LUSCIOUS SEASCAPES @ RNG

RIP TIDE
Nella Lush
oil/wax on canvas
36 x 36

Rocky Neck Gallery is pleased to announce the second show of the Summer Artist Series introducing the artist Nella Lush and her exquisitely beautiful seascapes and frescoes.  The show, titled Nella’s Journey, opens Wednesday, June 12 until July 2.  An artist reception will be held on Sunday, June 16^th from 4-6 PM.  The public is invited to attend this free event and hear Nella talk about her work and process.

An experimental artist, Nella enjoys working on a variety of subject matter from abstracts to florals, landscape to seascapes.  The Cape Ann coastline is her muse where she spends time recording the atmospheric moods of the water, light and sky.  Back in her studio she interprets these emotions on canvas where the process of painting is, for her, a spiritual journey.  She works mainly with oils using cold wax as a medium often adding marble dust to create more texture and depth.  It is her application and scraping of numerous layers, again and again, that shape the final painting.

“I connect with things that leave a mystery… that the viewer is digging into the painting and each time they find something different.  I don’t seek perfection: I just seek to be heard and to have the viewer connect emotionally to my work and to bring them to a time and place in their life.”

Nella is represented by the Art Essex Gallery, Essex, CT; the Mystic Seaport Maritime Gallery, Mystic, CT; Lorica Gallery, and Peter Alpers Art, both of Andover, MA.  She is a Signature Member of the American Society of Marine Artists; a member of National Associations of Women Artists in NYC; Rockport Art Association, Rockport, MA; a member and board trustee of North Shore Art Association, Gloucester, MA; President of the Andovers Artists Guild; and associate member of the Oil Painters of America.

Please join us and meet Nella Lush on Sunday, June 16^th from 4-6 PM for a reception and artist talk.  Delicious refreshments will be served. 

RNG is located on 53 Rocky Neck Avenue, Gloucester.  The hours are: Sunday – Wednesday: 11 AM – 6 PM, Thursday – Saturday: 11 AM – 8 PM.  Free parking is available.  For more information please visit our website www.rockyneckgallery.com or call 978-282-0917

GRIFFIN MUSEUM ATELIER 17 @ THE CULTURAL CENTER

The Cultural Center at Rocky Neck Presents Selections from the Griffin Museum’s Photography Atelier 17

June 20 - July 7, 2013

Secret Life of Birds
Judy Robinson-Cox
photography
Mindscapes Series

The Cultural Center at Rocky Neck, 6 Wonson Street, Gloucester MA, is pleased to partner with the Griffin Museum of Photography to present a selection of superb photographs from the Griffin Museum’s recent Photography Atelier 17 exhibition.

The public is invited to meet the artists at a reception at the Cultural Center at Rocky Neck on Sunday, June 23 from 2 - 4 PM and during regular gallery hours: Thursday - Sunday, 11 AM - 6 PM.

According to Karen Ristuben, president of the Rocky Neck Art Colony, "Bringing a show of this caliber to Rocky Neck is made possible in part, by the designation of Gloucester's Cultural District at Rocky Neck, by the Massachusetts Cultural Council and the dedication of a strong team of committed volunteers."

A unique portfolio building course for emerging to advanced photographers, Photography Atelier is offered through the Griffin Museum of Photography in Winchester MA.  Now in its 18th year, the course is taught by Karen Davis with Meg Birnbaum assisting.  In addition to guidance and support in the creation of a body of work, the class helps prepare artists to market, exhibit and present their work to industry professionals.  In this course the students can choose to photograph with any form of image capture i.e from pinhole to digital camera and use any option to present the images.  Instruction in the Atelier includes slide presentations and discussions that consider contemporary trends as well as the history of photography.

The class attendees include 15 accomplished photographers and along with the instructor and assistant all will be participating in this exhibit:

Bob Avakian, Edgartown, MA

Betsy Constantine, Carlisle, MA

Jorge Galvez, Winchester, MA

Trelawney Goodell, Lexington, MA

Vicki McKenna, Newton, MA

Jane Paradise, San Francisco, CA & East Orleans, MA

Amy Rindskopf, Winchester, MA

Judy Robinson-Cox, Gloucester, MA

Linda Rogers, Westport, MA

Gail Samuelson, Sherborn, MA

Dianne Schaefer, Arlington, MA

Alice Shafer, Acton, MA

Dick Simon, Newton, MA

Ellen Slotnick, Newton Centre, MA

Christy Stadelmaier, Boston, MA

Instructor Karen Davis, Hudson, NY

Assistant Meg Birnbaum, Somerville, MA

Below are highlights of some of the exhibiting artists:

Instructor Karen Davis’s photographs are featured at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA), the Boston Drawing Project/Carroll and Sons Gallery, the Clark Gallery, Lincoln, MA and in the collections of the Center for Photography at Woodstock (CPW) at the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art, Lishui Museum of Photography (China) and the Houghton Rare Books Library, Harvard University.  Davis is the recipient of the 2009 Artists Fellowship Award from the CPW, and a 2011 New York Foundation for the Arts’ (NYFA) MARK artist.

Frieda B. Fabulous Prepares to Hit the Streets to Raise Money for the Red Cross
Meg Birbaum

Assistant Meg Birnbaum’s photographs are featured at Gallery Tanto Tempo, Kobe, Japan and Photo-Eye Gallery, Photographer’s Showcase, Santa Fe, NM with selected images on view at Photographic Center Northwest, Seattle, WA; Davis-Orton Gallery, Hudson, NY; and Wall-Space, Seattle, WA. An image from her “Sisters of Perceptual Indulgence” series will be shown in this exhibition.

Pyongyang Metro, North Korea
Dick Simon

Dick Simon’s photographs portray the untold human stories behind the headlines in regions of conflict around the world.  Sharing his experiences, Simon bridges the gap between “us” and “them”. His photographs and personal accounts from Syria, Jordan, Israel and Palestine have appeared in the Huffington Post, NPR/PBS, the Boston Globe, and other major media. Exhibitions include Danforth Museum of Art, Griffin Museum of Photography, Minneapolis Photo Center, PhotoPlace Gallery, The Art Institute of New York and The New England Institute of Art.  Simon is co-Founder and Chair of the YPO Peace Action Network (PAN), engaging over 19,000 business leaders in 110 countries, utilizing their unique expertise, relationships and resources to make a difference globally.  A serial entrepreneur and real estate developer, Dick is an active social enterprise philanthropist and committed change-maker.  Selections from his “North Korea: Pyongyang Metro” series will be shown in here.

Jane Paradise is a San Francisco and Cape Cod based photographer.  Her work is featured in the collection of the Southeast Museum of Photography and Gallery Ehva in Provincetown.  She shows regularly at the Provincetown Art Association and Museum, the Cape Cod Art Association and the Griffin Museum of Photography.  Jane has won numerous awards including those from the Cambridge Art Association’s National Prize, the Pacific Art League National show and the Cape Cod Art Association.  She also received gold and honorable mention awards in the Worldwide Gala Awards and received three honorable mentions in the Lucie International Photography Awards.  Selections from her series “Dune Shacks at Provincetown” will be shown at this exhibit.

Bob Avakian was recently awarded a one-person Gallery Artist Prize show at the Dillon Gallery.  Juror William Baczek , of William Baczek Fine Arts Gallery in Northampton, chose Avakian, because he felt his Night photographs successfully revealed his surroundings with new eyes.  Baczek said “Night photography does this because it shows us something that we know exists but in a way that is impossible to view with our own eyes. The camera can ‘see’ things that our eyes cannot. Avakian allows the camera to use the ‘real’ world to present us something that doesn’t really exist so that a new world becomes revealed.” Images from this series will be shown at The Cultural Center.

JesseKo Windwalker 3rd Great Grandson of Samuel Duncan Patterson
Linda Rogers

Linda Rogers is a finalist in the Worldwide Photography Gala Awards with images from her body of work called “The Quandary of Legacies” that shows the path of objects through generations to the present day.  Selections from this series will be in this show.

Deconstructing Turning 60
Gail Samuelson

Gail Samuelson photographs intimate moments in the life of her family.  Her work includes studies of her father’s Alzheimer’s Disease (Down Hill All the Way,) her breast surgery (My New Bra,) her 26-year-old daughter’s return home (Jessie,) and an on-going series of self-portraits.  Samuelson was recently selected by juror Caleb Cole for the 2013 Self Portrait exhibition at the PhotoPlace Gallery in Middlebury, VT.  Her work has been exhibited at the Blue Competition, curated by Joe Thompson, at the Cambridge Art Association, the Griffin Museum of Photography, the New England School of Photography and published on corporate websites and as author portraits.  Images from her “Self Portrait at Sixty” will be shown here.

Judy Robinson-Cox of Gloucester, MA, creates and photographs temporary tabletop dioramas that capture humorous human events and the inner workings of the mind. She was recently invited to show a selection of her Lilliputian Landscapes series at Johnson and Wales Culinary Arts Museum in Providence RI and at the Firehouse Center for the Arts in Newburyport MA. A selection of her new series, “Mindscapes” that examines the relationship between the conscious and unconscious mind, will be shown at the Griffin/Cultural Center exhibition.

Artists' Reception on Sunday, June 23, from 2 - 4 PM

GET MUDDY THIS SUMMER

CYNTHIA CURTIS POTTERY

announces

Summer Classes   

Come Get Muddy! 

Now accepting registrations for the next session: July 1^st  –  August 24th

• Monday Adult class: 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
• Tuesday Adult class: 6:00 – 9:00 PM
• Wednesday Adult class: 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
• Wednesday Kid’s class: 3:00 – 4:30 PM
• Thursday Adult class: 6:00 - 9:00 PM
• Friday Adult class:  9:00 AM - 12:00 PM

All levels of experience - Beginners always welcome!

 Wheel-throwing ~ Hand Building ~ Glazing

Private lessons ~ Independent Study Program ~ Retail Gallery

Register @ 978 546 6186 or by email: info@cynthiacurtispottery.com

Cynthia Curtis Pottery

80 Pigeon Hill Street, Rockport, MA

www.cynthiacurtispottery.com    

OPEN!

L - R Photography by Michael Oleksiw,  Prints by Mary Rhinelander 

Rocky Neck Gallery opens for the 2013 season, Friday, May 24^th, with a bold look, fresh art and new artist members along with lots of art events in the weeks ahead!   We feature 30 artists offering distinctive original works in painting, jewelry, photography, sculpture, pottery, mosaic, printmaking and mixed media.  This year the gallery welcomes new artists: Kathleen Gerdon Archer for photography; Pam Stratton for mosaics; Skip Montello for photography; and Roland Cornelis for sculpture. 

Photography by David Piemonte, Ceramics by Susan Hershey, Cynthia Curtis, Jayne Lacey & Ruth Worrall 

On Saturday, May 25^th, from 6-8 PM the gallery will host its opening reception.  The public is invited to attend.  Along with exciting new displays of members’ artwork the gallery launches the Summer Artist Series (SAS) featuring popular New England artists.  The SAS has seven three-week shows for the 2013 season.

The Summer Artist Series featuring Brian Murphy and his whimsical wire sculptures

Opening the SAS lineup is wire sculpture artist Brian Murphy of Boston showing his steel wire figures.  Brian’s work has been described, “as lighthearted line drawings in the medium of steel wire.”  The show, “Totally Wired at the Beach,” opens today until June 11. 

New work by Judy Robinson-Cox 

Paintings by Elizabeth Gauthier and fine jewelry by Katherine Bagley and Deborah Way

Please join us Saturday night, May 25^th for our opening reception from 6-8 PM, meet Brian Murphy and all the artists of Rocky Neck Gallery. 

Plate by Cynthia Curtis and Mosaics by Pam Stratton

RNG is located on 53 Rocky Neck Avenue, Gloucester. 

The hours are: Sunday – Wednesday: 11 AM – 6 PM, Thursday – Saturday: 11 AM – 8 PM. 

Parking is available on the street and in the lot.

TOTALLY WIRED

Rocky Neck Gallery (RNG) is pleased to announce the opening show of the Summer Artists Series featuring wire sculpture artist Brian Murphy.  His show titled “Totally Wired at the Beach,” opens this Friday, May 24^th, at 11 AM and is on view through Tuesday, June 11.  Come meet Brian Murphy at RNG’s opening reception on Saturday, May 25 from 6-8 PM, and hear him talk about his art at 7 PM.  The gallery is located at 53 Rocky Neck Avenue, Gloucester.

Their Morning Constitutional
Brian Murphy
wire sculpture

Murphy describes his art:

“My work can be seen as lighthearted line drawings in the medium of steel wire.  Often political and humorous themes are incorporated which can challenge or amuse the viewer leaving them uplifted.  The goal of each piece is to create kinetic movement from the tension in the wire so that the figures seem to dance or sway on their own and appear enlivened.   Mythological themes and tales of transformation dominate illustrating the power of art to help us change and grow.”

Murphy is a child therapist working for the last twenty-five years with traumatized children.  In 2001, he explored art therapy as an important process to supplement his practice.  Art therapy helped his young patients address their trauma in a creative way.  One of his methods was helping them make magic wands to confront night fears.  The wands also served as a tool to channel as he says, “the magic inside all of us.”  Murphy moved on to designing robots with them, then mobiles with goal of introducing movement and flow in the work.  Doing these exercises helped Murphy realize his talent for wire sculpture.  With the encouragement of the children he worked with he began to create wire sculptures on a more consistent basis.  He learned the fundamentals of balance and kinetic energy to create humorous, entertaining figures.

Murphy’s studio is located in the South End of Boston (SOWA).  Totally Wired Sculpture was born in 2002 and he divides his time with his art business and his therapy work.

“I have gradually spent more time in the creative process, which seems to be a nice balance to my work with children who often share incredibly painful stories.”

The Naturist
Brian Murphy
wire sculpture

He focuses on building whimsical moving figures to the delight of a huge following.  Murphy is in demand for designing for individual and corporate events.  His wire sculptures have appeared in numerous shows and are in many private collections.  He has exhibited his work in Boston: at the Children’s Hospital; the Massachusetts General Hospital; the Boston Medical Center; The Healing and Arts Gallery; and the Brookline Arts Center; in Provincetown at the Gorgeous Little Things Gallery; and American Folk Art Museum Shop in New York.

To see more of Brian Murphy’s work please visit his website http://www.totallywiredsculpture.com

Rocky Neck Gallery opens Friday, May 24 at 11 AM to 8 PM.  The gallery’s regular schedule hours are: Thursday – Saturday 11 AM – 8 PM & Sunday – Wednesday 11 AM – 6 PM.  Info at 978-282-0917. Parking is available on the street and in the lot.

RNG CLEANS UP

New white walls

Since Wednesday Tom Robinson-Cox, in charge of the exhibition space of Rocky Neck Gallery, along with Judy Robinson-Cox, gallery manager, and a team of artist members have been preparing the gallery for the opening Friday, May 24th. 



Judy Robinson-Cox (far-R) and Sue Daly (Mid R) check in new artist member Pam Stratton (middle)


This herculean endeavor involved building new display units for jewelry and pottery, spackling and cleaning walls before a fresh coat of paint, new lighting throughout the gallery and general cleaning in just a few days.  The gallery space glowed on Sunday as it waited for paintings, ceramics, photography, jewelry, sculpture and more to be delivered by the gallery artists.
 

Smmer Artists Series exhibition space



Phyllis Feld organizes paintings for the walls



Tom Robinson-Cox and Sue Daly hanging the art

 Special thanks goes out to Tom Robinson-Cox, Judy Robinson-Cox, Sue Daly, Dina Gomery, Phyllis Feld, Deborah Way, Mary Rhinelander, Skip Montello, Mary Healy, Deborah Guertze and Roland Cornelis...
And extra thanks to RNAC artists Tom Nihan! 

The gallery opens this Friday, May 24th at 11 AM - 8 PM.  The opening reception is Saturday, May 25th from 6-8 PM.  Please join us!


Please note if I omitted any name - my apologies

RNG SALUTES KAREN RISTUBEN

Karen Ristuben, President of the the Rocky Neck Art Colony, has been selected to receive Gloucester Citizenship Award

On Sunday, May 19th, Karen Ristuben will be a recipient of a Gloucester Citizenship Award, given since 2006 by the Gloucester Unitarian Universalist Church to honor those who give quietly and generously to make Gloucester a better place.

 The recipients of the award have worked diligently, often behind the scenes, and with no expectation of pay or public notice to quietly serve others and improve the quality of life in this community.  

Karen is being recognized for her role as the driving force behind the transformation of the arts on Rocky Neck, the creation of the Cultural Center, and the designation of the Rocky Neck Cultural District.

Please join us for the ceremony at 4:30 pm on May 19 at the Gloucester Unitarian Universalist Church.  For more information click here. 

Rocky Neck Gallery congratulates Karen on receiving this award and for her leadership and vision for the Rocky Neck Art Colony.