July Artist Spotlight – Meet Martha Marson

July Artist Spotlight

Meet Martha Marson

 

Born and raised in RI, a beautiful state (“the Ocean state”), I spent many days on the water with my father, and later my step father, both passionate sailors. The open water and sky, along with every summer spent up island on Martha’s  Vineyard, gave me my love for water, sand, dunes and boats. This is the primary reason why my work centers on these elements. My happy place has always been the Vineyard; and the places that ground me and reach my soul are being on a boat in the open ocean; and on the beach with majestic dunes. Most of my paintings are of the Vineyard, since it brings me such a sense of peace and beauty, and connectedness of childhood memories with family and friends, though Ive been known to also paint winding forest paths as well as open fields! 
 
 
My artistic side comes from several members of my family, and my daughter (I have two daughters) went to art school and now has a successful career in graphic design. While it was always fun to dabble in different mediums along this journey, like watercolor, ceramics, drawing and clay, I went to University of Vermont  and majored in psychology and writing. After many years in advertising as a copywriter and then in publishing, I jumped into grad school and received my MSW from Boston University. It wasn’t until many years later, when my kids were much older, that I was invited into a workshop by a close friend and artist that I started in pastel painting. I believe it was the medium that chose me. Just felt right!  (I also believe every single human has an expressive outlet waiting to emerge) I’ve been working in pastel studying under my fabulous teacher for over 15 years, and haven’t looked back!
 
I now have a thriving private practice with clients, and I paint one day a week. My painting is my therapy, as the world drops away when I’m in the zone in the studio. It’s important for everyone to have places to find their peace, and it’s painting the beauty of the natural landscapes of my life, that I’ve found mine. I have so much more to learn, because I did not have a formal art education, so I still get the names of the various blues, reds or yellows mixed up; but I paint more intuitively, and as my teacher says, “paint what you see with your eyes, not your brain”. My goal is to cut back on my practice and paint more. Life is short! 
 
I currently live with my wonderfully supportive husband and our Norwich Terrier Milo in Needham, and we have two amazing daughters that are my pride and joy.
 

June Artist Spotlight – Meet Theresa Christopher

June Artist Spotlight

Meet Theresa Christopher 

WSA Member Since 2017

 

When did you start making art?

 I do not remember exactly when I started making art.  It seems art was always there.  Sometimes in Elementary School,  friends would ask me when I had time to do “that,” “that” being when I painted a book of wildflowers and a year later, a book of birds.  These were not assigned projects.  I created them for fun, and later they proved handy when I needed to embellish a science project.  Art was my hobby. 

What type of art attracts you?

I gravitate to plein air painting in acrylics, which brings me close to nature.  I like being outdoors early in the day.  Capturing natural light and contrasting shadow by utilizing the value of other colors in the piece is a worthy challenge.  Fifty percent of the time I will complete a painting in a session; other times I sketch in paint, take a photo and finish in the studio.  Either way, capturing the ambience and rendering an image is satisfying.  Even better is conveying the feeling you captured so that others may see and feel it too. 

Where do you find inspiration?

 For me, nature provides the ultimate inspiration for creating art.  It provides fresh compositions every time.       

In retirement, I have had the luxury of travelling and learning how I see the world.  These discoveries inspire me to experiment with new ideas and media.  I’ve travelled to San Miguel de Allende in Mexico, where for the first time I sketched historic architecture a la prima utilizing a micron pen.  For two consecutive years I was the director’s guest at Civitella Ranieri in Umbria, Italy, where with other guests we painted plein air in acrylics and watercolor half the day and visited sites the other half.  As a result, we were inspired by viewing most of the original frescoes and paintings of Piero de la Francesca.  

 

 

What does art mean to you?

For me, art is relaxing and stimulating at once. It provides the camaraderie of artist friends. Whether in the studio or via Zoom, art friends are supportive and enjoy discussing and making art together.  Each time I view another’s art, visit a museum, attend an art demonstration or put a graphite pencil to paper, I learn something.  In addition to enjoying and creating art with friends, a best day might include painting a marsh from an overlook in Hingham, working in my studio or taking a portraiture class.  What a hobby!

 

Wellesley in Bloom

Wellesley in Bloom

Iris Garden, 36×36, $650, Artist: Lynn Dennis

Finally, the warmer weather has arrived and along with it some long anticipated color! Wellesley in Bloom, May 3-11, celebrates the flora of the season and community. The WSA is participating in this town event with a display of artwork in Church Square and Central Street of flowers and inspired spring scenes and blooming landscapes. See below some of the artwork on display. Interested in this artwork: email wsaartists@gmail.com. Many thanks to all of the participating artists who all helped to make this display possible Kristin Conant, Lynn Dennis, Claudia Doherty, Pilar Figueira, Laurie Hammer, Dottie Laughlin, Mena Levit, Leah Morris, Mike Murphy, Hannah Nersasian, Yale Nicolls, Joan Onofrey, Nancy Present Van Broekhoven, Judith Schneider, Chelsea Sebastian, John Sherffius, Bobbie Suratt, and Jodi Traub. We would also like to thank our community partners for making this opportunity available to us: Beth Sullivan Woods, Adrienne Davis-Brody, Lauren Rogers and Dennis DiSchino.

 

 

 

 

May Artist Spotlight Meet Julia Greenway

May Artist Spotlight 

Meet Julia Greenway

 

Julia Greenway (she/her) lives in Needham, MA. As well as being an artist, she works in the Greenhouse at Volante Farms and is a certified meditation teacher.

View from Bowen Road Flat, Hong Kong, Circa 1972

 

One of my first memories (age 4) is practicing my number “8”s in crayons on the newly painted wall of my room, right before we were supposed to move out of the apartment.  Though a huge supporter of my work, my mother was not best pleased. As a family, we traveled a lot. My father was a foreign correspondent in Vietnam and then Israel. We lived in Hong Kong twice and I used to go with my mother to her friend Rosamund Brown’s house and paint. They are both artists.

 

 

I never really stopped. All the way through school Art was my favorite subject. When I got to college, I majored in languages as it was thought that an art degree wouldn’t pay the bills but I took art classes for myself and later went to Mass College of Art (now Mass college of Art and Design) for my master’s degree in painting.

My artwork, like the number 8, follows no straight path. As an art student I mostly painted in oils and then moved to watercolors largely due to the space and clean-up time needed while raising three children, mostly on my own. I’d had prior training in watercolors with an illustration studio that produced work for Dorling Kindersley Books. Very detailed work – mostly animals and buildings. By comparison my oils tended towards expressionist.

One of the things I paint is Pet Portraits and I use that detailed style. I use multiple photographs in order to capture the essential personality of each creature. That is my goal.

I primarily work from nature – which is an endlessly fascinating inspiration for me. I love the capricious medium of watercolor. While my style is based on observable reality, reflecting how I feel about the subject and its composition and colors…etc…, the paint is speaking more for itself. I feel more like an accomplice rather than being in control.

It’s important to retain a childlike sense of wonder. I find painting to be an extension of self and paradoxically an expression of creative consciousness as a whole. When I am working, I am thoroughly immersed and present. The process quiets the chatty parts of my brain. Even when it is frustrating or a complete failure, I will have learned something.
In August I have a solo show scheduled at North Haven, ME. I will, therefore, be quite busy painting and cutting mats for the frames. I also show small pieces at Volante Farms.  If you happen by, come say hello!

April Artist Spotlight – Meet Cynthia Demir

April Artist Spotlight

Meet Cynthia Demir

 

I have been drawing as far back as I can remember. At the age of two I drew circles with smaller circles around the larger circles. I have vivid memories from nursery school of first using finger paints. I can still remember the magic of how the colors blended together as I moved the paint around with my fingers. My mother was an artist so there were always pens, pencils, and paints available.  She even had an easel set up in the living room with an oil painting of my sister and I. I remember the soft gobs of paint on her wooden palette and the smell of oil paint. We had paper taped to the walls of our playroom so as to be able to draw at any time.
     
During my summers in junior high school I took classes at the deCordova Museum. The emphasis was on experimentation with a wide variety of media. I used pen and ink with watercolor and tissue paper to create underwater sea creatures. In high school I took art every year as one of my major subjects. We worked with pencil, charcoal, oil pastels and oil paints. By senior year one of my favorite projects was a portrait I did in a woodcut. It was one of my first serious attempts at printmaking. I always knew I wanted to go to art school after graduation. When I arrived at Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, the drawing and design courses were very intense. It was the best feeling in the world to stay up all night working on design projects. One of my favorite classes was etching. An assistant professor told me to think of the etching plate as the universe. I approached painting and etching in the same way, creating an imaginary world, not just a rendering of something I see or feel. I also took an intensive course in lithography during winter session which was a six week period between semesters. Drawing with a lithograph crayon brought out the texture of the stone. The textures seemed to suggest images from my subconscious like some mythical beings from another world. By senior year I was majoring in painting. One of the studios was in an old bank building. It had a high glass ceiling with the sun streaming in, colors reflecting off the walls and metal framework. There was also a large paper sculpture of an elephant in the room which added to the atmosphere. The studio reminded me of some of Matisse’s interiors.
 
     

I received a BFA in painting from RISD and then worked for a while as a free lance artist. The following year I went to Simmons College to get a teaching degree. Eventually I worked at a newspaper and an advertising agency. I studied fashion design and worked at a childrenswear company but what I loved most was painting and drawing. After getting married and having children, I continued drawing and sewing. I sometimes did quick sketches of my husband and daughters. I joined a group of artists who set up drawing sessions where we all chipped in to pay for models. We added lighting, drapery and props to create interesting compositions. I was always inspired by Matisse and some of the expressionist painters. An exhibit at the MFA in Boston, “Matisse in the Studio” was especially interesting. On display along with his paintings and sculptures were some of the objects he used in his compositions. The way he incorporated some of the same objects in very different styles of painting showed what even the simplest object could inspire.

 

    
 
Recently I have been doing watercolor and ink paintings of the mountains and lakes of New Hampshire. I’ve focused on the effects of sunlight at various times of day and the shadows from the constant movement of the clouds as they are reflected on the lakes.
 

March Artist Spotlight – Meet Nan Daly

March Artist Spotlight

Meet Nan Daly 

 

I have been primarily a watercolorist, painting landscapes and flowers. Originally from upstate New York, I grew up in an apple orchard, so nature and botanicals have always been favorite subjects. I’ve been a high school English teacher, an owner/designer of a greeting card company, a professional calligrapher, a college admissions counselor–and a member of WSA for over 20 years.

Art was always an interest, but it became a serious one after classes at the MFA and the DeCordova, week-long workshops with Karlyn Holman and Barbara Nechis, and hours spent with my several shelves worth of art instruction books. Karlyn showed me how to paint loose and tight in the same painting, and Barbara imparted her philosophy: “If you don’t have an idea in your head, you shouldn’t have a brush in your hand.”

Like most of us, I started out attempting realism, but I found my real joy was abstraction. A series of abstracted watercolor landscapes continued through many years, with frequent breaks for more realistic flower paintings. I felt busy. I had held offices and taken jobs in my associations—Wellesley, Needham, Dedham, Scituate—and a Signature Membership in the New England Watercolor Society. There were many show opportunities and I tried to exhibit in all of them. For twenty years I hosted an annual Open Studio in my home. Also for many years I have been making annual collaborative books with Kay Villa. She lives in Wisconsin now, so we mail the pages back and forth, each of us filling our side of the page. For our last three books I painted small watercolors. 

 

 

Then there was Covid. I was still busy, but not with painting. Our family—daughter, son-in-law and grandson—were living with us, and that seven-year-old needed a teacher to get him through those long Zoom sessions for school. When the world opened up again, and our family moved across town, I regained my painting time but I found I wanted to step back from the “business” of art. I rarely exhibited, and I stopped doing Open Studios, though I did teach a weekend workshop in experimental watercolor right after Covid.

                                                              

 

I started to wonder if this was some kind of Artist’s Block.

Instead of painting as much as I once did, I am trying totally new things. Filling a sketchbook with tiny pen and ink drawings. Filling another with abstract paper collages. Drawing animals in colored pencil over acrylic patterns. Adding watercolor to Gauguin’s trace monotype technique. Exploring mark making on collage papers. Creating small books filled with patterns. Few of these things are frame-worthy.  I do them just for me.

Julia Cameron said that at some point we all need to “refill the well.”  I’m holding onto that thought. I’ve realized that stepping back is not the same as walking away. Exploring a new media, a new size, a new substrate, a new technique, a new subject, a new series—no matter where we are headed in our art, it takes time to find the path.

 

 

Nan Daly lives in Needham with her incredibly supportive husband and a green-eyed cat named Titania.