tam for issuu com oct 15

THE ARTFUL MINDOCTOBER 2015

Alison Larkin Author / Comedienne Photography by Sabine von Falken

THE SOURCE FOR PROMOTING ART SINCE 1994

FRONT ST. GALLERY

Painting Classes on Monday and Wednesday mornings10 - 1pm at the studio in Housatonic and

Thursday mornings 10am - 1pm out in the field. Open to all.gallery hours Sat & Sun or by appointment 12-5pm 413-274-6607 413-429-7141(cell) 413-528-9546

Front Street, downtown, Housatonic, MA

Kate Knapp UNDER WATER

October 2 - November 1: 510 Warren Street Gallery, Hudson, NYOpening Reception: Saturday October 3, 3-6pm

complete schedule: www.saintfrancisgallery.com413.717. 5199 Open Fri, Sat., Sun., & Mon. 10-5 pm

Saint Francis Gallery1370 Pleasant street. route 102 LEE. MA (next to fire dept.)

Gallery supports creative humanitarian work in Kenya

THE BERKSHIRE COLLECTIONThrough October 25, 2015

Scot

t Tay

lor, C

onvergence

“For Love of the Land”New Paintings

Sybil M. Perry

October 3 – November 29, 2015Opening Reception Saturday, October 10 3-5pm

Artist Talk Saturday, October 24, 3 pmThe Covered Bridge Gallery

Upstairs at Cornwall Bridge Pottery Store

[email protected] for ad rates!

complete schedule: www.saintfrancisgallery.com413.717. 5199 Open Fri, Sat., Sun., & Mon. 10-5 pm

Saint Francis Gallery1370 Pleasant street. route 102 LEE. MA (next to fire dept.)

Gallery supports creative humanitarian work in Kenya

510 Warren Street Gallery Hudson, New York 518-822-0510

NINALIPKOWITZ.COM [email protected]

Hours: Friday & Saturday, 12 - 6, Sunday 12 - 5 or by appointment

NINA LIPKOWITZ

Garden Gone WildNovember 6 — 29, 2015

Opening Reception November 7 • 3-6pm

JOHN LIPKOWITZ

SPRINGTIME IN JAPANDecember 4 - December 27

Artist reception: December 5, 2015 3 - 6pm

510 Warren Street GalleryHudSon, neW york

518-822-0510 • HourS: Friday & Saturday, 12 - 6, Sunday 12 - 5

JOHN LIPKOWITZ,"THE GREAT TORII, MIYAJIMA, JAPAN"

The BerKShire COlleCTiOnThrough October 25, 2015

Scott Taylor, C

onvergence

Commissionsby well-known artist

StephenFilmusart.sfilmus@verizon.net413-528-1253www.stephenfilmus.com

3’x4’ recently commissioned landscape

The ArTful Mind OCTOBer 2015 • 1

The MuSiC STOreWhat better way to celebrate the start of a Beautiful

Berkshire autumn than to gift yourself and those you lovewith music?

the Music Store’s Fifteenth year in business in GreatBarrington has proven many things! We enjoy helping thecommunity, near and far to make music which has beenan enjoyable and productive enterprise for us. and welook forward to continuing this mission into the secondhalf of our second decade. We offer wonderful musicalinstruments and accessories at competitive pricing.

We have a good time serving our community, her mu-sicians and music lovers. Come see some of the fun . . .

Composite acoustic guitars (the forever guitar!) andtheir peerless travel guitar, the Cargo, a favorite of ourown dr. easy, david reed, made of carbon graphite andimpervious to most changes of temperature and humidity.you can see it often in his hands in performance locallyand abroad.

Guild Guitars - light, powerful, affordable.terrific ukuleles! 60+ different models: Soprano, Con-

cert, tenor and Baritone, acoustic and acoustic/electric,six string, resonator, the Maccaferri-like Makala Water-man uke (made all of plastic for easy portability almostanywhere), the remarkable u-Bass, and the new solidbody uke Bass by the Magic Fluke Co. you might evenhear dr. easy play a banuke!

How about a Cordoba Cuatro?or a West african djembe with a smashing carry bag?

or another dr. easy favorite, the klong yaw!try takamine for a guitar to suit almost any budget

(the Pro Series at deep unpublished discounts). dr. easycan tell you about his.

alvarez guitars - celebrating their 50th year with beau-tiful limited editions!

Breedlove - beautiful, american, sustainable. and somany more brands and types, including luthier handmadeinstruments from $150-$5000.

ever heard of dr. easy’s drunk Bay Cigar Boxes?acoustic/electric cigar box guitars, exquisitely made,which bring the past into the present with a delightfulpunch, acoustically and plugged in! you can even hearthem on the patio and in action Saturday nights at GB’sown aegean Breeze restaurant!

Harmonicas, in (almost) every key (try a Suzuki Ham-mond ‘Mouth organ’).

Picks (exotic, too), strings, sticks and reeds.Violins, Mandolins, dulcimers, Banjos, and Banjo

ukes.Handmade and international percussion instruments.dreamy native american and locally made bamboo

and wooden flutes and walking stick flutes.and there is more to delight the eyes, intrigue the ears

and bring warm joy to the heart!We remain your neighborhood music store, where ad-

vice and help are free and music is the universal language.Working with local luthiers and repairmen we offerstringed and band instrument repair. and we just mayhave something you haven’t seen before (have you heardthe electric Cigar Box Guitars?). We match (or beat)many on-line prices for the merchandise that we sell, anddo so in person, for the most part cheerfully (though wereserve the right to glower a little when asked if we can‘do better’ on the price of a pick!)!

Come and see us soon and help us celebrate the veryend of our 15th year. your patronage helps the communityand makes it a more tuneful, healthy and happy place!Happy music making in the end of the Berkshire summerand the beginning of autumn!

The Music Store, located at 87 Railroad Street in GreatBarrington, is open Wednesdays through Saturdays andby appointment. Call us at 413-528-2460, visit us on lineat www.themusicstoreplus.com, on Facebook as TheMusic Store Plus, or see our listings on Reverb.com.

The ArTful MindArTzineOctober 2015

Artist Sybil PerryHarryet Candee... 8

frank’s Way-We Talk Playwriting And Other Things

frAnK GiOiAPhotography by Sabine von Falken

Interview by Amy Tanner ... 11

Alison larkinauthor / Comedienne

Photography by Sabine von Falken... 12

Planet Waves Astrology OCTOBerEric Francis ... 16

fiCTiOn: Otis the Playwright Part i

Richard Britell ... 24

Contributing Writers and Monthly Columnists Eunice Agar, Richard Britell, Eric Francis,

Kris Galli, Amy Tanner

Photographers Edward Acker, Lee Everett, Jane Feldman

Sabine von Falken, Alison Wedd

Publisher Harryet Candee

Copy Editor Marguerite Bride

Editorial proofreading Kris Galli

Advertising and Graphic Design Harryet Candee

Mailing Address: Box 985, Great Barrington, MA 01230

[email protected] 854 4400

All MATeriAl due the 9 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 photogra-phers and writers throughout The Artful Mind. Permission to reprintis required in all instances. In any case the issue does not appear onthe stands as planned due to unforeseeable circumstances beyond ourcontrol, advertisers will be compensated on a one to one basis. Dis-claimer rights available upon request. Serving the Art community withthe intention of enhancing communication and sharing positive cre-ativity in all aspects of our lives. We at The Artful Mind are not respon-sible for any copyrights of the artists, we only interview them aboutthe art they create. 68 Main St., Lee, MA. 413-243-02422 • 2015 OCTOBer The ArTful Mind

Paint a book, read a canvas. Dance with a paintbrush and strum with paper mache.

Alison Larkin, photographed by Sabine von Falken

ARTFUL CALENDAR OCTOBER 2015


Art510 WArren STreeT GAllerY 510 Warren Street, HudSon, ny • 518-822-0510 Friday & Saturday, 12 - 6, Sunday 12 - 5 or by appoint-ment; [email protected] / 510warren-streetgallery.comkate knapp, oct 2-nov 1: under Water, reception Sat oct3, 3-6pm; nina lipkowitz Featured artist in november.Pen, ink & watercolor paintings in an exhibition calledGarden Gone Wild. opening reception is november 7, 3-6pm

CArrie hAddAd GAllerY622 Warren St, HudSon, ny • 518-822-1915Color theory, Vincent Pomilio, James o’Shea, andStephen Brophy. reception Sun oct 11, 2-4pm

deniSe B ChAndler Fine art PHotoGraPHywww.denisebchandler.comexhibiting and represented by Sohn Fine art, lenox Ma,abstrakt, thru oct 4; new member artist at 510 Warren StGallery, Hudson, ny, view work during gallery hours,

6 dePOT CAfe & GAllerY6 dePot St., W. StoCkBridGe, Ma • 413-232-2025rutH kolBert- a SerieS oF draWinGS oct.1-oct.31, open 8 - 4pm (closed tuesdays)

frOnT STreeT GAllerY129 Front St, HouSatoniC, Ma • 413-274-6607Housatonic galery for students and artists, featuring wa-tercolor and oil paintings by artist kate knapp

GAllerY at r&f enCAuSTiCS84 ten BroeCk aVe, kinGSton, ny • 800-206-8088lynette Haggard, solo exhibition, Frames of reference,thru oct 17

GOOd PurPOSe GAller40 Main Street, lee, Ma • 413-394-50459am - 4pm every day; [email protected]; good-

purpose.org dancing with Colors, which features the artwork of olgaGernovski, and of Margaret Buchte. oct 10 - nov17. Joinus at the gallery on Sat oct 10,5:30 - 7:30pm for openingreception. Complimentary appetizers, wine, and entertain-ment, opportunity to meet artists

MArGueriTe BrideHoMe Studio at 46 Glory driVe, PittSField, Ma • 413-841-1659 marge-bride-paintings.com FB: Marguerite Bride Watercolorsoriginal watercolors, specializing in custom house andbuilding portraits. lessons in watercolor technique. nowon exhibit: irish Watercolors on Canvas at the under-ground Salon, Christine’s Home Furnishings, Bridge St,Gt. Barrington, Ma

MASSMoCA1040 MaSS MoCa Way, nortH adaMS, Ma• 413-664-4481Jim Shaw: entertainment doubts, now thru Jan 2015

MOrGAn lehMAn GAllerY535 WeSt 22nd St, nyCkysa Johnson, the long Goodbye, thru oct 17

MOrriSOn GAllerY8 old Barn rd., kent, Ct • 860-927-4501donald Gummer on Broadway, through oct. Beautifulgallery filled with a variety of artists

OMi inTernATiOnAl ArTS CenTer1405 County route 22, GHent, ny • 917-941-2671two 2015 Fall exhibitions: linear element: alain kiriliand James Siena; reframing nature: allan Wexler. recep-tion Sun oct 11, 1:30-4pm, thru Jan 2016

SChAnTz GAllerieS3 elM St, StoCkBridGe, Ma • 413-298-3044schantzgalleries.coma destination for those seeking premier artists working inglass

SCOTT BArrOW17 HouSatoniC St, lenox, Ma • 413-637-2299Photography on view be Scott Barrow

SOhn fine ArT69 CHurCH St, lenox, Ma exhibition of photography, framing, printing & work-shops. abstrakt, thru oct 4.

ST. frAnCiS GAllerYrte. 102, SoutH lee (just 2 miles east from the Red LionInn) Friday thru Monday 10-5pm.the Berkshire Collection, through oct 25

VAulT GAllerY322 Main St, Gt. BarrinGton, Ma • 413-644-0221Marilyn kalish at work and process on view, beautifulgallery with a wonderful collection of paintings

EVENtS / WorkShopS

BerKShire feSTiVAl Of WOMen WriTerSBerkshirewomenwriters.org / [email protected] Spirit: a Showcase for Women Writers, artistsand artisans, on Sunday november 22 from 10 – 4pm atthe Berkshire Hills Country Club in Pittsfield

deB KOffMAn’S ArTSPACe137 Front St, HouSatoniC, Ma • 413-274-1201Sat: 10:30-12:45 class meets. no experience in drawingnecessary, just a willingness to look deepely and watchyour mind. this class is conducted in silence. adult class.$10, please call to register.

lAuren ClArK fine ArT25 railroad Street, Great BarrinGton, Ma• 413-528-0432 / [email protected] /www.laurenClarkFineart.comSeries of talks on various concepts of art, thurs oct 15,6:30pm. "renaissance, and Baroque, What exactly is thedifference Between these two." Concepts for this talk arefrom the work, "renaissance and Baroque," by HeinrichWolfflin, the influential turn of the century art historian.the talk is by richard Britell, whose paintings are wellknown at the lauren Clark Gallery.

PArAdiSe CiTY ArTS feSTiVAltHree County FairGroundS in nortHaMPton, Ma.www.paradisecityarts.com / 800-511-9725. 21st annual event october 10, 11 & 12 at the one ofamerica’s top-ranked shows of fine crafts, paintings andsculpture, Paradise City features 260 outstanding artists infour buildings, sensational cuisine, live music, creative ac-tivities, demonstrations and an outdoor sculpture garden.

thEAtrE & ENtErtAINMENt

ClOSe enCOunTerS WiTh MuSiCMaHaiWe PerForMinG artS Center, Gt BarrinGton, Ma • 413-528-0100 for tixSat oct 24, 6pm: Grand Piano Quartets-Brahms and dvo-rak; dec 12, Sat. 6pm: “dually” noted, Music for FourHands

COlOniAl TheATre111 SoutH St, PittSField, Ma • 413-997-4444

annual Pittsfield Jazz Festival: Greg Hopkins Jazz or-chestra with guest soloist randy Brecker on trrumpet, Satoct 17, 8pm

MASSMoCA1040 MaSS MoCa Way, nortH adaMS, Ma• 413-664-4481katie Workum and kimberly Mitchell, Sat oct 24; keysopen doors: the Hidden life of laura Palmer, oct 30;Beth Stelling, nov 7. info@massmoca for tickets & info

MAhAiWe TheATre14 CaStle St, Gt BarrinGton, Ma • 413-52-010010th anniversary Gala: an intimate evening with audraMcdonald, Sun, oct 11, 8pm; Met opera live in Hd:Verdi’s ii trovatore encore; Sat nov 14, 8pm, an intimateevening with art Garfunkel

PrOCTOrS TheATreSCHeneCtady, ny • 1-800-840-9227the Book of Mormon, Sat oct 17- Sun nov 25.

ShAKeSPeAre & CO.70 keMBle St, lenox, Ma • 413-637-1199thurs, oct 8, 8pm: ark theatre Company: Babylon re-visited; oct 10, 2pm: richard iii with Hamish linklater

Be added to the calendar! deadline: October 9

[email protected]

Lee Marshall, Untitled, watercolor, Main GalleryJOhn dAViS GAllerY

362 1/2 WARREn ST, HUDSon, nY • 518-828-5907Saturday, october 17th the gallery will have six solo shows

(watercolors, sculpture, photography/Installation, constructions and paintings). The work will be on display through november

8th with a reception for the artists on Saturday, october 17th from 6:00 until 8:00 p.m.

510 Warren Street Gallery will be featuring new workby nina lipkowitz for the month of november. nina willbe showing her pen, ink & watercolor paintings in an ex-hibition called Garden Gone Wild. opening reception isnovember 7, 3-6pm

nine years ago nina lipkowitz, an accomplished sculp-tor and potter moved from new york City to the Berk-shires and planted her first garden. it was filled withflowers specially chosen to be subjects for her paintings.

Many of her compositions seem to be carefullyarranged, some in her own hand-built, and altered, wheel-thrown vessels. others are flowers which cannot be con-tained and have exploded directly onto the paper.

each flower in this show represents just one or two daysof spring and summer. Jonquils and daffodils followed by

tulips in riotous shapes and colors; bleeding hearts, allium,irises, peonies, poppies and lilies. each a poignant re-minder of the fragility and the beauty of life, each a visualreminder of how precious yet precarious life is..

nina lives in Great Barrington, Ma where she gardens,paints, teaches yoga and travels as much as possible. tosee more of her work, visit nina’s websiteninalipkowitz.com.

510 Warren Street Gallery, 510 warren Street, Hudson,nY 518-822-0510. Gallery hours: Friday & Saturday, 12- 6, Sunday 12 - 5 or by appointment; [email protected]; 510warrenstreetgallery.com

ninA liPKOWiTz510 Warren Street Gallery

ARTWORKFORKIDSROOMS.COM

Artist Margie BienerDressed Up for Breakfast, acrylic and ink

ClOSe enCOunTerSWiTh MuSiC

Going into its 24th year of presenting outstanding cham-ber music with lively commentary, the Berkshires’ premierchamber music organization, Close encounters With Music,continues to expand its original programming of classical,contemporary and cutting-edge music. the 2015-2016 sea-son will be one of celebration and discovery, featuringworld-renowned musicians and extraordinary new faces.

the season opens at the Mahaiwe Performing arts Cen-ter on Saturday, october 24, at 6 PM with two epic worksby Brahms and dvořák, two giants whose lives intersected,both nurtured by the traditions of Central europe. thesepieces are symphonic in scope, with unbuttoned, folksy fi-nales; four superb soloists convene to play some of the mostvivacious and appealing music in the repertoire. the pro-gram features Brahms’ G minor Piano Quartet op. 25, withits animated Hungarian idioms and whirlwind coda; and thePiano Quartet no. 2 in e-flat Major op. 87, one of dvořák’smost sublime works. the two composers, friends and fel-low admirers during their lifetime, stand side by side withthese powerful masterpieces that display the seemingly end-less inventiveness of both in architecture, melody, instru-mental interplay, and sheer sonic beauty.

tickets for this performance are $45 (orchestra andMezzanine) and $25 (Balcony).

Close encounters With Music concerts are broadcast onWMHt-FM, and audiences are encouraged to tune into thenew weekly broadcasts of “Classical Music according toyehuda” on WaMC northeast radio or visitwww.wamc.org.Close encounters With Music stands at theintersection of music, art and the vast richness of Westernculture. entertaining, erudite and lively commentary fromfounder and artistic director yehuda Hanani puts com-posers and their times in perspective to enrich the concertexperience.

Close Encounters With Music - Post office Box 34,Great Barrington, MA 01230. Mahaiwe Box office: 413-528-0100; CEWM: 800-843-0778; www.cewm.org;[email protected]

4 • 2015 OCTOBer The ArTful Mind

VioliniSt ara GreGorian

PHoto: roland PaBSt nina liPkoWitz

Denise B ChandlerFine Art Photography

EXHIBITING AT:Sohn Fine Art Gallery 69 Church St., Lenox, MA

510 Warren Street Gallery 510 Warren St., Hudson, NY

Denise B Chandler Fine Art Photography is represented by Sohn Fine Art Gallery

www.denisebchandler.com [email protected]

Rain © Denise B Chandler 2015

JENNIFER PAZIENZA

[email protected] http://jenniferpazienza.com/

Saint Francis Gallery1370 Pleasant Street, route 102, lee, Ma (next to fire dept.)

413.717.5199 open Friday - Monday 10 - 5pm www.saintfrancisgallery.com

Winged Vessel, Oil on Canvas, 48 x 60”

GEOFFREY MOSS

BARNS REDUXPAINTINGS / DRAWINGS

Primary Barn 20 x 20 oil on canvas

LAUREN CLARK FINE ART25 Railroad St. Great Barrington, MA 413. 528. 0432

[email protected] www.LaurenClarkFineArt.com

Kris Galli

Represented byLauren Clark Fine Art25 Railroad St. Great Barrington

krisgallifineart.com

“Firecracker” Oil on Canvas, 24x36


STePhen filMuSCoMMiSSionS

Several times recently, i have been asked to make a real andpersonal contribution to someone’s life and home by creatinga painting of their favorite natural setting.

the commission process is a collaboration between artistand client. Whenever possible we visit the site together and dis-cuss the elements of subject, color, form and the “feeling” ofthe scene. the next step for me is to create a detailed colorsketch that reflects the client’s vision and gives them a goodsense of how the finished artwork will look. at this point thecommissioner can give input and suggestions as i work towardthe final design. lastly, i simply do what i know how to do – isit at my easel and paint.

For me, it is joyous to feel that i have captured the essenceof a special time and place through my art and have given newlife to a memory that will give pleasure for years to come.

Stephen Filmus is represented by J. todd Gallery in Welles-ley, Ma. He is presently exhibiting several landscapes at theBennington Center for the arts and his work can also be seenat his studio in Great Barrington by appointment.

Contact [email protected], 413-528-1253,www.stephenfilmus.com

deniSe B ChAndlerFine art liMited

edition PHotoGraPHydenise B Chandler is a fine art photographer who has

had her work exhibited at the Berkshire Museum, SohnFine art Gallery, lichtenstein Center for the arts, iS -183art School of the Berkshires, St. Francis Gallery, Chester-wood, the Hudson opera House, Spencertown academyarts Center, and tivoli artists Gallery. in 2012, Chandlercompleted the Photography residency Program at MaineMedia Workshops & College. While in Maine, she wasguided, encouraged and her work critiqued by renownedphotographers: Michael Wilson, andrea Monica, Peter ral-ston, arthur Meyerson, david turner, Brenton Hamilton,david Wells, and Syl arena. Chandler has continued herformal workshop training with master photographers, Sethresnick, Greg Gorman, and John Paul Caponigro. laterthis month she will once more train with Seth resnick, JohnPaul Caponigro and Jay Maisel.

denise B Chandler is represented by Sohn Fine artGallery at 69 Church St. in lenox, Massachusetts wherevarious selections of her work can be seen throughout theyear. Chandler will be one of the featured artists in the up-coming exhibition "abstrakt" from July 30th through octo-ber 4th.

Chandler offers private gallery visits at her personal stu-dio/gallery by appointment only...please call either numberlisted below. a new member of 510 Warren Street Galleryin Hudson, ny., her fine art photography can now beviewed Friday and Saturday 12 - 5, and Sunday 12-5 or byappointment.

Denise B Chan-dler, Studio &Gallery visits by ap-pointment only. 415new Lenox Rd,Lenox, MA. Pleasecall 413-637-2344or 413-281-8461(cell). Website:denisebchandler.comemail: [email protected]

Barn © deniSe B CHandler

GeOffreY MOSS BarnS redux

lauren Clark Fine artPerplexed, a collector of Geoffrey Moss’s work, and a

friend, — as so often that kind of relationship fosters —-chal-lenged the artist for not remaining with one subject, the sub-jects he owned.

Moss, not one to relinquish influences of his Vermont un-dergraduate liberal arts roots and yale’s instructional intensity,quipped….”impossible… there’s so much out there to examineand rearrange…”

Certainly Moss’s works on paper and paintings are stylisti-cally recognizable if only for their off centered themes; res-olutely “american,” a compulsively -centered awareness ofnew england isolation, always a reverence for drawing todemonstrate to us the process, adjustments, the moving of paintover paint, color interaction, intricate virtuosity avoided when-ever possible.

now gallery goers particularly curious to connect withMoss’s perpetual re-engagement with the “anatomy of every-thing” can see works dedicated to local barns; a series inprogress for more than 20 years documenting our disappearingarchitecture; welcomed back by his long-time dealer, laurenClark.

Lauren Clark Fine Art - 25 Railroad Street, Great Barring-ton, Massachusetts, 413-528-0432.


GeoFFrey MoSS, 2 BarnS, 12 x 12”, oil on CanVaS

Harryet Candee: Why have you called your exhi-bition of new work at the Covered Bridge Galleryin West Cornwall (above the Pottery Store) “ForLove of the Land?”Sybil Perry: i was making large abstract oil paint-ings when we moved to this tri-state area. theland’s beauty soon beckoned to me, particularly thewild areas. i have a strong need to be a part of na-ture’s seasonal rhythms. the smell of fresh-cutgrass and the sight of a starry night sky nourish me.observing the land puts me in closer touch. it re-freshes me. My art is a response to the call i getfrom the land to go outside and play. i never tire oftrees, such magnificent beings. they can be deli-cate, or hold such quiet power, or burst with energy.the paintings in pastel, my exciting new medium,grow as explorations of layers of color. they areinspired by images gathered out-of-doors and thencompleted in my studio.

Eric Sloane said: “When we touch the earth, we

experience time past and time present. Miracles oflife, like the seed, are evidence of something largerthan ourselves.” Sybil, I read this quote in your written explanationof your art process. Can you explain why you feelthis quote reflects your personal feelings on creat-ing art and celebrating being alive and surroundedby nature?Sybil: Mr. Sloane celebrated the same things as ido in nature. i celebrate them when i paint and alsowhen i design or take care of clients’ gardens—twothings i fully enjoy. one time i was weeding in tallflowers, and when i stood up i felt i was attachedmomentarily by a thread to something high in thesky. this strong feeling lasted several minutes. i’llnever forget it.

Discipline is very important as an artist and so wepick up these ways of learning… “You must stickwith it,” “Stop and step back to see your work,”and so forth. What techniques have you felt you

had to teach yourself? Sybil: do i schedule myself to paint daily? do ithink of it as a job similar to any other person’sjob? in my experience, the discipline of getting intothe studio and being present is key. My routine isto sit quietly facing the easel in the morning wheni am fresh—often with my cup of coffee. i workvery hard when i am painting. i use everything ihave ever absorbed that has interested me. Some-times i even get wonderful ideas, “aha” moments,often when in the shower! to me, each painting isa new beginning where i try for something that isbeyond attainment.

You mention on your website that you love workingin color. Have you studied the nude or still life incharcoal, pencil, or other black and white media?What was the feeling for you going from black andwhite to color, if this is the case? How did the de-velopment to color transpire for you?Sybil: yes, i drew the nude in pencil, charcoal, and

ArTiST SYBil PerrYInterview by Harryet Candee


Sybil Perry, Around The Bend, Pastel on paper, 17" x 17" 2014

pen & ink. i especially loved using a rapidographpen to draw figures. it was so freeing! But you canmake no mistakes—this ink is permanent! Makingthe transition to color was very difficult for me. iwould do a complete pencil drawing and then tryto paint over it. then the drawing was lost. i beganpainting seriously doing landscapes in watercolor,while painting with a friend who was very accom-plished. My paintings that first year all turned tomud! But watching her paint was an inspiration.later, after taking classes, i painted clothed as wellas nude figures in watercolor. the colors in the skinreally fascinated me, particularly black skin wherei saw purples, deep blues and maroons. i painted afellow student’s head one day before the professor

arrived. He looked at the finished piece, which hewanted to have, and said, “But i thought i wasblack!”

It’s very inspiring to watch the energy come forthand show itself when you have pastel sticks in yourhand and paper in front of you. It must be amazingto you at certain times, as if some power is guidingyou along the way. Do you feel this is true, Sybil?Sybil: How do i do this? i can paint but i can’t doit alone. in making art, i feel connected. it’s a senseof expansion. i feel we are somehow partnered inways that we cannot see. there is something that“calls us to work.” i love to think of it as playingwith the colors. Sometimes something magical

happens. i recently finished a large pastel and hada mat made. only when i taped the painting behindthe mat and looked at it from a distance did i noticea huge wolf face staring out of the trees at me. ihadn’t seen it before. i don’t know what the mes-sage to me is. Many people won’t notice him.they’ll bring their own personal story to it, whichis fine. i left him there. Maybe someone will seehim and connect.

How is art a form of spirituality for you? Does ac-tual religion come into play for you? or is it some-thing innate that you feel between you and thesubject?Sybil: the painting itself comes out of solitude in


Sybil Perry, Morning Ride, Pastel on paper, 17" x 17" 2014 Sybil Perry, Around The Bend, Pastel on paper, 17" x 17" 2014

Sybil PerryFavorite Route, Pastel on paper15" x 18" 2015

Continued on next page....

the studio, when i am meditating in worship. dailyspiritual guidance sometimes comes as a hunch, ina conversation i’ve recently had with others, assomething i have dreamed, or even a still, smallvoice. on the other hand, it quite often happenswhen i am actually standing up there painting, andsomething i thought i was painting changes and be-comes something else. i want it to become some-thing i had not quite expected! that is what iwelcome, because i know it came from somewhereelse, rather than from me. i can only recognize theunexpected after it has happened. i cannot make ithappen. When it does, another world opens up be-fore me, one that is full of mystery. When the pieceworks well, it frees itself from time and space.

What are some of your earliest memories as a childexploring something beautiful for the first time? Doyou ever bring back memories to help you createart? S: i remember my family’s summer home on aclear lake in northern Wisconsin. Perhaps i learned

my love of nature there. My father taught me fish-ing, both on rivers and back lakes, with a castingrod as well as a fly rod. i remember floating alongon a small raft looking down at the sunfish nestscloser to shore. i learned how to live happily along-side huge snapping turtles, and i learned just ex-actly where the sandbars were. i knew why all theducks went out in the middle of the lake at night.it was full of magical memories. at a later time, iintroduced our three boys to that lake.

Do you prefer a certain season for making art? Sybil: not really. all the seasons are good ones. ithink painting is mysterious, glorious, dangerous,costly. Whatever else it is, it’s not easy. it only hap-pens when it is welcomed into the life of the artistand her world. My adventure is in the work itself.When not painting, i feel disconnected from thecore of my being. i now want to bring into formsomething just beyond my reach. What exactly doi hear or see? i am just a channel to what wishes tobe born. Can i be open to the painting that wants

to happen? i’m looking for what’s invisible to theeye, something more than i’ve ever painted in thepast. that is my wish for all seasons.

other than the earlier quote, can you give us aquote that you can relate to and wish others to beaware of?Sybil: Martha Graham said: “deep in your soul lies a blood memory which maybe 2000 years old. it will carry you into an area thatis not your present habitual habit—but far beyondwhat you know. art can be a way to express the in-expressible—to go beyond the instant. you findthat which speaks to you and you act on it.”

s


Sybil Perry At The Footbridge, Pastel on paper, 20" x 16" 2015

Sybil PerryIn The Shade, Pastel on paper, 16 1/2" x 13 1/2" 2015

ArTiST SYBil PerrY

in Winged Vessel a, 48 x 60 inch oil painting on canvas,Jennifer Pazienza invites the viewer to consider beauty,memory and recreation in her painting practice. She ex-plains:

“We were celebrating Canada’s year of Craft when afriend brought me a lovely, unassuming Peter Powning ce-ramic work to paint from. no bigger than eight inchesacross and six inches high. i instantly fell in love with it!i made a dozen or so drawings in charcoal and oil onMylar, but knew it had to be bigger.”

Why that vessel? you had been working with otherPowning pieces. “Good question. at the time i had beenreading elaine Scarry’s book, on Beauty and Being Justwhere she tells us that beauty prompts recreation, it makesus draw it, paint it, or take photographs of it, write poetryor songs for example. as well as seek for its precedents.

after making Winged Vessel, and all the others, iwanted to test the veracity of Scarry’s ideas. in a momentof purposeful reflection my mind wandered back in timeto an image of ingrid Bergman in the movie notorious. a

striped top with cropped sleeves and a partially baremidriff moved into consciousness. We rented the movieand indeed she does wear such a top! But it’s the memoryof her character i think, that most comes through inWinged Vessel, the sense of something about to happen,something about to take flight.”

Jennifer Pazienza’s work is held in Public, Private andCorporate Collections in the uS, Canada and italy. WingedVessel and others are part of the Berkshire Collection, agroup show at the St. Francis Gallery in South lee, Mathrough october 25.Jennifer Pazienza - http://jenniferpazienza.com; [email protected]

PArAdiSe CiTY ArTSfeSTiVAl

ColuMBuS day WeekendThe Boston Globe declared it “Wild and Wonderful”,

the Hartford Courant called it “a Mecca for art lovers”and AmericanStyle named it the #1 art and Craft Show inamerica. the Paradise City arts Festival in northamptonmarks its 21st year as new england’s premier showcase forfine and functional art, with a breadth of exhibitors and ac-tivities that will keep you enthralled and entertained allweekend long!

it’s also american Craft Week, which brings togetherorganizations from all fifty states in recognition of thecountless ways handmade objects enrich our daily lives andcontribute to our national aesthetic and economy. ParadiseCity is proud to be a Celebration Sponsor of american CraftWeek.

Meet 260 outstanding painters, sculptors and master craftdesigners from nearly 30 states. the Festival dining tentprovides mouthwatering food prepared by some ofnorthampton’s finest chefs. local restaurants serve up ex-otic curries, pad thai, BBQ ribs, wood-fired pizza, freshlobster rolls, pulled pork sliders, dim sum, locavore burg-ers, overstuffed burritos, mango lassi, warm apple crisp andhomemade ice cream.

the Soundstage welcomes new orleans-style jazz fromthe Paradise Jazz Group on Saturday; the SpampinatoBrothers, known for their years in nrBQ, on Sunday; andoriginal music, blues and country rock by the inimitableroger Salloom Band on Columbus day.

a delectable themed exhibition “eat, drink and BeMerry!” gives you fresh and savory ideas forentertaining. From the objects we use to prepare and serveour food to the environments we create in which to enjoyit, this themed exhibit features delectable works cooked upin the studios of Paradise City’s artists. as Julia Child said,“People who love to eat are always the best people.” Plus,the Festival’s Silent art auction features hundreds of beau-tiful and valuable pieces donated by the exhibiting artists,and 100% of the proceeds benefit WGBy Public televisionfor Western new england.no wonder Boston Magazine declares, “the Paradise Cityarts Festival has a vibrant soul that many similar exhibi-tions reach for but never attain... a unique visual arts insti-tution!”

Paradise City Arts Festival, october 10, 11 & 12, atnorthampton’s 3 County Fairgrounds, on old Ferry Roadoff Rt. 9. From the Mass Pike, take exit 4 to I-91 north toExit 19. For complete show and travel information and dis-count admission coupons, visit www.paradisecityarts.comor call 800-511-9725.

Jennifer PAzienzAWinGed VeSSel


riCH dunBraCk, arCHiteCtural CloCk, 8 Ft. HeiGHt

“To uncover the character’sinner thoughts is

the actor’s major quest.”-B. MacDonald

“The people in the cheaper seats clap your hands. And the rest of you, just rattle your jewelry.”

-John Lennon

Alison Larkin is the bestselling author of The Eng-lish American, an acclaimed comedienne, an awardwinning audiobook narrator, a classically trained ac-tress who has appeared on and off Broadway and themother of two teenagers. She lives in the Berkshires.I first met Alison when we were in BTG’s produc-

tion at the Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield, MA., (di-rected by Travis Daly), “Oliver Twist,” a few yearsago. I enjoyed watching her spring to life and feltdrawn to her friendly nature, and especially, love hersing-song British voice that she can easily change ata heart-beat to a Southern bell accent. ...There is a reason for that.

Harryet Candee: Your novel The English Americansprang from your autobiographical one-womanshow. it tells the story of an adopted english womanwho finds her birth parents—and a whole lot more—in the united States. how much is fiction and howmuch isn’t?

Alison Larkin: like Pippa, the heroine of my novel, iwas adopted from Washington dC as a baby and raisedin england and africa by loving english parents. likePippa, when i found my birth parents—who are alsofree-spirited, creative americans—it answered keyquestions about myself that freed me up to go ahead andcreate a life i truly love.

However, while Pippa’s journey in many ways mir-rors my own, in many ways it doesn’t. For example, idon’t have a non-adopted sister, a dad who works in theforeign office, a dog called Boris, a mysterious loverwho e-mails me from Hong kong or a penchant for Fignewtons. the list goes on. in other words, it’s fiction.

Were you an outgoing child? Or were you shy? Alison: Both. i still am actually. i do like to chat withpeople when i am out and about, but my friendships arealways one-on-one, and i need to spend time alone. ican’t stand small talk and i avoid parties and large gath-erings whenever possible.

The english American was a Redbook magazineBook Club Pick of the Month and a Vogue magazineMost Powerful Book of the Season, and people loveit. Why do you think it’s been so successful?Alison: the “who am i, what do i want, what is my pur-pose” question is one we all ask, adopted or not. Howmuch of us is nature, how much is nurture, and howmuch is individual choice? that’s a universal question.Plus my publisher, Simon and Schuster, really got be-hind it. Plus it’s got short chapters, and people don’thave time to read long ones anymore. i was reallythrilled when my book did well enough for us to be ableto move to the Berkshires.

Are you writing a new book? if so, what is it about?Alison: i just finished a new draft of my second novel.My new heroine is in her 50’s and fled to america yearsbefore the story begins because of something that hap-pened to her in england—we find out what during thecourse of the book. She’s a witty, slightly eccentric Miss

AliSOn lArKinAuThOr / COMedienne

Interview by Harryet Candee Photography by Sabine von Falken


Marple type, and she gets the love story, which is prettyepic, and directly affected by one of the secrets at theheart of the story.

You were a classical actress and playwright in eng-land. Soon after meeting your birth mother you be-came a stand-up comic in new York. how did thathappen? Alison: a few weeks after meeting my birth parents, istood up at a comedy club in nyC and said “Hallo. Myname is alison larkin and i come from Bald Mountain,tennessee.” the audience laughed. i didn’t have anyoneelse to talk to about what had just happened so i decidedi might as well tell them. the beauty of stand-up com-edy is that you can say anything you want, as long asyou can figure out a way to make it funny.

So what kind of things did you say?Alison: “i think everyone should be adopted. that wayyou can meet your birth parents when you’re old enoughto cope with them.” and “the whole adoption agencything is a bit of a lottery. you never know who you’regoing to get as parents. i got lucky. then again, if i’dbeen adopted by Mia Farrow, today i could be marriedto Woody allen.” and “the key to dealing with a fearof abandonment? date people you don’t like, so if theydo leave you it doesn’t matter.”

Your first one-woman show, which was a combina-tion of stand-up and theater played to packedhouses, received high critical acclaim on both side ofthe Atlantic. in the show you played yourself, youradoptive english mother, your southern Americanbirth mother and yourself. What made you decide towrite it?Alison: i couldn’t figure out a clearer way to answer thequestion, “Why did someone from a happy adoptivefamily need to find her birth parents?” Plus it gave methe opportunity to explore the differences between eng-land and america through comedy.

Performances of yours have raised hundreds of thou-sands of dollars for different organizations. Your latestshow, Alison Larkin LIVE! previewed to a packedhouse at the Mahaiwe last May. Was that a benefit per-formance?Alison: yes. i performed the show to raise money forthe Montessori School of the Berkshires ScholarshipFund. not many people know this, but they have a greatadolescent program for 7th and 8th grades, which i feltdeserved real support.

So, how did you find your birth parents? Were youshocked by the success of actually finding them?Alison: it would take a novel to answer that question.oh—wait! i’ve written one!

did any of your parents support your creativity? Alison: My english parents were very encouragingabout my flute playing and singing and acting, but theywere rather bewildered by my interest in writing. Mybirth parents had both worked with writers all their livesand they read some of what i’d written—in which i hadvery little confidence—and encouraged me, whichhelped a lot.

i am just wondering, and this may not be a fair ques-tion, but do you consider yourself english or Amer-ican? Alison: i consider myself an american with a British ac-cent and a Brit with american enthusiasm levels. Wheni’m english i apologize for things i didn’t do. But wheni’m an american i blame it all on you…

You’ve narrated over 100 audiobooks, many of themnew York Times bestsellers. You narrated Au-diofile’s best non-fiction audiobook of the year, Con-sider the fork by Bee Wilson, and won severalawards for your narration of your own novel, Theenglish American. What are some of your favoriterecent narrations?Alison: i’m delighted to have taken over for one of myfavorite British actresses, Penelope keith, as the newnarrator of the agatha raisin mystery series by M.C.Beaton. and i’m thrilled to have narrated the 200th an-niversary audiobook editions of Pride and Prejudice andemma by Jane austen, alice in Wonderland and mostrecently the Secret adversary by agatha Christie,which are part of a new series of British classic audio-books i’m narrating called alison larkin Presents.

So Alison larkin, also known as the english Ameri-can, will be bringing the British classics to a newAmerican audience! With humor no doubt?

Alison: yes! Jane austen’s novels are often narratedwith great earnestness, but they are actually very funny.lewis Carroll and agatha Christie’s novels are also fullof humor. i am particularly excited to have the oppor-tunity to bring the British classics to an american audi-ence in a fun and accessible way.

Are they available to download?Alison: yes. you can listen to a sample and get a 30%discount if you order via www.alisonlarkin.com

“We have all a better guide in ourselves, if we wouldattend to it, than any other person can be.” JaneAusten, Pride and Prejudice. Why is that one of your favorite Jane Austen quotes?Alison: Because it’s true. Jane austen is saying that ifwe listen to our own inner voice, instead of simply as-suming that other people know better than we do, we’llget the answers we need. Continued on next page...


Alison is joyfully at work! Photograph by Sabine von Falken


AliSOn lArKin Author / Comedienne

Alison Larkin ...Just Get Me to the Theatre On Time....

photo: Sabine von Falken

how did you get into the audiobook work? Alison: When the english american won an audioFileearphones award, tantor audio, now a division ofrecorded Books, told me that if i would commit torecording a certain number of books a year from them,they would set me up with a home studio and teach methe technical side of things. it’s much easier narratingother people’s books than writing your own so i saidyeS! that was in 2012. i’ve been doing it ever since.

Who else do you record books for?Alison: Macmillan, Blackstone, Brilliance, HarperCollins, random House, dreamscape, Mind’s eye, dis-ney, Penguin, BMa and British Classic audio to namea few.

Back to acting. Your first solo show was a hit on bothsides of the Atlantic. everyone adores you for yourwit and honesty and willingness to talk about thingsmost people don’t talk about. Would you want to stilltake on a serious acting role for a theatre production

here or in england, if offered one? That would meanbringing up your formal training skills and workingwith other actors. how would you feel about this?Alison: My last serious acting role was on Broadway in1997, in a play called Stanley with the royal nationaltheater, starring anthony Sher. it was a four-month runand directed by John Caird, who directed les Miser-ables. i loved the rehearsal period—but honestly, havingto say the same lines night after night after night for fourmonths was excruciating. i much prefer the freedomthat writing and performing my own material brings.

Having said that, performing solo and recording au-diobooks solo can be quite lonely, so i’d probably beopen to working in a play again, especially if the scriptand part were really strong. and especially if i didn’thave to leave my kids. or the Berkshires. or drive toofar. or spend too much time away from writing my newbook.

Where did you perform as a stand-up, and whowith?Alison: i was a regular at the Comic Strip and the

Boston Comedy Club in nyC, and at the Comedy Storein la, and was in the line-up with daveChappelle, rodney dangerfield and andrew dice Clay,who introduced me the first night i appeared at theComedy Store.

how did you discover the Berkshires? When wasthat?Alison: Five years ago. When my kids were born, de-spite the fact that i had a busy career in la, i couldn’tfigure out how to raise thoughtful, happy kids and bein the entertainment industry. So we moved to new Jer-sey. Which was a mistake. i had highly creative kids andwe were surrounded by people whose main goal in lifewas to land a steady job in a pharmaceutical company.

the crunch came when my neighbor, horrified that ihad an obama sign on my front lawn, came over to meand said “But obama’s an elitist! He went to Harvard,”as if this were a bad thing. i had a friend who lived inthe Berkshires who suggested i check it out. it was Feb-ruary and snowing. everyone told me not to come up inFebruary, so i came up in February. i felt something

shift when i got out of the car on railroad street. theni checked out the schools and Shakespeare and Com-pany and tanglewood and Butternut, and i knew i’dfound the place i wanted to raise my kids. We moved tothe Berkshires in 2010.

You sing beautifully. Tell me about your dnA song,which has had over 10,000 views! Alison: i think the laws which currently prohibitadopted people and people conceived through anony-mous sperm and egg donation from knowing the truthabout their origins are hurting the people they were al-legedly designed to protect, i.e. the kids who becomeadults. i wanted people to understand why i think it’sappalling, and i figured the most concise way would beto write a song about it. So i did.

Can you share some lyrics?Alison: “they say the genes count for a lot, and i’m notmeaning levi’s, from ‘Can you roll your tongue?’ to‘Can you roll your eyes?’ to ‘Will you be a diabetic?Will you have a stroke?’ When medicine can save a lifeit stops being a joke.” etc etc. then “every child borntoday deserves to know their dna.” you can get to itvia my website or by Googling alison larkin dnasong.

You’re such a busy lady! do you ever find yourselfsitting quietly and just thinking, or would you be

bored by that? i would!Alison: i don’t have time to sit much these days—i workconstantly and have two teenage kids—but i do maketime to process things, which usually happens when i’mwalking or skiing or swimming in the StockbridgeBowl.

Apart from your kids, who i know you spend a lotof time with, what truly makes you happy, Alison?Alison: traveling somewhere new, where there is a verydifferent culture, like Hong kong. or it will, when ihave time to do it.

Singing songs from musicals, or the 30’s and 40’s,and traditional Scottish and irish music. Finding some-one in the Berkshires who also likes to sing this kind ofmusic would make me very, very happy, but so far thepals i’ve made like much cooler music than i. they’rehip—i’m hop.

other things that make me happy? Chocolate, otherpeople’s cooking, listening to music, silence, great po-etry, swimming in the Stockbridge Bowl, looking at thesky and, to quote dorothy Parker, although “i hate writ-ing, i love having written.”

Are you searching for something to fulfill your life? Alison: i have wonderful kids, work and a life i love.What could be more fulfilling than that? a few morelike-minded friends maybe. But there are only so manyhours in a day.

if you were to learn something totally new and freshfrom the start, what would it be, and why?Alison: i’d learn to paint… not sure why.

if you were to bring a handful of British people overto live in the Berkshires, and a handful of Americansto live in england, what important ideas would youneed them to know beforehand? What would you tellthem?Alison: to the Brits i’d say: “it’s quite safe. no one’sgoing to laugh at you. you can be yourself here.” to the americans i’d say: “if the Brits put down yourenthusiasm or try to force you to conform to a more tra-ditional way of thinking, get on a plane and comehome.”

how can people get in touch with you, book you foran event, listen to your audiobooks or learn moreabout you?Alison: they can reach me through my website, whichis www.alisonlarkin.com. i’d love to hear from any ofyour readers; especially if they’d like to sing!

Thank you, Alison! See’ya later for tea!


Alison Larkin ...Made It to the Mahaiwe ...How lovely is this? photo: Sabine von Falken

ArieS (March 20 - April 19)you certainly have plenty to do and you’re motivated to get itdone. What’s essential is that you bring your imagination toyour work rather than just your time, effort and focus. there’sa purpose to what you’re doing, and the way to keep in contactwith that purpose is to allow in the creative element all thetime. this may run contrary to what colleagues and coworkersare doing; they seem to have ideas of their own, and they mayseem obsessed with something that misses the mark. there-fore, you’re the person who must interject the element of thatspecial something that keeps the project meaningful. Be subtleabout this. there are ways to add the magic elixir that are notquite obvious, though you do have the advantage of under-standing the original purpose of whatever you’re doing. thatsaid, and collaborations aside for a moment, this can be an in-credibly productive and moreover creative month for you.Make sure you leave yourself enough time and space to focuson your own individual priorities, both professional and cre-ative. don’t let work commitments siphon off all your energy,ideas and motivation; make sure you take a little somethinghome every night after work, and that you focus on your ownpriorities. that means projects, but it also means people -- es-pecially after Mercury stations direct on the 9th.

TAuruS (April 19 - May 20)regarding your work-related endeavors, make sure you in-clude the most important element: yourself. you seem to be in-volved in a project that leaves out some essential element ofyour talent. only you can incorporate that; it’s the essence ofprofessionalism in a field where you care about what you’redoing. it’s not up to bosses, editors, directors or colleagues tomake that happen. only you can show up with that one ingre-dient that only you can bring. alternately, it may be that you’reseeking to add this element to your life and work, and now is

an excellent time to do that -- especially if you’re interested ingetting paid for your creativity. Seen one way, your charts tellthe story of ‘professionalizing’ your innate talents. Most peopletake the opposite approach -- they sell out on what they reallywant to do, and put all their energy into what they think willsupport them financially. you cannot and must not compromisehere, but that runs in two directions. the first is making surethat you consider what you love the most as a viable job. theother is making sure that you bring your most authentic cre-ativity into whatever you do, as a day-to-day discipline. thatmeans putting love, care and real ideas into whatever youtouch. Purpose is inherent in who you are, and it can be inher-ent in everything that you do.

GeMini (May 20 - June 21)if you’re looking for that brilliant idea that’s going to ring thebell, you’re heading in the right direction (though it may notseem that way). Proceed with mindfulness and take the ap-proach of doing things one step at a time. Be meticulous. donot skip steps, especially involving communication with col-laborators. if you find something that needs fixing, get to itnow, so that it’s not there to distract or delay you in the future.you may not believe it now, but you’re working toward some-thing that’s on a larger scale than you’re accustomed to. youare doing something that has the ability to resonate with others,and you may have been working toward this for a long time.it may be a new project, or it may be an existing one (datingback up to 18 months or so) whose time has come. i suggestyou experiment with both existing and new projects and seewhat resonates. that’s the concept to work with -- resonance.this same astrology may involve a relationship, and if it does,the resonance i’m talking about is specifically creative-erotic.i am not saying romantic. i’m not saying soulmate. i’m notsaying hookup. i’m saying that rare morph of adventurous,

nourishing pleasure that is available to you just about every-where and with more people than you might imagine. thoughfew will admit it, this is the good stuff. really good.

CAnCer (June 21 - July 22)the developing theme of your charts is about writing, whichis great if you consider yourself a writer. under that scenario,the next year of your life can be a bonanza of collecting onlong-delayed ideas, stories you’ve been brewing, or projectsthat have needed that extra burst of energy or resources tomake them happen. i would remind you that there is a confi-dence issue you’re working with -- and it’s one that you’re fi-nally in a position to work out. Seen one way, i’m talking abouthaving faith in yourself. But there is a practical element in-volved. Confidence is the elusive state of mind where you alignyour motivation, your abilities and a specific idea that youwant to express. the keyword is specific. Specific as opposedto generic, vague, foggy or uncertain. Work with focus and pre-cision on the idea, or element of an idea, that you’re develop-ing. Give it time and patience. Work with the past and notagainst it. i would remind you that, though you may not fancyyourself a writer or even an idea person, the digital environ-ment has swallowed us all like high tide at the Bay of Fundy.We walk, breathe and swim in a universe of ideas, of words,of images and of communication. to be a massage therapistyou must be your own publicist. ride with that tide.

leO (July 22 - July 23)you have the opportunity over the next two months to reor-

ganize and align your finances with your true pur-pose in life. this is sometimes calledintegrity. i would second that motion. along

the way to doing this, the details matter -- andthey matter quite a bit. if you pretend they’re

not a factor or skip them over, you will get re-sults in the short term but undermine yourself in

the long run. What you now have is the potentialto establish yourself financially as a well-rooted

perennial plant, more like a tree and less like amarigold. as you do this, it’s essential that you be

mindful of self-limiting ideas and habits. it’s true that you’rea leo and that your planet is really the star at the center of thesolar system. But you have a way of thinking in miniature.Miniature works just fine as long as it’s intended as a test, oras a scale model of something larger. So think in terms of scale,and how you might develop an idea into something thatreaches farther and wider than you’re accustomed to working.one priority over the next year is going to be improving yourincome, and you seem strongly inclined to do this on the ‘rightlivelihood’ approach to existence. this is possible, though ittakes a combination of intelligence, actual thought, courageand action.

VirGO (Aug 23 - Sept 23)Jupiter is now in your sign -- joined by Venus and Mars. youhave every reason to feel good about yourself, though it wouldseem that in recent weeks you’ve either had your doubts, oryou’ve committed to letting go of them. What exactly is thisabout? one thing to keep an eye on is your concern about oth-ers disrupting your life, or the power of their personality dom-inating you. this can have a way of making you feel like lessthan who and what you are, which in turn can have a way ofmaking you doubt yourself or your value in someone’s eyes.Here is the thing: the force of others’ personalities will be anincreasing factor in your life for the foreseeable future. youwill need to respond consciously -- and you have options. themost important one is to learn how to engage people who in-timidate you in conversation. i recognize that society is beingswallowed by utter panic at the mere thought of going off-script, though this is an art you must master. once you get goodat engaging these high-energy personalities in a dialog, theywill cease to be scary. the other bit is being comfortable withpeople who express desire for you. you have many options forhow to respond; though among them, fear is neither useful,helpful nor empowering. Many better choices exist.

Planet Waves October 2015 Eric Francis


liBrA (Sept 22 - Oct 23)one theme of the past couple of years that is worth consideringis the way in which you’ve had to dismantle your ideas aboutrelationships. Most people cling to their relational conceptswith little or no thought; many circumstances have conspiredto make that nearly impossible for you. the absence of pre-dictability has compelled you to stay in the moment, seeminglyas a matter of survival. We are all under enormous pressure toconform to rules of relating that few people have actuallythought through and that most people violate. What’s vital isthat you honor your actual tendencies in relationships. notwhat you think you should do, or what others told you that youshould do, but what you actually want and how you actuallyfeel. if you’re paying attention you will see that this is anevolving set of values, and in truth every relationship is the re-sult of an energy pattern you make with another person. Whichbrings us to a deeper question -- your relationship to yourself.it’s now vital that you remember that how you treat yourselfmatters. it sets the tone for the rest of your life. there are facetsof this understanding that have come with difficult lessons,ones that it’s not necessary to repeat, if you would rememberthem. they point to something much better -- the joy of beingyour own person.

SCOrPiO (Oct 23 - Nov 22)Messages coming from your solar chart suggest you’re beingcalled on some bold adventures. yet you may be feeling sometension between your desire to create something beautiful andyour fear of being judged or seen through, or the feeling thatyou’re faking something. the only way to get beyond that kindof paradox is to take a chance on yourself. at a certain pointyou will need to decide that who you are is beyond judgmentand reproach, which is another way of saying that you’re notworried what people think about you or what you do. But youcannot have it both ways; you can’t transcend judgment andalso respond to people as if they’re your parents. therefore, ifyou’re going to create something, or feel something, youwould need to give yourself enough space to feel and think andbe, without stepping in as your own critic before you’re evenfinished. an example of this would be choosing not to dosomething because you know it won’t come out well. the wayto take another path is to allow yourself to be guided by yourown curiosity, without concerning yourself in advance withwhat you will find. rather, take each discovery as it comes,and consider what it teaches you; consider its particular pleas-ure or invitation to something deeper. the art studio and thegallery are different things with different purposes.

SAGiTTAriuS (Nov 22 - Dec 22)Saturn is now in your sign, which in a word is about maturity.as you experience the effects, the benefits and the challengesof this transit (which will last until late 2017), remember some-thing -- the world is in a crisis of maturity. Perhaps inthe past too much was made of the requirement togrow up and be an adult. today too little is madeof it. Particularly in the united States, and to agrowing extent in other countries, weare encouraged to stay im-mature and to overlookanything that requiresserious thought or self-reflection. this is a self-serving scenario -- like fratboys encouraging one another todrink, the better to pretend it’s not aproblem. there are ways in which Sat-urn will seem to limit you, to hamper yourfreedom and to rein in your choices. this will help you factorout what is not necessary. there is an essential benefit to theefficiency and focus that you will gain under this transit. theone truly valuable gift you can give yourself is to be your ownauthority. it may not seem so thrilling today, but in the end youwill be grateful that you’ve stepped up to the honor of takingresponsibility for your own choices, your own necessities, yourown idea of who you are and what you want to become. if youlet that guide you, you will do brilliantly. remember: Saturnalways gives more than it takes away.

CAPriCOrn (Dec 22 - Jan 20)Consider the concept of inner freedom -- that is, the freedomto be honest about who you are and what you feel within thespace of your own thoughts. this is typically the first freedomsacrificed to control devices such as shame and guilt. often

these sacrifices are passed down the generations like some pre-cious inheritance, only to leave people bound and hamperedand barely able to move around the world. Saturn moving intoSagittarius, your solar 12th house, describes a phase of yourlife when you can and indeed must reclaim your inner freedom.By this i mean freedom from dysfunctional beliefs, denial, re-ligiosity, guilt and false ideas of purity. i also mean freedomto think and feel what you want within the sanctity of your ownmind, undaunted by the many expectations that have been putupon you, and that you’ve often internalized. ireckon that in learning to give yourself the freedomto actually be yourself, you will hold sacred thefreedom of others to be themselves. in encounteringsuch a profound inner confrontation, i reckon youwill observe that the meeting places between differ-ent people are small, and delicate, and deserve to behonored. as you learn to honor your own distinction,your own difference from others, you will honor their dif-ference from you and, in the process, finally recognize howmuch you have in common.

AQuAriuS (Jan 20 feb 19)there is a place for you in the world. there’s a place for every-one who wants one. the reason why is that the world is con-stantly changing, if for no other reason than people die and areborn every day. What seems to remain consistent are the pat-terns of society, but even those change, if ever slowly. yourrole is to establish patterns that are consistent with your ideasand your approach to life, recognizing the imminent necessitiesof our moment -- and to do this in the public forum known asthe culture. as you proceed, there are two things to be mindfulof. one is that the most essential patterns to observe and workwith are in your own mind. the mind truly is a microcosm offamily, of society and of the global condition, all of which arein upheaval now. Second is that rather than innovating some-thing new, you’re more likely to be updating something tradi-tional, something well-established or time-honored. you aretaking something that has already existed and modifying it fora new context. originality is not an actual value, since nearlyeverything is derivative. yet the retrieval of something func-

tional, something that works, in a new context, is originalenough for anyone whose goal is to get the job done rather thanto make a splash. there is work to do. do it well, and workjoyfully.

PiSCeS (Feb 19 - Mar 20)you have recently passed through one phase of an initiationwhich had the effect of demonstrating your commitment to the

truth. i don’t mean the truth in some mysti-cal sense, but rather your commitment towhat you know. this initiation will last

for a while, and proceed as you take on ever-greater challenges in the world. i suggestyou consciously embrace and love everyminute, day, week and month of it. as aPisces you tend to take things on faith.this, however, creates some famouslyskeptical people, who are in reaction. isuggest you view the faith versus factissue as an equation where both sideswill eventually balance. if something is

valid and authentic, it will probably stand up both to a test offaith and also to an examination of the data. Probably, but notdefinitely. there are times when a set of facts will point to anabsurd conclusion, and times when faith will bear out a pointof view that is otherwise not supported by known reality. youmust therefore be gentle and avoid coming to quick conclu-sions. the beauty of your sign is that it grants the ability to becircumspect, which means to look around the whole circle ofexistence. keep an open mind, and pay attention to what bothyour senses and your intuition tell you. in general, pay atten-tion.

read eric francis daily on planetwaves.net

artiSt eleAnOr lOrd

510 Warren Street, HudSon, ny WWW.510WArrenSTreeTGAllerY.COM

518-822-0510


“Every child is anartist, the problem isstaying an artist when

you grow up.”-Pablo Picasso

frank Gioia––local writer, storyteller, actor, and play-wright––is an extraordinary person. hearing himvividly describe his moving and wildly improbable lifedraws you to the heart of what it means to have a pastthat might have limited you but instead propelled youinto some of the most inventive living yet devised. i metfrank a few years ago in rudi Bach’s acting class atMixed Company in Great Barrington. not long afterthat we started meeting for coffee to talk about writingand life, and i’m happy to say we still do. What followsis a record of one conversation we had earlier in thesummer at housie Market. it was a gorgeous day. Wesat outside, ate sandwiches, and chatted.

frank Gioia: So i’ve been working on this project for ayear now—this is the play set in the 50’s…about a youngboy and what happens to him as he becomes a teenager.How his life changes. and it’s based on my short stories.initially i wrote it with a narrator. i thought that i was fol-lowing in the footsteps of tennessee Williams or some-thing…

Amy Tanner: Why not?Frank: really. Why not? But recently while having a dis-cussion with a guy who’s a playwright, he brought to myattention that whenever the narrator speaks, the action onthe stage stops. which is really true. you have to give theactors something to do or they just stand there if the narra-tor is carrying on. So i decided to––

have you looked at Our Town?Frank: i read our Town twice.…and i read The GlassMenagerie twice. there’s four characters. tom, the son, isthe narrator in the play…i just, i mean i still have—

does action stop in The Glass Menagerie when hespeaks?Frank: no, because the way it’s set up, the narrator is acharacter in the play, and the staging is done in such a waythat he speaks when basically he’s alone. He goes out onthe fire escape. He’s having a cigarette. and he kind of just,speaks. there are a couple of sequences where his mother,amanda––where she might be involved in her own headspace; she might be staring at a photograph of her ex-hus-

band, so she’s involved in doing something. But i had a lotof narration in my play, and it came at any point, not at thebeginning of a scene or the end of a scene, it was kind oflike another character. So what i’ve done is i’ve given alot of that dialogue to the main character in the play,Frankie. and i’ve decided that, because i’ve had so muchdifficulty locating what i refer to as an italian voice, that iwill play my father and my grandfather, and that’ll give mesome of the joy of acting in it as well. So that’s the wayi’ve set it up in this draft that i’m working on.

at this point, having discovered that i had to change thenarration––i had just about finished the first act and thethought of rewriting it––well, i was disappointed, annoyed,depressed—you know. But as i started to do it, it reallywasn’t that difficult. the second act starts in the 1960s andelaborates on some of the other themes––what this youngboy, now twenty years old, needs to do to save his life. Sothat’s almost like the feel-good part to me. the first actstarts in a drug scene and ends in a drug scene and it’s—there is no feel good. it’s all bad. But i see it as a completestory, or a “memory play”, as tennessee Williams used tocall it. So i just have to see how it plays out as i continueto write, continue to collaborate––because i’m still collab-orating with Jody Green, which has been great. We’ve metonce a week for the last year over a lot of coffee and a cou-ple of beers and it’s really worked out.

is that’s what’s taking up the most room in your head?Frank: that’s it. although i have to say, just recently i’vebecome friends with a couple of women who do story-telling around the corner at deb’s (deb koffman’s artSpace), and i’ve felt a renewed interest in doing some moreof that. i did it for a year…i felt it really took a lot of en-ergy––

To perform regularly there?Frank: yeah. i felt like i really exposed myself…i wasdoing some storytelling in Pittsfield as well…and now Sixdepot is holding storytelling nights. So i’ll go to that andi’ll sit in the audience and see what it feels like. So i mightdecide to do a little bit of that again. Because i think it’spretty exciting stuff.

But the writing is really where i’ve been spending a lotof my time, and also i spend a lot of time gardening andplaying around with fruits and vegetables and flowers, andit’s kinda nice. i like it. it’s good for the body to move itaround, and it’s also relaxing for the mind, so it works outfor me, and i like that sense of accomplishment as well.you can work for a couple of hours in the garden, you lookand you see a difference. as opposed to writing…

You can work for a couple of hours and then erase itall…Frank: Because you know, writing is not instant gratifica-tion!

So…to get in the wayback machine…was writing yourfirst form of creative self-expression?Frank: no, i don’t think so. i think that my first form ofcreative self-expression was design.i can remember being 13 or 14 years old and being veryinvolved in the furnishings that my mother bought. i wouldgo to the furniture store and help her select these sillylamps, or whatever i thought at the time was attractive.and i always had the design interest, and in fact when iworked as a building contractor i worked with a lot ofclients on the design aspect of the work as well. then i gotinto designing gardens and commercial spaces and—

And is that after you owned your retail business?Frank: Before. i did retail, and designed my own line ofhandbags and carry bags and things of that nature, and ihad people who sewed them…and then when i retired iworked in the props shop at Shakespeare and Company fora year, just volunteering, hanging around with people wholiked the theatre, and hooked up with rudi Bach, and thewriting came along. in my 40s and 50s i started writing

frank’s Way- We Talk Playwriting And Other Things

Interview by Amy Tanner Photo by Sabine von Falken


short stories, just because some of my friends thought thatit would be fun to get together and read our stuff to eachother. and so we did. and i compiled this group of storiessome years ago; started hanging out with you and rudi andthose folks at class, started to do some more writing, andexplored that, and the acting and the storytelling. it’s justthat aesthetics is one of my interests.

it sounds like an important part of who and what youare.Frank: i think that’s true.

And you were in Vietnam, with such an aestheticsense…Why did you join the army?Frank: i didn’t have a lot of choices. at least i didn’t thinki had a lot of choices. i didn’t go to good high schools, ididn’t grow up in a neighborhood where people went tocollege. it was kind of like, people wanted to get out of theneighborhood, but there were very few avenues to do that.So some friends of mine decided they wanted to join thearmy, and they convinced me that it would be a good thing,that it would be good for me. i would get out, i would learna trade, i would be able to care for myself in the world.

Was this before the war?Frank: this was in January of 1963, so no one in this coun-try, unless they were in some sort of security or governmentjob or something, had even heard of Vietnam, much lessknown that there was a war going on there.

The war had started before it was common knowledge?Frank: the war started…eisenhower sent military advisorsto South Vietnam, i think in 59. Because there’s a historyof the first american being killed in 1959. i got there inSeptember of 1963, there were about 20,000 americantroops there. i was in a support capacity, so i was not asthreatened as people who went out in the field and tried toengage the enemy. But it was still scary. i was young. therewas a lot of—i don’t think they used the word “terrorism”then, but there were a lot of things that could happen toyou. if you drove someplace to pick up supplies, when yougot back to your truck it could be boobytrapped. Someone

could throw a hand grenade at you. the base you were atcould be mortared.

Plenty of ways to die. Frank: yeah. But i got lucky. i was fine. i did my time, andi don’t know that it turned my life around necessarily, butit changed it. it created a space in between, so that what ihad done prior to going into the army, i could look at thatas the past, and being out of the army, i could look at whatwas ahead of me as being the future, and they didn’t haveto be the same thing. So i think that was the benefit for me.it gave me an interval that got me away from those thingsthat were threatening my life.

And then you narrowly avoided getting drafted into theMafia.Frank: (laughter) and then i narrowly avoided gettingdrafted into the Mafia. it’s true. it’s true. i had met a guy—i mean—being italian in the 50’s in Brooklyn, there werepeople that were “connected.” and so i knew people whohad relatives—in fact I had a relative—who was “con-nected.” i had gone to high school with people who werein the Mafia in later years, and i met someone in the army,my friend Mikey, who wanted me to become a mafioso. Hehad been involved with these people from a very early age,and he wanted to take me to meet his Capo. in fact, he cameto my house and engaged me around that topic. after someconsideration i decided i didn’t wish to go that route. itcould have been more dangerous than Vietnam.

i thought it was violent, but the kind of violence youhad to inflict upon people who didn’t follow the rules ordidn’t pay their debts, or just because somebody decidedthat it was over for them and he wanted their territory orwhatever the case may be. and it was the young guys whohad to prove their mettle, so to speak; who were, you know,engaged to do these tasks. So i passed on that.

Sounds like a wise decision. So at some point you real-ized you had stories to tell. What was that like?Frank: you know, i would get a little nervous when i readmy stories with my friends; even with my close friends iwould get nervous. i had never really done that kind of

thing before. i had never acted in any high school plays oranything of that nature. and something happened to mewhen i was nine or ten. i was involved in a little productionin school that didn’t turn out right, and it scarred me for thelongest time. When rudi asked me to join the acting class,i wanted to do it, i really did, but i was extremely fright-ened. i didn’t know how my stuff would play, what peoplewould think of it…and i didn’t know how exposed youwould need to be to tell your stories, read your stories…as it turned out i always felt extremely safe. i always feltvery supported. i got really positive feedback from peo-ple…So for me it was really a winner, and continues to bea winner; i just––i really just love it. i’ve met a tremendousamount of people. i now have multi-generational friends,which i find very exciting. and it’s a good time. it’s reallyworked out.

does creating for you always feel good?Frank: does it always feel good? i think it feels good mostof the time. But surely not all of the time. the writingprocess is challenging. and you can write for a few hoursand not have anything to show for it, which can be verydisappointing. the getting up on stage process seems tocreate more anxiety, but it takes you to a level of excite-ment—it takes me to a level of excitement—that can beeven higher. So it’s kind of like, the more threatening it is,the more exciting it can be. But sure, i find in the writing,sometimes, the disappointment. But it’s just worked for me;overall, it’s a positive experience. So when i decided justrecently to change the narrator’s voice in the play and i re-alized what i would have to do, i was totally depressed, ifelt it was going to be near to impossible, i didn’t knowhow to start, where to start, and i remember i worked allmorning on this not long ago and i accomplished very little.and Susie (Franks’s wife, writer Susie kaufman) said,“you know, there’s a guy reading over at the Mount. a guyfrom Mississippi. Maybe you want to go and just listen.”So we went and listened to this guy, his first name wasSnowdon. i can’t remember his last name. the guy waslovely. and he just made me feel better, you know? and iwrote the next morning, i got something done, and it wasContinued on next page...

Exhibition of art at

510 WARREN ST. GAllERY Hudson, NY

November 2015WWW.510WARRENSTREETGALLERY.COM

WWW.ROBERTFORTE.COM

ROBERT FORTE


just because i ran into this guy who i’ll probably neversee again, although Susie said she was going to get hisbook. But the guy was just a terrific writer, he had awonderful disposition, he was not full of himself, he waseasy to talk to and nice to be around, and he really justchanged my entire outlook. i was really so surprised byit, actually. Somebody you don’t even know.

i think seeing people who are really good at whatthey do can automatically uplift and elevate us.Frank: Just seeing the creative process working

Yes, and feeling it. it’s a quickening. if you see some-body doing something that you can do, and they’redoing it better than you feel you can do in that mo-ment, if you allow it to inspire you, it’s very powerful.i think it can help restore your faith in the beautythat you are working to create.Frank: yeah. it really worked for me. i was surprised.

how do you see your work as evolving? What wouldyou like it to become?Frank: you know, i’ve never allowed myself in thisprocess of writing the play to actually believe that itwould be performed. i’ve always—

Why not?Frank: i don’t know. not sure. Fear, probably. i’ve al-ways kept kind of a low profile and thought, “Just astaged reading. i would be happy with that.” you know,just invite my friends. But the fact is that the more iwork on it, the more i see it improve…and if i allowmyself to believe the feedback i get from people that

this is really good material, this is interesting stuff, it’srich, it has real content, etc. i think, “Gee, i wonder?Could this really be staged? is this something that couldbe developed? Would a producer be interested?” etc. Soi allow myself, in my most unguarded moments, to gothere. But mostly it’s, “if i can do a staged reading, that’sjust fine.” and if something more comes of it, thatwould be unbelievably wonderful.

The musical.Frank: (laughter) the musical. i have a title!

What is it?Frank: Fourteen Holy Martyrs. Which is the name ofthe grammar school that i attended as a young boy.Working title, i guess you could say. i’ve been thinkingabout it for a while and i kept changing it and then oneday, “this is it, this is what i’m calling it!”

Are there fourteen…anything?Frank: i’m trying to figure out—i haven’t written theending yet, and i’m trying to develop it around the four-teen martyrs, these saints of the church. as i’ve playedwith the idea in my head a little bit the ending would ac-tually be a mass…Maybe in some way those martyrswould call to the people i lost along the way. not reallysure. that’s in flux, but i would like to be able to dosomething like that. never having done it before, it’spretty imposing, but we’ll see.

i think a mark of maturing as a writer is being opento symbolism; seeing how it shows up, the connec-tions that spontaneously occur. But the most impor-

tant part is being open. You can’t force your intellectto make something like that true in a work, becausesymbology is visceral. it’s subconscious. Anyway,that sounds fantastic. Frank: i think the more open you’re willing to allowyourself to be, the more opportunity you have for some-thing unexpected to develop, to pop up. i’ve been opento listening to other people––Jody specifically, but otherpeople as well––Susie gives me really good feedback…it is important not to get bogged down in other people’sstuff. But if somebody has clear and well-rounded ad-vice, criticism, suggestions, i’m usually pretty open tothat. and i feel that now i’m on a path. i think i knowwhat i’m trying to do. i’m getting to a point where ihave to look at it as an editor, at what doesn’t match up,what doesn’t work all that well, what’s not as good––and then write an ending. Which i think will be reallychallenging.

Hopefully fun, a little bit.Frank: i think fun would be good.

is there anything else you want the world to know?Frank: no. (laughter)

on particularly auspicious Tuesday nights, FrankGioia can sometimes be found telling stories onstageat Deb Koffman’s Art Space in Housatonic (www.de-bkoffman.com). You can email him at [email protected]. Stay tuned for future performances…Iknow I will…

Amy Tanner is a writer and Soulful Pleasure coach.Her fabulist novel, the Virgin of Hopeless Causes, isavailable at Amazon.com. You can visit her atwww.amytanner.com, or send her a nice email [email protected]

L


FRANK GIOIA

MArGueriTe BrideCuStoM PaintinGS in WaterColor

this is a great time to work with watercolor artist Mar-guerite Bride in designing your custom house portrait.

think it’s complicated? it’s actually easier than youmight imagine and plus it’s a rewarding and fun experi-ence. Visit Bride’s website to see more than 100 local andregional homes she has painted, ranging from tiny bun-galows to Victorian mansions…in all seasons and all per-spectives. But it doesn’t have to be a house… it could bea painting of a favorite scene, your old barn, your busi-ness, school, college, just about anything.

a gift of art is a thoughtful, creative and cherished gift.But often it is hard to pick out a painting for another. Con-sider giving a gift certificate for a custom painting…which is like giving two in one…the painting itself andthe very enjoyable journey the recipient takes with theartist in helping plan it. a lovely personalized gift certifi-cate along with information about the painting, the artist,and the process creates a special and memorable gift forholiday, retirement, going away, wedding….any occasion.

Fine art reproductions and note cards of her Berkshireimages and others are available at the red lion inn GiftShop (Stockbridge), lenox Print & Mercantile (lenox),St. Francis Gallery (So lee), and Hancock Shaker Village(Hancock). Seasonal scenes are always on display in thepublic areas of the Crowne Plaza and also at Mary’s Car-rot Cake Shop, both in Pittsfield. additionally, her neweroriginals plus assorted matted reproductions are availableat the underground Salon at Christine’s Home Furnish-ings on Bridge Street in Great Barrington.

Commissions are always welcome. and there is stilltime to have it done for Christmas, but just barely, so don’tdelay!

Marguerite Bride – home studio at 46 Glory Drive,Pittsfield, Massachusetts by appointment only. Call 413-841-1659 or 413-442-7718; margebride-paintings.com;[email protected]; Facebook: Marguerite Bride Wa-tercolors

dAnCinG WiTh COlOrSGOOd PurPOSe GAllerY

Good Purpose Gallery will be exhibiting dancing withColors, which features the artwork of olga Gernovski, andof Margaret Buchte. the show opens on october 10 andruns through november 17. Join us at the gallery on Sat-urday october 10, from 5:30 to 7:30 pm for the openingreception. there will be complimentary appetizers, wine,and entertainment, as well as the opportunity to meet andconverse with the artists.

a classically trained artist born in the ukraine, olgaGernovski has been described as a “contemporary roman-tic.” Her paintings are an exploration of human emotions,color and movement. Music is a strong source of inspira-tion for much of her work, not only in terms of subject mat-ter but influencing her colors and her brush strokes.according to Gernovski, “My paintings capture mood,music, moment, and movement. as in life, nothing is sta-tionary, but always in motion.”

Margaret Buchte of Great Barrington, Ma, is a self-taught artist who draws her inspiration from the beauty ofthe Berkshires and beyond. She has been painting in oilswith passion and joy for over twenty years. Margaret is al-ways striving to capture the essence and beauty of a sceneunder dramatic light.

Good Purpose Gallery and Spectrum Playhouse are pro-fessional venues that exist to offer students real-life train-ing, experience, and integration with the community. Bothvenues host professional artists and events on a regularbasis throughout the year, including student events such asplays, performances, art exhibits, and more.

For more information on the Gallery, please visit ourwebsite. Good Purpose Gallery - 40 Main Street, Lee,Massachusetts. The gallery is open 9am - 4pm every day;413-394-5045; [email protected]; goodpurpose.org

JOhn liPKOWiTzSPrinGtiMe in JaPan

John lipkowitz, a photographer now retired to GreatBarrington, lives to shoot, or, perhaps, he shoots to live.His answer to the question of which, parallels the answerto a chicken or egg question and depends upon no dis-cernible criteria. Fortunately for him and hopefully for usas well, John finds his answers and his inspiration in travel,often to exotic places far from the Berkshires. this time hetravelled nearly half way around the world to Honshu, theprincipal island of Japan.

John’s wife nina organized the group of individualswith whom they went on an overseas adventure travelitinerary specifically to be in Japan as the cherry blossomsopened, and they landed in tokyo three days after the firstofficial bloom was recorded. Visiting several cities and anumber of rural areas over three weeks allowed a broadspectrum of Japanese cultural and religious experiences ina country where much of the population practices bothBuddhism and Shintoism. these deeply spiritual practicespermeate large portions of this culture, much of which Johnhas sought to capture in this exhibit.

travel photography is a genre in which many of us en-gage and the ability to create a collection of images whichapproach the sublime rather than descending to the mun-dane is no easy task. in this selection, John gives us a broadrange, from an ecstatic wonderment at the reappearance ofSakura or cherry blossoms, to the beauty of Japanese gar-dens, shrines and temples, always with the impact of thou-sand year old traditions. While the camera and selfie maybe of recent vintage, the blessings of new blooms heraldingspring are nearly timeless.

in realizing the images included in his Japan collectionJohn has utilized not only traditional Western fine artcoated photographic papers, but has experimented with anuncoated Japanese hand made paper and a coated paper in-corporating visible fibers in the hope that these evince anenhanced Japanese aesthetic.

“Springtime In Japan” will be exhibited December 4 -27, with a reception December 5, 3-6pm at the 510 WarrenGallery, 510 Warren St., Hudson, nY, 518-822-0510.Hours are Friday & Saturday, 12-6 and Sunday 12-5. A ro-tating selection of Japanese images will also be on displayduring September, october and november, 2015.

JoHn liPkoWitz, noodle SHoP, PHotoGraPH, JaPan


Samantha Candeeis now accepting appointmentsGive our new talented stylist the boost of confidence she deserves. It gives her the experienceshe needs to succeed and provide a great discount rate for the community. To receive 15% off of yourservice by showing this ad.

413. 528. 9999 Great Barrington, MA

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danCinG Girl, olGa GernoVSki MaGGie’S FarM, MarGuerite Bride, WaterColor

You see things; and you say, “Why?”

But I dream things that never were; and I say

‘Why not?’-George Bernard Shaw

lAuren ClArK fine ArT

lauren Clark Fine art is pleased to announce a seriesof talks on various concepts of art history. We begin theseries with the topic, “renaissance, and Baroque, Whatexactly is the difference Between these two.” this talkwill take place on thursday, october 15, at 6:30pm. Con-cepts for this talk are from the work, “renaissance andBaroque,” by Heinrich Wolfflin, the influential turn of thecentury art historian.

What fundamental differences separate the works ofthe renaissance, from the work of the Baroque period thatfollowed it? ideas considered are historical, religious,philosophical, and scientific.

the talk is by richard Britell, whose paintings are wellknown at the lauren Clark Gallery, and whose writingscan be found in the pages of The Artful Mind Artzine eachmonth.Lauren Clark Fine Art - 25 Railroad Street, Great Bar-rington, Mass.; [email protected], 413-528-0432, www.laurenClarkFineart.com

The BerKShire COlleCTiOn

SAinT frAnCiS GAllerYThe Berkshire Collection continues until October 25 and

is a wonderful collection of varied and exceptional localtalent. At the opening in September there was an enthusi-astic crowd of supporters; both valued friends of the galleryand new patrons as well, admiring the strength of the art-work displayed. This new selection of work and new artistsrepresented is a significant contribution to art in the Berk-shires. The joy and energy perceived in these creations ispalpable and visually alive.

The spirit of the gallery is to provide this experience inall of our shows. This emotional process is the soul of ourculture, our humanity. The driving force is to create some-thing that goes directly to the core of our being and com-municates without words to anyone who will allow. Thereis a sense of spirit that emanates from the gallery that turnsa simple visit into an inner drive to understand each othersand our own creativity. This unique combination of com-plexity and simplicity of meaning allows us to see morethan we did before. “Seeing” cannot happen in isolation.

We need to partner with the creative work ofother souls in order to experience the richnessthat we alone can not hold on to. This experi-ence is available thru any of the arts. And it isthe work that is displayed in the gallery thatgives you time to see how all this creative ex-pression is the art of our fathers, our mothers,and even those not yet born, sometimes evenpart of our strongest desires and struggles allwithout words to block the true meaning weconnect to.

A new show, The Magic of Light and SmallMiracles, will begin in November and con-tinue till the gallery closes in December afterthe holidays. St. Francis Gallery - Rte. 102, South Lee just2 miles east from the Red Lion Inn. Galleryhours: Friday thru Monday 10-5pm.

rOBerT fOrTe“although my paintings have a realistic context, my

passion for painting is, somewhat paradoxically, a passionfor the unknown that lies beneath the surface of percep-tion. For me, the starting point is a need to talk throughpaint, a conversation, if you will, between something seenand something hidden. there is always a sense of the jour-ney’s end, but it ultimately is the light, the color and eventhe brushstroke that reveals the intangible in the tangible.in effect, the object or scene is abstracted and reassembledas the painting progresses, in hopefully unpredictableways; the conundrum that i call ‘abstract realism’. “

this is a departure from first-learned principles - ob-serve keenly and paint accurately - but builds on themrather than discards them. this bedrock foundation robertForte owes to two wonderful artists, Minerva durham andCornelia Foss, under whose tutelage he was lucky enoughto find himself from the very start.

“So often artists, or writers about artists, limn a bodyof work in ways that are recondite and ultimately unsatis-fying. For me, art is an explosion of feeling expressed inan infinite variety of different ways to reflect divergentviews of the world around us. even a painting of a wedgeof apple pie can contain a subtext that probes beneath aflaky crust. ultimately, art should be accessible both vi-sually and verbally. after all, it is the earliest extant formof communication.”

Robert Forte’s paintings are in numerous collectionsthroughout the country, and can be seenon a bi-monthly basis at the 510 WarrenStreet Gallery in Hudson, new York.


dean niMMer

“To play needs much work. But when we

experience the work as play, then it is not play anymore.”

- Peter Brook

“Be the change you want to see in the World.”-Muhatma Gandhi

MArGie BienerartWorkForkidSrooMS.CoMannouncing the launching of a new, vibrant, creative

online art Gallery, artWorkForkidSrooMS.CoMfeaturing the colorful, whimsical, imaginative creationsof artist, Margie Biener.

Margie, a Great neck, ny and Great Barrington, Maartist started her career at an early age painting murals inhomes, hospitals and various businesses. Her creativeimagination, artistic skills and interest in advertising ledher to jobs at several prestigious advertising agencies,such as ogilvy & Mather, young & rubicam, anddeutsch inc.

Her love for art and children led her to be the art di-rector for commercials for disney and Jell-o. Margie’sprinted textile designs can also be found on newborn andinfant’s clothing. Botticelli, rocky & Bullwinkle as wellas Mother nature influenced her designs.

Margie’s medium for her creations is acrylic paints andink on both canvas and paper. Be sure to “walk” throughMargie’s Gallery, artWorkForkidSrooMS.CoM,enjoy her ingenious artistic style of mixing colors, imag-ination and childhood. Her artwork inspires us to smile,and remember the child within all of us.Margie Biener – artworkforkidsrooms.com

CreATiVe SPiriT ShOWCASe

BerkSHire FeStiVal oF WoMenthe Berkshire Festival of Women Writers will host Cre-

ative Spirit: A Showcase for Women Writers, Artists andArtisans, on Sunday november 22 from 1:00 – 4:00 pm atthe Berkshire Hills Country Club in Pittsfield.

the free event will showcase the creative talents ofwomen in and around the Berkshires. authors, publishers,artists, artisans, and other businesses and organizations willoffer goods, services, and networking opportunities with afocus on celebrating the creativity of women.

Space is limited; some table space for vendors is stillavailable. For information contact lorrin krouss [email protected]

the event is an expansion of the highly successfulBFWW Book expo held in March 2015. “the communityresponse to the Book expo was extraordinary, so we lis-tened to the call to broaden the scope of the event to featurethe creative works of women in all of the arts,” says Festi-val Founder Jennifer Browdy.

the Berkshire Festival of Women Writers, a program ofthe non-profit Women’s Collaborative for Creativity andleadership, inspires, nourishes and strengthens women’screative voices by offering stimulating workshops andevents year-round designed to encourage women and girlsto engage with one another and their communities, and de-velop as creative leaders.

the Festival has also issued a Call for Submissions forits 2016 Program Guide, which will include year-roundBFWW events, as well creative writing by women of allages. advertising opportunities are also available for whatwill be the region’s only literary magazine by and for cre-ative women.

Berkshire Festi-val of Women - Forsubmission guide-lines, ad rates, or toreserve your tablefor the november 22Showcase, visitBerkshirewomen-writers.org or [email protected]

KATe KnAPP oCtoBer 2 - noVeMBer 1

at 510 Warren Street Galleryunder WATer

the paintings in this exhibit represent the time kateknapp has spent for many years in the West indies. Her fa-vorite place to be is in the water. Here, where the turquoiseCaribbean Sea surrounds the islands, the fish and coral reefsabound. in these underwater landscapes painted mostly in oil,knapp has tried and succeeded to show us what lives beneaththe surface. With vivid colors, a result of her impressionisttraining, and lush brush strokes an example of her expres-sionistic approach, knapp takes us on an underwater adven-ture. We are surrounded by brilliant coral formations andschools of unusual fish swimming all around us. Shells andstrange sea forms fill these canvases with abstract and yetidentifiable creatures in their native habitat. in one painting,unique plant and coral life of all colors grows on abandonedwharf pilings as bright yellow fish swim around them. knappfocuses on and captures the movement of the multi coloredfish and sea fans as they come and go and bend and sway inthe currents of the clear blue water as if they are all part of asilent symphony. Besides the mostly large oils there are alsoseveral gouache and watercolor studies which have a verydifferent feeling as only a watercolor medium painting watercan give. all of the paintings make us very aware of the lovethat knapp has for this uncommon landscape.

opening reception is Saturday, october 3, 3-6pm. 510Warren Street Gallery, Hudson, nY.www.510warrenstreetgallery.com / 518-822-0510


Holidays are coming up! Here’s a gift for everyone!

Love your tables with a set of your own customized drink coasters

CountinG SHeeP

Otis The PlaywrightPart 1

riCHard Brittel

otis the wolf found himself tied up in the back of apeasant cart. He had never been in a cart, and never tiedup, but he soon figured out his situation. He immedi-ately recognized the very wheel that had been repairedby the blacksmith’s boy and his father, so he knew hewas at the mercy of those three men who were headedsouth with the old cart. He imagined that if they hadknown he was a wolf they would have done away withhim on the spot, but since they had rescued him theymust have assumed he was a dog. What did they wantwith a dog? there were several possibilities. if theywere starving, they might cook him for dinner. or per-haps they liked dogs and their most recent had died.Perhaps they wanted to sell him to a dog collector, oruse him as a guard at night… He had no idea.

at dinnertime, he had his first opportunity to seewhat the future had in store for him. He was untied, at-tached to a leash and a collar, and fed dinner. He wasnot fed scraps as he had expected, but he was given thesame fare as his captors, which consisted of some wildrabbit garnished with rice and vegetables.otis wolfed down his dinner. it was the first real foodhe had eaten for days, so when he’d finished, he laydown next to the fire where his new owners were relax-ing and promptly fell asleep. When he awoke it was lateat night, so he lay still and tried to ascertain from theconversation he overheard what to expect from his newowners. He had no inclination to run away; he had madeup his mind to attach himself to people in order to avoidstarvation.

otis could make out very little from the conversationbecause he did not know the language, and the three in-dividuals offered him very scant information. theywere three men of various ages: an old man, someonemiddle-aged, and also a young man considerably worndown on the edges. they were similar-looking, so muchso that they were perhaps related, perhaps even fromthe same family. they did not appear to be particularlyintelligent, and there was something comical about theirfacial expressions. they were the type of men whosefrustrations and desperations might cause others tolaugh at them.

otis thought that if he had to assign them an occu-pation, an endeavor at which their shortcomings and in-adequacies could be turned to a profit, they mightperhaps be traveling entertainers, who set up amakeshift stage in a village and entertain all comers fora copper. they would act out scenes of desperation andsuffering for the merriment of a crowd, who are alwayslonging to laugh at the misfortunes of others. otis was

correct in this observation, but perhaps his intuition wasaugmented by the shadowy recollection of the verysame men who had passed through the blacksmith’s vil-lage, the day before he began his work as a spy.

otis, having decided to attach himself to the travelingcomedians, set to work first thing in the morning to wintheir trust and confidence. He correctly assumed thatthe only way to be free of the collar and the leash wasto convince them that he had no interest in runningaway from them. He engaged in the usual dog-like ac-tivities, such as groveling, begging, and staring intentlyat morsels of food, but he put all of his hopes in onething: fetch. Fetch is a game as important to the masteras to the dog. in fetch, the ego of the master is con-stantly stroked and reinforced. in the mind of the mas-ter, the dog is a pet that will run to the ends of the earthin order to retrieve a possession.

it is no wonder then, that whenever a master engagesin fetch with his dog, the greatest satisfaction resultsfrom throwing the object as far away as possible. Pic-ture a master and dog playing fetch, but he can onlythrow the stick a few feet, never further than the end ofa leash tied to a stake in the ground. that will never do;both dog and man want the stick to fly as far as possible.otis, knowing this, invited his new masters to playfetch, and no sooner had the game begun than the collarcame off, never to be attached to his neck again.

His three new masters were not the most intelligentof men, and they tended to occupy their spare time insimple pursuits such as card games and checkers. otisfound these games to be very boring, and would havepreferred collecting herbs and wildflowers, catalogingthem and finding the latin names for them in antholo-gies. But he had to adjust himself to the intellectuallevel of his surroundings. How it was that the youngestof the comedians continually lost at checkers to the oldman was very confusing to otis. if otis had been ableto move the pieces himself, losing wouldn’t have beena possibility. What was it like for otis to watch a gameof checkers? it was like watching children play tic-tac-toe; one child keeps losing, regardless of whether hegoes first or last. you want to shout out to the child,“don’t put your x there!” but you hold your tongue,because your advice would just be a reminder that thechild is not smart. So it was that otis had to sufferthrough long games of checkers where the correctmoves were so obvious it gave him a stomachache.Cards were no better. often those comedians wonderedaloud, “Why is this dog whining and complaining somuch when we play checkers?”

the best otis could do was to encourage his ownersto take credit for training him to do tricks. during thefirst week of his new occupation he went through all ofthe basics: rolling over and playing dead, not eatingfood balanced on the nose, walking on the hind feet…all of the simple things. When they were in town, hesat quietly behind the stage and wondered how it waspossible that their simple stories and actions could

move an audience so much. not only that, but watching the comedians rehearse

their skits in the evening, otis soon came to understandthat everything was being done by rote, from memory,with no improvisation to enliven the performance. Fi-nally he could stand it no longer. He felt he had to in-tervene.

there was a skit involving a domestic argument:a husband and wife are having a fight about a fish pie.it was all in pantomime, but the gist of the story ap-peared to be that the husband was complaining to thewife that the fish pie was burnt, but the wife wanted toput it back in the oven because in her opinion, it wasnot ready yet. the husband gets more and more angry,and the third character, playing the role of the son, istrying to drag his father away from his mother. thescene builds to a climax, and the fish pie falls to thefloor. the fact that the pie falls to the floor is the entirepoint of the skit, and the mirth is provided only by theextreme horror of the actors at the sight of the disaster.

What a pathetic skit, otis thought to himself. So thenext time the fish pie skit was enacted, he bided his timewaiting for the right moment. the husband and wife arearguing. the son has not yet intervened. Very slowly,creeping along on his stomach, on to the stage comesotis. He crawls across the stage in the direction of thefish pie, but constantly pauses and looks around cau-tiously. Finally, at the height of the argument, hestretches out his neck, snatches the fish pie from thetable and bounds out of the imaginary door. the come-dians, unaware anything has happened, run through theskit to the end, only to stagger around in amazementfinding the fish pie has disappeared.

at the moment the fish pie is snatched, the audienceerupts in uncontrollable laughter. only later did thetroupe realize what had happened. So the three of themset to work, patiently teaching otis to repeat his actionsin the skit on command. teaching otis to act his part inthe skit he had re-written for them did not prove diffi-cult.

at the very moment when otis snatched the pie fromthe table and the audience erupted in laughter, the livesof the wandering comedians were transformed. theroad they had traveled for so many years had been adesperate one. their profession, indistinguishable frombegging in many ways, often had to be augmented byactivities none of them would have been willing to talkabout. But from the instant otis grabbed the fish piefrom the table, their road became paved with gold.Wherever they went, they were expected. they nolonger passed the hat around; there was an admissioncharge and their audiences were anxious to pay.

G


“Everything youcan imagine is real.”

-Pablo Picasso

tam for issuu com oct 15

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