the artful mind artzine november 2018

THE ARTFUL MIND THE SOURCE FOR PROMOTING THE ARTS IN THE BERKSHIRES SINCE 1994

NOVEMBER 2018

ARTIST MICHAEL FABRIZIO Photographed by EDWARD ACKER

CAROLYN NEWBERGER Forest Revelations

Early this summer I found a morel mushroom near our home, bordering on the edge of a deep forest. About the same time, our little dog, Lily, a rescue, began running into the woods, leaping, snuffling in holes, and racing with abandon across every obstacle. We discovered the forest together, Lily and I, she in pursuit of rodents under logs, and I in pursuit of whatever other delectables were nestled on the forest floor or in the crevasses of fallen trees.

Lily and I enter the forest in early morning, I swathed in insect proof clothing, mushroom knife in pocket, bear bell on hiking pole, and with folding stool, notebook and art supplies on my back. Perched on my stool, I draw, paint, and record in words the many insights the forest offers. I am surprised every day by the forest’s astonishing variety, beauty, power and wisdom.

www.carolynnewberger.com

617-877-5672

Beautiful Massachusetts Berkshires and Beyond 2019 Art Poster Calendars

Twelve Monthly Posters – Available Sizes: 11x14 and 5x7, also 8.5x11 (traditional style)

Featuring the diverse beauty of our neighborhoods. They include Outdoor Recreation, History, Scenic Views, Art and more…

2019 Art Calendars are available at these establishments: The Mount, Edith Wharton's Home - Lenox, MA, Hancock Shaker Village - Pittsfield, MA, Bella Flora at Guido’s Marketplace – Pittsfield and Great Barrington, LOCAL – Lenox, Paperdilly – Lee, CIRCA – Pittsfield, The Store at Five Corners – South Williamstown, The Bookloft – Great Barrington, Berkshire Museum – Pittsfield, Wild Oats Market Coop – Williamstown, Berkshire Great Finds - Sheffield, Berkshire Emporium & Antiques – North Adams, Williams & Sons Country Store – Stockbridge, Herman Melville's ARROWHEAD - Pittsfield, MA, Artisans Guild – Norfolk, CT, Salisbury General Store - Salisbury, CT, Unique Finds, Granby, CT and Gallery on the Green – Canton, CT

Lynne M. Anstett – Photography © I aim to share what I see by chance or by design, that is beautiful to me.

The camera allows me to do that.

ImageryArtWorks@hotmail.com 860-888-3672 https://squareup.com/store/imagery-art-works/ http://www.gicleeone.com/Lynne-Anstett-Giclee-Photography https://www.facebook.com/LynneMAnstettPhotography/

MARK MELLINGER

THE ARTFUL MIND ARTZINE

NOVEMBER 2018

Are you ready for your next chapter to unfold?

Get busy the winter is coming!

NINA LIPKOWITZ BATTLE FATIGUE INTERVIEW BY HARRYET P. CANDEE ... 10

OUR REMAINS OF THE DAY THE DEEP DIVE CARL BERG AND JUDY BERG ...18

SARA CLEMENT INTERVIEW BY MONICA BLISS... 20

MATTHEW CHINIAN INTERVIEW BY HARRYET P. CANDEE ...22

CRUSADE 48 X 60

The Artful Mind Gallery · gallery@chatham 100 North St Pittsfield Painting - Collage - Construction markmellinger680@gmail.com 914. 260. 7413

ROBERT FORTE

MICHAEL FABRIZIO INTERVIEW BY HARRYET P. CANDEE PHOTOGRAPHS BY EDWARD ACKER ... 28

EUNICE AGAR INTERVIEW BY HARRYET P. CANDEE ...36

FALDONI PART 4 FICTION BY RICHARD BRITELL ...40

MARK MELLINGER INTERVIEW BY HARRYET P. CANDEE ...42

GRANDMA BECKY’S OLD WORLD RECIPES BAKED APPLES! LAURA PIAN ...48

Contributing Writers and Monthly Columnists Monica Bliss, Richard Britell, Laura Pian, Karl Saliter, Joyce Silver, Carl and Judy Berg Photographers Edward Acker, Lee Everett, Jane Feldman Tasja Keetman, Sabine von Falken Publisher Harryet P. Candee

Copy Editor

Marguerite Bride

Advertising and Graphic Design Harryet P. Candee

artfulmind@yahoo.com issuu.com instagram FB

WWW.ROBERTFORTE.COM

2 • NOVEMBER 2018 THE ARTFUL MIND

413 854 4400

FYI: ©Copyright laws in effect throughout The Artful Mind for logo & all graphics including text material. Copyright laws for photographers and writers throughout The Artful Mind. Permission to reprint is required in all instances. In any case the issue does not appear on the stands as planned due to unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control, advertisers will be compensated on a one to one basis. All commentaries by writers are not necessarily the opinion of the publisher and take no responsibility for their facts and opinions.

Jennifer PAzienzA

Piacere, 16 x 14 inches, oil on canvas The Artful Mind Gallery, 22 Walker Street, Lenox, MA October 1 - 31 https://www.instagram.com/jenniferpazienza/

http://Jenniferpazienza.com

Beautiful Berkshires Calendar of artful events

mercial photography : by appointment. The Gallery represents Sabine Vollmer von Falken, Thatcher Hullerman Cook, Carolina Palermo Schulze and Tom Zetterstrom.

(Open daily from 11-4pm closed on Wednesdays)

MASS MoCA 1040 MASSMOCA WAY, NORTH ADAMS, MA • 413-662-2111 Laurie Anderson, thru 2019; Louise Bourgeois, thru 2019; Jarvis Rockwell thru November MARGUERITE BRIDE HOME STUDIO AT 46 GLORY DRIVE PITTSFIELD, MA • 413- 841-1659 or 413-442-7718 MARGEBRIDE-PAINTINGS.COM FB: MARGUERITE BRIDE WATERCOLORS Nov 1 - Dec 31, Hotel on North, Pittsfield SAINT FRANCIS GALLERY 1370 SOUTH ST, RTE. 102, SOUTH LEE, MA “CREATIVITY THAT KNOWS NO BOUNDARIES” Rachael Talibart, Namazu Sohn Fine Art TIDES + FALLS JOHN ATCHLEY VALDA BAILEY SETH RESNICK CASSANDRA SOHN RACHAEL TALIBART September 7 - November 12 69 Church Street, Lenox, MA info@sohnfineart.com 413-551-7353 www.sohnfineart.com

ART

510 WARREN STREET GALLERY 510 WARREN STREET, HUDSON, NY 518-822-0510 510warrenstreetgallery@gmail.com / 510warrenstreetgallery.com Nina Lipkowitz: Battle Fatigue, thru Nov 25.

Friday & Saturday, 12 - 6, Sunday 12 - 5 or by app

A.P.E LTD. GALLERY 126 MAIN ST, NORTHAMPTON, MA • WWW.APEARTS.COM Wild at Heart: portraits of endangered species. Dawn Howkinson Siebel, December 6 – December 31, 2108.

Artist Reception: Friday, December 14, 5-8 pm on Arts Night Out HESSEL MUSEUM OF ART, BARD COLLEGE 30 GARDEN ROAD, ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, NEW YORK The Conditions of Being Art: Pat Hearn Gallery and American Fine Art, Co. (1983 - 2004). Thru December 14.

DEB KOFFMAN’S ARTSPACE 137 FRONT ST, HOUSATONIC, MA • 413-274-1201 Sat: 10:30-12:45 class meets. No experience in drawing necessary, just a willingness to look deeply and watch your mind. This class is conducted in silence. Adult class. $10, please & call to register. First Tuesday of every month.

DOTTIE’S COFFEE LOUNGE 444 North St, Pittsfield, MA Oct 5 - Dec 31, Impressionism. "Red Orange Yellow, Green Blue Violet," featuring the paintings of Mike Carty, Scott Taylor, and Terry Wise.

4 • NOVEMBER 2018 THE ARTFUL MIND

EUNICE AGAR CAMPHILL GHENT GALLERY 2542 Rte 66, Chtatham, NY People Paintings: Oct 1 - Nov 30

FRONT STREET GALLERY 129 FRONT ST, HOUSATONIC, MA • 413-274-6607 Kate Knapp oils and watercolors and classes open to all.

JOHN DAVIS GALLERY 362 1/2 WARREN STREET HUDSON, NEW YORK 518-828-5907 / art@johndavisgallery.com Paintings by Pamela Cardwell

LAUREN CLARK FINE ART 325 STOCKBRIDGE RD, GT. BARRINGTON MA 413-528-0432 Lauren@LaurenClarkFineArt.com www.LaurenClarkFineArt.com Fine Art and framing The Last Waltz, Nov 10 - Dec 2. Joby Baker, Richard Britell, Julio Granda, Geoffrey Moss, Franco Pellegrino, Joe Wheaton, Terry Wise. Artists reception, Nov 10, 4 7pm L’ATELIER BERKSHIRES 597 MAIN STREET, GREAT BARRINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS www.atelierberks.com.

• 510-469-5468 natalie.tyler@atelierberks.com Discover contemporary artists in a historic Great Barrington building. Oil paintings, metal & glass sculpture and custom furniture at L’Atelier Berkshires.

LISA VOLLMER PHOTOGRAPHY NEW STUDIO + GALLERY 325 STOCKBRIDGE ROAD, GT. BARRINGTON • 413-429-6511 / www.lisavollmer.com The Studio specializes in portrait, event, editorial and com-

SCHANTZ GALLERIES 3 ELM ST, STOCKBRIDGE, MA • 413-298-3044 schantzgalleries.com Hours: Daily, 10:30 - 5

THE INVISABLE FOUNTAIN 116 PLEASANT ST, SUITE 206 • INVISABLEFOUNTAIN.COM “Fifteen”, paintings by Luke J. Cavagnac, thru November

THE WARREN FAMILY GALLERY BERKSHIRE SCHOOL'S KENNARD VISUAL ARTS CENTER 245 NORTH UNDERMOUNTAIN ROAD, SHEFFIELD, MA Jeffrey L. Neumann: Paintings. Thru Dec 15.

THOMPSON GIROUX GALLERY 57 Main St, Chatham, NY 518-392-3336 / www.thompsongirouxgallery.com.

An exhibit entitled “Small Show of Big Drawings From the Collection of Jack Shear” will be on exhibit from November 3 – November 25, 2018. A reception will be held on Saturday, November 17 from 4-6pm.

TURN PARK ART SPACE WEST STOCKBRIDGE, MA Open thru November: Gene Montez Flores “Landscapes.

1980–2018" on view on the park’s grounds and at the Gate House Gallery.

VAULT GALLERY 322 MAIN ST, GT. BARRINGTON, MA • 413-644-0221 Marilyn Kalish at work and process on view, beautiful gallery and wonderful collection of paintings

WHITNEY CENTER FOR THE ARTS 42 WENDELL AVENUE, PITTSFIELD MA 413-443-0289; info@thewhit.org., www.thewhit.org FLASH FORWARD - 20 Years Later, The Ongoing Impact of Matthew Shepard. The exhibit includes works by: Sara Clement, Katherine Haig, Grier Horner, Michael King, Tammara Leminen, Mel Odom, Steph VanBramer. Thru November. Plus: “The Laramie Project.” The play will run three times on Friday November 31, Saturday December 1, and Sunday December 2.

EVENTS / workshops

Everett Bradley’s Holidelic; Sat Jan 26, 9pm: Bindlestiff Cirkus Cabin Fever Cabaret.

HOTCHKISS MOBILES 8 CENTER ST, WEST STOCKBRIDGE, MA • 413-232-0200 / JOEL@ARTMOBILES.COM Single Day Mobile making workshop, Dec 8, 9 - 3:30pm. Make a copper and brass leaf mobile, create 2 mobiles and learn this art straight from the expert, Joel Hotchkiss

RACE BROOK LODGE 864 SOUTH UNDERMOUNTAIN RD., SHEFFIELD, MA 413-229-2916 / RBLODGE.COM/SHEFFIELD Nove 16, 8pm: Cura Cura Barnspace Concert

MADE IN MONTEREY 468 MAIN ROAD 1 BLOCK EAST OF DOWNTOWN MONTEREY 413-528-3600 Saturday, Dec 1, 10 - 5pm, Monterey Community Center: Fine Art and Craft

MAHAIWE PERFORMING ARTS CENTER CASTLE ST, GT. BARRINGTON, MA Renowned jazz musicians John Pizzarelli and Jessica Molaskey will record their syndicated American-songbook radio program, Radio Deluxe, live at the Mahaiwe on Saturday, December 22 at 8:00pm. The common denominator is a playful sense of humor. The husband-and-wife hosts are masters of offthe-cuff repartee.

This show will feature special guests Maucha Adnet and Duduka Da Fonseca; The Bolshoi Ballet in HD productions of Don Quixote, with a spectacular cast of toreadors, flamenco dancers, gypsies, and dryads on Sunday, December 2 at 1:00pm and the timeless holiday classic, The Nutcracker, on Sunday, December 23 at 1:00pm.

R&F ENCAUSTICS 84 Ten Broeck Ave, Kingston, NY Oil & Wax: Pigment Stick FundementalsThurs Nov 15 & Nov 17, 9am - 5pm Wayne Montecalvo

FDR Memorial, New York, NY Photo by Scott Benedict (2012) SCOTT BENEDICT KAHNSCIOUS – PHOTOGRAPHING ARCHITECTURE October 27, 2018 - January 20, 2019 Hudson Hall at the historic Hudson Opera House 327 Warren St, Hudson, New York

MUSIC

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS WITH MUSIC THE MAHAIWE PERFORMING ARTS CENTER, GT. BARRINGTON, MA • 413-528-0100 “MOZART AND SCHUBERT—MARZIPAN AND THE “’TROUT’” on Saturday, December 8, 6 pm

CLUB HELSINKI HUDSON 405 COLUMBIA ST., HUDSON, NY • 518-828-4800 heslinkihudson.com / info@helsinkihudson.com Fri nov 30, 9pm: The Wiyos; Fri Dec 15 9pm /16 8pm:

THE FANFARE BRASS CHOIR FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH 6 SEARLE RD, HUNTINGTON MA Christmas music program and sing along at 3pm, Sunday, Dec 2. The 10 part brass ensemble consists of 4 trumpets, French horn, 4 trombones and tuba, come to a musical performance of a unique combination of power and finesse. The Fanfare Brass presents exciting Christmas and Holiday music in with high energy style and treats audiences to a quality entertainment experience.

Be Seen! advertising rates and the perks go along way//// Call or email for Artful Mind details

artfulmind@yahoo.com 413 854 4400

THE ARTFUL MIND NOVEMBER 2018 • 5

collins editions | berkshire digital

MARTIN PURYEARNICHE, 1999 GRAPHITE AND INK ON PAPER IMAGE COPYRIGHT OF THE ARTIST

THOMPSON GIROUX GALLERY

An exhibit entitled “Small Show of Big Drawings From the Collection of Jack Shear” will be on exhibit from November 3 – November 25, 2018. A reception will be held on Saturday, November 17 from 4-6pm.

Works on exhibit in the gallery include Jared French, Nancy Grossman, Richard Haas, Ellsworth Kelly, Patrick Lee, Roy Lichtenstein, Agnes Martin, Jim Nutt, Claes Oldenburg, Martin Puryear, Richard Serra, Terry Winters, Joseph Yetto.

Thompson Giroux Gallery - 57 Main Street, Chatham, NY; Gallery hours: Thursday – Monday 11am to 5pm, Friday 11am to 7pm. Closed Thursday, November 22nd for Thanksgiving. For more information call 518-392-3336 or visit www.thompsongirouxgallery.com

Opening in 2005, we do fine art printing for artists and photographers. These Giclée prints, can be made in many different sizes from 5”x7” to 42” x 80” on archival papers.

In addition to the printing services, we also offer accurate photo-reproduction of paintings and illustrations for use in books, magazines, brochures, cards and websites. A complete overview of services offered, along with pricing, can be seen on the web at www.collinseditions.com The owner, Fred Collins, has been a commercial and fine art photographer for over 30 years having had studios in Boston and Stamford. He offers over 25 years of experience with Photoshop™ enabling retouching, restoration and enhancement to prints and digital files. The studio is located in Mt Washington but drop-off and pick-up is available through Frames On Wheels, located at 84 Railroad Street in Great Barrington, MA (413) 528-0997. collins | editions studio - (413) 644-9663 www.CollinsEditions.com, fred@collinseditions.com

“The object of art is not to reproduce reality, but to create a reality of the same intensity.”

- Alberto Giacometti

6 • NOVEMBER 2018 THE ARTFUL MIND

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS WITH MUSIC MAX LEVENSON

Close Encounters With Music will present “MOZART AND SCHUBERT—MARZIPAN AND THE “’TROUT’” on Saturday, December 8, 6 PM at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington, MA. Two great melodists, two young geniuses in one brilliant evening: Bubbly, like fine Champagne, Schubert’s “Trout” Quintet is one of the most joyous pieces ever written. A landmark of classical music, it weaves a net of enchantment with its catchy melodies and fresh exuberance. This piece has it all—elegance, beauty and irrepressible good humor; music from the pen of a 22-year-old prodigy inspired by the tragiccomic death of a fish that captures the glories of Nature!

The program also features Mozart’s miraculous Piano Quartet in E-flat Major, a reminder that the unearthly beauties of Mozart defy explanation. An allstar ensemble that joins artistic director Yehuda Hanani includes pianist Max Levinson (“Brilliant…He uses his wide spectrum of pianistic mechanics for altogether poetic ends, touching the listener deeply and often” – Los Angeles Times); violinist Itamar Zorman (winner of the Tchaikovsky International Violin Competition); and David Grossman, double bass of the New York Philharmonic.

Performers are: Max Levinson, piano; Itamar Zorman, violin; Karine Lethiec, viola; Yehuda Hanani, cello; David Grossman, double bass.

Tickets, $50 (Orchestra and Mezzanine), $27 (Balcony) and $15 for students, are available at The Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center box office, 413.528.0100. Subscriptions are $250 ($225 for seniors) for the series of 7 concerts tickets are available for purchase at www.mahaiwe.org. Season subscriptions are available on our website, www.cewm.org

ELEANOR LORD

FRONT ST. GALLERY

Painting classes on Monday and Wednesday mornings 10-1pm at the studio in Housatonic and Thursday mornings 10am - 1pm out in the field.

ELEANORLORD.COM

Nina Lipkowitz

Also available for private critiques.

Open to all. Please come paint with us!

gallery hours: open by chance and by appointment anytime 413. 274. 6607 (gallery) 413. 429. 7141 (cell) 413. 528. 9546 (home)

Front Street, Housatonic, MA PEOPLE PAINTINGS

FIGURATIVE O IL PAINTINGS

BY ARTIST EUNICE AGAR

BATTLE FATIGUE DADDY COME HOME SOON

MULTI MEDIA 40 X 30”

November 2 — November 25, 2018

Opening Reception for Artist: Saturday November 3, 2- 6pm

510 WARREN STREET GALLERY Hudson New York

Sunday 12 - 5 Friday and Saturday 12 - 6 & by Appointment 510WARRENSTREETGALLERY.COM

NINALIPKOWITZ.COM

NINA@NINALIPKOWITZ.COM

OCT 1 TO NOV 30, 2018

CAMPHILL GHENT JOAN ALLEN ART GALLERY

(518) 392-2760

2542 ROUTE 66, CHATHAM NY, 12037

THE ARTFUL MIND NOVEMBER 2018 • 7

TAMMARA LEMINEN THIS WORK IS AN EXAMPLE OF HER

FLASH FORWARD

COLLAGE ART AND MAY NOT BE IN THIS SHOW

WHITNEY CENTER FOR THE ARTS

FLASH FORWARD - 20 Years Later, The Ongoing Impact of Matthew Shepard.

In honor of the 20th anniversary of Matthew Shepard’s death, the Whitney Center for the Arts is proud to present this poignant and thought-provoking exhibit as part of our month-long tribute to his memory, and the themes of tolerance and acceptance, anti-homophobia, anti-bullying, anti-violence, and recognition of the aftermath for victims of sexual assault or other hate crimes.

Lovingly curated by Sara Clement (who went to high school with Matthew), the exhibit is the backdrop to Monica Bliss’ play “The Laramie Project.” The play will run three times on Friday November 31, Saturday December 1, and Sunday December 2.

The opening reception of “FLASH FORWARD, 20 Years Later, the Ongoing Impact of Matthew Shepard” will be on Saturday November 10, from 5-8, in the Colt Gallery. We will also be hosting a group show by the Berkshire Artist’s Guild in Gallery W, the Opening Reception to be held concurrently.

A reception will be held before the play on Saturday December 1, which would have been Matthew Shepard’s birthday. The reception includes dinner, a cash bar, and an artist’s talk by guest curator Sara Clement and Director of “The Laramie Project” Monica Bliss.

The exhibit includes works by: Sara Clement, Katherine Haig, Grier Horner, Michael King, Tammara Leminen, Mel Odom, Steph VanBramer Whitney Center for the Arts - 42 Wendell Avenue, Pittsfield MA; 413-443-0289; info@thewhit.org., www.thewhit.org.

8 • NOVEMBER 2018 THE ARTFUL MIND

MARGUERITE BRIDE MARGUERITE BRIDE

WATERCOLOR

WINTER IN THE BERKSHIRES

Hotel on North in Pittsfield is thrilled to present "Winter in the Berkshires " by artist Marguerite Bride.

The show will be on view through December 31.

“The Berkshires could not be more beautiful than during and right after a snowfall…it’s like a winter wonderland. I know I am happiest when painting a winter scene…even if doing so in the middle of a hot July day. I’m a born and bred New Englander! I have been asked for years to paint something from Dalton… and this exhibit contains two brand new scenes… the Red Barn and the Crane Model Farm. I especially enjoy painting the buildings that surround us. There’s so much history here.”

Bride will be introducing new watercolors that depict the beauty of our local surroundings in winter. A preview of the paintings on display can be seen at margebride-paintings.com. And because this exhibit does run through the gift-giving holiday season, purchased paintings will be allowed to go to their new homes during the exhibit period if desired.

Also, on Sunday, December 16 from 12 noon – 2 pm, Bride will be doing a painting demo at Hancock Shaker Village.

Original paintings, fine art reproductions and note cards of Berkshire images and beyond are available locally at the Red Lion Inn Gift Shop (Stockbridge), Lenox Print & Mercantile (Lenox), Good Purpose Gallery (Lee), and also directly from the artist. Seasonal scenes are always on display in the public areas of the Berkshire Plaza in Pittsfield, and Jazz Visions (series of 22 paintings) is on display at 51 Park Tavern and Restaurant in Lee through the year.

Marguerite Bride – Home Studio at 46 Glory Drive, Pittsfield, Massachusetts by appointment only. Call 413-841-1659 or 413442-7718; margebride-paintings.com; margebride@aol.com; Facebook: Marguerite Bride Watercolors.

LYNNE M. ANSTATT LEAVES IN SNOW PHOTOGRAPH

LYNNE M. ANSTETT PHOTOGRAPHER ARTIST VISION

Whether I’m traveling far from my native New England, hiking, or standing in my own back yard, I’m drawn to the endless variety of beautiful things outdoors.

It is a hurried world. Photography, to me, is a way of paying visual attention and tribute to what is otherwise often missed or taken for granted – the quiet dignity of buildings, the magnificence of sky, water and land, the mystery of old things, and the countless daily proofs in nature that the world is made for our eyes.

I aim to share what I see, by chance or by design, that is beautiful to me. The camera allows me to do that.

My work focuses on environmental portraits, landscapes, structures, outdoor creatures, farms and edibles. I like to explore beyond the traditional scenes and formats as well.

One of my products, Picturesque Note Cards has just gone green by using environmentally friendly paper. Cards feature my photographs of butterflies, birds, flowers, seascapes, landscapes and Berkshire scenes.

I launched a project four years ago to photograph “The Massachusetts’s Berkshires and Beyond”, taking a close look at the diverse beauty of neighborhoods including Outdoor Recreation, History, Scenic Views, Art, Farms and more. My signature calendar is a wall and desk Art Poster format with the thought of bringing these images a little closer into view. Calendars can be found seasonally in artist shops, hotels, bookshops, museums, eateries and antique shops throughout the Berkshires and Northwest Connecticut.

Currently my outdoor photography scenes are part of The Hitchcock Chair Furniture Showroom in Canton and Riverton, Connecticut. One of my photographs was selected as a finalist in Sohn Fine Art Gallery's 6th Annual Juried Exhibition to benefit the Norman Rockwell Museum. The Exhibition was curated and judged by the Museum's Director and Curators. My photography has also been exhibited at the Maplebrook School - 30th and 31st Annual Kentucky Derby Art Show, Amenia, NY; the iMOTIF Cultural Pittsfield 10 x 10 Upstreet Arts Festival at the Sohn Fine Art Gallery, Lenox and Hotel on North, Pittsfield; Ethel Walker School Bell Library, Simsbury, CT; Artisan Guild, Norfolk, CT; Whiting Mills - Open Studios, Winsted, CT, several photographs were featured on the, A Closer Look at The Berkshires 2018 calendar and The Gallery on the Green, Canton, CT, where I am juried artist member.

I’ve lived in Litchfield County, CT all my life and now live in the Berkshires.

Nina Lipkowitz BATTLE FATIGUE

NINA LIPKOWITZ IST LT MORTON POLKOWITZ 24 X 20” MULITMEDIA

Nina! This body of work goes beyond the meaning of just art. You have created a body of work that depicts life, history and love. A cohesive interpretation focusing on remembrance and personal meaning of time, space, shape and form. Please tell us about the exhibit at 510 Warren Street Gallery in Hudson, New York that you have called Battle Fatigue.

Nina Lipkowitz: First, I want to say “thank you” for giving me the opportunity to talk about my new work.

I never realized how helpful it would be to think about it through language. Often I don’t understand what I’ve done-I just do it.

The work in this exhibit is a departure from anything I’ve ever done before. As you know so well Harryet, I’ve been a sculptor and a potter. I’ve worked in watercolors and on my iPad, and a little bit on canvas.

My work has always been a dance between light and color, circles and lines; often it’s quite meditative… but this is the first time I have ever tried to tell a story like this. My new work has been inspired by some of my very difficult and very enigmatic father’s experi10 • NOVEMBER 2018 THE ARTFUL MIND

ences during WWII, my attempts to understand who he was and what he went through during that war, and the scrapbook that my parents put together from material that he collected and carried with him for two years, through five European battles while he was in Patton’s Third Army. All the paintings in the show are multimedia, using photo transfers of photographs, letters, papers, picture postcards, playbills and other memorabilia.

And what were the challenges you faced in creating this new art work?

Nina: Everything! Figuring out how to use this material and turn each painting into a work of art and a personal statement was an enormous challenge. In addition to the learning curve of doing an entirely new body of work in a new medium, I had stopped painting over two years ago. I once went ten years without making art so I had some faith that the magic would return. I trusted (sort of) that it would reappear in time.

I had another problem. I knew that I had a show scheduled for early November, 2018 at the gallery in Hud-

son, NY and I had no idea what I was going to do. My last big show in June, 2017 and was all iPad images.

What was that moment when you began thinking about using this historical material for a project?

Nina: It’s a big jump from looking at a family album and deciding to use it to make art. About a year ago I was working with a healer and for no reason that I can think of, (maybe that’s what healers do?) I started talking about my dad’s scrapbook. He got really excited, said that it sounded like an important historical document and that I should share it out in the world. That set my mind to thinking. How could I share it without destroying the material in this precious, fragile, 70year-old scrapbook and what did I have to say about it?

Can you talk a bit about the scrapbook and what it has meant to you?

Nina: When I was a child there was a cabinet in our house that contained all of our family photo albums plus this scrapbook. I spent a lot of time alone, turning

those pages and looking at those images. I once asked my dad if he ever shot a gun or killed anyone and he said “no”.

Here are the few things he did tell me: He told me that although he was thirty-two years old, he felt that, especially as a Jewish American, this was a war that needed to be fought, and he needed to be part of that fight. He told me that he used to refill his Zippo lighter by dipping it into the gas tank of his jeep and also, that Germans strung wires across the road and Army Jeeps would drive through them and soldiers would be decapitated so my dad figured out how to put a long pole on the front of his Jeep to cut through the wires. That’s about all I learned from him.

Over the years that I’ve been looking closely at the scrapbook on my own, the things that I saw were photos of a concentration camp (Ohrdruf) that he helped liberate.

(Looking at those photographs are how I learned about the holocaust); A faded and well worn six-pointed yellow star with the word “Juif” on it. (he did tell me a little bit about the encounter with the French Jew who gave it to him), a photo of women from Cherbourg. I recently discovered the same image on the internet and realized that the photo was not taken by my dad and it was of Belgian women who were accused of being collaborators. They had been stripped naked and tarred by their angry neighbors. Their heads were shaved and they were forced to give a Nazi salute. I call this painting “Victims or Collaborators?” They were mostly young mothers trying to feed themselves and their children. There are playbills from a weekend leave in London a month before D-Day, photos of soldiers doing everyday things. I particularly like one called “Sergeants Valentine and Sullivan” taken at Ft. Devens during basic training. There were Stars and Stripes newspapers, yellow and crumbling, with headlines like Hitler Dead. I used this transfer in my largest painting titled “Hitler Dead”. There were Blondie and Lil’ Abner cartoon strips and sports news from back home and so much more. I never asked him many questions, and he never talked much about any of it. There were some notes in the margins that I later learned were in my mother’s handwriting that gave some hints as to some of what was going on. Google became my best friend. I spent hours and hours enlarging the images and Googling questions.

Eleven years after my father died my mother said to my sister and me, “How come nobody ever talks about Daddy?”. I decided to open up a big conversation with this enigmatic man. Oh, how I wish I had my father here to talk to about it. I have so many questions.

I always wondered what my married, thirty-two yearold, lawyer, automobile dealer, father was doing as a First Lieutenant in an ordnance unit fighting all over Europe with Patton’s Third Army while my mother and my one year-old sister lived with my mother’s parents on the Upper West Side in Manhattan. I thought that my project might serve several purposes. It might give me a subject for a new show, it might be a way of sharing some of this WWII material ,and it might help me better understand my enigmatic and difficult, father.

All this sounds incredible Nina, how did you begin?

Please take us step by step through your process.

Nina: The first thing that I did was photograph every page and each individual item on every page. The second thing I did was order canvases in a variety of sizes and shapes.

Since I had never worked like this before I didn’t want to be frustrated by not having the material I might need.

Then I had to purchase paints. What colors?

Continued on next page...

NINA LIPKOWITZ ALL MY LOVE STILL AND FOREVER 24 X 20” MULITMEDIA THE ARTFUL MIND NOVEMBER 2018 • 11

What medium? I just guessed at what I might need. Next, I needed to figure out how I was going to use the material from the scrapbook and make art. I had heard about a photo transfer process so I went on-line and watched many how-to YouTube videos, and slowly I began to experiment. I discovered that I couldn’t use images printed on my own ink-jet printer since the ink was water soluble and would bleed, so I had to have my prints copied. This became one of the most frustrating and tedious parts of this journey. I knew that I needed to have many copies of each image, in a variety of sizes. Some needed to be in color, some in black and white and some in sepia. I also knew that it was time to begin to paint, but I truly had no idea what I was doing or how I was going to begin. At the end of May (Memorial Day Weekend) I finally put the first bit of paint on a canvas and the first two photo transfers which were photo portraits of my dad in his uniform (“1st Lieutenant Morton Polkowitz”) I set myself a goal. I would begin the project around Memorial Day and finish and hang it around Veteran’s Day in time for my 510 Gallery show in November in Hudson, NY. In my mind there was a certain symmetry to this idea.

How long have you been working on this project?

Nina: Without realizing it, I began this project the first time I sat quietly looking through the pages of the scrapbook in my parents’ house, maybe from sixty years ago.

It must be one of your most important achievements?

How would that be true?

Nina: I think that trusting my abilities as an artist and doing this project without any pre-conceived ideas of what I was doing or how I would do it was both crazy and a total act of faith. Definitely a major personal achievement. A painting is really just one mark at a time.

Have you felt exhausted at times form working furiously? I hope you took some yoga breaks!

Nina: All summer I worked in fits and starts. The two concentration camp paintings were overwhelming and I had to take frequent breaks while I was working on them.

In fact, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to use any of the photographs from the camp. Another thing that gave me a break was going back and forth between painting and transferring. The transfer process is actually quite relaxing and fun and it made a nice balance between the intensity of the paintings and the simplicity of the process.

What is the most important message you want viewers to know and absorb? Is it about you as an artist, or is it more about the historical event that matters most?

Nina: Stay open; you just never know from where or when your inspiration might come. Don’t be afraid. As Yogi Berra said, “When there’s a fork in the road, take it.” The historical part is important, but without the willingness to take a chance on the complete unknown, I never would have learned what I did, both about my dad, and about the war. I certainly wouldn’t have had any idea of how to communicate any of it to the world.

NINA LIPKOWITZ SERGEANTS VALENTINE AND SULLIVAN 10 X 20” MULITMEDIA 12 • NOVEMBER 2018 THE ARTFUL MIND

What techniques have you reeled in to create this masterful body of work, and what have you learned.

Nina: All the work in the show is multi-media on canvas.

I have used acrylic for the photo transfers. I thought that I would finish the paintings with oil paints, but in the end, it became unnecessary.

First, I had to pour over the pages of the scrapbook and see what spoke to me. Some of the photos were so tiny that I didn’t know what they were until I had enlarged

them. Next, I had to decide what images would simultaneously tell the story, work as photo transfers, and also work as integral parts of a painting. I had to teach myself the technical aspects of making photo transfers and combining them with paint on different-sized canvases with paints that I had never used before. I think the hardest part was making sure I didn’t make the paintings decorative. I respected the material so much. I wanted to make sure that the message was not obscured.

Will this show travel to other parts of the state or country? It is truly educational and meaningful for all ages.

Nina: I would love for it to travel. If anyone has any ideas as to how to make that happen please contact me through my website at ninalipkowitz.com How did this this all begin? What did you find and discover in the forefront that made this come to fruition?

Nina: I considered writing a book and having the images professionally scanned. I contacted my amazing cousin Ellen Kleiner who has a publishing company called Blessingway Author’s Services. She thought it was a great idea and told me that she would find me a ghost writer and suggested that I could tell him my stories and she could help me self-publish it. Now, I am an artist, and as little as I knew about the process of making this body of work I knew even less about writing a book. So I thought, I won’t write a book. I’ll try to make some sort of art project using these images.

This may never be finished. You might just want to keep working on aspects of this part of history you are working with now and develop it even more.

Would that be true?

Nina: It’s not complete. I look forward to discovering what happens next.

Has this been incredibly time-consuming, more then other exhibits you have put together?

Nina: If you count the time I’ve spent pouring through the scrap book, photographing, enlarging, scanning, flipping and printing the images then having them all photo copied- all that before I began to touch paint brush to canvas- yes, it has been more time-consuming and taken more patience than any other work I’ve done.

What was a mind-boggling experience that you encountered that has touched you deeply?

Nina: Harryet, you know this story. I painted my first painting when I was fifteen years-old. It was the face of Rima, the magical, mystical bird girl from the book, Green Mansions. I had never painted with a brush so I mostly used my fingers to rub the paints into the canvas.

The first day, my father came into the room where I was working and complimented me. That was unusual. My father didn’t compliment. He was a passionate art lover and art collector, so I respected his words. I kept on working and the next day he looked at my painting and said, “Why don’t you paint it over white and start again. Don’t waste the canvas.” I guess at that point I didn’t respect his words, because I didn’t do that. I do remember being shocked by his comment.

The next evening there was going to be a PTA art show at my school, and I liked the painting and put it in the show. The following morning, a boy I knew told me that his father wanted to buy my painting. That sounded pretty good to me. So I sold it to his father for $25. The only Continued on next page...

NINA LIPKOWITZ DAD’S PLAYBILLS FROM LONDON 1 MULITMEDIA THE ARTFUL MIND NOVEMBER 2018 • 13

NINA LIPKOWITZ HITLER DEAD 48 X 36” MULITMEDIA

thing I remember discussing with my father was how to price it.

Many years later, I did have a conversation with my father about his comment. That’s another story for another day, but…I didn’t pick up a paint brush again for almost fifty years. I guess I was pretty traumatized by his reaction. I’ve had to do a lot of healing work around it, and I think that I finally have forgiven him.

So I would say that the most mind boggling thing about this work is that I made it at all.

Nina, what is your father’s background story?

Nina: My father was an incredibly complicated and interesting man. Brilliant, charming, funny, critical, harsh and self-centered. A man of many passions. He was a respected and successful businessman. He loved and collected art and art books and amazing artist’s letters. He played golf, worked to build the first synagogue in our town, and later in life became an 14 • NOVEMBER 2018 THE ARTFUL MIND

obsessive sailor on his beloved 41’ ketch, Samora. He grew up in Perth Amboy, New Jersey. The oldest son of Jewish immigrant parents. His father was from Budapest, Hungary and came to the United States at fifteen, at the end of the 19th century with nothing. His mother came with her siblings from Oswicim, Poland, (later called Auschwitz). In New Jersey, the family business was buying and leasing horses, and later automobiles. My father grew up with horses and cars, and I heard that he loved to tinker with engines. He went to George Washington University in Washington, DC and graduated after five years with a combined BA and law degree. He went back home to New Jersey and worked in the family automobile business. He and my mother were married in September 1939, and my sister was born a few years later. In 1941, way too old to be drafted, he enlisted and became an officer attached to an ordnance division. He spent two grueling years in Europe with the Patton’s Third Army.

I learned that it was his background in the automobile industry which gave him the training to oversee the men who were maintaining tanks and jeeps and other equipment. He was in Paris when it was liberated, in August 1944 and also at Rosh Hashanah services there a few weeks later in September. That’s where he was given the now faded six pointed yellow star by a recently liberated anonymous French Jew who tore it off his jacket in gratitude to this Jewish American officer.

According to his discharge papers he participated in five battles: Normandy, Northern France, Ardennes, Rhineland and Central Europe. He was awarded a Bronze Star Medal for “recruiting 300 Luxembourg steel workers and taking over an idle factory between February and April, 1945. He was shop officer in the 515 Ordnance Heavy Maintenance Company, Field Army. They reclaimed 1,397 G.P. and S.P. Vehicles”.

(I’ve never figured out what those are, but they were

obviously important). By July, he was back in Paris standing in front of the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, and finally back home on August 13, 1945 (my sister’s third birthday), and into Mason General Hospital. He was finally discharged in October, 1945. ... How could I not have been proud of him?

Where and how and why did you come up with Battle Fatigue for the title of this project?

Nina: That’s a perfect segue from the last question.

I’ve been crawling all over this scrapbook for so many years, and almost every time I interact with it, I learn something new. One day, several years ago I looked closely at my father’s discharge papers and noticed that he was discharged from Mason General Hospital, “not by reason of physical [sic] disability”. I thought that was odd and I researched it and discovered that Mason General was a mental hospital on Long Island that the army opened between 1944 and 1946 to treat returning GIs. I think that he was there for about two months with a diagnosis of Battle Fatigue. In World War I, it was called shell shock, in World War II, battle fatigue, and today we refer to it as PTSD or Combat Stress Reaction. Neither my mother nor my father ever spoke one word about any of it. One more interesting fact about Mason General Hospital that I discovered while doing this research was that The Hollywood director, John Houston made a documentary about the hospital called, “Let There be Light”. If you can bear to watch it, you can find it on You Tube. It was suppressed by the US government and not released until the 1980s. Hence, the title of my show “Battle Fatigue”, something I came to realize that my father suffered from and was really not treated for. It began to give me answers to my mother’s question, “How come no one ever talks about Daddy?”

How has this art experience help you to understand the dynamics of your family through all the years?

Nina: Painting “Daddy Come Home Soon”, I shed many tears as I worked on it. My father was overseas for two full years of my sister Enid’s life. Reading the letters to him that she dictated to my mother broke my heart. I didn’t know him before the war, but I would say that he must have come home damaged and a changed man. While he and my mother were busy trying to rebuild their lives together back home, I can only imagine what it was like for all of them and especially for that little three-year-old girl. My sister was seven+ years older than me, and I never knew that adorable child in that painting. I think that I wept for her and for me and for all of us and what we lost.

What brings to you a great amount of joy in life, Nina?

Nina: Singing!

What will you be doing next? Have you been jotting down ideas yet? You’re a full-time artist!

Nina: I have no idea what’s next, and no, I’ve not been jotting anything down. Do you think that maybe I should have been keeping notes? I have another exhibition that will open in May 2019. Once again, I have no idea what I will do, and only six months to do it in.

Stay tuned!

Your husband, John, is a fine art photographer, just curious– has he been involved in your project?

Nina: Yes, by being supportive and encouraging of my work, as he has been throughout our fifty years together.

NINA LIPKOWITZ ONE SCRAP BOOK PAGE

How do you view your earlier work in comparison to Battle Fatigue?

Nina: I think that it laid the groundwork for this new work.

One thing you will always remember about this project?

Nina: The mind-blowing excitement of actually figuring out how to tell some of this story and use this material to create art. That, combined with feeling incredibly close to this difficult man who was my father, in a way that I never felt before. One last thing for anyone who has actually read to the end of this interview.

I want to tell you about the conversation I did finally have with my dad about my first painting and his suggestion that I paint it over white and not waste the canvas. About a year before he died I decided to ask him what he was thinking of when he made that statement.

He told me that he had just read “Lust for Life” the biography of Vincent Van Gogh and that in it both, Van Gogh and Gauguin were constantly painting over their

paintings and starting again. I said to him, “Dad, that’s because they couldn’t afford canvas. How could you say that to your fifteen year old daughter?” His response? “I guess you are right. It wasn’t a very good thing to say.” Battle Fatigue, PTSD? Your guess is as good as mine.

Thank you Nina!

THE ARTFUL MIND NOVEMBER 2018 • 15

CAROLYN NEWBERGER

FRONT ST. GALLERY STILL LIFE BY KATE KNAPP

Pastels, oils, acrylics and watercolors…abstract and representational…..landscapes, still lifes and portraits….a unique variety of painting technique and styles….you will be transported to another world and see things in a way you never have before…. join us and experience something different.

Painting classes continue on Monday and Wednesday mornings 10-1:30pm at the studio and Thursday mornings out in the field. These classes are open to all...come to one or come again if it works for you. All levels and materials welcome. Private critiques available.

Classes at Front Street are for those wishing to learn, those who just want to be involved in the pure enjoyment of art, and/or those who have some experience under their belt. Perfect if you are seeking fresh insight into watercolors, and other mediums. A teacher for many years, Kate Knapp has a keen sense of each student’s artistic needs to take a step beyond. Perfect setting for setting up still lifes; lighting and space are excellent. Peek in to see!

Front Street Gallery – Front Street, Housatonic, MA. Gallery open by appointment or chance anytime. 413-528-9546 at home or 413-429-7141 (cell).

I came to art after a long career in clinical and developmental psychology at Harvard, dedicated to the wellbeing of children and families. Two years in the Peace Corps in Africa from 1967-1969, the diversity of my own extended family, the preciousness of the people I have served in my career, and a life in music (classical flute and jazz washboard) have all found their ways into my art.

Watercolor painting, mixed media and collage, and a practice of drawing from life form the body of my work. I primarily draw in real time, often in darkened concert halls. There the challenge is to keep a receptive ear and a loose hand in order to capture both performer and sound, with their rhythm, flow, and intensity. These works illustrate essays and music and dance reviews, some written in collaboration with my husband, Eli Newberger, in The Berkshire Edge, a publication of news, arts and ideas in Western Massachusetts.

My artwork has received numerous awards, including Watercolor Artist Magazine, the Danforth Museum of Art, the Cambridge Art Association, and the New England Watercolor Society, and has been widely exhibited in solo and group shows in Boston and beyond.

A member of the New England Watercolor Society, I am represented by Galatea Fine Art in Boston, MA, The Artful Mind Gallery in Lenox, MA, and 510 Warren Street Gallery in Hudson, NY.

“How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live!”

-Henry David Thoreau

Linda Weisberg

INTERIOR DESIGN SERVICES www.lwinteriors.com 617. 633. 1224

16 • NOVEMBER 2018 THE ARTFUL MIND

THE EVOLUTION OF ELIXIR

Back in March there were changes in the air for ELIXIR, so we explored a possible move to another location, and during that process realized that everything we needed or wanted for ELIXIR could happen in the space we already had. The theme of, becoming a good steward of what we already had, became clear to us as we envisioned a renovation of the space and a renewal of the vision with expansion as the focus.

The first thing we did was take a wall down to make room for a small holistic retail cupboard and a designated counter for people to get foods to take with them.

Expansion in this case did not mean more hours, more items, rather it meant expansion of expression, a clearer definition of ELIXIR, a expansion of physical space. Of course it was easy to say what we are NOT: We are not a coffee shop, although we do offer a delicious classic French press…

We are not a sandwich shop, although we do offer several open faced sandwich plates We are not a grab & go take out place, although we do offer stainless tiffin lunches to go as well as meals to take home in glassware as we move toward zero waste…

But to articulate what we really are, that was the task.

Here is what we can now say, ELIXIR is an experience.

This experience happens mainly between noon & 4pm, 5 days a week.

For several hours leading up to that, organic ingredients chosen according to the season, that days weather, and the intuition of the chef, are then consciously, mindfully, intentionally prepared in the serene environment that has been created here.

The alchemy that happens in the kitchen is presented in a variety of delicious, nurturing, nutrient rich, high vibrational dishes imbibed by those who partake of them.

This macrobiotic, Ayurvedic, culturally inspired food, in this environment, soothes and heals the body, mind, spirit, and soul in the way a fine painting, a beautiful piece of music, or a well delivered poem does…

Be prepared to meet kindred spirits, to feel comforted, to have your senses awakened, and to leave here with a true sense of well being.

We look forward to your visit! Our Schedule is:Zen Silent Meditation Porridge Monday & Friday 8am8:45;Tea & Gratitude Writing Our Way Into The Day With Jana Laiz Fridays 9am-10:30am;Luncheon Monday, Thursday, Friday & Saturday noon -2pm;Afternoon Teatime Monday, Thursday, Friday, & Saturday 2pm4pm;Sunday Brunch 10am-2pm; Sunday Afternoon Salons;21 Day Cleanse. Enjoy our website www.elixirgb.com /facebook elixir/instagram elixirllc / ELIXIR 70 Railroad Street / Great Barrington, Ma / 413-644-8999

Gourmet Organic Vegetarian Fare with an international flair Our Schedule is:

Zen Silent Meditation Porridge Monday & Friday 8am-8:45

Tea & Gratitude Writing Our Way Into The Day With Jana Laiz Fridays 9am-10:30am

Luncheon Monday, Thursday, Friday & Saturday noon-2pm Afternoon Teatime: Monday, Thursday, Friday, & Saturday 2pm-4pm Sunday Brunch 10am-2pm Sunday Afternoon Salons 21 Day Cleanse

“Eric’s Great Gardens”@FB LANDSCAPE DESIGN INSTALLATIONS ERICSMITH715@GMAIL.COM 917. 892. 7548

70 Railroad Street, Great Barrington, MA www.Elixirgb.com organictearoom@gmail.com 413.644.8999

Retail Items • Bulk Loose Teas and Herbs Everything is always lovingly & consciously prepared with fresh organic ingredients!

Our Remains of the Day: The Deep Dive Photography by Carl Berg Text by Judy Berg

On a recent trip to Paris, I spent part of a day in the Musee des Arts et Metiers, where you can marvel at the machinery, contraptions and conveyances that human inventiveness has bestowed on our species. One can contemplate two hundred years of the development of the bicycle from its three-wheeled beginning, to the swift, sleek racer of today. Likewise, sewing machines, refrigerators, and automobile engines. Who knew that automobile engines could be so elegant in their functional intricacy? Foucault’s Pendulum is displayed in a dark vaulted rotunda, part of a former church. It was devised by Leon Foucault in 1851, to demonstrate the rotation of the earth on its axis as it traveled around the sun. I love that this icon of scientific knowledge is now enshrined in a vaulted room of a former church: scientific knowledge and human spirituality, together in the same house.

I read in the paper about the farmers in our southern states who are suffering crops devastated by the extremes of climate change. One young farmer tells a reporter that he doesn’t want to speak of climate change, that it’s all just weather.

Next year will be different. Our president, when asked recently about his current view of climate change, opines that the earth does seem to be warming, but that he doesn’t think it’s due to human activity, and who knows, it might reverse on its own. Thinking of my hours in the Paris museum, that vivid and sobering testament to human ingenuity and progress based on science, I want to put an obvious question to the farmer: “Do you believe in science? Do you realize that the farm machines that you rely on are based on scientific knowledge? Do you realize that if you shake off your denial of scientific fact, we may be able to save your crops, you, all of us, with the same human ingenuity that got us into this fix?”

18 • NOVEMBER 2018 THE ARTFUL MIND

October 15

Back home, before the mercury takes its deep dive. At the fish market, fresh, fat sardines lying on a bed of ice said hello to me, and that’s all it took for them to wind up in my basket. A trip to the scraggly garden yielded a few leeks, and some sprigs of oregano that chopped, sauteed, and sprinkled with balsamic vinegar, would do justice to those friendly sardines, now grilled over wood. The kale, collards, and mustard that had been planted late July for cooking in October were stunted by the deluge of late August rain. Too small to saute, but perfect for a Fall salad, they rounded out the meal, along with a posh squash grown with seeds developed by a celebrated chef. Perhaps their pedigree had rendered them impervious to summer’s erratic weather, since they seemed to thrive on the adverse conditions, producing numerous cleaved globes of orange and green, sweet and tasty.

The news is not. Saudi journalist for the Washington Post, Jamal Khashoggi, was brutally murdered when he went to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to get a license to wed his fiance. And, the U.S. President laments that this “unfortunate” news may interfere with a multibillion dollar arms sale to the Saudis. He bobs and weaves as the perfect example of moral deficiency that he is, blathering on about how terrible it would be if true, but, who knows, the Saudis may be able to explain. The staggering psychopathy of this response smells worse than sardines ignored at the market.

So, in this Autumn of 2018, we continue a deep dive into the killer frost of a frozen heart and uncomprehending mind. I desperately want to believe the pundits who say that we’ve been through worse, that our institutions are strong, and truth

will prevail. But, I keep smelling those sardines, the kind that no one in their right mind would care to eat.

October 23

The few tiny eggplants produced in our garden are now long gone. A dash to the supermarket for two plump specimens promises to alleviate my eggplant jones. Since I’m in a Mexican mood, I was pleased to find Queso Fresco at the market to melt over the sauteed slices of eggplant, layered with canned tomatoes, and pasilla peppers. garlic, and cilantro, still from the garden. Is my Mexican mood informed by the 7,000 migrants now traveling through the country in search of solace and safety in the U.S.? That’s really hard to say, since the caravan is employed

by Trump as a mess of rotten sardines to throw at a salivating crowd, known as his base. Tennessee Williams’ words ring in my head: “There ain’t nothin’ more powerful than the odor of mendacity. You can smell it. It smells like death.” He knew a thing or two about lies.

This morning, after listening to a recording of Jamal Khashoggi speak of his hopes for Islam and democracy, I felt a pain in my solar plexus. The first Google entry I found describes the solar plexus as “a complex of ganglia and radiating nerves of the sympathetic system at the pit of the stomach.” Further on, I read from another source that it is “the energy center responsible for personal power, self-esteem and confidence.” Is it a coincidence that Carl and I had just been talking about how powerless we feel in this political moment? And, I’m saddened by the gulf between those who share those feelings, and those who feel

pumped up by Trump as they yell “build the wall” and “lock her up” at his rallies He is a drug to their ”radiating nerves.” But, I wonder how long the high lasts. As a clinician, I remember bipolar patients who would stop taking their medication because the manic high felt so empowering. Until the consequences of the high stared them in the face.

One way to feel less powerless is to vote, and to get other people to do the same. Two weeks from now, the results of the midterm elections will be known.

The choices could not be more clear. The anti-democratic forces don’t want us to vote, and they keep making it harder. Based on their obstructions, I now see voting as a revolutionary act, and perhaps it’s always been so. In some fundamental way, politics are about self and other, how one’s own rights rub up against the rights of others. The nature of the state is determined by the character of the people in charge. A perfect balance is as impossible to achieve at a national level as it is in our own individual households. But it’s essential to remain engaged in the perennial struggle for wise choices in the balance of need, for our lives, for our children’s lives, for the gardens, for the oceans, and for those fresh, fat, and friendly sardines.

—Judy and Carl Berg

THE ARTFUL MIND NOVEMBER 2018 • 19

three cats watching classic movies.

In the Berkshires, you have the means and opportunity to make your life very full if that is what you wish. We might not be in the hustle and bustle of the city but that doesn't mean that there is not a lot going on all the time.

SARA CLEMENT Interview by Monica Bliss

Monica Bliss: Tell us about being raised in the Berkshires.

Sara Clement: Growing up, I was fortunate because I was exposed to a wide range of things. I did standard things like play t-ball and go roller skating, just sort of normal kid activities. I made mud pies and forts, caught fireflies and polliwogs, and I played with both dolls and trucks. I loved all of my grandmother's many cats. I saw one of her cats get spayed in the traveling Veterinarian's van, as well as see at least one litter being born. I'd dress up her dog in my doll clothes.

I went to a lot of museums. I saw foreign films. I frequently went to the library, and I was exposed to a lot of different types of music. I suppose these things opened up my mind. I also went to quite a lot of flea markets and tag sales. I got to look at my other grandmother's button collection with her. I think I get the collector mentality from both sides of my family. I collected rocks as a kid which I still do to this day. A lot of my childhood activities turned into adult passions.

I had very strong examples of volunteerism and community service growing up, as multiple family members were volunteer EMTs and rescue workers, heavily involved with scouting, etc. When you are raised that way it can become a part of your mindset.

20 • NOVEMBER 2018 THE ARTFUL MIND

As far as growing up in Berkshire County, I knew there was a lot of culture here but I didn’t realize what a cultural mecca that is the Berkshires. By the time I was a teenager I couldn't wait to get away and see something different, go to a bigger city. A lot of what the Berkshires has to offer I did not appreciate until I was older and moved back here in my late twenties after living in the South and in Boston. That is probably a fairly common story with a lot of residents here but I have no regrets.

Tell us about living in the Berkshires now.

Sara Clement: I like to think of myself as either a social introvert or a shy extrovert who needs some quiet recharging time. I don't know if it is a good or a bad thing, but I've found that I can intuitively shift gears and focus on the different sides of my personality, depending on certain types of situations. It is something I do automatically, it's not something I am consciously thinking about or forcing usually.

I enjoy my alone time and I struggle to find a balance between being a quiet homebody and being out in the world. I feel compelled to be out in the world but I do get burned out so I retreat and hibernate for a while. I'm perfectly content to just be lazy with my

What creative projects are you currently working on?

Sara: Right now I am supporting my longtime friend, Monica Bliss while she directs "The Laramie Project" at the Whitney Center for the Arts in Pittsfield, MA. Being the 20-year anniversary of Matthew Shepard's passing, I wanted to be involved in something that recognized that benchmark. I was moved when Monica told me that she wanted to direct the show. It means a lot when a close friend of yours wants to do something that pays homage to someone that was also very close to you.

I met Matthew Shepard in college when I was 17, but no one I knew ever called him Matthew. Most people called him Matt or Matty but my nickname for him was Flash. I could speak at length about what his personality was like, the lasting effect that him befriending me had on the rest of my life. I will be speaking at the pre-show reception/celebration of life before the Saturday, December 1st performance of "The Laramie Project". Monica has asked me to speak about my friendship with Flash, how we met and how what happened to him has affected me and the world ever since.

December 1st would have been his 42nd birthday.

In tandem with the play, I’m curating an art show in the Whit's Colt Gallery to correspond with the play called "Flash Forward, twenty years later, the ongoing impact of Matthew Shepard". I wanted to focus on not only what happened to my friend, Flash specifically but also issues that were important to him, and that his tragic death ultimately helped to shed some awareness about. Themes such as tolerance and acceptance, gay rights, anti-homophobia, anti-bullying, a recognition of sexual assault survivors (which he was), depression and other issues that come about when people are trying to cope with all of these things. I especially want to draw attention to hate crimes. Some pieces are specifically about him and about these themes, and some are more abstract. I hope the show will move people profoundly. The art show will be on view during the Whit's gallery hours and before each performance of "The Laramie Project".

An exciting part of curating the art show is that we are showcasing the work of very talented local artists whom I know personally and I've gotten the chance to be exposed to new artists whose work I was not familiar with prior to this. Some artists are creating work specifically for the show and others were selected because their existing body of work already touches on a lot of these themes.

It's interesting how different aspects of your life seem to converge at just the right moment. For example, I know NYC based artist, Mel Odom, from the doll collecting community. He created Gene, which is a fashion doll that I collect. Aside from that, he is an accomplished illustrator whose work has graced many book covers, as well as the pages of magazines such as Playboy, OMNI and Time.

His work has raised a lot of money for AIDS-related charities in the past, so I thought that this could be a project that he'd be interested in. He said that he is thrilled to be a part of it and that his painting "Pansy

Sara Clement Madonna & Child Overlooking St. Joseph Convent demolition, Pittsfield, MA

Boy" is perfect for this. He said: “I wanted to subvert a negative slang term into something beautiful." Like Odom, I also like the idea of taking something negative and derogatory and turning it into something positive and uplifting. I think that is an essential coping mechanism.

You're a photographer and activist. Tell us how you combine these two passions.

Sara: I’ve always considered myself a tradesperson with my photography, more so than an artist. I think with technology the way it is today, pretty much anyone can take a really good photo. Cell phone technology has come a long way and social media outlets such as Instagram have made photography widely accessible.

With historical preservation, something that I am very passionate about, photography is an extremely useful tool. My goal is to show the real beauty of these buildings up close, to shine a spotlight on aspects that people might not initially notice or see.

Also, when it is too late to save a historical property, it becomes about having a historical record of what we once had and now have lost combined with a cautionary tale. If my photographs of the demolition of Saint Francis Church in North Adams can make people think twice about letting that happen again, I think that makes the undertaking successful. Some losses are not obviously apparent at the time, but when looking back at photos, lessons can be learned by future generations, hopefully.

With many causes, photography is very important especially because the social media aspect is essential. I use other photography-related skills such as Photoshop to make graphics, posters and signs for a lot of the causes and campaigns that I’ve been involved with. We are living in the age of memes and instant gratification imagery. Being able to reach people with powerful images can help your cause.

You're also a performer, a singer and actress. Tell us about your favorite performing experience.

Sara: I’ve worked with Kevin Wixsom in the shows he directs for Town Players of Pittsfield on multiple occasions and it has always been a positive experience for me. You get a feeling of camaraderie from working in an ensemble cast. You get to dress up and play pretend which are always fun things to do but perhaps the most profound aspect of being involved in live theater for me is the idea of forcing myself to face my anxieties and fears head on. I’ve always found this to transcend whatever play it is and carry over into other aspects of my life.

Risking making a fool of your self in front of hundreds of people helps put other things into perspective. Is every minor annoyance really as big of a deal as we often make it? You can face many other things after that which might freak you out. I’ve found that the experience of being in plays gave me the push that I needed to make important life decisions. The confidence-building power of doing whatever challenges you on many levels cannot be overstated.

Who do you most admire and why?

Sara: I would have to say John Dickson. As well as being the Pittsfield Historical Commission Chairman, he is also currently serving on the city’s Community Preservation Committee.

He is an educator and a diplomat, and I personally consider him a mentor.

He co-founded Preserve Pittsfield along with some others such as Pittsfield Parks Commissioner, Joe Durwin and myself. Preserve Pittsfield was a group we formed to get the Community Preservation Act put on the ballot and educate the public on the value of Pittsfield adopting CPA. xox

Matthew Shepard and Sara Clement

THE ARTFUL MIND NOVEMBER 2018 • 21

MATTHEW CHINIAN Interview by Harryet P. Candee

22 • NOVEMBER 2018 THE ARTFUL MIND

MATTHEW CHINIAN 1228 C.R 59 11 X 12 2018 So you have a reporter's eye. Why painting? Why not photography?

Matthew Chinian: I love photography both as a fine art media and as a tool for our daily lives. I owe a lot to it as established precedent. As a realist painter I’m embracing the interpretive properties inherent in a decidedly ancient media. My process dictates that I stand before the subject in real time. This fact limits the places I can set up and work legally and safely for a period of about two hours. When I factor in considerations for light and weather, I’ve invested half my effort before the first stroke of the brush. Having said that, the rewards for working from life are irreplaceable, the world is a living, breathing thing, the light, the air; always changing, always moving. My eyes and my mind engaged in discovery over time, they journey, and often play tricks, the results are unpredictable. As a realist painter I am dependent on the visual environment that I live in. I choose the scene,

with it’s inherent nature, it’s history, it’s metaphor. I record it in paint.

The trucks you have painted… you have given them personality and breathe of life! They are more then just trucks, any one can feel that when viewing your paintings. Tell us about this series, please.

Matthew: Over half of my paintings have cars, trucks, farm machinery or maybe a boat, either as a major element or a small or cropped minor note. I don’t make them up and they’re always in context in the scene, and always painted from life. Sometimes very quickly.

They are part of the places we live and work, and part of the lives of the people who inhabit them. So essentially they provide a narrative, or a potential narrative involving those lives, as simple or elaborate as you wish. They’re also transient, in equally transient light those unique shapes and colors, documented in paint

at that time, never to be repeated. I haven’t painted people in my scenes, they move too fast, and challenge my invisibility, so the vehicles take on the role of inhabitants, they have individual characteristics and deliberate placements. It might also be a formal element; the red truck on a green field.

How did you first begin to take art making serious?

And, was it something your family supported you in doing?

Mattthew: I was probably fourteen or fifteen, in a terrific art education program at Newton Public schools in Newton Massachusetts, when I became familiar with museums in Boston, especially the Museum of Fine Arts, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and the Harvard Museums. Their collections of 19th C. European paintings, amongst a world of art and history was a treasure I loved, and seeing great art compelled to make it too. Continued on next page...

THE ARTFUL MIND NOVEMBER 2018 • 23

MATTHEW CHINIAN BOULEVARD @ BELLE ST, HUDSON NY 11 X 12 2018

My family was always very supportive, both my Mom and Dad. They supported my decision to study fine art at Bennington College and to continue on for an M.F.A. at Suny Albany. I think they were sad I put my creative work on hold when I was in my thirties and forties. I know they were pleased when I restarted painting at fifty. My wife and daughters are also supportive, tough critics they tease me about it now and again.

What is it about painting that you enjoy so much?

Matthew: I love paint. The pigment, the oil, the smell and feel of it. Color is not theoretical but a substance with properties. I love building pictures using shapes, values, color and texture. Painting is direct, there are no intermediary steps no mechanical technologies and it needs no electricity to make or view. When the paint dries, my brush strokes freeze in time, they reveal the process, the action and intent with which they were made.

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Among all your travels and discoveries, what has been your most memorable, and why?

Matthew: In 2014 I was part of Salem2Salem, an international, interdisciplinary artist exchange. Salem Art Works in Salem, NY sent me and 11 artists from the US to work and exhibit with an equal number of artist from Germany. Writers, musicians, performance artists, painters and sculptors. We stayed in a castle turned boarding school on a hill overlooking lake Constance, and I had a bike so I could ride around and paint the countryside. I loved every minute of it and made lifelong friends.

What do you think is most important for an emerging artist to do, to be aware of, to follow in order to achieve a level of success with his or her work?

Matthew: Working is the single most important thing.

If you are “emerging” you should have a basic understanding of yourself and the language you are speaking. Within those parameters, an artist has to ask

questions and seek answers unique to themselves.

You must challenge yourself in order to grow as an artist, these challenges are internal and may or may not be apparent to your audience. I am very thankful to have the life I need so I can follow my bliss and paint everyday, my wife and family are very supportive and a big part of my success.

Who has been your most valued mentor in your life, and why?

Matthew: I’ve had many great teachers, from elementary school through graduate school and beyond, but the one that stands out most is Brower Hatcher. He taught sculpture at Bennington and I worked for him for many years building his commissioned public sculpture. Over that time I was able to observe how he thought through the problems posed in making art and the process of finding solutions. I was able to see how theory manifested itself in practice with all the ramifications that it entails. Building sculpture for

MATTHEW CHINIAN ON THE ROAD Brower involved learning a broad range of skills in many different building trades. Not only did I learn a lot of these skills, but I learned how to acquire new ones as well.

Do you think your heritage and Armenian history and background has influenced you in becoming an artist and needing to capture moments in time?

Matthew: My Grandparents survived the Genocide perpetrated by the Turks during the first world war.

Their experience encoded in my psyche, along with the improbability of my existence had they perished.

I owed everything to their generation and I was to pay back by living a life worthy of their struggle. Early in my career I addressed these issues, engaging mythic imagery in broad archetypal terms. While my subject is now local scenes I hope I am still fulfilling my promise to live a life that is worthy of the struggle they endured. I try to show beauty in the mundane, in things and places I see here and now, in the transitory.

I hope this speaks to anyone and everyone. It is about an understanding of the human condition.

Did you like growing up in Newton, Mass? What was your life like in the 60s and what were your main interests as a child growing up in the suburbs?

Matthew: I loved growing up in Newton. My parents loved being parents, my Dad, a public elementary school principal, my Mom stayed home, later returning to teaching also in a public elementary school. We all had a school schedules and were engaged with learning and exploring when not in school. They encouraged us all, my two brothers and a sister to pursue our dreams. I had always loved to make things and work with my hands and I was fascinated with the physical world, and in this environment it was natural for me to become a visual artist. The sixties were an idealistic time, the comfort and safety of the Boston suburbs, the rich cultural resources, museums and uni-

versities all attested to the notion that the past had been vanquished, and now anything was possible.

I know you had a specialty in traditional window restoration, what did that entail?

Matthew: It was not easy to make a living in Cambridge New york with an M.F.A. so in my early thirties I hired myself out at first as a generalist handyman carpenter. It was humbling. I learned a lot about human nature and I enjoyed living and working in my adopted home. Over time I did a lot carpentry jobs for people and some project houses, mostly as a one-man operation. It suited my disposition and fit perfectly into small town life. The window restoration specialty grew out of this, and my need to be the at home Dad for our two daughters. I could restore the sash (the wood frames with the glass) in my shop at my own pace, while the girls were in school and in the evenings. The site work was limited to about 25% and Continued on next page...

THE ARTFUL MIND NOVEMBER 2018 • 25

MATTHEW CHINIAN RIVER

was easy to schedule around my family’s needs.

Eventually I realized I was an artisan carpenter, my work a craft, maybe with a little art too. This was about the time I returned to painting landscapes, I saw them as a craft as well, at least to an extent. A few years after that I developed some neuropathy, and discovered a high blood lead level, so I had to stop scraping windows and clean up my shop. I was ready and I looked at this as a sign, maybe even a blessing that I could devote more time to painting, and that I could clean up the shop and turn it into a painting studio.

From all the exhibits you have had, which do you think were your favorite and most successful, least successful and most challenging?

Matthew: I’ve had so many shows I can’t remember them all, and overall many with no sales, so in that regard, a lot. Memorable is my Master of Fine Arts thesis show in the SUNY Albany Art Gallery in 1988.

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This was the culmination of a two year degree program and all of my education. There was a lot of work in both sculpture and drawing. It was the threshold to my professional life and I took that seriously. Also of note was the Salem2Salem show in Schloss Salem, Germany in 2014. It came at a time in my life when I could appreciate being a part of an international community of artists, the opening was packed and included readings and performances and a ton of work in the visual arts, all looked so different from each other; it was thrilling. I even sold a bunch of paintings, so I can say I’m collected internationally. Beyond that I enjoy showing because it gives my work an audience. It also gives me feedback often unpredictably, about things that I don’t think about from people that make some other kind of connection to the work, that is extremely valuable. Earlier in my career, I would experience a severe physical and emotional let down after a show closed. I’d feel exposed, drained, overwhelmed. It

might have been my youth or the nature of the work I did at the time. Now I hardly skip a beat, but it’s still there, the exposure, the personal exchanges, the fatigue, but I’m much more resilient, much more confident, and the next show is just around the corner, and more work is needed.

Who today do you think is an important living artist to follow, and why?

Matthew: Anybody who’s not famous, which would be all of the artist’s I know.

What book have you read that left you totally inspired?

Matthew: “Beloved” by Toni Morrison. Morrison writes to the core being of the reader so that gender, race, religion, age all become irrelevant. She conveys joy, grace, pain and anguish pure and unadulterated.

This level of communication is breathtaking to me and

MATTHEW CHINIAN DOWNTOWN SCHAGHTICOKE NY 14 X 16 2018 any artist that can speak directly to the heart and soul through their work is doing their job.

What is your favorite time of history and why?

How does it relate to the art that was made at that time?

Matthew: America of the post war era. It was a time when the horrors of war were over and rebuilding created unprecedented prosperity along with technological innovations and newfound freedoms of expression.

Art of this era also expanded exponentially, with modes of making and thinking about art that would test the limits of human communication. Abstract expressionism, pop, conceptual, minimalism, and so many others that followed, all pushed the boundaries of what was considered art, and how we thought about

art. Our current era is totally dependant on their ground breaking work, and what could be better than living in a world that you can not only express yourself, but can shape the very mode of that expression?

Throughout the years as an artist, what have you found to be most challenging? What have you learned from such a challenge?

Matthew: Business and marketing don’t come naturally to me and I’m resistant to outside help because I don’t know what I want, need, or even what questions to ask. As an artist the most crucial thing for me to do is my best work, I don’t want anything to disrupt my creative process in any way.

Balancing for profit work and taking care of my family is also a challenge. I’ll short change parts of my

life for my creative work, and try to squeeze everything in. This may actually be good, in that doing the absolute essential of any task saves a lot of time. It’s true in painting too; do the necessary and leave out the rest. Practice an economy of means, so if you can describe a tree with three brush strokes and it conveys what you want, ten brushstrokes won’t improve it. If I have an hour, I’ll paint the most important things in the most succinct manner, often I find that’s just what I need.

Thank you, Matthew!

THE ARTFUL MIND NOVEMBER 2018 • 27

MICHAEL FABRIZIO INTERVIEW BY HARRYET P. CANDEE PHOTOGRAPHY BY EDWARD ACKER

Michael, how are you? How was your day?

Michael Fabrizio: I am well thank you. My day was incredibly interesting and joyous. My little patients are a wonder and recharge me on a regular basis. Occasionally, the weight of my responsibility to my patients can be challenging, but it also fulfilling on so many levels. A typical example is when I can give a sick child a feeling of hope for the future and a sense that her/she is the center of my attention and that I will do all I can to care for the child.

When do you have time to be in your studio?

Michael: Certainly I can come home empty

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and exhausted at the end of the day. In general, I don't work until early the next morning after I've gathered some much needed rest. I go to bed quite early and wake in the early morning, usually around 3 or 4 am. This is the time when I feel I can devote myself to my artwork.

How is it that you intertwine and overlap your artwork with your medical practice?

Michael: It's an interesting question. I guess I have always done it somehow. It is not always easy or smooth. I have found that there are times when I definitely cannot work on my artwork, then happily, there are times when I need to work in order to develop and learn and

grow in the way that I cannot with my medical practice.

Please tell us about your medical practice.

It must be fascinating to work with people on this great level.

Michael: I was educated at Amherst College as an undergraduate. I graduated with a degree in Biology. My medical education took place in Dublin, Ireland at the Royal College of Surgeons. I was in Ireland for six years and moved back to the USA after graduation. I trained in OB GYN for two years then in pediatrics for three years. The last year of my pediatrics education was in developmental pediatrics that

MICHAEL FABRIZIO PAGLIACCIO 40 X 30 ACRYLIC / COLLAGE

is my sub-specialty. I began private practice in 1979 in Pittsfield. The practice of pediatrics has been challenging, fulfilling, at times terrifying and has taught me a good deal about healing, compassion, and caring. My little, and sometimes not so little, patients have given me more than I could ever imagine, and I hope I have given back to them, their families and the community at large at least a portion of what I have received.

Tell us about your method and ideas you apply in creating your art? You must enjoy your art making very much.

Michael: I so enjoy it very much, most of the

time, the majority of the time. There are struggles as well, but they are also helpful in the long run. I have no formal art training. I have had to develop my art with a desire and motivation to create. My work takes quite a while to realize. Some days I accomplish little; some days much. I have learned that both are part of the creative process. I generally work in acrylics and collage. I like to work rapidly and utilize multiple layers of both collage and acrylic in the painting. Painting then becomes a process of trial and error, or more accurately a process of give and take with the artwork.

There is definitely a time when the work directs me, as opposed to me composing the

piece. Some days I listen and hear the voices from the work, and other days I wait and wait.

I have learned to be patient and not rush the process or expect a certain level of production for a particular amount of time spent in the studio.

When beginning a new piece, what is the first dialogue that crosses your mind when facing a fresh canvas?

Michael: I'm not totally sure I have any preset dialogues. Certainly, I think about the process, maybe a few images float into my consciousness, maybe a few instinctual reactions happen. Continued on next page...

THE ARTFUL MIND NOVEMBER 2018 • 29

MICHAEL FABRIZIO FANFARE 40 X 30 ACRYLIC / COLLAGE

Other times, I follow the directive of Jasper Johns, then I do something, then I do something else, and so on. These ways has been incredibly helpful in my art making.

What disciplinary ideas do you try to stick to, if any?

Michael: I have one, in particular. I want to make my own pictures. I try to not use the same creative process too many times. I try to let the pictures evolve and inform the process of picture making.

To an extent, all my work is based on previous work, for better or worse. I try to take the elements from previous works that I find useful to begin or continue a new piece. This is occasionally instinctual but may also be a pro-

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tracted process. Some days I'm a Mozart and other days a Beethoven.

When creating a cohesive body of work, what do you need or desire, to overlap and appear in the following painting?

Michael: Generally, a series is helpful at clarifying an emotion, an idea, or direction. Sometimes, also, it may include an impulse. A series allows for an exploration beyond the original theme. A series allows for an expansion beyond the original theme and an exploration of new possibilities. Themes may be, and often are, personal, but the canvas helps to advance the ideas beyond the personal. Some canvases question that motivation, in a good way. I have made canvases that are part of a series that

challenges the whole premise behind the series. In that sense the series becomes a melting pot for multiple points of view.

What are you learning every day from the art experience?

Michael: The lesson is, "to work is to be alive".

The message from the work, is to understand that its the labor that enriches both the painting and the painter. The canvas allows you to be free with your ideas and your own personal techniques. In that sense, painting is extraordinarily liberating and at the same time challenging. It allows me to learn my strengths and my weaknesses as an artist.

Is there a goal you are now working to-

Kathleen and Michael Fabrizio wards?

Michael: I really am just working to make the best pictures I can. I do think I appreciate recognition, to a degree. I would continue to work in complete obscurity quite happily, however.

Have you found times when you have found that the medium you have chosen, including canvas, doesn’t work for what you want to do?

Michael: Certainly I have. I have been painting for about 10 years when I found myself repeating work too often. During that time I began to work in sculpture. Initially, I used wood and wood related materials. Eventually, I became interested in steel. I learned how to weld, sort

photo by Edward Acker

of, and began to make, at first, small and then larger welded steel sculptures. I built a metal fabricating shop on the homestead and worked there well away from the main house. I still work in steel on occasion.

Do you think people see your work the same way you do?

Michael: I really don't know. I see my work differently from day to day, week to week, and even hour to hour. I have been told that my work is appreciated for its vibrancy and joyfulness. … I get that part of it…. In a way, that is also how I view it. The thing that others can't necessarily know is the process of the creation of the work. For me, the canvas is a journal; a diary for the creation of my work and my life.

What do you think contributes to your success as an artist?

Michael: I think success for me has come from building a body of work that is uniquely mine.

Maybe not revolutionary, but honest and humble, capable, and I hope, fearless. I have received a good deal of positive feedback from other artists, and one of whom once told me when I asked about taking some formal training that I shouldn't.

“Crossing the border”… (I call it that) When you came to the conclusion: Yes! am brave enough and ready enough to go and show my art to the public! And, coming from a place where you were just painting Continued on next page...

THE ARTFUL MIND NOVEMBER 2018 • 31

MICHAEL FABRIZIO SYMPHONIC ACRYLIC 24 X 24

for yourself, this was a big step. Tell us your experience.

Michael: I really resisted such a decision! ‌ I had shown in galleries many years ago. I found that after several shows that I was painting for the gallery and not creating sustainable work. I fled from painting exhibitions for many years. When I returned to painting years later, I produced a series on a religious theme, the Ten Commandments. I asked an artist friend whether I should exhibit the series (which, by the way, I felt was quite good). I was told the work was not ready for a gallery, and that I should continue to work on my art before considering a show. I never exhibited that series. I painted over most of them, but a few remain.

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Eventually, I became a member of the Richmond/W. Stockbridge Artist Guild, now the Berkshire Artist Guild, and began exhibiting with them.

After a while, with a good deal of interest in my pictures, I branched out to other venues and galleries.

What was the one great thing you learned during your early learning years that you still respect and believe in?

Michael: I have no formal training. I have a minor in art history from Amherst College. My family, especially my uncles, introduced me to art and music from early on, and I remember feeling so full of energy and wonderment. I

knew somehow, I would create my own music and art. I guess I began making art in medical school. I started with painting gift wrapping tubes and hanging them in my apartment. I didn't have a lot of time, or a lot of supplies. I used what I had and sometimes I really liked what I did. Of course, there were many stumbles and tribulations along the way. However, I kept working knowing the activity was the important lesson.

Where did you grow up?

Michael: I grew up on the eastern end of Long Island in East Hampton, New York. The area was a wasteland in winter, but had a vigorous cultural environment in the summer when the

MICHAEL FABRIZIO HEBESHE 40 X 30

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population would increase up to ten-fold. There was music and drama. In particular, there was an annual visual artist show at the Guild Hall every summer where you could see the work of hundreds of artists, many of whom were part of the artistic community in New York City.

Tell us about your family background.

Michael: My family was a middle class Italian family. My mother, the most dear person I have ever known was a homemaker. Her family was originally from Sicily. My father was a businessman, and later in life an appointed government official. His family was from Naples. On some Sundays, we would travel a hundred miles or so to be at our paternal grandparents

house for Sunday dinner. My absolutely favorite family memories are from these dinners.

Not only was wonderful food served, in many courses, but also lively conversation. There was an overriding sense of family, values.

There was this sense that these times would last forever.

patients. I feel I can adapt to their needs fairly well. I certainly tend to the extreme at times and can be both: humorless and full of humor, as well as serious and peaceful at the same time. I am on many occasions a dual personality. I have always been drawn to opposites. Yin and Yang, black and white, up and down, etcetera.

Well, anyhow, the Gemini sign also rules As a person, what do you have the most of?

A sense of humor, a sense of playfulness? A my career with medicine and art - my two official vocations. I feel so grateful to have the sense of being too serious? A sense of joy?

Michael: I’m a Gemini. I think I have a very opportunity to practice both of them. typical personality for that astrological sign. I can be quite moody on occasion, but generally When life becomes challenging for you, as it I am an upbeat person. I am a physician (Pedi- can get, where do you find your comfort atrician), and I have to be many things to my place to be? Continued on next page...

THE ARTFUL MIND NOVEMBER 2018 • 33

MICHAEL FABRIZIO RIPPLE 40 X 30

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Michael: My comfort place is definitely my family and especially with my wife, Kathleen.

We have been married a long time- it does feel shorter though, and she knows my moods so well. She manages my medical practice and has kept our heads above water for years with thoughtful management. She knows when I need to be alone, and when talk is going to be most productive. My son and daughter are always so supportive and inspiring. They are creative, artistic, and just wonderful individuals.

My daughter-in-law, and especially my granddaughter are always full of joy and tricks to make life interesting.

What is one thing you would like to give

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back to the world?

Michael: That’s difficult to choose, I think.

However, as an answer is clearly mandated here, I would think possibly that my legacy could be found in the good works of my patients and the medical students I have taught over the years. I am always amazed at the accomplishments of my former students and patients. I do feel a sense of joy at having had some small part in their lives. I also get great joy from watching my own children and grandchild interact with their worlds. I believe my wife and I gave them a gift, in their upbringing.

Their lives, I hope, will be caring and dedicated to helping their world in whatever ways they can.

Where would you like to travel to that would be new and exciting?

Michael: I would like to go to Florence, Italy.

Of course for the obvious reason: the art! To see the great Renaissance works and experience the atmosphere of the city and its great culture. How incredible it must be to be in a city that has so influenced human development and western culture.

What living or dead artists do you admire?

Michael: I am a great admirer of Henri Matisse and Cezanne. There is really so much I admire and that has influenced me. To start, the cave paintings that are at the same time ancient and modern.

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Renaissance artists like Leonardo, Michelangelo and Rafael, who despite the restraints of academic schooling, stretched the boundaries of painting and painting techniques.

Matisse and Cezanne, liberated art from the academies and of course, Picasso, who showed art, and had so many avenues not even yet fully explored.

I'm a particular fan of Jasper Johns, in terms of his intelligence, humor, and sardonic wit; his challenging art works, so beautifully crafted — the platform for a number of subsequent art movements.

As a worker in collage I have a major debt to Kurt Schwitters.

In terms of the modern technique of collage, I appreciate Robert Motherwell for being a pi-

oneer. Helen Frankenthaler and Elizabeth Murry are favorites of mine, and have been very instructive in the use of color and composition.

How has living in the Berkshires contributed to having a fulfilled life as an artist and a physician?

Michael: The Berkshires is an idyllic landscape and environment. There are so many natural and human wonders here. Just great talent in all the arts— and opportunities to view great performances in music, film and theater abound. I think the clear, pure mountain air has been a part of the special feeling of living and working in the Berkshires, and helps to make life here so fulfilling.

Lastly, which is your favorite painting you have made, and why?

Michael: I think the one that I'm working on at the present time is my favorite. The "next" painting, so to speak. Really— how can I continue to paint thinking that my best work has already been produced? I think every new picture will have new things to say and new aspects of my reality. Every subsequent piece allows you to face the challenge of freedom anew.

Thank you, Michael!

THE ARTFUL MIND NOVEMBER 2018 • 35

EUNICE AGAR INTERVIEW BY HARRYET

Hi Eunice! So, what exactly have you been up to this past year?

Eunice Agar: Actually the same thing I have been doing every year for as long as I can remember.

Paint, draw, read, walk, hang out with my friends.

Tell us about your current exhibition at Camphill Ghent?

Eunice: My current show at Camphill Ghent in Chatham, NY, open until November 30, is a retrospective of my genre paintings of people in public places - at fairs, a circus, airports, anyplace where people gather.

I also paint landscapes in oil, casein, and watercolor and make drawings and block prints. However for this show I decided to focus on the figurative paintings in oil.

What kind of a place is Camphill Ghent?

Eunice: It is a beautiful senior community based on Albert Schweitzer's philosophy of Reverence for Life. The color and architectural detail of the buildings inside and out are exceptional. The Joan Allen Art Gallery located at the top of a hill is surrounded 36• NOVEMBER 2018 THE ARTFUL MIND

EUNICE AGAR STADIUM

P. CANDEE

by a rural landscape. It is an especially agreeable place to exhibit because of its central location where people see it every day and it is always open.

How was you opening?

Eunice: Most pleasant. I was asked to give a talk and answer questions for a sizeable group of friends and residents of the community.

You also teach. Tell us about that and how it works for you.

Eunice: I have a small class at the Claire Teague Senior Center in Great Barrington and occasionally give a private lesson. I make suggestions about technique, design and subject matter and we talk about the work of major artists through art books.

Most of my students have considerable experience and they all work on independent projects. The variety is interesting for me and helps me clarify my ideas.

What inspires you to paint?

Eunice: I am constantly seeing things. I would like to paint or draw, sometimes from my car. Years ago

I had a minor accident from gawking at the roadside instead of the road.

Who are some of your favorite artists and why?

Eunice: I am not young! I've spend a lifetime going to museums and galleries in this country and abroad, and I have a BA in art history. It's hard to pick favorites. I study all kinds of work, abstract and representational, and especially drawings.

You have lived in the Berkshires all you life. Can you feel and see a difference in your surroundings, aside from your home and studio? Is it all positive or is it sometimes discouraging regarding art, lifestyle, people?

Eunice: Actually I think it has gotten better. I like very much the greater variety of people and there are so many more top notch activities in all the arts than in the past. Increased traffic is of course a bore.

Can you tell us about life growing up in the Berkshires for you? Can you recall any art related story that you can share with us. I am sure you have a few?

EUNICE AGAR

Eunice: When I was in the sixth grade my mother gave me a small set of oil paints the way you would give a kid a box of Crayola crayons, little realizing what she had started. Before then my creative impulses had focused on the only venue I was exposed to - embroidery and crocheting! The first painting I did, and I still have it, was a still life of a purple African violet in front of a window. But my real commitment came in the eighth grade at Bryant School when in a once weekly art class, for the first and only time, our art teacher. Doris Whittaker, had us take turns posing on top of the teachers desk and drawing each other. It was like I was hit on the head by a ton of bricks. I knew immediately that was what wanted to do.

Then in Searles High School, Miss Whittaker - I had the same art teacher for twelve years - organized the first Halloween window painting contest (1948) and for the next three years my friends and I, Jean Baldyga and Beverly Scherrer, won first prize in the non-Halloween category. I painted fall landscapes and they painted a different animal each year - a dog, a deer and a horse. We painted directly on the store windows in the cold, creating a huge

mess for the person who had to wash them off.

Now students paint on large sheets of paper and tape them to the windows.

Those projects led to a commission for Bev Scherrer and I to do a life-size panel of the three wise men copied from a Christmas carol book. We painted it on masonite with house paint as it was to be displayed outdoors. It was set up in front of the First Congregational Church in December for many years. And I was commissioned to paint Santa Claus heads that were attached to the light poles on Main Street. I wonder what ever became of all that‌.

They are probably moldering in a cellar somewhere.

In those years I started painting landscapes on location and have been doing so ever since.

What is interesting to you about painting people, like the scenes from the Barrington Fair etc.?

Eunice: I've always drawn people. After college I moved to New York where I worked at American Artist magazine and studied at the Art Students League every night and in figure drawing sessions all day Saturday. Occasionally I went to the Bronx Zoo to draw on Sundays. The first hour of the three

hour painting classes I took with Jean Liberte were spent drawing quick poses from the figure. I left New York in l966 to spend three years in Greece, returning in l967 to spend five months at the League in Robert Beverly Hales legendary lecture class in anatomy for artists and to study etching with Edmond Cassarella. I still do figure drawing regularly with groups that meet locally carry a sketchbook for drawing people in restaurants, from a bench in the Big Y, in the food courts of malls and shopping centers, etc.

Around twenty or more years ago my nephew Charlie asked me why I didn't have living things (biological that is, grass is alive!) in my paintings so I started adding a few cows. Then gradually I included people. I find them endlessly fascinating.

In recent years many other artists have gone figurative, but they are often satirical, judgmental. I try to be very direct, non-judgmental, depicting people as they are, being as objective as possible given my innate fallibility. I like the variety of people at public events, all ages, sizes, every ethnicity.

Continued on next page...

THE ARTFUL MIND NOVEMBER 2018 • 37

EUNICE AGAR

What would you consider painting next, and what influences would steer you in that particular direction?

In the past few. years I have become especially interested in the texture of nature as contrasted with the standard vista - close-ups of grasses, grasses filled with a random scattering of flowers, pebbles, rocks, a patch of seaweed, pebbles and sand on a beach. There's an endless variety. I am partly influenced by a friend, Anne Neely, who is an outstanding Boston and Maine coast painter. Her very large paintings, sometimes over five feet wide or tall, are often inspired by the subterranean textures of the earth, the many layers below the surface exposed on the sides of canyons and deep excavations. She did a series on an endangered Maine aquafer. I used to paint very quickly and for some subjects still do, but this new work takes a very long time. It often looks abstract but it is actually very detailed and re38 • NOVEMBER 2018 THE ARTFUL MIND

alistic. It is a good illustration of the fact that all fully realized work is abstract because of the abstract nature of strong compositions.

What do you think makes a painting or drawing good?

Eunice: What I just talked about, the composition.

That plus the energy with which the work was done.

There are many paintings and drawings in all styles that are technically very competently done, but they lack life, energy, a sense of inevitability.

How has the gallery scene been for you thus far in the Berkshires?

Eunice: We have wonderful museums, but the galleries, probably for financial reasons, are mostly limited to group shows and often don't last very long. Some are too slick, featuring abstract decorative art which looks like wallpaper. It doesn't require any serious intellectual or emotional

engagement. There does not appear to be a commitment to professional venues for solo shows. I do better outside the area.

You have been known as an artist all you life.

When did you first realize that you would make art and dedicate your life to this lifestyle? Do you have any regrets? If not art, what would you see yourself doing as a career?

Eunice: I've already described how I started painting and drawing. What else might I have done?

Maybe be a writer of non-fiction, possibly history.

I don't have an inclination to write fiction, though I have dabbled in poetry lately. No regrets.

Can you recall one of the most rewarding and exciting times in your life art-related? Maybe on your travels there was something that you will never forget that you can share.

Eunice: From l963-l966 I lived in Greece. I was based in Athens but traveled and painted on the is-

EUNICE AGAR

lands and the mainland, especially the Peloponnese.

I drove around in a Volkswagon beetle. When I travel I draw and make caseins on watercolor blocks which are easier than oil to handle on the road. During those years I also traveled through the Middle East - Turkey, Syria as far east as Baalbek, Lebanon as far south as Petra, and Palestine - places that are in total chaos today, something I think about all the time, people I met, are they alive?

My other period of travel started from an invitation to be an artist in residence for a week at a U. Mass. summer program in Meran, Italy, an area just north of Bolzano in the Italian Tyrol. At a slide showing that was part of my gig, I met an American woman artist married to an Italian and living during the summer in the area. Elisabeth Braitenberg became a close friend. At openings and receptions we often meet people who make lots of nice noises but we never hear from them again. This was totally different. I eventually stayed with my friend and her family for weeks at a time in Meran and in Tubingen, Germany were her husband was director of the Max Planck Institute at the university. They in turn

visited me here. Elisabeth and I went to Maine together. Now my friends are gone and that part of my life is over.

What is your most important saying or quote that you hold true for yourself and would happily share with others?

Eunice: Do what seems right for you regardless of what the rest of the world thinks.

What is your favorite museum and why?

Eunice: The Met because I've been so many times and know it quite well.

What can you tell us about your summers in Maine? How is your art influenced by this beautiful place?

Eunice: I've been going to Maine in the summer since l985. It's the ocean with the high tides (11 1/2 to 14 feet in Jonesport) and endlessly changing weather, the abstract character of the rock formations along the shore, the totally different character of the interior with blueberry fields that turn a ma-

roon color in September, the buildings hand built from rocks and logs and cultivated fields of an organic farm. There's a long list. The ideas for my texture paintings started in Maine.

Please tell us where we can see your work now.

Specific details of dates, times, place, web site.

Eunice: My show at Camphill Ghent in Chatham, NY is open seven days a week, nine to five, through November 30. Go south on Route 66, the main route through Chatham, to the southern edge of the town. Look for an Agway sign on the right. Camphill is next road on right beyond some trees. Drive to the top of the hill.

For information call 518-392-2760. My web site is euniceagar.com.

Thank you, Eunice!

THE ARTFUL MIND NOVEMBER 2018 • 39

Faldoni PART 4

Richard Britell

After an entire year of painting faces one after another Faldoni, without ever being aware of it, developed a fine and discriminating visual awareness. He began to see things other people seldom see. He had made no effort to become so observant; it was a natural consequence of the task he had set for himself.

If all this time he had been painting pictures of apples and oranges on tables I do not think it would have made any difference in his perceptual abilities. It was the curious choice of the face as his subject that made the difference.

For example, if an artist draws a Bartlett pear, it might come out looking like a French Anjou pear; so too with a drawing of an apple. A drawing of a Macintosh apple might come out looking like a Delicious apple and no one would know the difference. A botanist might notice the difference, but even so, they would probably not make a fuss about it.

This same lack of differentiation could be extended to almost anything except the human face. A dog’s snout can be too long, a picture of a chair can have legs that are too long, and a giraffe can have legs that are too short and nobody will notice the difference But try to paint a successful portrait of somebody’s grandchild. Do your best and exert your utmost skill but you will fail! This is not to say that the Grandparents in question will not love your painted portrait and praise it, but you will be able to detect in that praise their dissatisfaction with your efforts. When it comes to drawing a face, if the proportions are off even just a tiny amount, the effect is most disturbing. Just the slightest alteration of proportions causes a beautiful and harmonious face to look misshapen.

The average person’s sensitivity to the subtleties of the proportions of a face are so refined that a change of mood or feeling is instantly noticed, even if that change of mood could never be measured with any sort of optical equipment.

The face creates a serious problem for an artist trying to capture its proportions and details. Perhaps the eyes come out looking wrong and give a feeling of anger or desperation. The artist wants to make a correction and

40 • NOVEMBER 2018 THE ARTFUL MIND

assumes that if the eyes are just scrubbed out and redrawn at a slightly different angle, all will be fixed. But it never works out that way.

Corrections of facial expression in a drawing are so slight and delicate, that it almost comes down to luck and a series of trial and error attempts, because the correct line of the correct intensity is different from the wrong line of an incorrect intensity by so slight an amount as to not be measurable.

At first Faldoni did not benefit from the difficulty of the task he was performing. He had no control over the effects and proportions of the faces he painted, and if a face came out looking like an angel he called it an angel, and if it looked like a devil it was a devil.

For many months he never made any attempt to select a subject for his efforts. It would have been pointless for him to set out to paint a portrait of an old man, because his attempt to paint an old man might just as well come out looking like a goat. But even though he had no control over the results of his work, still he was able to notice the subtle effects of his numerous mistakes. From those accumulated accidents and mishaps Faldoni acquired his skills.

In the end, perfection is only attained by the endless accumulation of accidents and mishaps, and can unfortunately never be the result of deliberate design or intent.

What this new skill meant for Faldoni was discovered in an event that happened when a large mural had been completed by the master and he assembled his students and asked them to offer him criticism and advice.

Nobody found any fault with the painting, except for the pigment grinder. Faldoni just happened to notice a mistake in the arrangement of the clothing of some figures.

It was a very minor fault, and it would have been inappropriate for him to point it out since it was so slight.

To mention a mistake like he noticed would not have seemed helpful, but more on the order of pointless faultfinding. Faldoni, although he perceived a fault in the painting, wanted to keep his observation to himself, but his body played an odd trick on him.

“What is it Faldoni, what are you pointing at,” the master asked out of the blue? The poor pigment grinder suddenly noticed, out of the corner of his eye, that his arm was extended and his finger was pointing directly at the master’s mistake. Why the arm, all on its own, should decide to do such an inappropriate thing he had no idea.

He wanted to lower his arm but it seemed that the arm had a mind of its own and regardless of his intention to lower his arm and put his hand away into his pocket or something, it continued to point deliberately at a certain mistake in the master's painting.

What happened next was that both the Master and the apprentices demanded that Faldoni explain himself, and he was invited to approach the picture and point out the faults he thought he had discovered. At first Faldoni stood with his head cast down and said nothing, but then, overcome by the same inexplicable force that had caused him to point at the painting in the first place, his drew himself up, took a deep breath and said.

“The feet and the shoes and the hose of this figure do not correspond to the jackets, vests and other clothing,” he blurted out. What Faldoni was pointing out was a detail of one of those complicated figurative scenes full of men, horses, and dogs all in a procession. Each figure had a characteristic pattern of color for their clothing based on the heraldry and family colors of the person represented.

It just so happened that a figure standing behind some horses could be seen to have reversed his clothing, because in the upper portion of the painting a person with

a tan and blue vestment ended up with orange and purple hose down next to the horse’s hooves.

This was a mistake of no consequence, especially as it was practically impossible to notice. It was a large painting and it contained many figures. If you were to look at the face of one of these figures you would not, simultaneously, have been able to look at the legs and feet.

Perhaps you might think that if you just backed up across the room you might be able to look at both the top and the bottom of a figure at once but you would be wrong. From across the room, when you are looking at one part of a large picture we can’t see the other parts.

This is the reason why mistakes like Faldoni pointed out are almost never noticed.

Isn’t it interesting how a casual comment made in passing, if it calls attention to some circumstance nobody has noticed, is capable of altering a persons status among his contemporaries, especially if the observation is unique, and not some observation someone has overheard and tries to retail as their own. Faldoni’s observation fell into this special distinct category.

It was an observation that could never have existed in anyone else’s mind at any time, if belonged exclusively to Faldoni. It was just a few words uttered in passing, but it altered forever his relationship to his community. As a mark of Faldoni’s new status, he was given a serious painting assignment to do on a large painting that was just beginning.

His new job was going to be another repetitive, time consuming and boring job nobody else wanted to do. He had to paint all of the geometric border decorations that run around the edges of the paintings being done in the church. This job, hardly any different from grinding pigments, or mixing up the mortar, was avoided by everyone, but for Faldoni it was a great honor.

Just consider for a moment the Sistine Chapel ceiling.

If one looks at the entire thing one notices how all of the various scenes are edged with decorative patterns. It is true that the decorative patterns used in the Sistine Chapel are much simpler compared to earlier work.

But they are simpler because Mr. Buonarroti who painted them had to do them himself, as he would not consider having any assistants. He was no different from anyone else however when it came to painting endless intersecting geometric patterns and so he kept that part of his project to a minimum.

He was heard to say to the Pope one time, “Muscles interest me, and so do the facial expressions of the dammed suffering the torments of hell, and the look of rapture on the faces of angels and saints lit by the glow of divine light, but I just can’t stand to spend my time carefully painting rows of little circles intersecting little squares and triangles all of which are supposed to remind one of inlaid marble work of the type of interest to simple people.”

But Faldoni couldn’t have painted the faces of the dammed in hell or the rapture on the faces of angels, but the painting of circles and triangles intersected by squares and ovals filled him with elation, and he threw himself into the task with a kind of religious devotion.

—FROM "FALDONI," IN NO CURE FOR THE MEDIEVAL MIND, BLOGSPOT BY RICHARD BRITELL

Come to my eyes like a vision from the skies Used casino playing cards on panel with u.v. coating 12 x 16” 2018

Bettin' on a Loser, I’m gonna have the Devil to Pay Used casino playing cards on panel with u.v. coating 93 x 123” 2015

Standard Space in Sharon Connecticut: “I’ll Be With You When The Deal Goes Down” KARL SALITER

Standard Space in Sharon features the collaborative “Ghost of a Dream” in a new show called “I’ll Be With You When the Deal Goes Down.” In the wall-mounted collages, snappy pastel commercial colors offer a bevy of wavelike curvy and angular lines described in what feels at first like code. All are created with recycled playing cards, castaways from casinos. Millions of them. One of the many works is longer than a bed, it had to have taken forever to make. It is an arresting presentation.

Theodore Coulombe, gallery owner at Standard Space, moved here after 23 years in Brooklyn. He opened Standard Space, Sept 2nd 2017, and said: “Ghost of a Dream and myself came together through Camille Roccanova, Standard Space’s Associate Curator and in-house genius.”

It is Sharon’s good fortune that Camille is on the scene. The hum from this show may be subtle, but a receptive viewer will pick it up. Keep your world weariness in check as you walk through the old hardware store doorway. The pieces in this show could be overlooked as merely graphic or flat, were they not so evocative of enormous and heartfelt effort. Oh and smart. The two artists traffic in the remnants of dreams.

As Lee Krasner famously said: “Look Again.”

Obsessive work escapes from the artists’ busy hands ripe with it’s own validation. And on close inspection

yes, time and effort have been lavished on these works.

But there is more.

The team fanning these cards adds a juicy dimension intrinsic to art loving and patronage: the story.

Ghost of a Dream, the ensemble of Lauren Was and Adam Eckstrom, is a singular multi-disciplinary duo working in video, installation, and collage. They bring a lot of heart to their work.

They self describe as “Art Makers, thought provokers, Listeners and motivators.” Their studio is a woodworking shop/seamstress studio/hoarder haven hybrid.

Their work mixes satire, wayfinding, and social commentary and arrives at a very deliberate beauty.

“I’ll Be With You When the Deal Goes Down” isn’t the first home run for the couple. They once created a shelter installation called “Fair Housing Project” from the left-over remains of six different Art Fairs.

Former garbage passes through the Willy Wonka of their attentive craftsmanship. They apply an intense up-cycle design and labor contortion which integrates architectural smarts and solid artistic thinking. Accomplishment of an uncommon kind emerge and are on view.

Fair Housing Project was a striking installation, from its double entendre name and materials sourcing right through to its physical expression. The tiny shack of a building hosting its whirlwind of canvasses would

be evocative whatever it was made from.

Yet perhaps the finest part of the installation story is the ending. The Fair Housing Project is now “our guest house in our backyard where we have friends stay and also have studio visits, as well as make drawings from time to time.”

In a quieter way, this playing card show is striking, too. When conceptual art is executed with deep formality, it credits the message. We get hit in both the eyes and the brainpan. We see new creation playing out its’ own part in our larger game. These once very chancy and arbitrary cards are now harnessed to an ensemble of enormous good fortune.

This is a team to watch in the coming years, and their show at Standard Space is certainly well worth attending.

“I’ll Be With You When the Deal Goes Down,” Standard Space, 147 Main Street, Sharon, CT, is open through November 4. Hours: Fri-Sun, 12-6 or by appointment.

The curious would do well to take in a recent short documentary exploring the ensemble here:https://vimeo.com/295591245

THE ARTFUL MIND NOVEMBER 2018 • 41

Your abstract paintings to me are like worlds you have created and are very inviting to enter and explore. Why have you focused on such a method? Why does it work for you, as opposed to realism, for your purposes?

Mark Mellinger: I have a great love of both abstract and realistic painting. De Kooning and Arshile Gorky on the one hand. Thomas Hart Benton and Artemisia Gentileschi on the other.

When I studied art at Cooper Union, I struggled with proportions in my figure drawings. Everything came out expressionist! By my 17th birthday, I accepted that I was never going to be Andrew Wyeth. But maybe I could approach Max Beckmann. What I appreciate in ALL art is color and composition. So, I gradually drifted toward abstraction through subtraction.

Ok… I think your collages are incredibly rich with messages and why is it, I find myself smiling when I look at them? i.e.: Witness; Bachrach – wow!

Mark: Thank you Harryet. That one started as a proof by the famous portrait photographer Fabian Bachrach. In collage I indulge my wit and whimsy more than in my painting. It’s such a childish medium. I’m schooled here by Romare Bearden and Roselle Chartock.

Before you get into any of these answers I need to ask you – how does your work as a professional psychologist and psychoanalyst reflect upon what you create?

Mark: I’m not sure it does. I live in two very separate worlds. One entirely verbal and one entirely visual. What they have in common is an attitude of pushing into the unknown; of allowing unconscious elements to take form within consciousness. I couldn’t live without both.

MARK MELLINGER INTERVIEW BY HARRYET P. CANDEE

42 • NOVEMBER 2018 THE ARTFUL MIND

Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Mark: Art came first, but after a while I began to feel self-indulgent and isolated. I wanted to address problems of mans’ impact on the environment. I went through careers in art, photography, carpentry, ecology and microbiology research before landing solidly in psychology at age thirty.

There were some pretty funny stories along the way. Ten years ago, when we found a loft in Pittsfield and I had the space, I returned to my first love. Making art is not like riding a bicycle.

I had to start from scratch. I feel like I’m just now catching up to where I left off fifty years ago.

What else could you have done with your life instead?

Mark: When I was 13, I wanted to design cars. I had loved cars since I was 9 when I saw a Mercedes 300SL Gullwing Coupe on the street. It seemed to have come from a world so different than the one I lived in. I might have followed that path, but probably not to the end.

MARK MELLINGER PURLOINED IMAGE FORGED PRINT / COLLAGE 24 X 18

What criteria have you given yourself as serious artist? And, sometimes do you think, art is really all about you, rather then the viewer?

Mark: I’m not satisfied with a piece I’m working on for a long time. I’ll put it away and work on something else. I’ll look at it upside down and in a mirror, trying to get a handle on what’s wrong.

During this process, it’s a very solitary meditation. I might gesso over everything except some small bits that are working; then start over from those. Still, one tries to put oneself into the perspective of an imagined viewer. The viewer completes the process. It’s a collaboration. It’s really a thrill when someone “gets” a piece, but I’m OK when they don’t. You can’t marry everyone you meet. The connection should be as rare and special as marriage.

Which of your paintings, or collages would you consider to be your favorite, and why?

Mark: It’s usually my latest one. Right now,

that’s a big canvas (60” x 48”) that I call “What the Hell”. I experimented with sign-painters enamel. It oozed and ran down the canvas and I was able to turn that lemon into lemonade. I did a series which I call my “Destroyed Prints”, using paint and collage on old rotogravure prints of 19th century artwork. My favorite of those is “The Christian Mother Exhorting her Daughter to Martyrdom”. The original image that I altered was outrageous. I just followed it to its’ inevitable catastrophic end.

How is it that some of us become artists, and others become musicians and performers, you think? Must have something to do with our childhood influences, don’t you think?

Mark: We are drawn to the activities that got us applause when we were little. That’s where talent takes over. Talent can be an authoritarian influence. Sometimes it serves us beautifully; other times it can enslave our lives. You’re lucky if it

MARK MELLINGER WITNESS, BACHRACH PROOF PRINT / COLLAGE 10 X 18

takes you where you want to go.

Has there been a real humbling experience in your life that has set you on a particular course of living, lifestyle and location?

Mark: My father was absent throughout most of my development. As a young man, I was determined to be the father he wasn’t, and then, in my first marriage I discovered how unprepared I was for parenthood. Very humbling. My wife Barbara has helped me to assemble the necessary components of being a husband and father. My two daughters have miraculously emerged from that time as marvelous women.

When you’re not making art, (neverrrr), what other art would you be engulfed in? Are you a chef? Have you recently fallen upon a new form of art you are inspired to explore?

Mark: I’m really engaged by modern concert music. Continued on next page...

THE ARTFUL MIND NOVEMBER 2018 • 43

MARK MELLINGER VULCANISM 60 X 48”

I’m a regular at the BangOnACan concerts at MassMoCA; I follow composers like David Lang and Hans Reichel, as well as the old masters; Philip Glass and Terry Riley. I’ve also been known to drive friends mad with recordings of yodeling and polkas.

How does your art-making help you to understand the world you live in?

Mark: These days it’s a balm, a refuge from what looks to me like a new dark age (Say, that’s actually a piece of music by the marvelous Missy Mazzoli).

Do you learn from your patients and apply anything of that into your artwork?

Mark: While helping people sort out their lives and figure out how to be themselves, I also learn

44 • NOVEMBER 2018 THE ARTFUL MIND

how to live a more meaningful, productive and healthier life. It’s a strange thing being an individual human being. We don’t get a very good set of instructions and it seems to take a lifetime to figure it out. A good number of my patients are creative people. Art can restore a center to a chaotic life.

Are you afraid to make mistakes in art?

Mark: My mistakes are often the inspiration for a leap forward! Oh, I don’t want to make mistakes but then, when I DO, I may be redirected by this gift from the Gods, or from the unattended parts of my mind. A work of art develops a life of its’ own; separate from the artist; What psychoanalysts call a transitional object. Many artists feel that they are intermediaries, midwives, between material and unknowable realities. Their

art-children grow up, leave home, and live their own lives.

Have you ever destroyed an art piece of yours you were in the midst of creating because it just wasn’t working? For one thing, I was taught to never use an eraser in drawing, so we can learn from our mistakes. But; Artmaking can get frustrating!

Mark: I’m constantly destroying my artwork.

But almost never completely. If you leave a bit, it may resurrect like the Phoenix. In drawing, you can never erase a line completely. It lives on, a palimpsest, thumbing its’ nose at you. Dance with it!

Have you studied the Masters and other famous artists? A-ha! I do know the answer to

MARK MELLINGER THE CHRISTIAN MOTHER EXHORTING HER DAUGHTER TO MARTYRDOM ANTIQUE ROTOGRAVURE PRINT / COLLAGE 12 X 18”

this one, and I must ask you again to explain the similarities between Rembrandt and Chuck Close?

Mark: That was Barbara Iwler’s brilliant observation. I’ll try to do my wife’s idea justice.

When we look at a Rembrandt from a respectful distance, we see realism at its’ finest. The Night Watch for example, brings the people and their era to us in a way that makes us feel we are there with them. But, if you can get your eye within a foot or so of his canvases, all you see are effortlessly casual brushstrokes and dabs of paint.

This is quite different from other painters of his time, who tried to create an infinitely seamless representation of reality. In Close’s paintings, the component parts are a grid of 2- or 3-inch abstract squares on a 10-foot canvas. When you stand twenty feet back, you see a lifelike portrait snap into focus. I took a drawing class at the Art Students’ League that focused on anatomy; bone and muscle. It made me feel like a proper art apprentice.

What is your favorite film, book, and place to travel to?

Mark: I still have a fond place in my heart for Fellini’s 8-1/2. Especially the opening scene in the tunnel. Speaking of opening scenes, there’s my 8-year-old daughter Sue in Annie Hall, delivering the deadpan “I’m into leather”. That’s a knockout.

I rarely read fiction. Maybe I prefer my own life to those of made-up characters, but Kingsolver’s The Poisonwood Bible engrossed me. A memorable non-fiction book was Daniel Dennett’s Consciousness Explained. The neuropsychologist/philosopher actually achieves this impossible goal.

We’re contemplating a big trip next year.

Wales, New Zealand, Scandinavia or Portugal are possibilities.

Ok, daring moment: Share a secret you have kept. … Do you put secret messages into your art?

Mark: Do you really think I’d commit a secret to print? Well, OK. My father was a scoundrel.

He worked in the theater, acting, writing, directing and briefly running a theater in Hamburg.

But he was also a major figure in Aleister Crowley’s London mystical cult. Crowley fancied the Tarot and the Egyptian Book of Thoth; Dad translated his writings into German. His charm didn’t translate to reliability. I, on the other hand, prefer de-mystifying.

People see things in my art that I have no awareness of putting there. Does that count as secret messages?

Holy crow....yes!...

When, in your busy schedule, do you work in your art space?

Mark: Art is from Thursday night to Monday morning at my studio in Pittsfield’s First Agricultural Bank Building. Psychoanalysis on the upper west side of Manhattan goes from Monday Continued on next page...

THE ARTFUL MIND NOVEMBER 2018 • 45

MARK MELLINGER DISINTEGRATION COLLAGE 48 X 36”

afternoon to Thursday afternoon. Exactly 50/50.

What do you enjoy doing in your free time, away from art and work?

Mark: Eating and talking with friends; Watching Midsomer Murders; Going through the bottomless stack of papers; Searching online odd size batteries and replacement watchbands.

Tell us a little about your family, and where you grew up and the cultural and social surroundings you were a part of?

Mark: My parents were Jews who quite inadvertently left Germany early enough and met in New York. Shortly after I was born my father returned 46 • NOVEMBER 2018 THE ARTFUL MIND

with the US Army as “Berlin Theater Officer”; A rubric for watchdog for Communists in the theater world. They were all old friends, so he didn’t turn anyone in.

My mother sewed trim on cashmere sweaters with tiny stitches for Saks Fifth Avenue. Bette Davis wore some. She raised me alone and I can finally see what an amazing feat that was. We lived for a long while in a shabby rooming house on 86th St. and Park Avenue. if you can believe such a thing existed. She moved there so I could go to PS6, the best school in New York. There were roaches, and the shared bathroom was down the hall. My friend Bernie lived down the block in a luxury suite at the Croyden Hotel. They had

a silver Ronson table lighter under which his mom left hundred-dollar bills for the maid. All this seemed perfectly normal to me.

Have you kept in your heart, any particular thing that you were taught by a mentor in your lifetime?

Mark: During my first analysis I was grumbling ambivalently about my fears of getting married.

That day I was concerned that Barbara was not descended from hardy peasant stock. My analyst responded: “I didn’t know you were planning to move to the Steppes of Central Asia”. The absurdity of my ambivalence instantly hit me like a bolt.

MARK MELLINGER WHAT THE HELL ACRYLIC ON CANVAS 60 X 48”

Do you use art-making as a form of problem solving?

Mark: No. Other than the grand problem of “what are you going to do with your life?” It actually IS a problem itself; one I love struggling with. I’m very lucky to have a calm, even-tempered disposition. Therefore, I enjoy the challenge of problems.

The art around us these days reflects much of everything. What artist do you tend to follow, or what school of art attracts you?

Mark: Most of the contemporary art I see today bores the hell out of me. It’s so conceptual and intellectualized. I’m drawn to visceral, energetic

art like that of Jean-Michel Basquiat or Otto Dix. I’m really a throwback to the first half of the 20th century. The NY Abstract Expressionists of the ‘40s make me swoon.

How do you come up with titles for your paintings and other art work? I find them really quite great.

Mark: The title comes last. I’m fond of giving them names of places that they evoke but that I’ve never been to, like Sana’a Yemen or Bismarck ND. Would you like to be well-known for your art?

Mark: I’d love it. The therapy I do is a very pri-

vate satisfaction. Nobody else really knows what goes on there. Art is a totally public endeavor.

Whether it’s loved or hated, people know you were there.

Thank you, Mark!

THE ARTFUL MIND NOVEMBER 2018 • 47

Grandma Becky’s Old World Recipes

Written and shared with a loving spoonful by Laura Pian

Baked Apples with Oatmeal and Cinnamon

In order to keep me out of trouble after school within the concrete walls of the Bronx, my Mother required I joined the local Girl Scout troop. It was the autumn of 1972 and while my friends were hanging out with the cool kids, I was reluctantly shipped off to upstate New York for an outing with the scouts. Little did I realize at the time that I was never going to forget this fun-filled trip and that I’d be writing about it today. The highlight of this chilly autumn day in “the country” was a visit to an apple farm. We went on a long bumpy hayride, drank fresh apple cider and ate warm doughnuts. Best of all, I returned home with a shopping bag filled with my very own bag of apples which I picked with my very own hands. Before this time, I had never even seen a real apple tree!

It was a long drive home with my troop. We sang road songs the entire way home while the smell of fresh apples filled the mini-bus. When we arrived back to the Bronx the bus dropped us off. We all hugged and told each other how much we loved one another. I was sad the trip was over, it was such a wonderful day. I proudly shlepped my apples into the door in a bag that was just about to bust wide open.

There she was, my Grandma Becky in her familiar kitchen apron. With a big smile on her beautiful face, along with a kiss, she shooed me in the door and said “kumen di hoyz, gebn mir dem” (come in the house, give me this.) As she took the bag from my hands, my little red trophies seemed to roll their way directly into the kitchen, and the magic began. Walking straight into the kitchen, Grandma stood behind me and pulled my hands under the faucet. We washed all four of our hands together at once with a big bar of soap. I shared the details of my exciting day with Grandma, telling her about the big trees and how I picked the apples with a long fruit grabber. The next thing I knew, in what felt like a blink of an eye, the apples were washed, cored, stuffed, baked and ready for an after-dinner treat.

Today, and every apple season since then, I’ve prepared a similar version of Grandma Becky’s baked apples. The aroma and flavors always bring me back to that perfect autumn day in 1972.

Grandma Becky’s Baked Apples with Oatmeal and Cinnamon

- Begin by using apples that bake well. There are many varieties to choose from.

You’ll want an apple that will maintain its structure, rather than turn to mush in the oven.

Try Granny Smith’s, Honeycrisp’s or Pink Lady’s, to name a few.

- For this recipe, I use 8 or 9 apples. You can easily divide filling in half for 4 apples.

- Wash and hollow the apple by using a sharp paring knife. Cut around the stem in a cone-like fashion, approximately 1/3 down into the center, taking care not to cut all the way through. Spoon out any seeds and rough pieces of core.

- Lightly sprinkle with fresh lemon juice to keep apples from turning brown.

The lemon juice also levels off the sweetness of the apples.

- Prepare a filling with 1 cup quick oats, 1/3 cup brown sugar, 1 tsp. cinnamon and 1/3 cup softened butter.

Using your hands, combine mixture until it has a crumbly texture.

- Spoon filling into cored apples and top with a pat of butter.

- Add filled apples into a 9” x 13” glass baking dish and add water to the bottom.

- Cook for 30-40 minutes or until soft, but not mushy.

- Spoon any pan drippings back onto apples.

-Serve with whipped cream and ice cream!

Recipe options: Add pecans or raisins to filling. Brush bottom of baking dish with melted butter and sprinkle with brown sugar for a caramel sauce.-

Enjoy! And remember, a epl a tog halt di dokter avek. Esn gezunt!

(An apple a day keeps the doctor away. Eat well!)

48 • NOVEMBER 2018 THE ARTFUL MIND

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