston Magazine, where his career transition from physician to artist was featured in the 2022 summer edition. He is an exhibiting member and was a board member of the Wellesley Society of Artists. His current writings and lectures focus on women artists of the early twentieth century.

Exhibitions:

Rockport Art Association Museum

Annual Grassroots: Emerging Artists Exhibition, July 2021, July 2022, August 2023, June 2024

Contributing Members Exhibition 2022

Osterville Village Library, Osterville, MA, Cape Cod

3^rd Annual Plein Air Exhibit, July 2021

4^thPlein Air Exhibit July 2022

5^th Plein Air Exhibit, July 15,2023,6^th Annual Exhibit July 20,2024

Wellesley Society of Artists-Annual Winter Exhibition 2021, Spring and Sunflowers for Peace Exhibitions in 2022; Fall into Art, Weston Library September 2022; Annual Wellesley Free Library (WFL) Show Nov.2022(Award-Honorable Mention). All You Need is Love Exhibition WFL,Feb 2023 ;Spring into Nature, Broadmoor/Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary 2023,2024;WSA90 Years of Art(WFL)June-Sept 2023(People’s Choice Award), Natick Morse Institute Library, MA July-Aug. 2023;Annual WSA Library Exhibition Nov 2023;WSA Weston Library Show Feb 2024;WSA Natick Center For the Arts April 2024
Provincetown Art Association and Museum-Annual Members 12×12 Exhibition and Benefit Auction. August-Sept 2022, August-Sept. 2023 & 2024 and Members Open Small Works Exhibition Nov.2022-Jan.2023, Members Open Exhibition March-May 2024
Zullo Gallery-New Visions/New Artists, Medfield MA, 5/6-6/18/2023
North Shore Art Association-Emerging Artists Exhibition, Oct-Nov 2023
Wellesley COA Inaugural Art Exhibition, Dec 2023, 2^nd Exhibition Jan.2024

Contact:-wellesleycollection@yahoo.com

Congratulations to WHS Students Katie Gallico and Evelyn Harrison 2024 Recipients of the WSA Art Achievement Award

The WSA is happy to announce that rising WHS seniors Katie Gallico and Evelyn Harrison were awarded the Annual Art Achievement Award in early June. In addition to the award Katie and Evelyn will be participating in the WSA’s Annual Library Show in November.

In 2017, the WSA reinstituted the Annual Art Achievement Award, which is a cash prize that is given to a Wellesley High School student who demonstrates both merit and dedication to their art studies.

July Artist of the Month – Meet Cathy Gruetzke Blais

July Artist of the Month

Meet Cathy Gruetzke Blais

Cathy Gruetzke-Blais is an artist and art educator. She works full-time at Fay School in Southboro, teaching children ages 3 – 14. Originally from Rhode Island, she has lived in Massachusetts for most of her adult life. She holds BFA and MAT degrees from Tufts University. A twenty-two-year resident of Framingham, Cathy creates mainly acrylic paintings and sometimes abstracted mixed media pieces in her space at Howard Street Studios in Framingham. Additionally, she has experience as a scenic artist for theaters and a designer for public art projects.

Cathy paints because she is compelled to. It makes her feel whole and productive. She is inspired by vibrant colors that can be found in nature, mainly in flowers. Something awakens her senses and makes her feel alive when walking in natural spaces where color becomes the dominant and uniting element. She often photographs her experiences and later determines which full scenery shot or small detail of a flower image will make the cut to become the inspiration for her next painting. Cathy starts by sketching and laying out colors as they were seen. But then there is something that happens in the creative process that is best described as meditative and intuitive. Call it the right brain or the left brain, or perhaps a mix of the two, intuition kicks in and it becomes clear what to do next on the painting, even if it is not in the photograph. Solutions in her paintings often come in the forms of color and texture. Cathy believes it is important to follow your intuition when working. It helps you achieve a state of “flow” in which interesting things can happen in your art.

Cathy is currently working on a 30” X 40” painting inspired by a spring walk at Garden in the Woods, Framingham. There were many vibrant layers of beautiful colors on that particular day. This painting will become part of a show called “Views of Framingham” that is supported by a grant from the Framingham Cultural Council through the Mass. Cultural Council. The eight painters at Howard Street Studios, most of whom are WSA members, are taking part in this rotating venue exhibit from late summer into the winter. Proceeds from sales of their art will support community based nonprofits.

More about Cathy:

Website: https://catherine-gruetzkeblais.pixels.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gruetzkeblais/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CatherineGruetzkeBlais

June Artist of the Month Meet Cora Ainge

June Artist of the Month

Meet Cora Ainge

When did you start painting and what do you love about it?

It wasn’t until my early 30s that I first picked up a paint brush. In an attempt to survive being cooped up with young kids during a particularly harsh Boston winter, I grabbed some cheap paint, brushes and canvases at a craft store one afternoon. As I sat with my boys at the kitchen table painting, I was surprised by how relaxed I felt and how quickly the time had passed. I remember putting my kids to bed that evening and rushing back to the kitchen to paint again. I loved it and painted hours into the night without realizing it.

My dad had tragically died 3 months prior in a car accident at the age of 58. Still very much buried in grief, I found myself turning to the little painting station I’d set up in the kitchen. Each evening after my kids were in bed, I’d quietly paint and began to realize it was giving me a much needed break from the sadness of losing my dad so suddenly. The process of painting had a way of sucking me into a state of flow that was incredibly healing.

As time went on, my love for painting grew strong. I was so thankful for YouTube because I felt like I could learn how to paint just about anything – all I needed was my iPad, painting supplies and a cup of tea. I did every demo I could find!

It wasn’t long before I was deeply in love with painting and I remember how the world around me had turned into a palette of paint. I couldn’t help but look at trees and sky without color mixing in my mind. I began to appreciate color (and the world around me) in a whole new way – there were suddenly so many fun little color puzzles around me, all the time!

The joy of color theory was one thing, but what I was completely mesmerized by, was light. Like a moth to a flame, I obsessed over the powerful effect light had on what I was painting. Playing with light is how I learned to infuse my paintings with mood and atmosphere. Not to get too annoyingly “artsy” here, but once I figured out how to paint light, I started to actually feel, dare I say a bit of “emotion”, when I looked at my paintings (ew gross, sorry). But, it’s true! Sometimes the most simple wisp of light can take a painting from stale to serene and that’s what draws us in!

After some time, and through much trial and error, I began to churn out original paintings. I’d hang paintings on my walls and soon I was painting for friends and family. Like most artists starting out, I remember being absolutely floored when complete strangers were willing to give me real money in exchange for my art. What?! I don’t think the shock of that will ever wear off. After some encouragement from loved ones, my little LLC was born and I couldn’t be happier.

What do you like to paint and what are you currently working on?

I paint a lot of flowers and landscapes (golf courses, in particular), but what I’ve really been loving to paint lately are ballerinas. I had a solo show of ballerina paintings last year and I loved painting them so much I’ve started working on a second series.

Strangely enough, however, some of my most enthusiastic buyers are golfers. I saw there was a hole in the golf painting market when I noticed how giddy my golf-obsessed husband and his buddies would become when chatting about their golf outings. But what I didn’t expect was that most of my golf paintings would actually be purchased by women who came to know my work because they saw my flowers or ballerinas – turns out a lot of them are also married to golf nuts and golf paintings make great gifts. Works for me!

Follow Cora on Instagram @coraaingeart

Website

Fritz Kubitz “All About Boston”

WSA member, Fritz Kubitz, recently had a show “All About Boston” at the Guild of Boston Artists featuring some of his iconic paintings of the city.

Showing interest in drawing and painting from a young age, Frederick “Fritz” Kubitz was encouraged to train as an architect and received his master’s degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. As a student in the developing city, he was immediately enthralled by Boston’s urban landscape. Upon graduation, the young architect was offered a position at the firm Eero Saarinen & Associates. He would go on to build an impressive portfolio and participated in the design of the TWA Flight Center at the John F. Kennedy International Airport, Dulles International Airport, and the London Embassy. From there, he was offered a position as a Jr. Partner in a large Boston firm where he went on to add to the architectural canvas that lay before him, planning the expansion at Logan International Airport and designing several of its terminal buildings. He later started his own office, designing academic buildings at Harvard and Tufts Universities, and remodeling the old Fenway Theater/Biltmore Hotel to become the Berklee College of Music.

Throughout his education and career as an architect, Fritz continued to nurture his passion for painting, eventually devoting himself to fine art, creating first in watercolors and then in oils. Since 1990, Mr. Kubitz has painted a staggering 2800 pieces. While his subjects come from throughout the US and Europe, his most beloved scenes capture the vibrant and ever-changing cityscape of Boston and the surrounding landscapes of the New England Region. A quote from the American Watercolor Society Summer 2021 Newsletter expounds, “Frederick Kubitz has an intuitive ability in choosing appealing subject matter, plus a unique sense of style, placement, and dramatic use of lighting effects, giving him a much honored place among New England painters.” Often working on location, his paintings present Boston in an earnest, luminescent, natural light that calls back to the admiration he felt towards the city as a student. Meanwhile, his architecture background enhances his compositions with a deep knowledge of structure and keen eye for detail. From memorializing its iconic and historic landmarks to documenting its citizens and visitors in quotidian moments of leisure, Kubitz captures the beauty and energy of Boston’s every corner. All About Boston is an ode to a city Kubitz has dedicated his life to commemorating and quite literally, shaping.

Over the span of his career, Kubitz’s paintings have toured nationwide to various museums and places of exhibition. His work can be found in the collections of many corporations, financial institutions, professional offices, as well as private connoisseurs of art. In addition to being a member and former Vice President of The Guild, Kubitz has served as the president of the New England Watercolor Society and the Wellesley Society of Artists. He is also a Signature Member of the American Watercolor Society and the American Society of Marine Artists as well as a member of the Rockport Art Association and the Copley Society of Boston.

Press release courtesy of the Guild of Boston Artists

WSA Welcomes New Exhibiting Member Sheila Davis

The WSA is happy to welcome new exhibiting member Sheila Davis. She is a representational painter inspired by the New England coast. Her paintings capture the atmosphere and light that make these areas so inspiring for artists. Not only does Sheila paint herself, she has enjoyed a long career teaching art. To see more of her artwork visit her WSA artist page. Welcome to the WSA Sheila!

May Artist of the Month – Meet Michael Murphy

May Artist of the Month

Meet Michael Murphy

Michael Murphy has had multiple chances to expand his universe in his 71 years and continues on his 53-year-old artistic journey to this point in his life. He grew up in Texas and after high school, he attended art school at Texas Tech University, studying painting, drawing, and printmaking. Life took him in a different direction after his graduation, however, and Michael pursued a career in education, believing he was being pointed toward a world of teaching and working with students. After a successful career as a teacher, assistant principal, principal, director, assistant superintendent and superintendent, Michael turned to working with schools across North and South America as a national leadership coach, trainer, planning facilitator, and consultant. He has been fortunate to have continued his consulting work for 15 years.

In spite of his important work with school leaders, Michael never lost his love of design and art in architecture, nature, and abstraction. So, after a move to the Boston area and with the support of his family, he was able to rearrange his life, retire, and expand his personal world to involve the production of paintings, drawings, and prints to showcase his emotions and thoughts. He was also fortunate to have found the Wellesley Society of Artists as an important part of his work, and he currently is the vice-president of the WSA. Michael’s exploration takes him to expressive abstraction as he studies design, form, shape, mood, motion, and color.

Michael explains: “My images come to me softly and often with just a whisper—there is beauty in the moment when you have inspiration and clarity for the work. That whisper, the softness, may become a roar with time on the canvas. Whatever the canvas transition becomes, I want my works to project a sense of surprise, wonder, movement, and love for the new, unknown, or unspoken. It may take me to project an uplifting moment or a moment of despair. I let the immediacy the paint on canvas to take me where it wants to go.”

Michael welcomes your contact and can be reached at michaelmurphy@murphysoftmodernart.com

April Artist of the Month – Meet Chelsea Sebastian

Artist of the Month

Meet Chelsea Sebastian

Chelsea Sebastian is a representational oil painter who creates reflections of her daily life from her studio in Wellesley, MA. She works from sketches, photographs, and memory, often combining images to compose poignant paintings of vernacular places. She derives inspiration from her childhood on a small farm, extensive world travel, and New England’s dramatic seasons and dynamic community. Her artwork is held in collections throughout the United States and Canada. Recently, she was chosen to be part of the U.S. State Department’s ‘Art in Embassies’ program.

WHAT IS YOUR BACKGROUND?

Because I was raised in a large family by two painters, I have been making art since childhood. My dad is a maritime watercolorist and my mom is a portrait artist who works in acrylics. I hold a degree from the University of Washington in Community and Environmental Planning and a Masters of International Studies from North Carolina State University. Invariably, I paint at every opportunity, and relentlessly examine art history and human creativity. Since 2021, I have been studying figure painting from life at the Academy of Realist Art in Boston

WHAT IS YOUR PROCESS?

I call my process “Assemblage and Archeology.”

Assemblage: Through sketching, photography and deep observation, I collect images of people and places. In my studio, I engage in an awkward analog process of combining images. I print, copy, trace, cut-out, collage, sketch, and re-draw compositions. I often carry around an assemblage for years and study it whenever I have a moment of pause.

Archeology: I build my paintings by applying direct impasto layers of color over numerous painting sessions. As a painting takes form, I scrape off texture between sessions. I tremendously enjoy this tiny act of destruction. I rediscover paint layers and remind myself that my previous work is not yet precious. I put in earplugs and get physically close to the canvas, scraping with a pallet knife and wiping with my hand. During this process, I enter a soft consciousness where I only think about mixing color and creating form.

WHAT DO YOU PAINT? AND WHY?

My current work is a reflection of my daily life. I am in a personal era of suburban domesticity and my art reflects home, children, pets, and my beloved neighborhood. With fidelity, I attempt to capture subjective experiences and accurately portray how New England’s stark light magnifies minor places in the landscape and plays on architecture. My work is also a reflection of my psychological state, as I am sensitive to my family’s growth and how our community engages with nature. More than anything, my paintings chronicle my joy and connection with this time and place. They are both composites of isolated moments and are my effort to keep record of the fundamental importance of my life.

WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON NEXT?

I set myself the task of mastering portraiture over the next two years. I have started with my immediate family members and am enrolling my neighbors and friends as models. I continue to study at the Academy, show locally, and spend as much time as possible alone in my basement, beside the boiler, painting.

www.ChelseaSebastian.com

The WSA Welcomes New Exhibiting Members Charles Bischof and Kris Shaffer

Two new members in one day…

The WSA is happy to welcome new exhibiting member Charles Bischof. As a professionally trained artist, Charles has a diverse portfolio of work in watercolor and oil. He creates atmospheric images in both realistic and abstract genres. To see more of his paintings visit his WSA artist page. We look forward to seeing more of his artwork in our upcoming shows. Welcome to the WSA Charles.

The WSA is also happy to welcome new exhibiting member Kris Shaffer whose watercolors and oils landscapes transport you. Equipped with an art education Kris’ work explores a variety of subject matters, always expressing a sense of place. To see more of her artwork, visit her WSA artist page. And just to avoid confusion, Kris is the sister of WSA member Kitt Shaffer. Welcome to the WSA Kris!