berKshire fesTiVAl Of WOMen WriTers LETTY COTTiN POGREBiN
Author and activist Letty Cottin Pogrebin will read from her new book, Single Jewish Male Seeking Soul Mate, on September 20 at 3 p.m. at the West Stockbridge Historical Society, as a special guest of the on-going Lean in with the Berkshire Festival of Women Writers series hosted by Berkshire Magazine Editor Anastasia Stanmeyer and BFWW Founding Director Jennifer Browdy. A reception at the Shaker Dam Coffeehouse and Stanmeyer Gallery will follow the reading, with books available for signing and purchase. Tickets $15. A founding editor and writer for Ms. Magazine, Pogrebin is also the author of eleven books and co-creator of Free to Be... You and Me and Free to Be… A Family. She has published frequently in magazines and publications such as the New York Times, Harpers Bazaar, and the Ladies Home Journal. Also in September, Jennifer Browdy, a professor of literature at Bard College at Simon’s Rock with many years of experience in teaching writing, will lead two writing workshops for women. On Sunday, September 13 from 3 – 6 p.m. at Bascom Lodge at the summit of Mount Greylock, Dr. Browdy will offer “Gaia Calling: Writing in Nature, Writing for Nature,” an opportunity to spend time in nature, quiet our busy minds and become aware of all the ways that Gaia is speaking to us through the wind, water and rocks, and through the myriad other living beings who also call her home. Thoughtful writing prompts will stimulate questions and new directions for anyone interested in connecting more deeply with Nature through writing. Rain is no obstacle, we can meet inside the historic Bascom Lodge, with its magnificent views out over the mountain. Registration $30. September 25 – 27, Dr. Browdy will lead a Rookwood Memoir Writing Retreat for Women, “Writing the Journey of Your Life: Focus on Place.” The retreat will take place at the historic Rookwood inn, Lenox, with accommodations at the inn offered at a special discount. The tuition of $425 includes 10 hours of guided workshop, plus breakfast, lunch and snacks at the inn. Limited to 10 participants. To register for these events, please use the links available through the Events calendar at Berkshirewomenwriters.org Questions? Email info@berkshirewomenwriters.org
beCKeT pOrCh flOOr JENNiFER PAziENzA
Becket Porch Floor celebrates Jennifer Pazienza’s life and work in the Berkshires. Overflowing with vitality, her still life painting honors the past and the miracle of memory. Her dear friend and colleague, critical theorist Dr. Lissa Paul, writes, Jennifer Pazienza’s “still life” oil paintings of flowers seem anything but still. The blossoms, glimpsed from unexpected angles, are caught in motion, in the midst of changing shape or position. The paintings articulate Jennifer’s wish for “the viewer to pause, look deeply and consider the transformative power of the beautiful in art and in ordinary experience.” The flowers are simultaneously still and moving. Glimpsed through the glass vase, the entangled stems arrest and magnify the complexity of human being—human arrangements. if we do indeed look deeply, in these simple, unassuming flowers, and their stubborn sense of stillnessin-motion, we delight in Jennifer’s ability to re-create the joy of being alive while the tenuous perspectives hint at its inevitable impermanence. Jennifer Pazienza’s work is held in public, private and corporate collections in the US, Canada and italy. Becket Porch Floor and others are part of The Berkshire Collection, a group show @ the St. Francis Gallery, South Lee, MA (Next to the Fire Station) 28 August – 26 October. Artist reception September 12, from 3-6pm. 413717-5199. Jennifer Pazienza - website: jenniferpazienza.com; email: jennpazienza@gmail.com
sTephen filMus COMMiSSiONS
Several times recently, i have been asked to make a real and personal contribution to someone’s life and home by creating a painting of their favorite natural setting. The commission process is a collaboration between artist and client. Whenever possible we visit the site together and discuss the elements of subject, color, form and the “feeling” of the scene. The next step for me is to create a detailed color sketch that reflects the client’s vision and gives them a good sense of how the finished artwork will look. At this point the commissioner can give input and suggestions as i work toward the final design. Lastly, i simply do what i know how to do – i sit at my easel and paint. For me, it is joyous to feel that i have captured the essence of a special time and place through my art and have given new life to a memory that will give pleasure for years to come. Stephen Filmus is represented by J. Todd Gallery in Wellesley, Ma. He is presently exhibiting several landscapes at the Bennington Center for the Arts and his work can also be seen at his studio in Great Barrington by appointment. Contact art.sfilmus@verizon.net, 413-528-1253, www.stephenfilmus.com
The ArTful Mind sepTeMber 2015 • 7