October Artist of the Month – Meet Michelle Lavallée

October Artist of the Month

Meet Michelle Lavallée

“Being With Nature”

In painting her art, Michelle Lavallée follows nature for inspiration. She explores captivating scenes to paint and create on canvas. Her paintings are made on location in the moment in time that the scene happens. Each work is a unique and original expression and interpretation. Also, her art is philosophical. It is a statement of being and the present moment of her person and nature.

When the artist is ready to begin a new search in nature, she drives her car, her studio on wheels, throughout the countryside and along rural roads where she lives. The effect of the falling light on the shapes of the fields, pastures, hills, trees, vegetation, rivers, houses, form the shadows and pictorial compositions. In witnessing the preferred scene in the morning, late afternoon and the hour of sunset, she finds the view that inspires her the most to create a painting.

In summary, Michelle Lavallée is an artist who searches and works to create beauty in her painting. What helps her in this direction are her studies en plein air of the infinite variety of the effects of light, color, value and tonalities that change around the shapes in nature. These observations help to enrich her artistic knowledge, imagination, creativity and passion in her landscape painting.

Her post graduate studies at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, lead to her obtaining a Graduate Diploma in Fine Arts. Preceeding this she held a B.A. with French Major from Rivier College. Also, she obtained the Art Specialist Certificate through the Boston University School of Education and Tufts University.

As a certified art specialist and teacher, she taught art to students of all ages and ability at the Boston Museum, Pilot School, l’Ecole Bilingue and the French Association of Cambridge, Nashua and Framingham Public School, Montrose School and others.

The artist’s work has been shown in over forty-five solo exhibits including at the James McNeill Whistler Museum in Lowell, the Copley Plaza, Middlesex Savings Bank, Sapas Exhibit in Wellesley, Dover Town Library, French Library Alliance Francaise of Boston, Musée Mauvide-Genest in Québec, Loring Coleman Gallery at Concord Art Association, Artifact Gallery in New York City and many others.

Her art has been exhibited in over a hundred group and juried shows, some of which include N.A.A. shows, WSA exhibits, Concord Art, Zullo Gallery, Boston Museum School, Art Expo – New York, Amsterdam Whitney Gallery – New York City, Southern Nevada Museum of Fine Arts, the Louvre Carrousel in Paris, the “In Arte Werkkunst” Gallery in Berlin. In Italy, her art was shown at Galleria Immagini Spazio Arte in Cremona, at MeArt in Palermo and at Palazzo Velli Expo in Rome. In Spain, her art was shown at the MEAM – the European Museum of Modern Art in Barcelona.

 

Sixteen publications have been written about her art. Her paintings are found in private art collections, in the U.S, Canada, Europe. She is a Charter Member of the National Museum of Women in the Arts, the Wellesley Society of Artists, Concord Art Association and Visual Art Explorer and Artrinet in France.

WSA Welcomes New Exhibiting Member Robert Savage

The WSA is happy to welcome Robert Savage as an exhibiting member. Bob is a retired a physician and he has turned his love of art into a new vocation as an art historian, lecturer/blogger, collector and now artist. He is eager to become involved with the WSA and we are thrilled he will be sharing his time and talent with us. To learn more about Bob’s art journey and see some of his artwork, visit his WSA artist page. Welcome to the WSA Bob!

September Artist of the Month – Meet Joanna Dole

September Artist of the Month 

Meet Joanna Dole

Joanna Dole grew up on a lake in Holliston with plenty of woodsy areas to make for a child artist’s paradise. “I drew and painted from a very early age. I was always drawing something… I won many first prizes at my church’s annual art shows. My mother also brought art and culture to the family. She brought us to the MFA to appreciate the impressionist painters she loved, to the ballet and musical performances…she made us handmade paper dolls and did portraits of us.  Dole attended Emmanuel College and started as a biology major. When she encountered an expansive array of art classes, she decided to switch her major, to her father’s chagrin and attained a Bachelor’s Degree in Art and Education. During college, she spent a semester studying Italian and fine art in Rome, Italy. “It was wonderful: we traveled in Portugal, Spain, Italy, Germany, England, and France as well as the entirety of Greece.  I developed a love of cooking while there as well as a love of Italy. I have traveled back there many times.”

After graduating, Dole took on the challenging work of a high school art teacher in the Boston City schools of Charlestown and Dorchester. While teaching, she took classes at Mass College of Art and Design where she received a Master’s Degree in both Art and Education. Teachers and mentors that have been important to her work are watercolorist of Maine, Paul George, Winslow Homer, Newton’s Wendy Artin, Anne Blair Brown of Nashville, and Roberto Zangarelli of Rome, Italy. She also emulates the works of Sargent and Homer

While still teaching, Dole moved to Wellesley and raised her three children. While mostly as a stay-at-home mom when they were young, she always continued creating art and joined the WSA. She took on projects painting furniture and walls, murals, frames, wall surfaces, and Trompe-l’oeil in her Decorative Painting business. She decorated the former Wellesley Inn restaurant with murals, worked in private homes and businesses, and contributed to decorator showhouses. These projects led her into the Interior Design business for the past twenty years. She developed her own business called Art and Design Solutions featured on Houzz.

Dole also has a love of portraiture, especially children, and has done commission work. She has won multiple awards, especially for portraiture, and has sold many paintings. Her first love is watercolor but she also uses water-soluble oils. With either medium, she is “not afraid of color and paint(s) vibrantly.” Up to this point, Dole’s work is mainly representational painting but “I am trying out looser and more abstract images now. In my portraits, I’ve always used a less-than-precise interpretation, allowing the paint to guide me.”

Dole ponders, “As I’m getting closer to retirement, I’m painting more for my own enjoyment. It gives me so much pleasure…it’s like a meditation.” She bought a house on a lake in Natick and enjoys the natural surroundings which are reminiscent of her childhood. She converted a screened porch into her studio and enjoys abundant wildlife; “I’ve seen a blue heron, bald eagle and in the winter there are otters.”She has been a long-time member of the WSA, North River Arts in Marshfield, and the Newton Watercolor Society. She had joined the Florida Keys Watercolor Society and served on the board there for 5 years, and the WSA.

August Artist of the Month – Meet Kate Heald

August Artist of the Month

Meet Kate Heald

 

Kate Heald grew up with her two sisters and two brothers in the country in Uxbridge, Massachusetts. “We did everything together and my parents gave us opportunities to try many activities. Something different stuck for each of us. For me, it was art, I’ve been a life long artist ever since I was a little one. It has always been my outlet.” Heald recalls her favorite gift ever was a big box of art supplies with various new papers, brushes, tools and mediums: “a menagerie of wonderful new things.” At Wheaton College she planned on majoring in chemistry or biology but was enthralled with her academic drawing course and considered biological illustration. She decided to go all in on art and graduated as a Studio major with a minor in Art History. She has taken classes at the MFA both during and after college.

 

After graduating, Heald looked for a job in the art world but soon realized that she could not support herself working at a gallery so took a corporate job at a technology research company, AMR Research, where she worked for eight years: she always painted on the side. “I have always left my art area set up, I like things neat and tidy so I can easily do something daily. If I don’t have time to work on a painting, I’ll make something small, like a card.” Heald married and became a busy stay-at-home mom for her 2 daughters for 19 years. She brought her skills to the volunteer circuit doing everything from room parent to CCD teacher to fundraiser. During this time, she did a lot of commission work and as her children got older began taking classes again.

 

Some of Heald’s most important mentors have been her professor and advisor in college, Vaino Kola and her first art teacher Margaret Kalousdian. Kalousdian “had such a compassionate and wonderful way of explaining things and she taught me to never skip any steps in my drawing to painting process. She had a cork cylinder and everyone new to her studio learned to draw it at their first class: These core principles really stuck.”  Watercolor also stuck for Heald: “I love the fast pace of (it), I don’t like to wait for other painting mediums to dry. Although I am a fairly controlled painter, the flow of watercolor allows for the unexpected.” Her subjects “are derived from things I love: beautiful flowers, landscapes, pets…something that catches my eye and brings me joy; I’m always saying, “Hang on, I have to take a picture

For the past several years Heald has been working for Caskata, a local company that sells beautiful dinnerware, glassware and linens for the tabletop. She initially started in the decorating studio where she decorated porcelain plates by hand. In the last year the company has outsourced this work due to the inability to source raw goods necessary to make the wares in-house. Heald’s role at the company has grown along with the company and they are just about to move their headquarters to the old Stuart Swan building in Wellesley.

Heald is an exhibiting member of the WSA and the Falmouth Artist Guild, where they also have a home. She exhibits at the Falmouth Art Center, West Falmouth Library and the South Shore Art Center. She treasures her group The Watercolor Connection in Natick: “It’s a wonderful group of artists (all women now); before the pandemic we met at St. Paul’s Church in Natick had lunch and painted together.” Heald has moved away from commission work and paints “mostly for myself: I try to bring out what initially caught my eye, something much more than what I see in the iPhone picture. The photo is never the same as what is in my eye.”

July Artist of the Month – Meet Lucy Sur

July Artist of the Month

Meet Lucy Sur

Lucy Sur grew up in Wellesley Hills and took art classes at Dana Hall and Bradford Junior College. She then went to UNH, where she majored in history and her practice of art was on the back burner until many years later. After graduating she worked for Kendall Company in packaging sales for 20 years, first in Boston and then in the New York City area. “I wasn’t creating any art, but I had easy access to all the museums in New York and I have always loved botanical art.”

Sur, who met her husband Steve during the Blizzard of 78, married and together they raised 2 sons in their lovely South Natick home surrounded by beautiful gardens. Sur got her teaching certificate when her children were growing up and taught preschool, as well as running a small summer day camp at her house.

When her boys left for college, Sur was ready for a new venture. The call to botanical art was still strong and she began studying with Friends of Wellesley College Botanic Gardens where she earned her certificate in Botanical Art and Illustration. “Learning to really look at my subjects with a far more observant eye is critical to the integrity of my artwork, and I continue to work on that skill.” She explains that in botanical art “the scientific principles must be correct.” She often shows her subjects in “various stages of their growing cycle; seeds, nuts, buds and leaves all capture what the particular plant is ‘about.’ And then the challenge is to make a beautiful piece of art by capturing the light and shadow, finding the right color mixes, and making an interesting composition.”

 

She continues to grow her art by participating in many workshops and has been inspired by scenes throughout New England and Hawaii, where her husband is grew up. “I’ve been fortunate to study with Elaine Searle and Anne-Marie Evans of France, Martin Allen of England, Denise Walser-Kohlar (vellum techniques), Carrie Meghan (graphite), as well as many others.” She is affiliated with both the American and the New England Societies of Botanical Artists, Friends of Wellesley College Botanical Gardens, Yarmouth Art Guild, Chatham Creative Arts Center, the Wellesley Society of Artists and the Wellesley Garden Study Group. Lucy immensely enjoys regular painting with a small group of fellow artists from early class days in the Wellesley certificate program. They call themselves “The Botanical Gourmets” and enjoy painting together, critiquing each other’s work…and savoring wonderful potluck lunches. She has participated in many shows with other NESBA artists as well as solo shows, including one at Heritage Gardens and Museum in Sandwich. She has sold both her watercolor and her acrylic and oil paintings to various buyers throughout the United States.

Sur’s botanical work often begins outside, where she does make sure to take photographs, then brings the specimen inside to achieve the lighting that is necessary for this intricate work. She starts with a basic line drawing, then a tonal drawing which she transfers to watercolor paper using a lightbox, then spends several weeks layering watercolor. Sur has also expanded her painting explorations to include acrylic and oil painting and she works much differently with these mediums; “I try to loosen up and focus more on the bigger picture and blocks of color in the composition to create a mood. I particularly like painting clouds and skies, trying to capture weather and a time of day.” She is able to switch gears but “not easily, it takes about a week to deescalate.” Her next goal is to modernize her botanical art and create larger pieces. “The shadows on a flower, the curve of a leaf, the twining of a vine all present opportunities to paint the forms and details of each subject, each with their own special beauty.”

 

 

 

 

June Artist of the Month – Meet Michele Clamp

June Artist of the Month

Meet Michele Clamp

Michele Clamp grew up in Essex, east of London, by the coast. In high school she developed a love of art and “was pretty good at it.” She was also quite a good student in science which she feels also requires a lot of creativity. Clamp opted for science and attended Oxford where she earned a PhD in Physics with a specialty in Crystallography, determining the structure of proteins, which allowed her to move into Biology. She was invited to work on the Human Genome Project at Cambridge.  

 
 
“It was a fantastic time to be doing research on the human genome,” says Clamp. She and her husband, also an Oxford scientist, moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts shortly thereafter. Clamp continued her work with the human genome at Harvard/MIT as they realized that comparing the human genome with that of other mammals could lead to identifying regions associated with diseases.  After being a part of these monumental discoveries, she became tired of being a University Academic so she moved on to consulting. For the last five years of her career in science she worked as the Director of Informatics at Harvard where she supported the research of others.

 

In 2012 Clamp started taking evening classes in Watercolor Painting at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education. “I loved the immediacy and freshness of (watercolor), it appealed to me.” In 2017, She and her husband left Harvard for good and moved to Marlboro where she built a studio and started painting full time. “It was a bit scary. I had never sold paintings so I just put up a website and hoped someone would buy them.” Her sales have been growing every year. “it’s a huge pleasure to have your paintings touch someone else.”
She took classes twice a week and did workshops with Charles Reid for watercolor artists. She joined the WSA and the Newton Watercolor Society. She was introduced to Randy Isaacson at Post Road Art and they were in need of a watercolor teacher on short notice. Clamp immediately loved teaching and continues to teach two days a week. During the pandemic she began teaching over Zoom and realized that she could demo a lot more. By recording the Zoom session she could also reach more interested artists.

The majority of Clamp’s work remains watercolor although she has been doing some oil painting as well. As for subjects, the artist is drawn to familiar places and animals. She intrigued especially by birds, “they have such interesting shapes and they’re aesthetically pleasing.” She has won several awards for her dynamic bird paintings as well as for her idyllic landscapes and street scenes.“I think it’s important to paint things where we live. I paint places that are important for me…sometimes an image can be in my head for years before I actually paint it.” It’s really the individual’s reaction to the scene that is important to Clamp.
 
 

Kathy Anderson Shares Tips in “Painting the Garden” Demo

The long anticipated Wellesley Society of Artists (WSA) and Needham Art Association (NAA) annual joint demo originally scheduled for spring 2020, finally happened a year later via Zoom. Although most would have preferred to see Kathy paint in person, everyone got a front row seat and attendees far and wide were able to join the program. 

Kathy pre taped the demo so she could share more of her process from start to finish. The subject was a simple but beautiful spring bouquet picked from her garden. Perhaps the most salient take away from watching Kathy paint was the importance of painting from life. She also emphasized the need to learn to draw as essential to improving your art, adding that knowledge sets you free to create. Kathy’s easy going nature made what was a complex task appear simple. She nevertheless instilled the need to be patient and thoughtful as she worked through the development of the painting. Kathy’s representational paintings are painterly, poetic and reveal a lifetime of dedication and profound love of the garden. The finished painting is included in this post.

If you are interested in learning more about Kathy Anderson, visit her website. 

For those who missed seeing the demo the WSA and NAA hope to make the recording available in the near future.

May Artist of the Month – Meet Fritz Kubitz

May Artist of the Month

Meet Fritz Kubitz

Frederick “Fritz” Kubitz has led an extraordinary life. His contributions to both Art and Architecture worldwide and locally are staggering. He became interested in drawing and painting as a child and his first sign of talent came at age 9 when he won the Chicago Tribune Bird Contest. His father was a professor at the University of Illinois where his colleagues recommended a career in architecture for Kubitz.

He attained his BFA in architecture at the University of Illinois; this also required spending a lot of time in art classes which was quite welcome to Kubitz. “Early on, while training to become an architect, I came across several ‘How to’ books by the artist Theodore “Ted” Kautzy. His subject matter together with his wonderful pencil sketches and watercolors intrigued me and from that point on I was hooked.” Other artist he credits for his development are Tom Nicholas and Paul Strisik.”

After graduating, with his wife at his side, he went into the service and traveled to Europe. His experience as an officer in the US Army’ Occupation of Germany and his European travels during time off had a profound influence on his “desire to graphically put on paper what he saw.” After the war he returned to the States and attained a Master’s Degree in Architecture from MIT. He was recruited by Eero Saarinen, the designer of the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. A few years later, Kubitz returned to Boston where he contributed his talents to the design and development of Logan International Airport, and particularly Terminal C, D and E, as well as the conversion of the Fenway Theatre to the Berklee Performance Center. His work can also be experienced at JFK and Dulles International Airports as well as the American Embassy in London.

While architecture kept him quite busy, he continued to paint and draw “at the dining room table” during time between projects. He and his wife settled in Wellesley and have one son, and now one granddaughter who also paints (she attended Mass College of Art). Later, of course, he designed a lovely home studio. His wife is a designer and author; she creates seashell sculptures and floral arrangements and has published fifteen novels. Her cover designs are done by her husband.

In the early 90’s architecture projects were in low demand and Kubitz recognized that he had developed an audience for his other passion: painting. Since 1990 he has painted between 2700 and 2800 paintings. While his early works were mostly watercolor, he realized the demand for oil paintings and quickly mastered this medium as well. “For the past thirty years I have painted a wide range of topics featuring Maine Harbors, Cape Cod Dunes, Vermont Countryside, New Hampshire Ski Trails, Boston Cityscapes and many other scenes from my travels throughout the U.S. and Europe in both oil and watercolor.”

He has been a member of the WSA since the 1970’s and is a Past President. He is now our first Honorary Lifetime Member. Other society memberships and leadership positions include the American Society of Marine Artists, Guild of Boston Artists (Past Vice President), New England Watercolor Society (Past President) and the Rockport Art Association. He has won numerous awards.

A quote from an American Watercolor Society article reads, “Frederick Kubitz has an intuitive ability in choosing appealing subject matter, plus has a unique sense of style, placement, and dramatic use of lighting effects, giving him a much-honored place among New England painters. He is widely collected by corporations, financial institutions, professional offices, as well as private connoisseurs of art.” A quote from this artist: “If it’s in there and it has to come out, you are an artist; if it’s in there and doesn’t come out, you are a patron.”

April Artist of the Month – Meet Jodi Traub

April Artist of the Month 

Meet Jodi Traub

 

Jodi Traub recalls a few early art memories. When her uncle lived with her family for a while he painted and allowed her to watch if she “was quiet,” and she was up to the task of sitting and watching for hours. At a very young age, her teacher called her parents to say that she was very talented at drawing. When her family moved from the North Shore of Massachusetts to Southern Florida, her mother found her an art teacher to ease the disappointment of an early teenage relocation. Art has always been a refuge for Traub who came back to the Boston area to attend Brandeis University where she received a BA in Fine Arts and Education.

There were few jobs to be found in the early eighties when she graduated but she pounded the pavement with portfolio in hand and got her first job at a publishing house. The company paid for her to go to New England School of Art and Design and she became a graphic designer. She worked there for four years and then moved to Chicago and worked for a medical publisher. Upon returning to Massachusetts, she worked for Simon and Schuster -Silver Burdett and Ginn (a children’s division in Needham) where she did book design for ten years. She and her husband were beginning their family and Traub, never one to sit still, started working freelance. While her children were young, she designed an educational game called Stargo, “Bingo with the constellations,” which was signed to go to market on the day her third daughter was born. The game was sold in Learningsmith and museums, including the Museum of Natural History in NY, until 9/11 and other unfortunate events happened.

A good friend of the artist asked Traub to help her with her invitation business and eventually decided to give her the business. Traub’s talent and warm personality led to her being constantly asked to expand her horizons. From the invitation business, she has now developed a very busy (until COVID) event planning business JD Invites/Joyous Occasions). She will also be involved in planning the wedding of her own daughter in September 2022. Painting will always be her first love, a place where she finds peace and inspiration. The pandemic has allowed me more opportunities to paint and has been the “silver
lining” during these troubling times. I am grateful for the art teachers, artist friends  and associations that have always inspired me to do my best work.

When she wasn’t working or being a mom, Traub took classes with artist Susan Kelley after attending a Plein Air workshop. Dramatic colors found in nature serve as the inspiration for her rich pastels and oil paintings. She has always set aside at least one morning a week to paint. Kelley remains a very important mentor and, during the pandemic, Traub had Susan hold class in her garage providing space heaters until Thanksgiving. She has also studied with David Curtis and has recently done classes on Zoom with Eli Cedrone and currently with Vincent Crotty.

She has had her work represented in L’attitude Gallery on Newbury Street (now in the South End of Boston) and at The Green Heron Gallery in Ogunquit, Maine until it closed due to COVID. She had her work accepted into a corporate installation at Milton Hospital. She has won numerous awards and done many one person and group exhibitions, including juried shows. She is a member of the WSA, where she reviews new members’ entries and works on exhibitions. She was a featured artist on “Art Beat,” a local show for Cable TV. For Traub the silver lining of the pandemic was that she has had more time to paint: “It’s my peace, my time for me. I don’t think of anything else when I’m painting…It’s the thing I look forward to most each day.” Her work has been described as peaceful and she hopes that her paintings bring a sense of serenity to the viewer.