Side by Side Art Opening

SIDE BY SIDE
Art Opening & Reception
September 6th 5-8:00 PM during       First Fridays Artswalk

New Works by
Susan Himmel &
Sally Tiska Rice

NUarts Gallery + Studios
311 North Street, Pittsfield, MA

25% of Proceeds to Berkshire Art Association Fellowship Fund to support art field trips for Berkshire County high school students.

Another Peak

As promised, here's another peak at what I'm finishing up for the "Side by Side" art exhibit that will open next Friday, September 6th at NUarts Gallery in Pittsfield. Stay tuned for all the details.

Back to painting....

New Works

I've been painting up a storm lately and want to share one of my new works. It's still untitled, but I will have a title for it soon.

This painting was inspired by one of the photographs my husband took at Smith College's greenhouse. It's an amazing place with a number of rooms, each one hosting more exotic plants than the previous room. It's one of my favorite winter haunts when everything outside is a shade of brown, gray or white. It's a treat, a wonderful sensory experience to transport one out of the ordinary into the extraordinary.

You can see this painting in the "Side by Side" exhibit at the NUarts Gallery next month. I'm showing with fellow artist and friend, Sally Tiska Rice. When we got together to discuss collaborating on “Side by Side”, the idea of donating a portion of our proceeds surfaced as an important part of our mission. Sally and I are both passionate about art and our community. As we feel strongly about the benefit of art in our children’s lives, we are donating 25% of all show sales to Berkshire Arts Association’s Fellowship Fund targeted for art field trips for high school students.

I'll post another sneak peek next week.

413 Glassworks Gallery

Over the past few months I had been working on a series of mixed media paintings to exhibit at 413 Glassworks Gallery along with art cards and mini journals. I delivered five paintings at the beginning of June, two of which are shown here. I wanted to create something entirely different from the River Rocks series which were featured in the Gallery last Fall and these sure are! Paintings will be at 413 Glassworks through the end of this month. 

Gallery owner, Brittany Gabel, has curated a gorgeous collection of fine art and artisan works. Brittany is a skilled and talented glass artist herself whose studio adjoins the gallery. So if you're in the area, this is definitely worth checking out. I have my eye on some gorgeous necklaces and glass work.

"Untethered"

"Atmosphere"

I've moved on to a new series of paintings for an exhibit in September at NUarts Gallery with my friend and fellow artist, Sally Tiska Rice. I may exhibit watercolors, acrylics, and mixed mixed paintings in this show - that's still undetermined. We plan to donate a percentage of our sales to benefit local school children's art field trips through the Berkshire Art Association. Stay tuned for more information about this.

So far this has been a really wonderful summer here in the Berkshires - hot and steamy - but so beautiful.

Happy Anniversary First Fridays Artswalk!

May 3rd was the one year anniversary of Pittsfield's First Fridays Artswalk and what a wonderful evening it was! The streets were full of people, artists' studios and galleries were buzzing with activity and perhaps due to the gorgeous weather, people were in a great mood. It was an amazing evening in my studio at NUarts - getting to chat with so many people, seeing some friends I hadn't seen in ages and selling artwork to boot.


Mayor Bianchi cut the first slice in a "Birthday" cake celebrating FFA at Spice Dragon

Leo Mazzeo, author of ARTS INDIE shared wonderful photos from the evening's event. 

And if you want to follow all things arts-related in the Berkshires, you can follow ARTS INDIE on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/artsindie, too.

Did I mention that I love living here in the Berkshires? I do.

Portraits on Parade in May

A challenging idea was put out to artists at NUarts, where I have my studio in Pittsfield. Each May there is an annual group show and open house. This year we will be hold the artists' reception during the First Fridays Artswalk celebrating the first year anniversary of the Artswalk.

Theme - Self Portraits

As someone who has never painted a portrait, I loved the idea. It's an opportunity to do something totally different. After all a self portrait doesn't necessarily have to be a classical painted portrait of myself. I thought of collaging a portrait, writing a poem, doing a mixed media piece about all I hold near and dear. In the end I decided on a little bit of all of this.

Here's my portait in progress. I'm going to add a poem to my silhouette - maybe written in white, not sure.

 

 

I'm looking forward to seeing what others have created for their portraits. I am sure it's going to be an interesting exhibition!

 



Waiting for Spring

While I'm generally known for being a patient sort, I'm finding my patience wearing thin as I await spring to really pop! Some of you may know that George is an amazing photographer; so on a recent visit to Smith College's greenhouse, he loaded up some wonderful images of spring to remind me of what's around the corner.

 

 

There are so many wonderful photographs from that visit that we may see a photography exhibit from George soon. Stay tuned!

RAP - Real Art Party

There are so many great events happening this week during Pittsfield's 10X10 Upstreet Arts Festival that it's difficult to decide what to do first. But tonight the place to be is clearly the Berkshire Art Association/Storefront Artist Project's REAL ART PARTY. BAA is a wonderful arts organization and I'm happily serving as VP on the board. Supporting student artists is one of our passions and the proceeds from this event will benefit Berkshire County art students directly.

We have 108 pieces of art measuring 10" X 10" to be raffled off for a $25 art ticket. Each ticket purchased guarantees that person will be going home with an original piece of artwork. Sound like fun? You betcha...this idea was patterned after the Storefront Artist Project's 12X12 Annual Event. A night of conversation, good art, refreshments and fun awaits!

Here are two paintings I donated. There are dozens of other artists who have donated amazing pieces of art - thank you, thank you, thank you!

 

Single Iris

  

River Rocks #12

 



new studio and 10X10 Arts Festival

I am so happy to be back at 311 North Street, this time in Studio #9. We have a new name, logo and collective operating structure. We are 19 artists on the second floor of the Greylock Building. But the best thing is the great group of artists and friends who gather here to work, collaborate, for open studios, gallery receptions and First Fridays Artswalks. We have private studios along three hallways and at the end is an attached gallery. I'll post some photos soon, but in the meantime, enjoy some photos on our facebook page, facebook.com/nuartsgallerystudios.

There's a super fun arts event happening in Pittsfield for TEN days with 75+ events happening this month. If you're living locally, you probably know what this is all about, but for everyone else - click on 10X10 Upstreet Arts Festival to learn more. When you live in New England, you can't let the cold weather and snow keep us from enjoying ART year round...am I right? 

 

 

 

"10 Plus 10 Orbs" is a painting I created for the 10X10 art show at NUarts Gallery. Each artist freely interpreted what ten by ten meant to them. Our opening reception was held last night as part of the 10X10 festival. I'm looking foward to an evening of arts and entertainment again tonight, as George and I take in a number of new shows. - it goes on and on!

 

 

Enjoy Winter! Enjoy Art!

 

 

 

 

First, the Wedding

It took a sick day for me to catch you up on all that's been happening. So many significant events have blessed my world, like Christine and Chris's wedding, for starters.

Two beautiful hearts were joined together in a delightful, intimate ceremony and luncheon reception. A picture is worth a thousand words....

 

 

 

And six week laters, the newlyweds held a party for their friends and family to celebrate their marriage. A wonderful evening of conversation, laughter and love. Some of Christine's friends since childhood are shown here. I've known most of them since they were five years old. We all say it, but oh my how time flies!
 

  

 

Next time I'll share what's new in my world of art - till then xoxo.