Somerville Open Studios
May. 8th, 2002 08:17 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
magidI went to some of the open studios Saturday. There are so many places that seeing them all in one day (5 hours, that is) is pretty much impossible. Since I had brunch-with-parents Sunday, I knew I wasn't going to see all that was available. Luckily, what I did see (thanks to suggestions from ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
cthulhia) was great.
First stop was #44, the Washington St. Arts Center. There were 12 artists displaying things, mostly art-that-goes-on-walls, but some other stuff, too.
My favorites included Rachel Mello, who I hadn't met before, and is really nice. She had a piece that I couldn't keep from "wow"ing over, a big square with a lot cut out of it, leaving an image (a fish and some pussy willows), on which was painted a related image (a river spanned by a bridge). Does the fish contain the river or the river contain the fish....? Layers of reality...
Nicole Donson had made some lovely handpainted silk pieces, scarves and shirts that looked comfy as well as beautiful, with intense colors.
Melissa Kulig paints pictures that include women from old-fashioned pictures, hand-written text, and (often) other repeated motifs that are intriguing.
And someone (can't figure out who from the list, didn't make notes...) made collages I was fascinated by, incorporating lots of geometric shapes, as well as text, maps, other images.
(I will probably forget a stop or 2; hopefully whatever I don't remember wasn't that interesting, anyway.... :-)
Next to #43, 440R Somerville Ave, which had 5 artists.
There were a bunch of "isn't that nice, dear?" paintings that just didn't do much for me (competent, just not exciting). One person stuck little objects on canvas, repeating a shape over the whole canvas. Mildly interesting, in a mosaic-y sort of way.
I found walking in the space interesting, creaky wooden floors in an old factory, high ceilings, lots of light, twisty stairs.
One guy did huge realistic paintings of objects that were decent, though having flat backgrounds made them less interesting. The one piece that particularly sticks in my head is a wide but not tall piece, a portrait of an (uncooked) slice of bacon that I immediately wanted to show tocthulhia, see her first reaction. Alas, I knew I couldn't.
#41, 444 Somerville Ave had work by 3 artists. The pieces I found most interesting were by Amy Eisenfeld Genser, described as "mixed media paper sculptures." She made paper by hand, in a variety of colors, then folded it or rolled it before atta ching it to a (canvas? some sort of background.), making tactile pieces to run hands along, especially the ones that were just folded, placed closely together in long strips. Cool to look at, interesting to touch (there was a sign saying touch was encouraged).
#39, the Katherine Martin Widmer School of Painting at 40 Quincy Street, included paintings by 8 artists. The most interesting ones for me were ones done in the 70s, as it turns out. They were bright and colorful and reminded me of the style of drawing used for "Schoolhouse Rock." More interesting than the individual pieces (they started to blur) was the house that the school was in, which had personality. A piano room on the first floor, then a partly open floor plan on the second floor. There was a 3-season room in an enclosed greenhouse that used to be a porch (I think). The stairs to the 3rd floor were in the middle of the living/dining space, and didn't have any bannisters (woe to the clumsy!). As I got to the level of the next floor, I realized there were bookshelves on 3 sides, right, left and behind my head (books double-shelved).
#38, 59 Summer St was the first stop of the day in someone's apartment. The piece I most remember is of a Somerville triple decker, showing the exterior and something going on in all the windows, also a statue of Mary (on the half shell, as it were) in front. Though the fence around her wasn't chain link, which I think of as being the Somerville default...
Memorable though not part of the show was a shelf in the kitchen (running most of one side) devoted to those plastic figurines (dolls?) of horses girls used to seem to get around ages 8-10, during their horse obsession. I don't know if they make them anymore.
#49, Friends of the Community Growing Center, 22 Vinal Ave. This was incredibly cool. They had pieces by 12 different artists, one for each month of the year (though I never did find September, and I started wondering if that was intentional....). They were ok, but the place itself was an excellent find. There were little paths through some interesting plantings at one side. More in the center was an open grassy area that had a maze done in bricks. Whoo-hoo! Had to walk the maze, of course. On one side, there was a stepped slope, making an amphitheater. Farther back there was a goldfish pool, with a fair number of goldfish swimming along. It was great finding a space so thoughtfully planned and used. Oh, and they had free plants for people that day, roses of sharon, and/or things called Egyptian walking onions... I'm not sure I'd want to eat ambulatory vegetables.... (later someone told me that means they reseed themselves. I find this far too prosaic an explanation!)
Oh, yes. On one of the streets (Quincy, I think, but not totally sure) there was one of those street signs by unknown artist. This one had 3 pointy things rather like the one neartreacle_well, 2 behind the middle one, with "Three Mountains of Reconciliation" on it.
#36, 135 Highland Ave had the work of Martha Friend. She makes boxes, dioramas, and flat 'mobiles.' She reuses lots of old pieces in her work, doilies and old photos and figurines, etc. A bit too 'precious' for my taste, but interesting for a bit. The house is a huge one, with large rooms (the people who live there have a very busy, cluttered style of decorating that I don't care for myself, but it was neat, things were displayed well, even if there were too many of them), and a huge, partly covered front porch with comfy chairs. There's a nice garden outside that is well la ndscaped, lots of flowers. Also a bench put on the street side of the wall around it, for public sitting and appreciating.
#28 was at the Somerville Engine 7 at 265 Highland Avenue, a commemoration of 9/11 with 1 (square) inch : 1 person, whi ch had panels by a bunch of different artists, includingcthulhia! :-) (though whoever it was who took pictures of the artists making the panels was foolish enough not to take some of her). Interesting to see how people used the idea.
#2, Hilar y Scott, 8 Watson St. His description was "Sculptor's imagination runs amuck," and that was just about right. It was getting later in the afternoon, and there wasn't tim e for many more stops, socthulhia's strong, strong, strong recommendation meant the trek past Teele Square was going to be worth it. And it was, better than I could've hoped for (no one could top this, so it turned into the last stop of the day). The whole apartment is filled with his work, in just about every media I can think of, wire and glass and foam and wood, etc. There were clocks I recognized from last year's windows project in Davis Square. There was a huge foam dragon in 2 pieces. An "electric" chair. An open book (of foam) with arms and legs pushing another smaller book up to a shelf the smaller one was reaching for. A different open book holding a smaller book up to the light to read (I really liked these). A stained glass piece in yellow and blue of hands playing cats cradle. A wire curling down from the ceiling with places for individual fruits, and the end for a bunch of bananas. A silvery metal piece of "steam" rising above a radiator. A huge hand holding a tiny p ot with a flowering cactus in it. "People" made of metal kitchen implements. Wire newts and other shapes along the top of a wall. A beautiful cabinet with curvy doors in yellow and blue. (and more, and more. It was great, looking around, seeing so many wonderful creative things.) I chatted with his wife, who is very open and friendly, showing me cool features in the kitchen. They're moving in July, but to another house in Somerville, so they should be doing open studios next year. Down to the basement, where Hilary has his studio. (On the patio, a long wooden percussion instrument, looking rather like a small balance beam. And a dragon head coming up out of the gravel nearby.) He has some pieces in progess, and was happy to talk about them, the materials he uses, etc. He's doing a lot for ArtBeat, as well as private commissions. I really enjoyed chatting :-) (he's doing some contracting on the new house, and there were ideas of funky things to do to the roof...).
And then I headed out, rather too literally - I managed to hit my head on the top of the door frame while coming out of the basement. It hurt. If it hadn't already been the last stop (I still had some crazy idea of trying to see the glass place Cthulhia recommended), this made it so....
Packed afternoon, lots of food for thought.
cthulhia) was great.First stop was #44, the Washington St. Arts Center. There were 12 artists displaying things, mostly art-that-goes-on-walls, but some other stuff, too.
My favorites included Rachel Mello, who I hadn't met before, and is really nice. She had a piece that I couldn't keep from "wow"ing over, a big square with a lot cut out of it, leaving an image (a fish and some pussy willows), on which was painted a related image (a river spanned by a bridge). Does the fish contain the river or the river contain the fish....? Layers of reality...
Nicole Donson had made some lovely handpainted silk pieces, scarves and shirts that looked comfy as well as beautiful, with intense colors.
Melissa Kulig paints pictures that include women from old-fashioned pictures, hand-written text, and (often) other repeated motifs that are intriguing.
And someone (can't figure out who from the list, didn't make notes...) made collages I was fascinated by, incorporating lots of geometric shapes, as well as text, maps, other images.
(I will probably forget a stop or 2; hopefully whatever I don't remember wasn't that interesting, anyway.... :-)
Next to #43, 440R Somerville Ave, which had 5 artists.
There were a bunch of "isn't that nice, dear?" paintings that just didn't do much for me (competent, just not exciting). One person stuck little objects on canvas, repeating a shape over the whole canvas. Mildly interesting, in a mosaic-y sort of way.
I found walking in the space interesting, creaky wooden floors in an old factory, high ceilings, lots of light, twisty stairs.
One guy did huge realistic paintings of objects that were decent, though having flat backgrounds made them less interesting. The one piece that particularly sticks in my head is a wide but not tall piece, a portrait of an (uncooked) slice of bacon that I immediately wanted to show to
cthulhia, see her first reaction. Alas, I knew I couldn't. #41, 444 Somerville Ave had work by 3 artists. The pieces I found most interesting were by Amy Eisenfeld Genser, described as "mixed media paper sculptures." She made paper by hand, in a variety of colors, then folded it or rolled it before atta ching it to a (canvas? some sort of background.), making tactile pieces to run hands along, especially the ones that were just folded, placed closely together in long strips. Cool to look at, interesting to touch (there was a sign saying touch was encouraged).
#39, the Katherine Martin Widmer School of Painting at 40 Quincy Street, included paintings by 8 artists. The most interesting ones for me were ones done in the 70s, as it turns out. They were bright and colorful and reminded me of the style of drawing used for "Schoolhouse Rock." More interesting than the individual pieces (they started to blur) was the house that the school was in, which had personality. A piano room on the first floor, then a partly open floor plan on the second floor. There was a 3-season room in an enclosed greenhouse that used to be a porch (I think). The stairs to the 3rd floor were in the middle of the living/dining space, and didn't have any bannisters (woe to the clumsy!). As I got to the level of the next floor, I realized there were bookshelves on 3 sides, right, left and behind my head (books double-shelved).
#38, 59 Summer St was the first stop of the day in someone's apartment. The piece I most remember is of a Somerville triple decker, showing the exterior and something going on in all the windows, also a statue of Mary (on the half shell, as it were) in front. Though the fence around her wasn't chain link, which I think of as being the Somerville default...
Memorable though not part of the show was a shelf in the kitchen (running most of one side) devoted to those plastic figurines (dolls?) of horses girls used to seem to get around ages 8-10, during their horse obsession. I don't know if they make them anymore.
#49, Friends of the Community Growing Center, 22 Vinal Ave. This was incredibly cool. They had pieces by 12 different artists, one for each month of the year (though I never did find September, and I started wondering if that was intentional....). They were ok, but the place itself was an excellent find. There were little paths through some interesting plantings at one side. More in the center was an open grassy area that had a maze done in bricks. Whoo-hoo! Had to walk the maze, of course. On one side, there was a stepped slope, making an amphitheater. Farther back there was a goldfish pool, with a fair number of goldfish swimming along. It was great finding a space so thoughtfully planned and used. Oh, and they had free plants for people that day, roses of sharon, and/or things called Egyptian walking onions... I'm not sure I'd want to eat ambulatory vegetables.... (later someone told me that means they reseed themselves. I find this far too prosaic an explanation!)
Oh, yes. On one of the streets (Quincy, I think, but not totally sure) there was one of those street signs by unknown artist. This one had 3 pointy things rather like the one near
treacle_well, 2 behind the middle one, with "Three Mountains of Reconciliation" on it.#36, 135 Highland Ave had the work of Martha Friend. She makes boxes, dioramas, and flat 'mobiles.' She reuses lots of old pieces in her work, doilies and old photos and figurines, etc. A bit too 'precious' for my taste, but interesting for a bit. The house is a huge one, with large rooms (the people who live there have a very busy, cluttered style of decorating that I don't care for myself, but it was neat, things were displayed well, even if there were too many of them), and a huge, partly covered front porch with comfy chairs. There's a nice garden outside that is well la ndscaped, lots of flowers. Also a bench put on the street side of the wall around it, for public sitting and appreciating.
#28 was at the Somerville Engine 7 at 265 Highland Avenue, a commemoration of 9/11 with 1 (square) inch : 1 person, whi ch had panels by a bunch of different artists, including
cthulhia! :-) (though whoever it was who took pictures of the artists making the panels was foolish enough not to take some of her). Interesting to see how people used the idea.#2, Hilar y Scott, 8 Watson St. His description was "Sculptor's imagination runs amuck," and that was just about right. It was getting later in the afternoon, and there wasn't tim e for many more stops, so
cthulhia's strong, strong, strong recommendation meant the trek past Teele Square was going to be worth it. And it was, better than I could've hoped for (no one could top this, so it turned into the last stop of the day). The whole apartment is filled with his work, in just about every media I can think of, wire and glass and foam and wood, etc. There were clocks I recognized from last year's windows project in Davis Square. There was a huge foam dragon in 2 pieces. An "electric" chair. An open book (of foam) with arms and legs pushing another smaller book up to a shelf the smaller one was reaching for. A different open book holding a smaller book up to the light to read (I really liked these). A stained glass piece in yellow and blue of hands playing cats cradle. A wire curling down from the ceiling with places for individual fruits, and the end for a bunch of bananas. A silvery metal piece of "steam" rising above a radiator. A huge hand holding a tiny p ot with a flowering cactus in it. "People" made of metal kitchen implements. Wire newts and other shapes along the top of a wall. A beautiful cabinet with curvy doors in yellow and blue. (and more, and more. It was great, looking around, seeing so many wonderful creative things.) I chatted with his wife, who is very open and friendly, showing me cool features in the kitchen. They're moving in July, but to another house in Somerville, so they should be doing open studios next year. Down to the basement, where Hilary has his studio. (On the patio, a long wooden percussion instrument, looking rather like a small balance beam. And a dragon head coming up out of the gravel nearby.) He has some pieces in progess, and was happy to talk about them, the materials he uses, etc. He's doing a lot for ArtBeat, as well as private commissions. I really enjoyed chatting :-) (he's doing some contracting on the new house, and there were ideas of funky things to do to the roof...). And then I headed out, rather too literally - I managed to hit my head on the top of the door frame while coming out of the basement. It hurt. If it hadn't already been the last stop (I still had some crazy idea of trying to see the glass place Cthulhia recommended), this made it so....
Packed afternoon, lots of food for thought.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
Hilary Scott
Date: 2002-05-08 08:31 am (UTC)Re: Hilary Scott
Date: 2002-05-09 06:20 am (UTC)I was wondering what it would be like to live in a house like that, rather than see it once a year. Would it become more prosaic? Or would there be the quiet joy, satisfaction of having a place so nicely done?
(Btw, his wife said that one of the non-official reasons for moving (beyond the single family house with 10-ft ceilings in the basement, and a garage) is that they've run out of wall space...)e