The artful mind sept : oct 2017

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

FREE!

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017

JIM CARROLL

Photography by Sabine von Falken

EDWARD ACKER PHOTOGRAPHER

Time Flies D Get Pictures EdwardAckerPhotographer.com 413-446-8348

Confluence of Love and Learning

by Rita Blitt on the campus of Washburn University Topeka, Kansas

New Home of the Rita Blitt Gallery and Sculpture Garden of the Mulvane Art Museum at Washburn University Opening Celebration ¡ November 3, 2017 ¡ 5:30 p.m. ritablitt.com

THE ARTFUL MIND

ARTZINE SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017 It’s all about the base - no treble

-Meghan Trainor

ROBERT WILK SCULPTOR Interview...Harryet ...14

JIM CARROLL

GRAPHIC DESIGNER / ILLUSTRATOR Photographer: Sabine von Falken Interview...Harryet ... 20 SAVE THE ART Carol Diehl ...26 THE RED TRUNK by Richard Britell ...42 VAN SHIELDS / BERKSHIRES MUSEUM Interview by Harryet & Carol Bosco Baumann ...48 photo: Edward Acker

JOYCE SILVER On Art Collecting...29 Photo: Natalie Tyler

RITA BLITT Interview by Sydney Keyes...30

ROBERT U. TAYLOR

Stage Designer / Illustrator Interview ... Harryet... 36 Grandma Becky’s Recipes RAINBOW CHALLAH! Laura Pian ...41

Laura, Nancy and Wendy

Contributing Writers and Monthly Columnists Richard Britell, Laura Pian, Natalie Tyler, Joyce Silver Photographers Edward Acker, Lee Everett, Jane Feldman Sabine von Falken, Alison Wedd Publisher Harryet Candee Intern Sydney Keyes Copy Editor Marguerite Bride

Editorial Proofreading Kris Galli Advertising and Graphic Design Harryet Candee

artfulmind@yahoo.com

413 854 4400 ALL MATERIAL due the 5th of the month prior to publication

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.

2 • SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2017 THE ARTFUL MIND

MARY CAROL RUDIN, THREE PEARLS ACRYLIC AND OIL ON CANVAS, 18 X 24

MARY CAROL RUDIN

I believe there is always something to learn from other artists and I spend a good deal of time looking at the work of others. I consider how they arrive at their personal interpretations. I consider what painting rules the artist followed and what rules are challenged or defied. I always learn something.

My every experience brings me to think as a painter. I see most things as the possibility for a drawing or a painting. Every object, structure, creature, landscape, sky, water brings me to think about how to interpret it in art.

Other times a metaphor, a symbol, a phrase, or a quip provokes an image. Then, using identifiable things, I hope to suggest a story to the viewer.

It helps me think through the piece by drawing it first. Sometimes a small scale piece and then, generally, a full scale drawing the size the painting will be. As I work out the placements and the proportions I make changes and edit to try and focus on what I am hoping to say to the viewer. I also think of titles as I draw; hoping to give some information about the subject and leave some interpretation to the viewer.

Some pieces suggest to me that color leads the way. Other images feel like they need a softer focus and less color to make the message come through. A hazy morning light provokes different feelings than a bright blue sky filled with clouds.

I am working in oils as well as acrylics. For me both mediums offer particular challenges as well as pleasures. I have also used both mediums in a single work.

Currently I am working on two pieces; a canvas as well as a wood panel. It helps me to have two pieces in progress. I can get distance from one piece as I work on the other.

Moving back and forth between the two allows me to revisit each one with fresh eyes.

Mary Carol Can be reached at: Rudinmcrudin123@gmail.com www.mcrudin.com

Photo: Darrah Wheeler

robert wilk rwsculpture.com THE ARTFUL MIND SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2017 • 3

AUTUMN SEASON CALENDAR SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2017

ART

510 WARREN STREET GALLERY 510 WARREN STREET, HUDSON, NY 518-822-0510 510warrenstreetgallery@gmail.com / 510warrenstreetgallery.com Carol Brody: Encaustic Paintings Sept. 1 - Oct. 1, 2017 (Friday & Saturday, 12 - 6, Sunday 12 - 5 or by app)

CLAIRE TEAGUE SENIOR CENTER 917 SOUTH MAIN ST., GT. BARRINGTON, MA 413-528-l881 See the newly rehung permanent collection. Eunice Agar paintings. Regular Hours: MondayFriday, 8:00 AM - 3:30pm

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.

DENISE B CHANDLER FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHY & PHOTO ART 413-637-2344 or 413-281-8461 (leave message) *Lenox home studio & gallery appointments available. *Exhibiting and represented by Sohn Fine Art, Lenox, MA.

DIANA FELBER GALLERY 6 HARRIS ST., WEST STOCKBRIDGE, MA 413-854-7002dianafelbergallery.com Robert U. Tayler Sept 23 - Oct 31. Theater Scene Art exhibit.

(Open 11-6pm, closed Tues.)

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

GOOD PURPOSE GALLERY 40 MAIN STREET, LEE, MA • 413-394-5045 Esperanza Vive! featuring work by Dr. Michael McManmon and student work from the College Internship Program (CIP). Till October 2.

LAUREN CLARK FINE ART 325 STOCKBRIDGE RD, GT. BARRINGTON MA 413-528-0432 Lauren@LaurenClarkFineArt.com www.LaurenClarkFineArt.com

L’ATELIER BERKSHIRES 597 MAIN STREET, GREAT BARRINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS www.atelierberks.com.

• 510-469-5468 natalie.tyler@atelierberks.com Capturing Light: Stained Glass by Debora Coombs and Iva Kalikow. On Exhibition Septem ber 15th-October 31st

LISA VOLLMER PHOTOGRAPHY NEW STUDIO + GALLERY 325 STOCKBRIDGE ROAD, GT. BARRINGTON 413-429-6511 / www.lisavollmer.com Point of View: Aug 26 thru Oct 6. The Studio specializes in portrait, event, editorial and commercial 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 Chris Domenick: 50 Days. On view now.

MARGUERITE BRIDE HOME STUDIO AT 46 GLORY DRIVE PITTSFIELD, MA 413- 841-1659 or 413-442-7718 MARGEBRIDE-PAINTINGS.COM FB: MARGUERITE BRIDE WATERCOLORS Original watercolors, house portraits, commissions, fine art reproductions. Seasonal scenes always on exhibit at Crowne Plaza, Pittsfield; Studio visits by appt.

NORMAN ROCKWELL MUSEUM 9 GLENDALE RD, STOCKBRIDGE, MA • 413-298-4100 Reinventing America: Rockwell and Warhol, thru Oct 29

ROBERT FORTE WWW.ROBERTFORTE.COM Atlantic Gallery 548 West 28th St., NYC October 17 through November 4. Opening reception is scheduled for October 19, 5-8:30 pm.

SAINT FRANCIS GALLERY SOUTH LEE, MA Ongoing exhibit of art

SCHANTZ GALLERIES 3 ELM ST, STOCKBRIDGE, MA • 413-298-3044 schantzgalleries.com A destination for those seeking premier artists working in glass

VAULT GALLERY 322 MAIN ST, GT. BARRINGTON, MA • 413-6440221 Marilyn Kalish at work and process on view, beautiful gallery with a wonderful collection of paintings

EVENTS

PARADISE CITY ARTS FESTIVAL October 7, 8 & 9, inside three buildings at the Three County Fairgrounds in Northampton, MA. One of America’s top-ranked shows of fine craft, painting and sculpture, Paradise City features 250

4 • SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2017 THE ARTFUL MIND

outstanding artists and makers, sensational cuisine and live music in the big tent, creative activities, demonstrations, a silent art auction to benefit PBS and an outdoor sculpture promenade. www.paradisecityarts.com or 800-511-9725.

THE 8TH ANNUAL BERKSHIRE DRUM & DANCE FEST BERKSHIRE COMMUNITY COLLEGE BOLAND THEATER IN THE KOUSSEVITSKY ARTS CENTER, PITTSFIELD, MA To support the Tamarack Hollow Nature and Cultural Center: Fri Oct 13, 7pm

MUSIC

CLUB HELSINKI HUDSON 405 COLUMBIA ST., HUDSON, NY Club Helsinki Hudson • 518-828-4800 Willy Watson, Oct 27, 6pm.

HUDSON HALL 327 WARREN ST, HUDSON, NY

LEN PRINCE REMEMBERING MARVIN HAMLISCH: THE PEOPLE’S COMPOSER October 7 – November 26; THE MOTHER OF US ALL | STAGE DIRECTION BY R. B. SCHLATHER | NOVEMBER 11, 12, 15, 18 & 19

THEATRE

BERKSHIRE THEATRE GROUP THE GARAGE 11 SOUTH ST, PITTSFIELD, MA Berkshire Theatre Group announces a brand new series, the $10 Music Garage. This series is devoted to presenting emerging musicians and regional talent.

PROCTORS 432 STATE ST. , SCHENECTADY, NY The Color Purple, Oct 7-14

INSTAGRAM:

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ISSUU.COm 413 854 4400

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY JANE FELDMAN

www.janefeldman.com JANEFELDMANPHOTO@GMAIL.COM 917-710-5546

ROBERT FORTE

FLIGHT FROM TyRANNy

ATLANTIC GALLERY

548 WEST 28TH ST., NYC OCTOBER 17 THROUGH NOVEMBER 4.

WWW.ROBERTFORTE .COM OPENING RECEPTION IS SCHEDULED FOR OCTOBER 19, 5-8:30 PM.

THE ARTFUL MIND SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2017 • 5

FINE LINE MULTIMEDIA

STING PHOTOGRAPH BY LEE EVERETT

FRONT ST. GALLERY 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).

JENNIFER PAZIENZA, AUGUST RIDGE WIP, OIL ON CANVAS, 54 X 52 INCHES CROPPED IMAGE

JENNIFER PAZIENZA

Over a lifetime of painting, landscape, love and longing, joy and celebration too, have been constant themes in my work. The question however, of what value such a practice is has traveled along side it. It raises its doubting head especially at times when personal, political and world events create in me a mistrust of its worthiness. So much ugliness, historical and contemporary. Charlottesville and Barcelona last month, the race riots of my girlhood, the memory of domestic violence and early loss can conspire in my psyche to shut down my painting practice.

Then somehow, either by divine intervention, or universal consciousness and the making of the paintings themselves, Anthony De Mello's writings come to me, in particular, returning love in the face of hate. That phrase has stayed with me, challenged me over and over again, and has given me courage to continue painting, as I believe I am called to do.

My work is held in Public and Corporate Collections in Canada and in numerous private collections throughout the US, Canada, the UK and Italy. Although my primary residence is in eastern Canada, I regularly exhibit in the Berkshires with shows in St. Francis Gallery, Good Purpose Gallery, Diana Felber Gallery and 510 Warren Street Gallery. Designs by Jennifer Owen, Great Barrington also represents my work. To learn more about my paintings or for inquiries please visit my Website & Blog.

Jennifer Pazienza - jenniferpazienza.com, or email: jennpazienza@gmail.com.

CALL FOR ARTISTS CRAFTSPEOPLE AND ARTISANS

L’Atelier Berkshires Gallery is having a Holiday Arts and Crafts Fair November & December 2017 Contact us to reserve your spot natalie.tyler@atelierberks.com www.atelierberks.com 597 Main Street, Great BarrinGton, Ma 01230

6 • SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2017 THE ARTFUL MIND

LIVE PERFORMANCE PHOTOGRAPHY AND VIDEO

Fine Line Multimedia provides single or multi-camera video of music, dance and theater performances. Services include: scripting and storyboard art, videography with professional high definition cameras, high quality audio recording, sensitive lighting design and creative editing with the latest non-linear editing system.

For the past 45 years Fine Line Multimedia has provided audio/video performance production for The Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood, Berkshire Performing Arts Center, National Music Foundation, Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic, United Way of the Berkshires, Arlo Guthrie, Rising Son Records, Bobby Sweet, World Moja, Phil Woods, Grace Kelly, Heather Fisch, Opera Nouveau, Ellen Sinopoli Dance Company and many more.

Fine Line was established in 1970 by Lee Everett in Lenox, Massachusetts. Everett came to the Berkshires after studying Advertising Design and Visual Communications at Pratt Institute and working for years as an Art Director in New York. He taught Art in local schools and began a full-service multimedia studio in Lenox specializing in the Performing and Visual Arts and other business and industry.

With Photography, Graphic Design, Advertising, Marketing, Audio/Video Production, Website, Social Network Creation and Administration together under one roof, Fine Line can satisfy the artistic communications and promotional needs of a wide range of clients.

Please look at some examples from our portfolios of work on our website and use the contact information on the site to get further information, to see more samples, photographs or video reels, for professional and client references or for a free project consultation.

Fine Line Multimedia - 66 Church Street, Lenox, MA; www.finelinelenox.com Contact: Lee Everett, 413-637-2020, everett@berkshire.rr.com

collins | editions

GOOD PURPOSE GALLERY Esperanza Vive!

Good Purpose Gallery in Lee presents Esperanza Vive!, featuring work by Dr. Michael McManmon, founder of the College Internship Program (CIP). Focusing on the gorgeous scenery and colorful life of his new home, his pieces invite the viewer to go on a visual journey of Mexico. The event is open to the public at no cost and the exhibition is open until October 2nd.

Dr. McManmon began exploring his artistic passion by drawing trees, and now works with a variety of mediums including pen, ink, watercolor, tempura, and photography. Dr. McManmon is also a speaker, writer, and psychologist, as well as the founder of the College Internship Program. CIP is a postsecondary program serving students on the Autism Spectrum and those with learning differences. Dr. McManmon is diagnosed as having Asperger’s Syndrome and continually supports and exhibits within the Good Purpose Gallery. By exhibiting his unique pieces, we get to see how his style is unique and vibrant, embracing colors and shapes in distinctive ways.

The Gallery is honored to host this exciting and colorful exhibition of artists of various ages and ranges of neurodiversity. We seek to highlight and display their talents and this show is a wonderful display of artistic ability.

Good Purpose Gallery - 40 Main Street, Lee, Massachusetts.

413-394-5045; gallery@cipberkshire.org. Gallery hours: 10am – 4pm daily. For more information on the Gallery, visit our website: Goodpurpose.org or follow us on Facebook and Instagram or email us at gallery@cipberkshire.org for more information.

Opening in 2005, as Berkshire Digital, did fine art printing mainly for artists represented by The Iris Gallery of Fine Art before opening our doors to the public. We do color calibrated printing on archival papers. These archival prints, also known to many people as Giclée prints, can be made as large as 42” x 80”. Photographers & artists also use us to create limited editions of their images.

In addition to the printing services, collins | editions also offers accurate digital reproduction of paintings and illustrations for use in books, brochures, magazines, websites and postcards. Our website, www.CollinsEditions.com has a complete overview of services offered, along with pricing.

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 20 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 also available through Frames On Wheels, located at 84 Railroad Street in Great Barrington, MA (413) 528-0997. Digital files can be easily loaded up to our FTP site. collins | editions studio - 220 East St, Mt. Washington, Massachusetts; 413-6449663, www.CollinsEditions.com

MARGUERITE BRIDE, MCSWEENEY ARMS, KILLARNEY

MARGUERITE BRIDE WATERCOLOR ON CANVAS

CUSTOM WATERCOLORS

Now is a great time to commission a house portrait or favorite scene you would like captured in a watercolor. Paintings (or even a personalized gift certificate, then I work directly with the recipient) make a cherished and personal gift for weddings, retirement, new home, old home, anniversaries…..any occasion is special. Commission work is always welcome. Visit “Interested in a House Portrait?” on Bride’s website for lots of info.

The holidays will soon be upon us and a gift of art is such a personal and cherished gift.

Fine art reproductions and note cards of Berkshire images and others by the artist are available at Good Purpose Gallery in Lee, the Red Lion Inn Gift Shop (Stockbridge), Lenox Print & Mercantile (Lenox); and a variety of other fine gift shops, and also directly from the artist. Seasonal scenes are always on display in the public areas of the Crowne Plaza in Pittsfield.

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.

“Balance is a part of Life.”

- Jeff Bynack

TRANquILITy

THE ARTFUL MIND SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2017 • 7

LISA VOLLMER FROM THE POINT OF VIEW SERIES SEEING THROUGH, C-PRINT, 30X40”, EDITION 1/20

ELIXIR

Late summer is such an incredibly beautiful time in New England. The water is still warm from the summer sun, and many have gone back to school or work or to their full time homes, which makes for peaceful solitary swimming.

The air has that crisp reminder of autumn approaching which makes for deep sleep and invigorating early morning walks. The harvest of squashes, onions, dark leafy greens, and apples is abundant.

All of nature is transitioning.

Seasonal transitions can be difficult for us if we are not in balance. This is a perfect time to do a reset and boost the immune system for the colder months ahead.

ELIXIR always offers the 21 day cleanse to help people with this transition. Because not everyone has the luxury of 21 days, we have designed a variety of other cleanses of shorter duration that can assist in getting a jump start on strengthening the entire being.

We also offer a full selection of fresh pressed juices for a variety of conditions …

Juice combinations for weight loss, skin issues, toning internal systems, boosting the immune system. We have a full menu of healing foods that are delicious and satisfying in addition to improving health.

Come and check out our prepared foods fridge for containers of hummus and other spreads, chia pudding, overnight oats, soups by the quart, raw vegan desserts, juices, and herbal infusions.

We have 40 years of experience helping people to attain optimum health and wellbeing through the use of foods and herbs.

Enjoy our peaceful atmosphere while savoring our delicious offerings, share a pot of tea with a friend, sit quietly and watch the geese getting ready for their flight south, contemplate the majesty and mystery of life, at ELIXIR. We look forward to seeing you soon!

ELIXIR - 70 Railroad Street, Great Barrington Massachusetts. 413-644-8999, organictearoom@gmail.com, www.elixirgb.com, instagram elixirllc, facebook elixir.

L’ATELIER BERKSHIRES GALLERY DEBORA COOMBS, PINK ROSES

CAPTURING LIGHT- STAINED GLASS BY DEBORA COOMBS & IVA KALIKOW

L’Atelier Berkshires Gallery is proud to present Capturing Light - an exhibition of glass artists who use medieval age techniques to create contemporary stained glass artworks.

Debora Coombs, originally from England, now lives and works in Vermont. She paints on hand-blown glass, and then fires it several times in the kiln to create her narrative stained glass pieces. Her glass work can be seen at Mass MOCA, in churches and public buildings.

Iva Kalikow lives and works in Becket, MA and Florida. She creates stained glass pieces inspired by artworks of the masters.

Capturing Light Exhibition will be on view from September 15th-October 31st.

There will be an artist reception and culinary arts dinner during the autumn exhibition.

Check www.atelierberks.com for dates and times of upcoming events.

Discover timeless original artworks by contemporary artists in a historic Great Barrington building.

L’Atelier Berkshires Gallery 597 Main Street, Great Barrington, Massachusetts. For more information contact: Natalie Tyler, 510469-5468, natalie.tyler@atelierberks.com, www.atelierberks.com

8 • SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2017 THE ARTFUL MIND

LISA VOLLMER PHOTOGRAPHY STUDIO + GALLERY POINT OF VIEW

Lisa Vollmer Photography Gallery is exhibiting Point of View from now until October 6. The exhibition will feature new works

by Sabine Vollmer von Falken from a series entitled Britannica, Dogs Eye View by Carolina Palermo Schulze, Moving Point of View by Tom Zetterstrom, Dancers by Lear Levin and Arrival from the Point of View series by Lisa Vollmer.

Photographer and Gallery owner Lisa Vollmer was born in Berlin, Germany, and grew up in the Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts. She attended the Great Barrington Rudolf Steiner School and later earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. After working for a renowned photo printing lab in NYC, Lisa traveled back to Berlin to earn a Masters in Art. When Lisa Vollmer returned to the US in 2003 she managed the lighting studio for the Maine Media Workshops. She then spent a decade working on assignment. The gallery will host special events, workshops, guest lectures, and continue to feature work from well-established contemporary photographers.

Lisa Vollmer Photography Gallery - 25 Stockbridge Road (Rt. 7), Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Gallery Hours: Open Daily 12-6 pm, Closed Tuesday and Wednesday, Private Viewing By appointment. www.lisavollmer.com, 413-429-6511

I believe in everything until it's disproved.

So I believe in fairies, the myths, dragons.

It all exists, even if it's in your mind.

Who's to say that dreams and nightmares aren't as real as the here and now?

- John Lennon

THE ARTFUL MIND SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2017 • 9

THE BEST MUSIC STORE IN THE WORLD

17 N 4th St, Hudson, NY • musicahudson.com

4 forA R T

Ute Stebich / akkie Martens / Jane Kasten Curated and managed by

quality and a conviction that all art harmoniously coexists.

The gallery offers an adventure in aesthetics to all lovers of art.

International Contemporary Art, Folk Art and Outsider Art from Europe, the Caribbean, and the united States, Fine textiles and much more.

53 Church Street, Lenox, MA 01240 413. 637. 6999

4forart.com

10 • SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2017 THE ARTFUL MIND

GOURMET ORGANIC VEGETARIAN FARE WITH AN INTERNATIONAL FLAIR! New Fall Hours~

Thursday 10am-4pm Friday 10am-4pm Saturday 10am-8pm (dinner by reservation) Sunday 10am-4pm Monday 10am-4pm closed Tuesday & Wednesday (sometimes open by chance!)

Everything is always lovingly and consciously prepared with fresh organic ingredients

70 railroad street great barrington, ma www.elixirgb.com organictearoom@gmail.com 413. 644. 8999

THE ARTFUL MIND SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2017 • 11

JENNIFER PAZIENZA

jennpazienza@gmail.com

http://jenniferpazienza.com

Kris Galli

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.

Rose Gold

Oil on Canvas, 36x36

On View at Lauren Clark Fine Art, Great Barrington

krisgallifineart.com

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

ELEANOR LORD

ELEANORLORD.COM THE ARTFUL MIND SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2017 • 13

ROBERT WILK Harryet: Why do you have this passion to work with large, LARGE pieces of steel?

Robert Wilk: I just don't like small things. For example, women are often insulted that I don't even see their beloved diamond rings... ever. They're just too small and sort of "ditzy" to me! I like big, Martha Graham-ish stuff! What's so great about a stupid, tiny diamond? But I digress. I like Big because it's more "alive,” and also, I like my things to be noticed!

How can you take a BIG medium such as this and transform it into the purest and smoothest of shapes—and make sense of it so well? I guess I’m wondering about your creative thought process.

Robert: I don't think I HAVE a thought process, and I'm not interested in making any sense of it. It's just what finally emerges through playing with color, forms, sizes, etc. It's gotta be FUN for me, and exciting as it goes along. It says something to you or not. Most importantly, I have to love it.

When did you first realize that sculpture, the wonder of 3D, was going to be a lifelong friend?

Robert: Well, first, I have been doing this professionally only for about eight years, starting at the age of 72. Since the age of about five, however, I've

SCULPTOR interview by Harryet Candee

always painted, drawn, designed everything around my living space, which is three dimensional, of course. In my marketing career I always presented strategic plans visually. I remember once at an international conference for Coca-Cola, I gave a presentation of my strategic plan for China, using New Yorker cartoons. Big hit! It sure wasn't boring, as most other spoken presentations were. It makes people "alive" and very attentive. They notice.

What did your first art studio look like? Did you have all the space you needed? And today, do you love your workspace?

Robert: I don't need a big space for designing a model for a piece. But what makes a HUGE difference is LIGHT! Light is so positive and lively and exciting. In the morning, looking out at my panoramic view of the bay in Sarasota, it really makes me sort of swoon with delight. I tingle.

What kind of art background did you emerge from? What was it about your former world that led you to where you are today?

Robert: My background was just myself. I made it all up. Really.

What is the primary goal you would like to achieve with your sculptures?

14 • SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2017 THE ARTFUL MIND

Robert: I don't really have a goal as such. I just want to love DOING it. And I guess I want to get my creations out there so people can enjoy them… and hopefully like them. I like being liked. It's really nice.

What skills are required to create your sculptures?

Robert: Essentially, IMAGINATION. There's not all that much around. A few artists with brilliant imagination who are heroes to me are Anish Kapoor, John Chamberlain and the fabulous Carmen Herrera, who recently had her first one-woman show at the Whitney—at the age of 100! That is so cool!!! They're all breathtaking creators!

Do you have any helping hands alongside of you, particularly when you are commissioned to do a piece?

Robert: Yes. I've found two wonderful metal fabricators with whom I work, in the Berkshires and in Sarasota. I love working with these guys, whose usual work is making water treatment equipment or huge air conditioning systems for example… major projects. Neither has worked with any artist before.

I found them on the internet. They were very hesitant at first to take anything like this on, but now they are really wonderful in their enthusiasm and

RobeRt WIlk Folded, red, blue with Silver Petal

pleasure in working with me… and proud to be part of making art. I really love working with these guys. I'm very touched by their pride in working on creating something hopefully beautiful.

Okay, so tell us a story about the art of sculpture and what you love about it.

Robert: Compared to standing in front of a flat, two-dimensional painting, sculpture is like another person. You can walk around it, see it from a hundred different angles, look high up to it, even see a big one from a far distance. You can fall in love with it, and, when no one's looking, you can even make love to it. I remember years ago as a youngish man, being observed with an erection whileadmiring one of the great Bellini fountains in Piazza Navona in Rome. But we won't go there… ha! It's very thrilling! With Anish Kapoor's Cloud Gate in Chicago, you can even walk through it. Breathtaking! You just gotta see Cloud Gate ..... http://anishkapoor.com/210/cloud-gate Truly fabulous!!!

Any other inter-disciplinary arts you love to do?

Robert: A hot menage a trois works. (Harryet—love that! Keep it in! You just gotta!!!!)

RobeRt WIlk Triangles

How do history and artists of other periods influence your sculpture?

Continued on next page....

THE ARTFUL MIND SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2017 • 15

Robert Wilk ExPloding ChairS Robert: I'm devoted to modern/contemporary art, and I'm inspired by the creativity of the artists I've mentioned above. As I said to someone recently, after 25 years of living in Venezia, I'm totally Renaissance'd out. I particularly like minimalist work… I think it's most powerful. There's a lot of pretentious crap around that people fall for. I mean, most of Jeff Koons stuff is cute, but hey, gimmee a break! Cuteness isn't the same as beauty. It's just cute. Hello Kitty versus the Mona Lisa. Also, some work in the past is so incredibly perfect—like Michelangelo's David—that you realize it would be futile to even dare to go there. You gotta be yourself and make the best work you can.

What is the common element that most of your collectors love in your sculpture?

Robert: I think they find my things happy, and therefore, in a way, comforting. Color is my basic medium, and I think a lot of people want more color in their lives. Gawd, particularly in these times!

Some of my things are also whimsical... and fun. I like to make people smile. I try to give my work some happy tension, particularly through precariousness... cubes about to fall, chairs starting to pop out of the wall, a big pink cube high in the doorway about to fall on your head. It's FUN! You’ve lived in so many places. Where did you

learn the most? Where were you most inspired?

Robert: Oh, that's easy. Japan. I lived and worked there (as a marketing executive) for 25 years, with five of them in Hong Kong. Tokyo was off-thewall, bursting with wild color in the crazy lights of Shinjuku (as in the film Lost in Translation!), but at the same time it was sweet and lovely, as most of the city is small neighborhoods. Tokyo was originally something like 800 towns, and the city still retains to a large extent that local neighborhood feeling. You get to know the old guy in kimono in his tea shop, the woman cooling the freshly made tofu in a barrel on the street, and sharing discretely a hot ofuro bath at the local public sento bathouse.

At our first neighborhood sento, you could also enjoy sake on tatami mats and be entertained by the locals doing Japanese dance. They loved having a foreigner there to whom they could teach traditional dance. I can now do a dynamite Tanko Bushi coal miner's number fromthe southern island of Kyushu.

Priceless!

I guess what I learned in Japan was the elegance—and power—of simplicity. In a strange way, there's a powerful simplicity and elegance in the art of Japanese politeness, as well. It makes for a VERY civilized way of living. Think about it. And the more formal it is, the more beautiful it is.

Also, I became totally impressed with the use of constraint and discipline in creating beauty. Ikebana flower arranging has strict rules, which in effect de-

16 • SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2017 THE ARTFUL MIND

mand true, inventive creativity to arrive at a final masterpiece. In the theatre, for example, I think many of us have experienced the greatest, most innovative and exciting performances in an old, small, technically limited space, compared to what is often produced in a huge, modern, technically powerful new theatre. Limitations demand more creativity.

I can’t imagine what, if any, music you listen to when sculpting. Maybe you attend Tanglewood prior to honing in on a inspiring idea?

Robert: I'm usually on WQXR, the classical New York station via the internet. They've been my friends for over 60 years! Wonderful! Makes me feel really "at home.” I suppose different composers or different artists have an influence on what I'm doing. I hadn't thought of that before. I imagine Beethoven and Mozart affect me in different ways.

Or Pavarotti and Cecilia Bartoli. Great question.

And sometimes I don't even "hear" the music, I get so intensely involved. I hate anything loud. The world has become so LOUD!!! Hate it.

What galleries, anywhere in the world today, would you love to be in? Why? Robert: Oh, easy. I'm not so interested in galleries as such, since I love marketing my own work in a very personal way. But I'd love to be in a young, exciting gallery in Shanghai. I'd be living in China

RobeRt WIlk Petal Berkshire art Museum, north adams, Ma July 2017

now if I were 20 years younger. It's the future... in everything. A totally brilliant culture… still.

But, bottom line, I'd love to be in the Guggenheim Museum! Or the Whitney. The BEST. Who has been your mentor, and why this person(s)?

Robert: I guess I've been my own mentor. I really like that.

When you have to put an artist statement together, what is your favorite thing to include on that list, and why?

Robert: Statement? I don't HAVE a statement. I just have my art. Make your own statement. I hate doing those lists, so I just make it all up.

If I were to ask, “What does your art have in common with God?” what would you say?

Robert: "Nothing.”

If you were commissioned to create a sculpture, with no limitations, that would somehow make the world a better place, where would you look for inspiration for your first thumbnail drafts?

Can you imagine what any of them would look

like?

Robert: That's easy. I don't need "inspiration" from outside myself. The inspiration would come, as it does at this moment, from the spark of my imagination, based on thoughts I've had in the past. I would LOVE to create a 50-story, red building/sculpture that emanates soft, soothing, subtle, peaceful music outside, and inside, the people living there would have access to only vague, soft, comforting vibrations from it via their IPhone.

I'm amazed that hardly any architects use COLOR in their buildings in America. There are brilliant examples of architecture in color mostly in Europe, it seems. Google "architecture in color.” Wonderful!!!!!!

How does one explain how to look at and understand a modern sculpture?

Robert: I don't believe in "understanding" sculpture. It's just what it is. Kids don't look for "understanding.” They Love it or Not. Understanding is an intellectual activity. Art is emotional. My advice is, "Give yourself a break and just relax and enjoy.”

Life is short.

How much does one have to know about you, the

artist, to appreciate your work?

Robert: Nothing. It's not about me, it's about my art.

What is one object that exists on this planet or elsewhere that makes you ask, “‘How it is made?”

Robert: That's a good one. I guess the universe.

How wild can that be?! Ohmygawd!!!!!!

You seem to enjoy your work; it’s evident in the photos of you with work in progress. What in life, in general terms, brings you happiness?

Robert: Sex is a pretty happy one. Ice cream perhaps comes second. I love great music and dance.

The Berkshires is heaven for that. Not so much for sex or ice cream, but certainly music and dance.

Can't have everything!

Can you explain the use of geometry and mathematical formulas to create a sculpture?

Robert: Ha! I don't know any mathematical formulas! I think in terms of forms, not geometry, which sounds too fancy and intellectual for me. I most often start with a piece of hard, colored paper in any Continued on next page...

THE ARTFUL MIND SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2017 • 17

form, say a triangle. Then I just start curling it, twisting it, folding it, try it on one side or the other, and just keep fooling around with it. It's amazing how one movement leads to an unexpected other one. Then you put two of these together, but in different colors, then... etcetera. Hey, I guess I DO use geometry! Ha! Or, the other day I was in a hardware store—I LOVE hardware stores—and I passed some aluminum tubing for washer/drier machines. I thought, boy, could I have fun with that!

So I bought about 15 of them and started doing the same thing... twisting, bending, connecting... then suddenly there's something that looks to me like an appendix. But adding some red and orange, it becomes Red/Orange/Appendix.

Tell us a little about your background, where you grew up, some of your great travel adventures?

Robert: Oh, boy. I was brought up in the Berkshires, which in my early youth I thought real boring. I mean, what's to get excited about—all those trees and fields, right? Yawn. I dreamed of New York and the excitement and the fun and the craziness and the outrageousness of it. After getting a B.A. in philosophy, I moved to New York, but was dismayed that there were no philosopher jobs in the

Sculpture by ROBERT WILK

New York Times Sunday classifieds. So, having to feed myself, a friend introduced me to a Dutch friend who worked for a modeling agency. I joined up, made a living at it... and even one year became the 1963 Ballantyne Beer guy and was on every sixpack in America. Hey! WAY better than being with all those dumb trees and fields.

My life has been completely serendipitous. I was offered a job as a marketing assistant for a sixmonth project in Tokyo, and stayed 25 years. I was hired by Coca-Cola for about nine years as their first Director of Corporate Planning for Asia. (I was around 30, and they had no idea that I had never had a business course of any kind in my life.) But I had imagination and creativity, and I found that was the most important part of planning—imagining the future, based on researching where values and behavior were moving, especially among young people. So we ended up being one of the first companies allowed to do business in China. What fun is that?!!!!!

What goes through your mind when you leave Florida and arrive safely in the Berkshires for another summer here?

Robert: Wow, it's so nice and COOL here! It's refreshing. I LOVE my little cottage in downtown

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Lenox. It's so sweet. The people are so nice and helpful. It's very CIVILIZED! What café can we find you at if we want to sit and have a random discussion of Italian Sculpture from the Renaissance?

Robert: Again, after 20 years in Italy, I'm Renaissance'd out! I prefer to talk about Italian food, Italian wine, Italian gelato, Italian movies—and Italians. I can't help but smile when I think Italian.

Who lives better and more happily than Italians?

Well, maybe me. Ha! But, back to your question. I love LE PATISSERIE on Church Street. It's TRULY French, as good as you can get in Paris.

Perfect buttery, flaky, chewy croissants. And amazing French "macarons.” Exquisite! And sweet tables outside on Church Street. Best coffee in town.

Hey, free refills, too!!! Wow. Charming staff.

Makes life more delightful!

Last word: Robert: Make life as colorful as you can. It ain't that hard.

Thank you Robert!

T

Mary Carol Rudin

Sunset

Signed, limited edition, GiclÊe prints available View Mary Carol’s website for paintings on people, still life, landscapes, skyscapes, abstract and more...

www.mcrudin.com mcrudin123@gmail.com

JIM CARROLL GRAPHIC DESIGNER / ILLUSTRATOR

Interview by Harryet

Harryet: We get so immersed and deeply focused in our visual designing of whatever it is we are doing. I have a sense that you do, too. So I’m wondering, have you ever gotten so involved in your designing that you just overlook any typos? I’m asking this question with a sense of humor—the visuals and the text are often separated into different worlds, but we need to merge them ever so carefully. I know you must proofread, but for me, sometimes I get so excited I forget. It could be an embarrassing moment…

Jim Carroll: Unfortunately for my clients, when I'm working I tend to overlook just about everything beyond the visual aspects of the piece. Typography becomes texture and rhythm, and language takes a back seat for much of the ride. Of course I am aware that these words are communicating a message and I try and use these devices to add pleasure to

Photographs of Jim by Sabine von Falken

the experience. So, in the end, maybe my clients are a little bit fortunate.

Rob Caldwell, the owner of Musica in Hudson, NY, is very lucky to have you as a designer for his marketing. I love the animation of him playing the guitar, which is on your website under Animation. In order to make him a happy client of yours, you must have really gotten to know him— and his life and work—to project a true sense of what he is all about. Do you feel your best work happens when you get to know your clients below the surface, in order to generate seriously satisfying, righton-the-nose design?

Jim: As anyone who has met him will agree, Rob Caldwell is a special case. Rob has been a dear friend for many years,and from time to time he has asked me to create promotional

20 • SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2017 THE ARTFUL MIND

materials for Musica. In every case, whether it be signage, magazine ads or posters, the only thing Mr. Caldwell has asked from me was that the end product be awesome.

This is arguably a perfect situation for any designer/illustrator, and I believe that some awesomeness was achieved through this arrangement.

I’d like to be able to say that I'm a good collaborator, but I'm not. My best work comes when I go inward and become self-absorbed.

I think I'm able to achieve something closer to the “truth” when I'm left to ponder.

What was involved in deciding to use the yellow tones in the Louie Armstrong House Museum graphics? I mean, of all colors, what was your thinking behind the ones you chose?

Jim: One of the greatest graphic designers of

JIM CARROLL PariS CliEnT: ColorFul STiTChES MagazinE advErTiSEMEnT

all time, Milton Glaser, designed the LAHM logo years ago. To my eyes, he created a symbol that conveys the tradition and innovation of jazz.

This logo, with it’s diagonal type and rich colors, along with the beautiful images of Louis Armstrong, informs all of the designs I do for them.

I mean, Louis Armstrong, Milton Glaser…

I was dealt a good hand.

What is your favorite among the projects you’ve done? And what job did you learn the most from?

Jim: I'd say my first picture book, The Boy and the Moon. There was so much I did not know about the process when I started, both creatively and practically.

You go into a project with both feet, thinking that you will show them all just how special you are. Well, five years later, after proving to many just how unspecial I was, I finally figured out how to make it work.

Watching, listening, slowly learning the craft of telling a story… the dance between words and pictures.

At this time, do you feel your reputation and word-of-mouth get you your jobs?

JIM AT HOME PHOTO: SABINE VON FALKEN

Jim: This part has never been easy for me, and I am uncomfortable with the promotional and business side of my work. I am rather childish by nature, and I just want to make things and then go ride my bike.

Ideally, all day long, I'll make beautiful images and people will pay me for them. I’ll feed

myself and my son, and then we will go ride our bikes.

I still kinda believe that all I need to do is make really great pictures and people won't be able to resist paying me a good deal of money.

Apparently there are other skill sets necessary Continued on next page...

THE ARTFUL MIND SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2017 • 21

JIm CaRROLL MIDNIGHT

CLIENT: COLORFuL STITCHES MAGAzINE ADvERTISEMENT

for this sort of outcome. For my picture book work, I am represented by Anna Olswanger.

Without her heart and business sense, I would not have any books published. My ideas would still be quietly resting in sketchbooks.

My graphic design work comes entirely by word-of-mouth.

Are there any jobs that you would never take on, perhaps for ethical reasons?

Jim: I would not accept a job from any individual or organization that promotes policies that threaten the environment, our health, our diversity, the arts, or global stability.

School of Visual Arts! Yes, I know that school very well. (I knew it so well, I fled to NYU after my soph. year.) How did you like being an instructor under Pres.

Rhodes? For myself, I felt we really had to be self-motivated to utilize all that was offered. I came directly out of the High School of Music and Art, down on Amsterdam Ave. However, I felt the teachers at SVA used the students for their own creative solutions at their place of work. But we need a school like this to exist; it is vital for art students. I met other students there

that I’m still very good friends with. My favorite classes were Art History and Advertising…

Jim: There was little opportunity for me to get a feel for the culture at SVA, as I taught there for only two semesters, and quite a few years ago. The class was called something like Art on the Computer. It was the mid 90s and my intention was to help the class feel comfortable with this immensely powerful, creative tool. I enjoyed working with the students, who were very motivated, but I did not enjoy the six-hour commute each day.

On that note, I went to school with Keith Haring. I enjoyed his dissected body parts grifitti’d on the walls of the staircases of the school, not to mention the train station. I don’t think the school understood him or was prepared for his artistic success. A renegade in the art world… We have many more of these kinds of people around us now!

Jim: I lived in NYC during the time when Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Robert Mapplethorpe and Andy Warhol painted the city with their fierce energies. I honestly found them strangely intimidating and remarkable. I

22 • SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2017 THE ARTFUL MIND

was a very young 25-ish year old, and I had no idea what they were up to. I had a hard time connecting with it esthetically, emotionally or intellectually. They were involved with answering things that I had never questioned.

They were brilliant.

Milton Glaser (Pushpin Studios), who you mentioned earlier, attended SVA. I loved his graphic design work and was very inspired by him. I learned much by just going into the library and pulling odd books off the shelf. Did you get to meet other teachers who were extraordinary? Anyone memorable that comes to mind?

Jim: Carol Bankerd, Professor of Art & Design at SUNY Purchase. During my very first week of art school Ms. Bankerd walked us around the campus and forced us to talk about the bricks and shadows. Not the lovely expression of natural or industrial beauty, but rather, what happens visually, emotionally and physically when the pattern of the bricks givesway to shadow or sky. Thank you Carol, for giving me a bad case of “juxtaposition.”

As far as designing and illustration go, do you feel you have to constantly see what

JIm CaRROLL Mary’S drEaM CliEnT: ColorFul STiTChES MagazinE advErTiSEMEnT

others are doing, so you’re keeping up with the times? I feel that fonts can really set the stage for a time period, and they become, to me at least, as important as personalities and names in reflecting a feeling. Where do you go to be inspired by the latest of latest works by others?

Jim: There is a good possibility that most of the trends that we see in graphic design, illustration, music etc. are seductive little outfits to help get our attention. Maybe in an effort to “keep up with the times,” we emulate, and become passive players in the current landscape.

I am certainly guilty of this.

I think good work grows from a healthy balance of borrowing/stealing from others, listening to the past with fresh ears, then distilling this through our own experiences.

I find that loving illustration work has its time and place when it comes to a graphic design job. Is there anything for you that will determine whether you can go into your imagination, take license, and make a job with your signature on it? There are times when design is just lettering—and that’s a whole other thing. How do you know where to start and what direction to go in?

Jim: Yes, it’s all about falling in love. There are projects worth giving yourself over to.

Most only need a practiced hand and some attention. But others can be your world. Making picture books does this to me. If I can live with the images and words and help them to breath, it is a kind of love.

Did you find yourself at some early point in

your career pounding the pavement for jobs? NOT one of the falling in love aspects!

What was the market like at that time for you? How would you do that all today if you had to? What would you do different?

There are some great tools that can be used these days—the internet being just one—instead of in-person interviews and other traditional, old-style ways of getting jobs.

What do you prefer?

Jim: I remember wearing holes in the bottoms of my shoes; the leather would rub away and I could feel the insole rubber starting to get soft on the summer sidewalks. We’d all do this—illustrators, graphic designers, photographers and models. We’d walk around the town with giant portfolios, black and heavy under our arms. We’d leave them with the Continued on next page...

THE ARTFUL MIND SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2017 • 23

JIm CaRROLL PaPa’S BaCkPaCk (2015) SlEEPing BEar PrESS, wriTTEn and illuSTraTEd By JiM Carroll

beautiful, well-dressed and overworked art directors. Sometimes they’d leave a little note inside the portfolio so you’d know they had a real look at it. One was, “Thanks for sharing.”

We all shared in this way. Sometimes it was exciting. Usually it was disappointing.

Today… I don’t know. Promoting myself feels like doing my taxes. If you are a young illustrator or graphic designer, walk away from my words; I have nothing to offer you in this area.

Okay, here’s a side door attempt at some advice: Be so good at what you do that only those without souls can ignore your talents.

Do you think students have it easier these days to get graphic design and illustration jobs? I wonder if freelancing has become more popular, as opposed to working for an agency nine to five.

Jim: I can’t say if landing jobs is easier or more difficult now compared to when I began work in the early 80s. I can say that I find doing the work more enjoyable than ever before. Technology has given creatives the opportunity to work from our own homes and studios and to wear “many hats,” exploring a wide range of disciplines.

I believe students need to have strong communication skills all around. It may not be easy for everyone. When you were teaching computer graphics in Chatham, did certain kids have more of the gift then others to communicate ideas and do well with assignments you gave? What was one of your favorite assignments you gave your students?

Why was this enjoyable for you?

Jim: Thanks to Chatham’s wonderful art teacher, Nancy Barth, I was invited to be a “visiting artist” at the middle school. As with anything, some of the children took to the work more quickly than others.

During these two weeks the students worked on creating their own CD covers. This offered the opportunity to explore combining illustration, photography and typography in a single project.

I’m remembering when I did paste-up and mechanicals… Do you remember all that?

Before computers? How was your transition, or did you jump in after the age of Letraset, waxing machines, typography machines, stats, ummm… percentage wheels for enlarging an image or reducing an image… blue repro pens, exacto

24 • SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2017 THE ARTFUL MIND

knives… desks?

Jim: Not only do I remember paste-up mechanicals, but as a bonus, I have a “Dangerous Paste-Up Mechanical Tale” to share with you.

So, along with the Letraset, etcetera, we also had acetate sheets, rubber cement and rubber cement thinner.

This day was a day doing paste-up mechanicals, much like the day before, and the day before that; except on this particular day, my paste-up mechanical suddenly burst into flames. For real. Then my umbrella caught fire and melted.

Seems that the acetate sparked when I lifted it from the board, causing the rubber cement thinner to catch fire and destroy my credibility and my umbrella.

Design was dangerous in those early days.

But so was I. I was a dangerous paste-up mechanical artist/illustrator/graphic designer.

Thank you, Jim!

~ All of my Children’s Book work is done under James Christopher Carroll. jimcarrollstudio.com

H

CLAUDIA D’ALESSANDRO PHOTOGRAPHY

PARADISE CITY ARTS FESTIVAL COLUMBUS DAY WEEKEND

Northampton's Paradise City Arts Festival is New England’s cultural, creative, culinary and leaf-peeping destination on Columbus Day Weekend.

The Paradise City Arts Festival in Northampton marks its 23rd year as New England’s premier showcase for fine and functional art, with a breadth of exhibitors and activities that will keep you enthralled and entertained all weekend long. 250 nationally juried artists will display and sell their work – and scores of these exhibitors are new to the show. This year, the event retires the original Arena Building and fills all three of the airy new Exhibition Buildings with artists showing their signature fine and functional art. There is an extensive Sculpture Promenade and a new location for the ever-popular Festival Dining Tent and Soundstage. This exciting new layout received rave reviews from attendees at the Memorial Day Weekend show.

Join Paradise City during American Craft Week. This award-winning event offers the chance to see the work and hear the stories of 250 extraordinary artists from 22 states, enjoy sensational cuisine by Northampton's best chefs and catch live performances by acclaimed musicians. Under the Festival Dining Tent enjoy international food prepared by some the region’s favorite chefs: Spoleto, India House, Sierra Grille, Pizzeria Paradiso, Amber Waves, Local Burger, The Great Wall,

Mama Iguana’s and Bart’s Homemade Ice Cream.

While you dine, tap your feet to 3-part harmony by the Valley Jazz Divas, swing and Motown by The O-Tones and a six-piece Dixieland Jazz Band. Don’t miss “Life of the Party! The Art of Celebration”.

Paradise City Arts Festival, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, October 7, 8 & 9, at Northampton’s 3 County Fairgrounds, on Old Ferry Road off Rt. 9. From the Mass Pike, take exit 4 to I-91 North to Exit 19. For show information, advance tickets and discount admission coupons, visit www.paradisecityarts.com or call 800511-9725.

Nature has so many faces, and each denotes a sense of place: in the world, in one’s thoughts or in the imagination.

My photography captures some of these faces, from the abstract to the sublime, from natural to and in concert with people and their world.

In the upcoming December 9 show, located at The Downs in Great Barrington, a long time haven for the making of music, we will celebrate these places and faces, frozen in time for all to share, and the delightfully rich world that the Arts provide.

Prints in a wide variety of sizes and mediums will be available, along with live music, delicious bites and sips of food and drink, a wonderful opportunity for Holiday shopping, or simply to delight in the many Natural places all around.

Feel free to contact us ahead of time for more information. And please join us on December 9. Claudia d’Alessandro, Photography, 9 Seekonk Road, Great Barrington, MA, 01230 / cdalessandro262gmail.com

THE ARTFUL MIND SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2017 • 25

SAVE THE ART .. .

Carol Diehl

Frederick edwin Church, Valley of the Santa Ysabel 1875 oil on canvas

It may sound corny, but a painting changed my life. It was Gustav Caillebotte’s Paris Street, Rainy Day (1887) in the Art Institute of Chicago, an image of a couple under an umbrella, elegantly dressed in turn-of-thecentury fashion, the man in his top hat. The cobblestones are wet and shiny on the streets behind them that lead tantalizingly to other parts of the city. The painting was permanently installed in the same place in the museum, and I made a beeline for it every time I had a chance to go. I have no idea how old I was when I first saw it, but I know it’s the reason I became a painter. It also ignited a desire to travel, to see things beyond my culturally narrow suburban life, expressing Paris in a way a photograph never could. I resolved that someday I’d go there—and when I did, my first thought upon arriving was that it lived up to Caillebotte’s promise.

Now that I live in the Berkshires, many have told me that the art in the Berkshire Museum similarly inspired them—the very artworks that are now on their way to the auction block. Their deaccession to fund operational expenses is in such violation of universal museum ethical standards that it has caused a scandal of national proportion, reported in, among others, the New York Times, NPR, and as far away as the Seattle Times. That the museum, with a collection of over 40,000 objects, is choosing to sell the works most important to its history and most likely to attract visitors, has many confused and, to put it more accurately, aggrieved.

Every gift to a museum is donated with the trust that the institution will see, as its primary concern, the protection of that work for the community. The Smithsonian Institution and

the American Alliance of Museums (AAM), with which the Berkshire Museum is affiliated, have codes of ethics to ensure that trustees and administrators don’t loot their institutions’ cultural wealth toward their own ends or, like the Berkshire Museum, dip into it when they have insufficient fund-raising success.

According to the trustees’ announcement of Van Shields’ directorship in 2011, the museum was “thriving” and he was chosen because of “his experience leading an institution that encompasses a range of disciplines, including history, art, and science” as well as his record as a fundraiser. So we must ask, what happened in the interim? Why is the museum now supposedly not “thriving?” Why has there been no capital development drive since 2008? And, as former AAM president Dan L. Monroe has written, “…what reasons exist to believe the museum's plans to add to its facility and its costs and to shift its focus to science and history will be successful, especially given past performance?”

Further, why is art no longer a focus? Especially for Shields, who can be seen in a video entitled “Art Matters” saying, “Creativity is at the heart of all human endeavor… my ability to be a creative thinker is based on my early experience with the arts.”

Its founder, Zenas Crane brilliantly envisioned the Berkshire Museum as a “discovery museum” —a local amalgam of the Metropolitan, Smithsonian, and Natural History museums—especially important because of its site in downtown Pittsfield, and its availability to a walkable demographic that might not otherwise come into contact with great art.

Having lost the confidence of at least half

26 • SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2017 THE ARTFUL MIND

the community as well as the national organizations that bolstered its professional credibility, if the museum continues on this path, it will have a challenging time fulfilling its new mission.

There is, however, a bright side. First to note that, according to analysis by financial journalist Felix Salmon, the state of the museum’s finances may not be so dire as to require such drastic measures. Next, to observe the potential resource in the sheer number of people on both sides of the discussion who are passionate about the museum and eager to see it flourish—nearly1300 and growing on the Save the Art Facebook page alone. Also, having achieved national notoriety, how much support the museum could gain from outside the area if it were to publicly recommit to including its great art in its mission—not to mention the organizations that have offered to advise toward achieving its financial goal, and a private group that has offered a MILLION dollars toward pausing the sale. I urge the museum to take advantage of this bonanza, to take that break, stage a well-publicized exhibition of the 40 artworks in the magnificent Crane Room—a homecoming, which would draw visitors from all over—and engage all interested parties in determining a new path forward that will include some of the best art in the area.

- Carol Diehl Based in Housatonic, Carol Diehl is an artist and art critic who has been actively involved with the Berkshire Museum as a lecturer, exhibitor, and curator.

The Red Trunk RICHARD BRITELL

I have kept all my old drawings and some small paintings from over the years in a red trunk. The trunk itself has an interesting history. In 1953 it was thrown out with a big pile of trash from a house on Genesee Street in Syracuse, New York. My Uncle Louis Scalzo, who was a law student at Syracuse University at that time, was driving by. He saw the trunk

and put it in the back of his new 1953 Ford coupe.

Later he came to visit my mother in Utica, and everyone was admiring his new car. He opened the trunk of the car to get out his bags and there was this old red trunk. When we asked him what it was for he didn’t have any answer at first, but later he said, “I have this new car, and I want to be able at any time to put everything I own into that red trunk, and go anywhere I want on the spur of the moment.”

But it didn’t work out that way.

My uncle became a lawyer, got married, bought a house, raised three children, and left the trunk, and what it represented in my mother’s attic.

Years later I adopted the red trunk because my mother was going to throw it out. I began to use it to store my paintings and drawings in, but as it soon became full its role became the place I would keep anything special, unusual, or important. Periodically the contents would get purged as my tastes changed. I would go through the contents of the trunk always with mixed emotions because it was like a history of my career and my life at the same time.

The biggest problem presented by the trunk

was the figure drawings. It took me so many years to learn to draw the figure that there were literally hundreds of bad figure drawings that I had kept, God knows why. This pile of figure drawings, almost all on newsprint, was reduced by repeated purges until there were only four or five of them left. I found it very interesting to notice that in the end, I only kept the drawings of the figures that I did from my imagination, the drawing in this post is an example.

Recently I decided to throw the trunk away.

I didn’t like keeping my history in a trunk. I decided to either throw away, frame, exhibit, or give away everything and empty out the red trunk.

Finally came the moment when I had to put the trunk next to the dumpster. I said to it, “Every thing dies in the end.” It just sat there silently; it didn’t say a single word.

But my daughter saw the trunk by the dumpster. She said, “What do you think you’re doing, you can’t throw this out.” She took in home and now it is in her attic. When I asked her what she was going to use it for, she didn’t have any answer.

From the blog: Richard Britell Image + Text

THE ARTFUL MIND SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2017 • 27

JOYCE SILVER

On COLLECTING ART

What is the reason you collect art?

Joyce: I started collecting fine art in 1979, when I bought a Picasso ceramic that I thought for years was the face of a woman, only to learn it was an owl. While traveling in the French Riviera with my kids, celebrating the last part of my son's Bar Mitzvah experience, we walked into Picasso's Vallauris studio. It was love at first sight. We both stared at the "lady" on the pedestal and knew I would purchase it! At the time, it was expensive… $575.00.

There was no question or hesitation. I knew I would rather own this piece of art than anything else I could imagine.

How do we begin to collect art? And how do we know if it will appreciate over time?

Joyce: That was 1979, the beginning of my major purchases, and it remains one of my most memorable purchases. To those interested, yes, it has become valuable. It is listed in a Picasso anthology of his ceramic art.

Over the years, I've collected various artistic objects, ranging from rare books, manuscripts and glass paperweights to perfume bottles and photography—and the list continues. I don't collect for profit, although my collection has increased in value. My art is part of me. Although I don't have Frick's money, I understand he felt the same immense pleasure when viewing his art collection.

Guides at the Frick Museum in NYC who knew the family said that Frick would come downstairs at night, get a glass of milk and sit quietly looking at his paintings. I guess looking at art has the power to soothe many restless souls!

I believe that purchasing art for investment purposes only can be risky. I remember when Rembrandt's painting of the bust of Aristotle sold for $10 million and was a record for that time. Then the old masters fell out of favor. In today's art market, the truly wealthy pursue $100 million pieces.

Are they worth the price? It depends upon what you can afford. The art market, like the antiques market, is subject to fluctuations. One year, Damien Hirst is in; another year he may be less desirable and the price would drop.

If you can afford a known artist, I'm sure you won't make a mistake. Would I like to own a Picasso, a Frank Stella, a Chagall or Rauschenberg?

You bet.

However, like buying the best wine, it's equally exciting to find a cheaper, unknown commodity with great flavor. The same is true of art. You never can predict when a younger, more exciting, less costly piece of art will be discovered.

Depending upon which artist you wish to purPhoto: EDWARD ACKER chase, frequent the galleries, the museums and the auction houses. For insight into the art market, depending on your price range, there are magazines like the Artful Mind. There are internet auctions and art news sites like Art Net News. I subscribe to their emails. Then there's always eBay or 1st Dibs.

Google is an amazing resource for finding information about art, artists and their sale prices.

Investigate the artists you admire. Sometimes you can go to their studios or ask to see their portfolios. The internet, art museums and galleries are an amazing resource for discovery.

For an understanding of pricing, check out the galleries, and when purchasing always ask for a discount. If you don't have the available funds on hand, many artists and galleries will offer a payment plan for purchasing a work of art.

My personal collection consists of art that I felt needed to be in my life. What kind of art have you collected, and why?

Joyce: My personal collection has been assembled over a period of 40 years. It consists of rare minerals, rare books, original drawings, oil paintings, photography and glass—glass paperweights, glass perfume bottles (antique and contemporary) and museum-quality glass sculpture.

When I had less cash on hand, I purchased less expensive glass pieces and lithos by famous artists.

As my income increased, I purchased Chihulys, and my favorite piece, by Lino Tagliapietra, entitled Dinosaur. It sits on my desk. It was on my bucket list and I enjoy seeing it every day.

I purchased my Vasarelys from the Vasarely Foundation in Aix au Provence, and from a gallery in Soho owned by the Steinbergers. I had seen The Vasarely chess set at the foundation in France. It was unavailable for purchase, and they directed me to the Steinbergers Gallery in SoHo. Networking and asking about pieces of art you've seen can be a gateway to adventure as you pursue the object of your desire.

My collection is composed of many types of art.

Even my furniture is eclectic art quality. I mix French and modern Italian side tables with functional bronze furniture by Philip & Kelvin LaVerne (bronze contemporary furniture produced in the 1950’s—their shop was on Wooster Street in SoHo).

The "why I've collected" is easy to answer.

When I see a piece of art I want to possess, I know!

It is an instant decision and love at first sight. It must be part of my genetic code as well. Only lack of income stops me from making purchases, though I've been known to purchase art that costs a few dollars too! Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

How do artists find collectors?

Some galleries make it easy for artists to connect with patrons. Schantz Gallery in the Berkshires has collectors weekends and sponsors trips to artists' studios. The ability to meet the artist creates

28 • SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2017 THE ARTFUL MIND

a unique bond between the artist and the collector.

It's great fun getting to know the artists, their politics, their human side. I've collected at least 12 sculptural glass objects from 3 different galleries: Habitat in Troy, Michigan; Heller Gallery in NYC; and Schantz. After chatting with the artist, their artwork takes on new meaning, and you become involved in their passion to create. Your piece takes on a further dimension; it's not just an object hanging or standing somewhere in your room. It is an extension of another human being's passion and creation, a gift to those of us who collect with an equal passion! To me, art is more meaningful and less static when you have a connection to the artist who created it.

I imagine that's how Peggy Guggenheim or Gertrude Stein felt when they discovered new artists like Picasso or Pollack in the 20th Century.

Read art history. The Popes had a special relationship with Michaelangelo, and It was probably equally as intense for the Medicis!

Through the centuries, artists survived by finding patrons. Like many professions, if you wish to be connected with a patron, you frequent galleries and market your work. Go to art shows and exhibit your work. Ultimately, depending upon your collectability, you'll connect with patrons.

Would you buy art in today's market?

Joyce: Why not? Like the stock market, you’re not buying art for short term pleasure, you're buying art to enjoy! No need to time the market. Buy what you like. If you're lucky, it will appreciate in value.

Does it matter? Only if you purchase a piece for more than you can afford.

From my point of view, here are some items that should be researched before purchasing: If you are purchasing furniture, antiques and/or collectibles, read! Make use of our libraries, museums, Google searches, auction houses and art shows. Research your pieces for authenticity and provenance. Unless an item costs you very little when you peruse flea markets, do your homework, know the market and the marketplace for antique and antique furniture pieces. It never hurts to watch the Antiques Roadshow on public television. You might be one of a lucky few to have found a treasure, either by accident or through inheritance.

How can I tell if art is worth the money if I can't go to an appraiser? Here are some basics for new collectors of art.

Joyce: When you’re collecting new art and you can't get an appraisal, if the art isn't costly, take a chance. Otherwise, canvass the galleries for similar pieces. Most galleries group artists of a similar genre together. Check out what may be the artist’s competition.

For me, art collecting has been one of my passions. I only buy what I can afford. Since I've been exposed to art my entire life, I decide what is worth the price designated. You can't go wrong purchasing art you enjoy. It is a win-win. Appraisals are only necessary if you want to insure art or sell it!

Then if you want the best or highest price, do some research on your piece! Reading about art becomes a pleasure, too!

Visit:

www.thevoiceofjoyce.me

VAN SHIELDS DIRECTOR OF

THE BERKSHIRE MUSEUM Interview by Harryet & Carol Bosco Baumann PHOTOGRAPH BY EDWARD ACKER

It’s been almost a year since we spoke at length.

Our last conversation focused on you and your wife Peggy Rivers, your art collecting, her painting and your life together. We barely touched on the museum and now it seems like it’s on everyone’s mind. What is most on your mind these days?

Van Shields: The question of “who are we for” is always foremost on my mind. There is much to love about the Berkshires but we cannot shy away from some sobering facts. Our year-round population has declined by 23,000 people since the 1970s. As of 2015, the poverty rate in the Berkshires was 2.1 percent above the state’s average of 11.9 percent and, for four of the eleven census districts in Pittsfield, the poverty rate ranges from 23.6 percent to an astonishing 40.1 percent. Sixty-four percent of Pittsfield’s school children qualify for free or reduced lunch. We are for the people of Pittsfield and the Berkshires, and that is the through-line embedded in the comprehensive story of the New Vision.

During our last interview, you gave an example of an object that encompasses several content areas. You told us about one of your favorite objects, the fur suit that Matthew Henson wore when he accompanied Robert Peary on the North Pole expedition, and shared interpretive threads that run through it—from African American history to survival to climate change.

Why is it important for the museum to step away from the way a traditional museum is organized, with silos of content, to one that emphasizes interdisciplinary thinking?

Van: A majority of our visitors are as interested in our historical objects, material culture, natural history specimens, and the aquarium, as they are the art—if not more so. Our most popular exhibitions in the past twenty years have been rooted in science and natural history, and during our planning process we clearly heard the need to do more STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) and history programming. Interdisciplinary interpretation is a perfect platform to carry out a STEAM+History model, because it connects objects to places near and far in time and space, using various academic disciplines and modes of thought.

Before I arrived, the museum unveiled its version of STEAM+History with the opening of the 2008 Feigenbaum Hall of Innovation. We are convinced that interdisciplinary interpretation will not only differentiate us in the region but has practical benefits in terms promoting curiosity and critical thinking, and illuminating the human experience.

As a plus, understanding connections prompts consideration of unintentional consequences in decision-making, a good thing for individuals and societies.

Can you tell us about the process that you and art. This lack of a clear identity has hampered the the Board of Trustees undertook to consider this museum over the years, especially with the explosignificant decision? sion of cultural institutions in the Berkshires, inVan: The master planning process was intentionally cluding the expansion of nationally significant art open-ended from the beginning, because the mu- museums that literally surround us. seum’s business model was broken. So we started Readers can learn more about our process in the with the understanding that the 1903 model of a New Vision section of BerkshireMuseum.org. general museum might not be the right model to serve the community today. To facilitate the board's I have to ask you, a lot of people are accusing the work, we tapped the skills of an external consulting museum of changing its mission. Would you team, including museum interpretive planners and speak to that? a firm specializing in nonprofit strategic business Van: The mission has not changed; it remains ‘to planning. bring people together for experiences that spark The process was highly iterative, with vision creativity and innovative thinking by making inand strategies evolving over time in response to spiring, educational connections among art, history, new data, analysis and emerging questions. But be- and natural science.’ The New Vision is designed fore we made choices, we listened to voices to un- to actually translate our mission through our colderstand our community challenges and how the lections, facilities, experiences, and programs. Almuseum could help address them. So, we actively though we have not changed the mission, we have engaged community stakeholders by regularly con- grounded the New Vision in our place and our peosulting with three standing working groups to iden- ple by asking the questions “who are we for?” and tify community challenges and explore scenarios “how can we help meet community needs?” for the museum’s future that could respond to those.

During this exploration, we benchmarked museums Thank you, Van! nationally and regionally, looking at two dozen orG ganizations in-depth, from their program model to VISIT: ISSUU.COM THE ARTFUL MIND ARTZINE OCTOBER 2016 ISSUE TO their finances and balance sheets. When we narREAD ABOUT VAN SHIELDS AND PEGGY RIVERS rowed down those scenarios, we engaged focus groups to determine the final direction. After that, we spent almost a year on a new interpretive plan to guide our development. About halfway through the first year of planning, the board came to the realization that selling art would likely be necessary to help create an endowment sufficient to support operations. We are now in the final phase of planning COMBINED WITH REIKI LEVEL II that is focused on the “nuts and bolts” work of how to implement the chosen scenario.

Among our communications challenges is overcoming an abstract idea of who we are today.

Our regular participants know us as an educational and community resource with programs based on sciAMELIA is a Licensed Aesthetician, ence, history and the arts. Even p r a c t i cing in the Berkshires for 20 plus years. those who haven’t been participating in recent years would acknowlFor Appointments and Gift Certifificcates: edge that we have always been a AmeliasHolisticFacials@gmail.com general museum with a shifting 518.320.8314 emphasis on our programs and purpose. Some people already think we are a children’s museum beNot your ordinary facial.... cause of our large family audience, Your Extraordinary Facial.... others may think aquarium, or natural history, while others may think

AMELIA’S HOLISTIC FACIAL REJUVENATION

THE ARTFUL MIND SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2017 • 29

RITA BLITT Rita Blitt wiTh SEEking TruTh

Interview by Sydney Keyes

Sydney Keyes: How do you think your early life and childhood affected your art making?

Rita Blitt: My strongest childhood memory is of my mother being on the phone, working to establish Israel as a national Jewish homeland to give victims of the Holocaust a place to flee to. Some of my earliest works, from age ten, reveal my concerns for people of color. Certainly these experiences contributed to my sensitivity, valuable in creating art.

On a lighter note, my grandfather made designs for an embroidery company in New York. At the bottom of his family letters, he drew lines of flowers, which I think of as being just for me. As a toddler, I made lines echoing his flowers. I believe this was the beginning of my dancing lines.

What is your earliest memory of making art?

Rita: It was so exciting for me to see blank pieces of paper for drawing as they were being passed out in class. I remember in first grade the art superintendent holding up and praising my drawing. That meant a lot to me. Then, in fifth grade, when I won a scholarship to children's classes at the Kansas City Art Institute, I felt that maybe someday I could become an artist.

I read in your book, The Passionate Gesture that within your drawings you discover sculpture. How does that come about, and do you ever discover an idea for a sculpture that then inspires a drawing?

Rita: In 1976, architect Chris Ramos discov ered that my drawings would make good

30 • SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2017 THE ARTFUL MIND

sculpture for his projects. The first drawing he chose was to become the 26-foot Stablitt 55 in Rockaway, New Jersey. In order to make a pattern for the fabricators, I decided to send my little drawing to the blueprint company and ask them to blow up the drawing to 26 feet. What I did not anticipate was that it was returned to me in 18 pieces. Crawling around on the floor, I figured out a way to put these puzzle pieces together. After fabrication and shipping, a panicky installation moment proved that a part of the sculpture was left behind in Kansas City. At first, I hollered up to the frustrated men on the scaffold trying to put the sculpture together, "My fabricators said it was idiot-proof.” They hollered back down to me, "Next time bring the idiots.”

Recently I created Sending Love, a memorial sculpture for people who, many years ago,

Rita Blitt FrEEdoM aT kanSaS CiTy MiSSouri PuBliC liBrary

died while attending a hotel tea dance. This sculpture was created from a spontaneous dancing line drawing made after I was invited to create the sculpture. However, usually when needing a drawing for a sculpture, I prefer looking through my existing drawings, created only for the love of drawing, to find a special drawing for the new work.

In 1993, sailing into Iceland, we encountered seventeen-foot waves that moved and jerked my hand, which was drawing—while everyone else was getting sick. This collaboration with the dramatic ocean waves resulted in about 200 drawings, many of which have become sculpture.

How did your process of making daily spontaneous drawings begin?

Rita: In 1975, inspired by the sight of my yellow ball sculpture made from a tiny doodle, I decided to take my doodles seriously, feeling that they might be revealing the essence of me.

One day I walked up to my "yellow ball sculpture" and saying to my husband "This feels more like me than anything I have ever created". I said, “If I am going to continue putting artwork into this world, I want to create that which is uniquely me.” Thus, I began a daily practice of putting my doodles on good drawing paper, one page after another until there

2004 6 FT. x 11 FT. x 24 inChES

was no more drawing paper or until the painted drawings left on the floor to dry covered the entire room, hopefully leaving only a path for me to leave. The spontaneous line has led to everything I have ever created since that day.

Some of your work, such as Jazz in the Parsons Dance Studio, reminds me of Asian scripture. Did you ever explore Asian art for inspiration?

Rita: I deliberately did not study Asian art when I realized this similarity, because I did not want to stifle my mysterious spontaneity.

Can you talk a little bit about your process and what actually goes on when you create your work? You’ve said it feels like you’re dancing… do you actually have music playing? Are there any ideal environments you prefer to work in?

Rita: I begin by centering myself in front of the surface on which I want to draw or paint, whether it is paper taped down on a table or canvas on the easel. I often have music playing in the background, but at times I have deliberately turned off the music to make sure my drawings are coming from deep within me and not just a response to the music. However, I seem to have music within me.

When suddenly in 1977 I began drawing with two hands at once, I was startled and didn't dream that I would continue doing that. It was not long, however, before I realized that I needed both hands to feel honest, to feel whole. When I started writing to help figure out why I was drawing with two hands, I wrote, "I feel like I'm dancing on paper." I do believe that drawing with two hands at once has made me a more centered person.

My very favorite environment in which to create is near nature.

How would you say your work has changed and developed over time? Does it reflect how you yourself have changed and grown as an individual?

Rita: When creating art, as long as I can remember I have usually had the courage to follow my intuition. I believe that creating art for so many years has helped me realize in life the importance of intuition, listening to my inner voice.

My work has been interrupted and changed due to the demands and distraction of technology. I do resent this. Yet, technology has allowed me, following the publication in 2000 of Rita Blitt: the Passionate Gesture, continued on next page.....

THE ARTFUL MIND SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2017 • 31

photo: NaNcy BuNdt

Rita Blitt STravinSky 2002 aCryliC on PaPEr 22 x 90 inChES

to assist in making a website and, thanks to technology, the Rita Blitt Gallery and Sculpture Garden of Mulvane Museum, Washburn University, Topeka, Continued on next page....

Kansas has been constructed, adjoining the concert hall of Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas. The grand opening will be celebrated on November 3rd.

When or if you are ever in a creative block, how do you move forward and try to continue making work?

Rita: Many years ago, my husband, Irwin Blitt, told me, “Get to work and you will find

the answers.” Also, early on when I was concerned that people did not understand my move from recognizable subject matter to abstraction, Irwin—not an artist—taught me that people needed to be as creative in viewing my art as I was in making it.

Who are your role models, or who do you turn to for advice?

Rita: Alexander Calder’s practice of drawing every day inspired me. As does the spontaneous line of Matisse, the courage of Picasso, and the humor of Miro and Klee. For advice, besides my husband, I have turned to my

32 • SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2017 THE ARTFUL MIND

friend David Knaus, curator and former gallery and museum director.

Was your art ever limited due to financial reasons, and if so how were you able to overcome that?

Rita: After graduating college, I needed to make money, so I taught nursery school and kindergarten. After a few years, I stopped teaching when my parents needed me. I never found it necessary to return to teaching, because of my husband’s support.

There’s a page in your book that shows two

Rita: In 1979, after a few years of making challenged by painting and desiring a new experience, Chris Ramos asked me to make daily black CaughT in PainT 2002spontaneous PhoTograPhlines Ritawith Blitt wiTh Conte david ParSonS danCErS crayons, I asked myself, “How can I be so sculpture hanging in space around a post in a happy using only black?” I then experimented mall. After experimenting with every material figures, done with onethe done right, withthat theare leftalmost hand and identione with adding color to my black line drawings, that I could manipulate with my own hands, I cal. Have hands? them have one both And more you so how dexterous? dominant always did you painted than manage Usually the with other. topeople make both using pastels, and became "hooked"on color. made 3M metal abstract forms. When they This enabled me to create my very impor- were hung from the ceiling in the mall, they Rita: No, I have not always drawn and painted with both hands. I realize that, when drawing tant oval series, seen recently projected the full moved due to air currents. This excited me and with two hands, my left is echoing my right. I size of the stage background in Rome, Milan I could not return to painting on the flat canfeel quite sure that anyone can draw with two and Venice during the Parsons Dance Com- vas. So I cut out metal forms, covered them hands at once. pany performances of Finding Center, a dance with canvas, hung them from the ceiling and painted them as they moved in space. inspired by my ovals.

Next, I experimented with making sculpWhat can you say about Inspiration, which may be your best-known sculpture?

Was there a moment when you knew you ture out of celastic, a cardboard-like theater Rita: In 1986, I created a drawing that I im- wanted to dedicate your life to making art? set-making material which I dipped in a chemmediately recognized as a possible sculpture. Rita: Yes. In 1958, an art historian, Sidney ical and shaped. An example of my celastic The drawing became 18-inch, wood Inspira- Lawrence, asked me how often I paint. I an- sculpture is the flag made in memory of John tion, which in 1987 won a national competi- swered, “Twice a week, when I have a babysit- F. Kennedy and given to the John F. Kennedy tion and was awarded to 22 leaders in ter." Then Sidney said to me, “If you really Presidential Library and Museum collection in Chicago. Then it was fabricated in steel, 26 care about being an artist, you would create Boston. To make this flag sculpture, I burned, feet tall, and installed in front of a Kansas City every day." His words seemed to be giving me gouged and stabbed the celastic flag to read, bank, and then a 9-foot Inspiration sculpture permission to do what I loved. I felt he was “Ask not what your country can do for you, was placed in front of the Women’s Center at implying that he had confidence in my ability but what you can do for your country.”

After scheduling my first New York exhiBrandeis University. Five-foot stainless steel to create art. bition, to consist of suspended painted canvas Inspiration won a prize for sculpture in the 2005 Florence Biennale .

You began as a painter. How did you move sculptures, I became critical of my canvas into sculpture and film? What inspired the sculptures and decided that I must have a new When did you decide to add color into your change and what was it like exploring new material or cancel the N.Y. exhibition. That led to my experimenting with acrylic sheet. work, and how did that change come mediums?

Rita: In the early 60s, when I was feeling unabout? continued on next page.....

THE ARTFUL MIND SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2017 • 33

Ritta Blitt inSPiraTion 1987 PainTEd STEEl 26 x 18 x 1.5 FEET

First, refusing to cut and saw the acrylic as recommended, I hit it with a hammer instead.

Not a great idea. Then, after a brief period of cutting and sawing myself, I ordered acrylic pieces professionally cut and sanded, ready for me to place in the oven or hold over the burners to heat and shape. My first N.Y. exhibition, in 1969, consisted mainly of acrylic suspended sculpture that thrilled me by moving in space in response to my entering the gallery. Many stories both funny and chaotic caused me to write a book about this New York exhibition.

In the 70s, I began working with fabricators to fulfill commissions for sculpture from 5 feet to 60 feet. Because I created my own way of making sculpture and wanted to record it, I wrote a children’s book, Nessie the Sculpture.

The films developed organically because I love sharing my art. They were made as an outgrowth of moments in my career. The first one, Flag 1976: Rita Blitt, was to contrast the creation of my 1,748-piece acrylic American Flag with creating the flag of Betsy Ross. The next film, Dancing Hands: Visual Arts of Rita Blitt, was the result of my showing slides from the stage of a Las Vegas hotel during the International Shopping Center convention. It was created to inspire others to "let their hands

dance on paper." In the third film, Visual Rhythms, I wanted to share my workshop, in which I inspire dancers to create improv movements and then, when ready, to extend their dance onto drawing paper, which was waiting for them on the tables. This film was made by the television station in Gainesville, Florida, when I was exhibiting at the University. Six minute Caught in Paint is my most known work. It has won 16 awards and has been invited to more than130 film festivals.

This film captures my response in paint to the dancers of the Parsons Dance Company and their movements inspired by my painted lines.

It includes photographs by dance photographer Lois Greenfield.

Caught in Nature features Yehuda Hanani, my dear friend, International soloist, teacher and founder with his wife Hannah of the Berkshire music series, "Close Encounters with Music ", performing Bach's Suite for Solo Cello, with my art photographed in nature.

My most recent films showing my art were both made with composers; blur, which was premiered at a composers conference in Aspen, was made with Lansing McLoskey; and Abyss of Time was a collaboration with composer Michael Udow. This last film was

34 • SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2017 THE ARTFUL MIND

commissioned by a Chinese Conservatory where it premiered. The American premier was at NYU.

What was it like studying art in an academic setting, and how do you think you grew as an artist in that environment?

Rita: At the University of Illinois, I grew from the challenge of figure drawing, capturing quick poses. The teacher requested that we not take our hands off the page as we drew quickly in response to the shapes of the body. I loved it. In painting class at the Kansas City Art Institute, I grew from Wilbur Niewald’s insistence that we be aware of the relationship of shapes. At first I had no idea what he was taking about. Then one day while driving down the street, I observed a truck full of garden tools in front of me, and I became very excited. I finally got it! I could see the wonderful relationship of the shapes of all the tools.

I am sure that the figure drawing class contributed to my spontaneity, while learning to see the relationship of shapes certainly had a lot to do with my becoming a sculptor.

What was it like entering the art world and making a name for yourself?

Ritta Blitt LuNarBLitt XVi 1975 staiNLess steeL aNd aLumiNum 7 X 5 X 2 ft

Rita: I experienced all the pains and joys of being an artist. First, exhibiting in sidewalk art fairs made me very uncomfortable. I felt like I was standing naked. Perhaps my greatest pleasure has been giving art to not-for-profit institutions, hopefully bringing joy to those who otherwise could not afford it.

What do you feel is your most significant work?

Rita: In the early 80s I was asked by an activist friend to create something we could send all over the world to make the world a better place. This request filled me with awe, excitement and desire. Was it a joke? How could I send something all over the world? And what could I create? Five years later, the words came into my head, “Kindness is Contagious.

Catch it!" My words led to the creation of Kindness Programs. In Kansas City, there is an annual call for schoolchildren to write an essay nominating the Kindest Kansas Citizen.

Thousands of essays from the children are read by a dedicated committee, and a Kindness Celebration Dinner is planned. The winning essays are read and the Kindest Kansas Citizens are introduced by the student who nominated them. I believe this annual celebration has inspired many people to do kind acts that previously they would not have considered doing. Also, the Kindest School award

has been added, recognizing amazing kindness activities in grade schools.

Looking back on your life is there anything you'd want to change or wish you had done differently?

Rita: I believe that things happen for a reason, although at the moment they may feel like a mistake. I feel that without the past being as it was, I would not be where I am and who I am today. I am pleased with life as it is today.

Can you think of any sacrifices you've made in your personal life for your art?

Rita: It was very important for me to put family first. I don’t feel that I could have enjoyed creating if I had not done so. Also, I told friends not to call me until late afternoon, after I had created artwork in the morning and worked at the desk in the afternoon.

What are your other interests outside of art?

Rita: I love being with my family and friends.

I love being out in nature. I love listening to music, seeing dance, and attending other cultural events. I love learning.

The spontaneous line you mention in your work, does it reflect your personality, how would you describe yourself?

Rita: Typically, I may respond without first thinking. That is satisfactory in my art but not in conversation. I feel very deeply and am usually quite happy.

How has your family and close friends reacted to you being an artist over the years?

In what ways do they show their support, has their ever been any conflicts?

Rita: Generally my family, particularly my husband, daughter and granddaughter have been very supportive and proud of me. However, I do remember when I was writing my short children’s book, Nessie the Sculpture, my dear brother-in-law asked after seeing me work on it for seven years “What are you trying to prove?”. I realized he did not understand me. Early on, when I went from painting realistically to experimenting with wild abstract ideas, my mother said “You used to make such lovely pictures.”

The most important thing about my work and me is honesty.

My films can been seen on ritablitt.com. I made a DVD, Rita Blitt: Visions of My World with all nine films for libraries and other venues.

Thank you, Rita!

R

THE ARTFUL MIND SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2017 • 35

ROBERT U. TAYLOR SET DESIGNER •/- ILLUSTRATOR /. ll/ interview by Harryet

Harryet: Set design is like a HUGE illustration—in 3-D. How did you get into this form of art? I know you went to school for this, but how did it come up on your list when you were figuring out your future? Were you inspired by a Broadway production?

Robert Taylor: I knew from the time I was maybe six or seven years old that I wanted to be an artist.

I was good at it, my parents encouraged it, and that was the only track I have ever travelled on. But now that I think of it, I remember building a couple of very small (one foot square) wood toy theaters for my younger siblings, with a main red polyester curtain that rolled up around a coat hanger wire crank, and little cutout scenery of heavy paper that dropped in. At 13 years, I made a stick puppet theatre with actors and scenery (shellacked heavy paper cutouts glued to stick bamboo shade sticks) for the Kabuki play Chushingura (the 47 Ronins) —not for any project, but just because I wanted to.

I still have that one... So I already was headed in that direction.

My formal education was spent at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the University of Pennsylvania, where I became obsessively involved with the university theater. I acted in and designed every play and musical they did for three years; so simultaneously becoming a set designer.

I discovered that more people want to be actors than want to be set designers, so I went for set designing after college. Theatre is a collaborative art form and has more interaction with people, so it was a lot more fun for me. I had no idea where it would lead—from classical art training to stage design to TV and feature film design to computer and architectural design—these fields all fall within the same paradigm. So from there, after teaching set design and theater history (for which I had no degree) at St. Cloud College, I went on to Yale to get an MFA in set design.

Briefly take us down the road of your years learning set design with the theatre. Tell us about your thought process along the way.

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Robert: Well, first of all, the set designer is the thief of all the arts—and not just the arts. He moves like a burglar in the night, ripping off a shape from Henry Moore, a ghastly character from Hieronymus Bosch, a train from Edward Hopper, dinosaur bones, geological strata, Luchadores, snowflakes, comic books. A set designer often does have (but I believe he should not, if his object is to serve the drama) an identifiable style. The set's purpose is to support a dramatic environment and story arc. Too strong a style statement can (and often does) seriously clash with the story. This happens most often in opera sets. You will find that the best set designers have no perceivable style. Keeping in mind that theatre is a collaborative art, therefore everything, including actors, are subsumed into the storyline and direction.

Technically, one creates a set design; but actually it is environment design. An appropriate theatrical environment is hugely important, as it involves coming up with an actual place (within the constrictions of the given stage/acting space) most

ROBERT U. TaYLOR appropriate for where the director sees the drama's action happening.

If however the drama exists only or largely in the mind, then anything works, as long as the solution can contain the drama's emotional parameters and can expand the direction in which the drama's arc is heading. Understand that most set designs have a bit of both approaches working at the same time for maximum dramatic support. Interestingly, the most realistic set I ever did was produced indirectly by the Mafia—they wanted a real place that looked exactly like the drama's setting in Hoboken.

This environment is where lighting and sound (a greatly ignored sector, from my point of view) are also involved. The lighting (also sometimes the set designer's job) must establish time, emotional mood and, most importantly, target on the action at hand. This accomplishes the same thing as a film close-up shot, without being physically able to do one—as it focuses an audience's attention on a particular location and emphasizes the action there.

The set design must allow for this capability, and not get in its way.

Sound, when properly used, can also create time and place—traffic noise outside a bar, distant thunder, sounds of wars in the distance, crowd commotion. In a semi in-the-round set for A Month in the Country, I introduced the sound of summer crickets, which instead of stopping after establishing itself, continued throughout most of the play; volume going up or down depending on the action, to establish the experience for the audience of being there in the action.

Lastly, I would like to talk a bit about environmental transposition—something directors want to

do a lot now—which consists of doing a drama or opera written and/or set in a certain period of history, and then making it "relevant" by moving it into another period. This is very dangerous to do, and I have seen it fail many times, usually (don't know why) in opera, making the point of the drama incomprehensible or irritating. This only works if you transpose to a parallel period—where the mores and social conventions are similar. You can transpose Renaissance Romeo and Juliet into the mid 20th century—West Side Story—as the situation is very much the same. You can put Macbeth into the early comic book world of Flash Gordon— it is a medieval warlord world—and Ming the Merciless easily becomes Macbeth, just as Kurosawa did in his film Ran. All were warlord cultures.

I did a Troilus and Cressida at the Loeb Theatre at Harvard, where we could have just put everyone in Greek leather skirts (which works well enough, except for sword fighting which hardly ever works on stage anymore) but the director wanted something else. We decided to do the Trojan War fighting as something that might be more dangerous in a strange way—wrestling. The whole Trojan War became a strange game, which dictated several things.

I designed a great, circular, curved ramp set that culminated in a stockaded top—Troy. The curving ramp I covered in 12x12-inch-thick foam rubber cobblestones. I designed costumes like some archaic wrestling outfits, long, slim but stiff jumpsuit trousers looped under the feet, with shoulderlooped bare tops for both Greek and Trojan menat-arms and the leads. The Greek costumes were sort of dirty, encrusted with salt, as they camped out on the bare beach of the Aegean; whereas the Tro-

jans, safe in their city, wore sari-like silk and gold necklaces and armbands, their army shining. So the parallel change was not to a different historical place, but to a different method of militant confrontation.

Who has inspired and/or mentored you?

Robert: At Yale, I studied under Donald Oenslager, one of the last courtly and noble designers of the early 20th century, who lived in a seemingly 300room, heavily curtained 5th Avenue apartment. I learned a lot from him, as you had to crank out one set design every week for his criticism; so you learned to put together research material, think fast, eat mallomars and not sleep and, especially, create your sets fast. It became a sort of personal battle to try to get ahead of him, as he would generally, after your scenic presentation was made and explained, say, "Ah yes, now I remember doing something like that in 1934, etc. etc." I think he did this on purpose to drive his students to higher levels. Out of an entry class of 23, only 3 graduated. The rigors of this training really prepared you for the real life of the designer, who never has enough time to prepare and design.

What was your most well-tempered work of art—one you think rocked?

Robert: Probably the one I got the most acclaim for—at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, later moved to Broadway—John Gay's bawdy ballad opera, The Beggar's Opera, an 18th century scroungy satire on grand opera of the time, and like Moliere, showing the similarity of the criminal unContinued on next page...

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ThE TEMPEST ROBERT U. TaYLOR derclass to the nobles and the rich merchant class.

I had the most fun with it, as one of my scouts discovered a group of gigantic timbers used on the New York-Brooklyn El trains at the turn of the century. We rushed out and bought them all, and then constructed the set out of them—so the set was ferociously, even dangerously real and period appropriate, for all these nasty street bandits and oily fences who launder the stolen goods to slither around in. The opening song begins, "Through all the Employments of Life - each Neighbor abuses his Brother; Whore and Rogue they call Husband and Wife: All Professions be-rogue one another.

The Priest calls the Lawyer a Cheat, the Lawyer beknaves the Divine: And the Statesman, because he's so great, Thinks his Trade as honest as mine,” etc. We dressed the orchestra, playing harpsichord, a tiny string section and assorted reeds, in scraggy 18th century outfits & wigs, and sat them on the stage on barrels and crates. Also, the set was arranged sideways into the house at BAM because the set was 90 feet wide, so all the seating had to be uprooted and re-bolted at 90 degrees. Anyway, this drama will live forever, since it is always contemporaneous—indeed, the Threepenny Opera by Bertolt Brecht was taken almost directly from it.

How do you build a set? What are the basics, and what are the challenges and things you MUST know. How do you cleverly work around a challenging set design?

Robert: To really answer this would surely take much too long, but there are certain basic things to consider in this field. Since a stage set's limited

physicality (forget the psychology of shape, color, light, architectural style) forces certain considerations that are unnecessary in real life and architecture, I will say the following: Theatrical sets, unless they are unit sets (they do not move), change during the progress of a drama by completely replacing themselves (very expensive… think Met. Opera— this requires a side stage on both sides of the main stage and a rear stage, all the same dimension as the main, so complete sets can roll in and out of position), flat scenery flying down and up from the stage by a system of pulleyed pipes from a high loft (the oldest manner of changing sets, going back to the 16th century, staffed mainly by retired sailors who knew about pulleys, ropes and horizontal yardarms), all the way to a simple architectural construct which provides areas of focus for actors to move into, and ways for them to enter and exit the acting space. My exhibit at the Felber Gallery gives examples of all of these types of sets, and variations in between. Besides these methods of changing acting environments, sets must allow for the upstaging problem (partly a director's blocking problem) to prevent actors in an upstage position from either disappearing behind others, or dominating from a higher physical position upstage.

Already I can see this answer is getting too long, so I better try to sum up. Suffice it to say that the purpose of the physical set's arrangement must be carefully thought out within the following constraints: First, the budget. Next, the provision by the designer of useful and efficient traffic patterns around the stage for the director and actors (furniture, walls, stuff in the way), ease of motion from

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one to another place, ease of getting on and off the space, not giving actors dangerous move problems (set balcony too high, too narrow, doors that open on a step down to a platform, too many levels so actor has to be thinking both about his lines and being careful not to fall while cross-moving, etc. etc. There are many of these pitfalls to consider.

You’re art work is outstanding! Obviously fueled by great talent and skill. Tell us about your Obie award—how, when, why…

Robert: Well, the Obie, oddly enough, was for the other ballad opera John Gay wrote, called Polly, in which the heroine from the previous Beggar's Opera, who has escaped to the British West Indies as a servant, is engaged in a dramatic plot that is rather more a comic and more cheerful satire than a vicious satire of Brit home front corruption. This one stylistically points forward toward the distant Gilbert & Sullivan comic musical satires, and is less poisonous. The drama revolves around a broader subject—the morality of empire-building, which the Brits had just started. We have ex-pat Brits running things, and next a gang of pirates engaged in general lawlessness, and lastly a group of J.J. Rousseau's Noble Savages (on the order of Cameron's Avatar film, where the Na'vi tribe nobly repels the greedy corporate earth-men) who perform similar work in Polly.

This being a more cheery dramatic vehicle, the decision was made to duplicate, at a lighthearted and jolly level, an 18th-century stage on a stage, using the scenic conventions of the time (well, no candles shining behind bottles of colored water),

MoliEvE in SPiTE oF hiMSElF ROBERT U. TaYLOR but shoving it forward almost but not quite to preciousness, semi-sentimentality, twee, but edgy, not quite kitsch, but getting dangerously close.

As you can see, this is a group of directions almost impossible to visualize, much less make into a real (well, not-real—theatrical) place, and know in advance that these directives will work. So, I proceeded to reproduce a small, somewhat down-atheels, boutique-like, 18th-century stage proscenium and set, being a little too puffy and chubby, with seedy oranges, golds and pale aquas, footlights with little roses painted on their backs. I decided to incorporate the use of a theatrical conceit that hasn't been used for about a century—the moving panorama painted on a long cloth, unrolled across the back of the small stage between two turning spools offstage L and R. This was activated jerkily, almost comically, to change sets, as actors lugged a chair, a crate, or a stump onstage, running into one another. The end result was a sort of pastiche of the original musical drama—a slightly comic take on its conventions, and to give a sort of tacit permission to the audience to laugh. So it was fun designing it, and again audiences loved it, particularly as the panorama curtain sprung erratically to life, would go too far, and then have to back up.

So, you’re thriving in the Berkshires? What are your next projects?

Robert: I seem to be thriving up here in the Berkshires, as the song goes, "Where the livin' is easy."

I love the land up here, with its very old mountain chains, white pines, maples and wild cherries—reminds me of Virginia, where my people are from, for three centuries now. The projects I am doing now involve design work for two themed hotels in the Carolinas.

Who is your favorite actor, and why?

Robert: I think my favorite actor with whom I ever was involved would be Meryl Streep. I did sets for a Brecht and Weill musical drama called Happy End (startlingly similar to a Damon Runyon story made into the musical Guys & Dolls), produced in 1929 to unanimous pans from everybody. But it was produced again on Broadway in 1977, with Chris Lloyd as the 'Nathan Detroit' gambler character, and Meryl Streep as the Salvation Army Lt. Having been in the theatre set design gig for quite some time by then, I had run into any number of pretty good actors, and also more than I would like of diva-type actors. ("If I cant get the right kind of ashtray, I'm walking out!" "Listen, my skin doesn't work with this wall color well—it makes me disappear.” "You know, my costume looks better when

I add this vest and tie,” etc.) Ms. Streep was easily the most professional actor I ever worked with; always on time, always concentrating, never complained about anything, listened to direction without interrupting (‘Why should I do that? It hurts my arm to lean on the chair,” etc.) Always made her mark, never missed a cue, never badmouthed anybody—I could go on and on. But I was really impressed.

Diana Felber Gallery, in West Stockbridge will be displaying Robert’s work to view from the of September thru Oct 31. Please stop in!

Thank you, Robert! g

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Grandma Becky’s

Authentic Old WOrld Recipes

by Laura Pian

CHALLAH; just the word alone brings emotions of fluffy, warm, sweet bread, hand made by my loving Grandma Becky.

The aromas of Grandma’s freshly baked challah would run the course of our Bronx apartment building all the way down the elevator shaft from the fifth floor! I’d come home from school, and the moment I’d step into the elevator, I’d smell Grandma’s magic.

Last weekend, I got together with two of my first cousins Nancy and Wendy. As usual when we spend weekends together, we try our best to replicate one of Grandma’s amazing specialties from scratch. With the celebration of Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) upon us this month, it seemed appropriate to attempt Grandma’s challah. Challah is a traditional bread often seen on a Rosh Hashanah table to help incorporate the beginning of a sweet year.

While a rainy nor’easter storm sat over our cousin’s weekend, we decided to bake different versions our Grandma Becky’s challah. In order to embody a modern flair into her classic recipe, we agreed upon making a six-strand, braided, rainbow challah.

The results were phenomenal. We baked and and laughed and cleaned and tasted and baked and laughed some more the entire day until the skies cleared and the sun finally showed itself as an awesome colorful sunset. A sign? Perhaps!

BECKY’S THREE GRANDDAUGHTERS’

RAINBOW CHALLAH

Ingredients: 1 1/2 tablespoons instant yeast 3/4 cup warm water 1/4 cup sugar 1 large egg and 3 egg yolks, plus one for glazing 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1/4 cup honey (or 1/2 cup for a sweet new year challah) 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt 3 3/4 cups bread flour Box of food coloring (gel works best) Pair of rubber gloves (optional to keep dye off of skin)

Instructions:

• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

• Prepare yeast in a large stand mixer bowl. Place water, then yeast, and 1 teaspoon sugar to activate the yeast and mix.

Let it stand until it foams and bubbles (approx. 10 minutes).

• Using the whisk attachment, mix the remaining sugar, eggs, oil, and honey. Once mixed, change to the dough hook attachment and slowly add the flour and the salt. Mix on medium speed until dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl.

Dough should still be slightly sticky and soft. Add small amounts of flour if the dough is too sticky to handle.

• Divide this ball of dough into six even pieces. On a well-floured surface, flatten out each piece and put a few drops of gel food coloring on each (box comes with red, blue, green, yellow. You will have to mix red+yellow for orange, red+blue for purple).

Put on your rubber gloves and spread evenly onto the dough. This will take some work to blend it in, but don’t get discouraged! It’s ok to leave it marbleized.

• Place each colored dough ball into its own bowl, lightly greased with oil and cover. Let dough rise in a warm place until it has doubled in size, about 2 hours.

• Lightly flour work surface. Take each color and with your hands, roll out into six even strands for braiding. Line them up in rainbow order. Pinch tops of the strands together. Take the strand furthest to the right and weave it towards the left through the other strands using this pattern: over 2 strands, under 1 strand, over 2 strands. Take the strand furthest to the right and repeat the weaving pattern again: over 2 strands, under 1 strand, over 2 strands. Repeat this pattern, always starting with the strand furthest to the right, until the whole loaf is braided. Pinch the ends of the strands together as you did on top and tuck both top & bottom under loaf. Amazing, right?! (If you find yourself having trouble, there are many YouTube videos you can watch the braiding process).

• Place loaf on parchment lined pan, lightly cover the loaf, and allow to sit for at least 30 minutes for its final blooming rise.

• Brush top with egg making sure you have a full, thin coat. (Optional: top with sesame or poppy seeds now).

• Bake for 30-35 minutes, rotating pan halfway through. If the challah browns too quickly, lightly cover with foil until done.

Wishing you and your families a shanah tovah umetukah (a good and sweet year).

Esn gezunt (Eat well and healthy)! artfulmind@yahoo.com to reach Laura!

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