ARTS
Art and nature
Martha Mae Emerson combines two loves in Pebbles and Pearls By Kelly Sennott
ksennott@hippopress.com
Concord artist Martha Mae Emerson loves everything about the outdoors — gardening, hiking, eating breakfast on her back porch. She can’t get enough of it. “I find nature exciting. I find it soothing. I find it nurturing,” she said during an interview at her home studio last week. “If I had my choice, I would spend much of my life outdoors.” Naturally, this theme plays out in her jewelry business, Pebbles and Pearls, inspired by elements you can find outside — tiny stones and freshwater pearls, combined or standing alone in minimalist earrings, bracelets and necklaces. “Because I’m a minimalist in my life in general — except when it comes to color — I find limiting my materials feels very comfortable to me,” Emerson said, who that day sported a teal Marmot turtleneck, striking fuchsia eyeglasses and pearl orb earrings — her most popular design, featuring a mother of pearls against baroque pearls. (“They go with everything. They’re my go-to jewelry,” she said.) Emerson’s downtown Concord apartment was indeed bursting with color, decorated “New Works 2017” Where: MainStreet MarketPlace & Gallery, 16 E. Main St., Warner When: On view March 24 through May 1; opening Friday, March 24, 5:30 to 7 p.m. Contact: etsy.com/shop/PebblesandPearlsNH, pebblesandpearls@comcast.net
Art Events • CURRIER ART CENTER STUDENT EXHIBITION AND OPEN HOUSE Sat., March 25, noon-4 p.m. at the Art Center, Pearl St., Manchester. Visit currier.org. • EMPTY BOWLS THROWDOWN Sat., April 8, 10 a.m.1 p.m. Studio 550, 550 Elm St., Manchester. Make bowls to fight hunger. Clay provided. Email info@550arts.com to reserve a wheel; space limited. • ART, CONVERSATION & COFFEE Slow art day at the Lamont Gallery, Frederick R. Mayer Art Center, Phillips Exeter Academy, 20 Main St., Exeter. Call 777-3461. Sat., April 8, 10-11 a.m. Openings • “50 FOR 50” Exeter Fine
Jewelry by Martha Mae Emerson. Kelly Sennott photos.
with art she made, art she bought, and art made by her two granddaughters, ages 2 and 4, whom she watches every week. The eldest especially loves art, Emerson said, gesturing toward the colorful framed pieces leaning against her stairway and hanging on the walls. They have this in common. “I have a creative urge that cannot be denied! It expresses itself in different ways, depending on what’s happening in my life,” Emerson said. “I think it’s in my cells.” Emerson turned to jewelry-making about 10 years ago, but before that, she was a
Crafts exhibition celebrating 50th anniversary. Exeter Fine Crafts, 61 Water St., Exeter. On view March 1-March 31. Featuring donated works of art on 50 6-inch by 6-inch panels, all $50. Call 778-8282. Reception Fri., March 24, 6-8 p.m. • “PETER SANDBACK AND CHRIS MYOTT: TWO NEW HAMPSHIRE ARTISTS AND THEIR MODERNIST VISIONS” Exhibition at NH Antique Co-op, 323 Elm St., Milford. Call 673-8499. On view through June 30. Reception Sat., March 25, 1-3 p.m. Visit nhantiquecoop.com. • “EXPLORING RELATIONSHIPS: INSTRUCTORS & STUDENTS” On view at The Brush Art Gallery, 256 Market St., Lowell. March 18-April 25. Reception Sat., March 25, 2-4 p.m. Email director@thebrush.
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org. Visit thebrush.org. • “TWENTY YEARS OF A SINGULAR VISION” Celebrating 20 years with Sarah Chaffee. McGowan Fine Art, 10 Hills Ave., Concord. On view March 28-April 28. Reception Fri., March 31, 5-7 p.m. Visit mcgowanfineart.com. Call 2252515. • “A LITTLE ABSTRACTED” Abstract art show featuring work by Marcia Santore, Kate Higley, Ethel Hills, Lotus Lien. On view April 1 through May 13. Opening reception Thurs., April 6, 5-7 p.m. Twiggs Gallery, 254 King St., Boscawen. Visit twiggsgallery.wordpress. com. Call 975-0015. • “AMERICAN IMPRESSIONISM: HARBOR SCENES” On view at the Whistler House Museum of Art, 243 Worthen St., Lowell. April
sewing and fiber artist. “Right out of college, I had my degree in French, and what did I do? I opened an original design dress shop in Portsmouth,” she said, laughing. Emerson also worked as a photographer, juried with League of New Hampshire Craftsmen, for 25 years. As an elementary school guidance counselor, she hosted integrated art programs. One of her students found working with clay especially soothing — and actually, so did she. “He was kind of my inspiration. We’d be
1-May 26. Reception Sat., April 8, 2-4 p.m. Visit whistlerhouse. org, call 978-452-7641. In the Galleries • “BEAUTY AND THE BEAST” Art show featuring work by pastel artist Mary Ellen Brown and oil painter William Turner. On view Feb. 10 through March 17. Wild Salamander Creative Arts Center, 30 Ash St., Hollis. Visit wildsalamander.com. Call 465-WILD. • “AT LARGE” Women’s Caucus for Art exhibit; includes paintings, prints, mixed media works. On view Jan. 26-March 23. Great Bay Community College, 320 Corporate Drive, Durham. Visit greatbay.edu. • “SETTING THE STANDARD” League of NH Craftsmen multi-media work by jurors. On view Jan. 13-March
sitting together talking. He would be rolling clay, and I would be rolling clay. That was when I made my first pebbles,” she said. “We ended up developing this really fun little jewelry business for him in the staff room.” During this recent visit, Emerson was working on restocking the New Hampshire shops she sells through, which include the Currier Museum Shop, Gondwana and Divine Clothing, the Mill Brook Gallery and MainStreet BookEnds, whose “New Works 2017” exhibition she’s participating in, March 24 through May 1. “All the participating artists who were invited have to deliver totally new work. Last year they asked me to make three pieces. I was in the middle of my move, and everything was packed up. But it was such a wonderful inspiration, to have to produce, and I came up with six new works,” Emerson said. Sitting on her workbench were polymer pebbles waiting to be assembled, and in the corner hung some of her first pieces — chunky, colorful necklaces. On a side table were some of her newest designs, which contained stones flecked with gold. Often production is tiring, particularly around the holidays, but other times it feels organic and meditative, and her jewelry reflects this, with design names like “Zen,” “Wave” and “New Moon.” On these days, Emerson doesn’t mind working alone in her studio, with only her cat, Mr. Stitch, to keep her company. The reward is when customers react in the same way seeing the result. “Some people have said to me my designs give them a sense of calm and peacefulness,” Emerson said.
24. The Craft Center, 49 S. Main St., Concord. Visit nhcrafts.org. • “HOW DID A WHITE GIRL GET HERE: LIVING WITH THE NOMADS OF THE EAST” Featuring work by Valerie Hird. On view Feb. 21-March 24. McGowan Fine Art, 10 Hills Ave., Concord. Visit mcgowanfineart.com. • “PARADISE LOST: A DOUBLE-SIDED MYSTERY” Currier exhibition featuring artwork by Max Pechstein. On view through March 27. Currier Museum of Art, 150 Ash St., Manchester. Free with museum admission. Visit currier.org. Call 669-6144. • “MYSTERY AND MAGIC OF THE NATURAL WORLD” Art show featuring work by Alicia Cubbage. On view Feb. 18 through March 30. Hancock Town Library, 25
Main St., Hancock. Visit hancocktownlibrary.blogspot.com. • REVELLE TAILLON AND STUDENTS Art show at Seacoast Artist Association, 130 Water St., Exeter, through the end of March. Visit seacoastartist.org. • SIMON SARRIS Photo show with work that came from recent trip to Lisbon. On view through March 31. Rochester Public Library, 65 S. Main St., Rochester. Visit rochestermfa.org/ gallery. • “ANDI & LANCE OLSEN: THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE TIME” Show that blends visual art, the written word, blurred boundary between fact and fantasy. On view Feb. 24-April 1. NHIA, Roger Williams Gallery, 77 Amherst St., Manchester. Email exhibitions@nhia.edu. Visit nhia.edu.