Art Exhibit at the Amherst Library

Paintings by Rollande Rousselle and Eileen Belanger

April, 2016

The Friends of the Amherst Town Library welcomes both Rollande Rousselle and Eileen Belanger to exhibit their oil and acrylic paintings on the main floor of the library for the month of April.  Stop in and feel the beauty both of these painters capture into their paintings.

Eileen Belanger resides in New Boston, New Hampshire in a 1908 cider mill which houses her living space, studio, and gallery. The mill is still operational every Columbus weekend as a fundraiser for local charities.  She teaches at the Cider Mill Gallery, Creative Ventures Gallery in Amherst and at E.W. Poore’s in Manchester.  Eileen has gained increasing recognition for her original, detailed paintings and murals of New England scenes inspired by her passion for nature and her surroundings.  Her acrylic and oil paintings may include scenes from her life in New Hampshire or a visit to Cape Cod, the Islands or abroad. Other times it is just the subject matter that stirs her creativity. Eileen is fascinated by dramatic contrasts between light and shadow and attempts to achieve a welcoming depth and clarity to her compositions.  Her murals are finely detailed and she works closely with her clients to interpret their ideas in breathtaking panoramas. Eileen has painted murals throughout the East Coast in private, public and corporate venues. She has also become widely known for her animal and house portraits.  Eileen has won numerous awards at New England art shows and is a member of the New Hampshire Plein Air Association. Painting on location is one of the joys of being an artist.

Rollande Rousselle is another local artist whose passion is spending most of her time learning, looking, studying, hearing, admiring nature and then trying to put as much as she can on canvas.  Painting is more important to her than bread.  After Rollande successfully started growing flowers in her garden,  she realized what she wanted to share with people, “I want them to see beauty all year long”.  She frequently returns to the lady slippers because they are natures’s gift to us.  “When people stand in front of my 'Fields of Ladies' painting and see the lady slippers, it often sends them back to a simpler more pleasant time. I was inspired to start painting ladies slippers because I love the beautiful greeting of these orchids when I take my much loved walks in the woods.”  Her greatest inspirations have been from the woods in the North East area.     Using oil paints and the palette knife allows Rollande the spontaneity of happy accident.  “It is amazing to see a square centimeter of the painting and be able to identify more than 10 colors in the background or the floor of the forest.”  She makes some of her own tools with handles as well as other things like snipped aluminum and the head of a nail to paint with.  “I usually prefer to work on a board because I am afraid to get overzealous and rip a canvas with a palette knife.”  Standing in total admiration in the Museum of fine Arts a few years back in front of Monet’s and Vincent’s painting has left Rollande desiring more and more to learn how to go in the direction of impressionistic painting and using no brushes has facilitated this in leaps and bound.

This information provided by the library: http://www.amherstlibrary.org/about/art-on-display

Inside Mural - South Willow Street

This is a mural in process by our talented artists for the campaign office of Martin O'Malley on South Willow Street. Friends of Art Manchester does not endorse any political candidates, but we are always happy to paint.  Thank you to Shirley Perry for the photos.  Final photos will be posted when all the murals are finished. Murals by artists: Anthony Williams, Deb Funk, Shirley Perry, Stephanie Byrd.

Annual Meeting Notice

Time and date:  Tuesday, January 19, 7:00 p.m.

Location: 90 Crestview Road, Manchester, NH 03104, contact for directions, Deb Funk: Motherfunk8@gmail.com

Roll call and Welcome new members, Collection of annual dues ($5.00)

Reading of Minutes of preceding meeting 

Treasurer’s Report

Reports of Officers (no elections of officers unless one of our officers resigns, terms are 2 years)

Election of Directors per Bylaws

“Beginning with the third year of the organization, the directors to be chosen shall be chosen at the annual meeting of this organization in the same manner and style as the officers of this organization and they shall serve for a term of two (2) years.

The Board of Directors shall have the control and management of the affairs and business of this organization. Such Board of Directors shall only act in the name of the organization when it shall be regularly convened by its chairman after due notice to all the directors of such meeting.

Fifty-one (51%) percent of the members of the Board of Directors shall constitute a quorum and the meetings of the Board of Directors shall be held regularly on the third Thursday of the month or on such other date as the Board of Directors authorizes.

Each director shall have one vote and such voting may not be done by proxy.

The Board of Directors may make such rules and regulations covering its meetings as it may in its discretion determine necessary.

Vacancies in the Board of Directors shall be filled by a vote of the majority of the remaining members of the Board of Directors for the balance of the year.

The President of the organization by virtue of the office shall be Chairman of the Board of Directors.

A director may be removed when sufficient cause exists for such removal. The Board of Directors may entertain charges against any director. A director may be represented by counsel upon any removal hearing. The Board of Directors shall adopt such rules for this hearing as it may in its discretion consider necessary for the best interests of the organization.“

                    

Old and Unfinished Business

New Business

Set next meeting date and location

If you would like more detailed information, please contact our treasurer, Linda Feinberg, lhfeinberg@gmail.com

If you are not a member but would like to join us at the meeting, you will be welcome to our group. We will also be discussing our spring and summer projects. You can pay the dues at this meeting, or use the Paypal button on top of the blog page.

Murals and Public Art

Mark Hayward of the Union Leader wrote an article about the murals at Top Shelf Tattoo, 657 Elm Street, Manchester.  Thank you, Mark, for writing about public art.

http://www.unionleader.com/article/20151205/LOCALVOICES08/151209523

The students from New Hampshire Institute of Art have been working in a mural on the alley in back of the Palace Theater (downtown Manchester).  I’m not sure if it is finished yet.

Our president, Stephanie Byrd, has been traveling and taking photos of public art in airports.

Our Vice President, Anthony Williams, found this old bust many years ago and would like to know more about it. If you have any suggestions on someone who can tell him about this sculpture, please contact him: amwpaints26@yahoo.com

New Mural in Merrimack

Our members Anthony Williams and Deb Curtin painting a mural at Watson Park in Merrimack, NH. Photos by George May. The painting of the kiosk was done with a small grant from the Merrimack Conservation Commission.

For more information, there is an article on Patch.

Art for Cancer Center and Hospitals

Hello Fellow Artists

We are seeking paintings, collages, sculpture, clay work, photographs, prints, crafts done by people with cancer or those loved ones who are on the cancer journey with them.  

If this description fits you, please consider submitting  a piece of  original art for an upcoming annual event and celebration at Norris Cotton Cancer Center in Lebanon, NH: Telling our Stories through Word and Image.

The art will be on display in the exhibit space and/or display cases outside Aud. G on Level 4 of the Cancer Center from Oct. 22^nd through Dec. 18^th.  We are accepting one piece per person. A statement about how the art was created and what significance it made to one’s creative and healing process is appreciated. We will put each statement on labels next to one’s work.

Your submission must be ready to be hung (if it is 2D), along with an printed and emailed  artist statement and in our hands in Lebanon at the cancer center by Oct 19^th (Monday).

If you live in the southern region and would like to submit please call our office (603) 651-7751 (Deb)or 650-6187 (Marianne)  and we will work on a drop off morning date in Manchester.

 For this show we have very limited wall space so size and earliest  responses will  be a factor in the selection process. We cannot accept all work due to space but will talk to each artist who submits.

Some of you may have participated in this event in the past. Please consider returning and joining us again if you participated in this event in the past. Some of you may have made a work of art you like with Rebecca Gottesman in her Art Play classes and we would also welcome that submission.

Please fill out and send the enclosed application form and send to Deb Steele at  Cancersupport@hitchcock.org and Marianne.L.Barthel@Hitchcock.org.

  And, please tell your friends and family to Save the Date: : Telling Our Stories, DH-Lebanon, Tuesday, October 27, 5:30-7:30pm (includes reception).

Cheers,

Rich

Richard Perry
978.375.6762
richperry48@gmail.com
richperryphotography.com

Note: To receive application form, contact Richard Perry.
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Also received today (more information on our call for artists tab above)

Some of our artists are in this exhibit.

Murals

Shirley Perry finished this big panel mural for Webster House. Great Job!

Shirley will be moving south soon and we are sorry to see her go, but wish her well in her new ventures. Thanks, Shirley, for all your help with our art projects this year.

More art competitions

Just click on the images to enlarge them. Also, the tab on the right at the top has more information about shows, fairs and classes.

Project Ideas for Spring and Summer

Our winter project is gradually getting done. Paintings by Linda Feinberg and Deb Funk have been delivered to Webster House. Linda’s painting is up on the wall of the conference room.

Carolina Davison is working on getting the building that the city owns (former Latin America Center at 521 Maple Street) turned into an art center. We hope she succeeds! She has already had a fundraiser and an open house. Lots of people are interested in this project.

Several ideas were suggested for spring and summer projects, including a sketch crawl (bring your camera or sketchpad, meet somewhere, then head out, do your thing, and come back to show everybody what you accomplished afterwards). This would be both a social and art event.

Several of our artists are interested in painting more utility boxes and will be taking photos to discuss which ones with the city. 

Tables will be available at Veterans Park during their concerts.  We might take a table one evening and sell some items as a fundraiser for our group.  Linda suggested we could buy notecards (Strathmore has some) and paint them to sell. Items to sell need to be fairly low prices as these are free concerts and people who attend are not bringing much money with them.

Another project from Webster House – finish up the 4’ x 8’ mural in their basement. We have some volunteers already and I’m looking forward to seeing the finished mural. Our next meeting is May 20, 2015.

Color Charts for Painters

It’s easy to make your own color charts with your own paints. The photo above shows one method of making a color chart.  These are Winsor & Newton Artisan water mixable oil paints.  The company puts out a chart too with teeny tiny photos of the colors.  I drew straight lines with a ruler and permanent marker on 9” X 12” gessoed canvas paper (these come in a pad and are not too expensive).

Since I was just interested in seeing what the colors looked like in a larger view, I did one chart for each group of colors. I also did one for the neutrals, but it is not shown here.  Across the top row I wrote the color name and noted if the color was opaque (“O”) or transparent (“T”).  I painted the actual colors in that color family on the second row.  On the third row down, I added transparent white to each color.  On the fourth row down, I chose yellow ochre to mix with it on some of the charts.  The other rows vary depending on what I wanted to see. (You can enlarge the photo above by clicking on it).

I took a color mixing class in acrylic paints a few years back. The charts we made there were more about color mixing. These were done on acrylic paper. (photo below)

Top left chart shows primary colors, red on left in box 1, yellow in middle box 3, blue on right in box 5.  Other charts are variations on color mixing.  Most of them show the first row had one color on the left (box #1) and the one we wanted to mix it with in box #5 on the right. Then we mixed the two colors together 50/50 and put that mix in box #3. Again mixed box #3 with #1 into #2; then #5 (original color) and mix #3 into #4.  The second row down were the top row mixes mixed with titanium white. The third row down contained the first row’s mixes mixed with neutral gray; and the fourth row down contained the top row’s mixes mixed with black.  These can be done with any medium, not just acrylic paints. I added some other mixes in box #6 to see what they looked like.

Basically, most of us know that when we mix blue and yellow, we get green. But with pigments there are many yellows and many blues, so we will get many shades of green.  Making color charts will help with decision making when you are painting.

On my own, I decided to try to figure out what my paint tubes looked like, which ones were transparent and which ones were opaque.  I made another series of charts (below).

In these my first column contained my artist grade paints. The second column contained my student grade paints and the last column contained some craft paints I also had from other projects.  It was interesting to see the differences in the different grades of paint. The black line down was to help me determine which paints were opaque (full coverage) and which ones were transparent.

These are tedious exercises, but worthwhile and you will have your own color charts with your paints to refer to for every painting.  If you are really serious, you can note down your mix ratios too (as can be seen in books about color theory).

Happy painting!

Next Friends of Art Manchester regular meeting is on Thursday, March 19^th at 7:00 p.m. We will be meeting at a different venue this week. For more information contact blogger and treasurer LindaFeinberg.

Jon Imber Film

This film is part of the NH Jewish Film Festival. The brochures for the film festival are currently being printed.  You can go to www.jewishnh.org for more information, purchase tickets, etc.  If you have a group of 10 or more, there is a group rate. To view the photo above so that you can read the details, just click on it.

This is the 7th annual NH Jewish Film Festival and films will be playing in Bedford, Concord, Keene, Manchester, Merrimack and Portsmouth.  However, this film about an artist with ALS is only playing in Concord on the date stated above.

There is a good review of this film at:   http://www.pressherald.com/2014/03/30/_jon_imber_s_left_hand__an_extraordinary_documentary_/

If you have other information of interest to artists and would like to post it on our blog, please contact our chief blogger: Linda Feinberg

We are also happy to post guest bloggers.  We are a non-profit organization that is happy to work in collaboration with other groups to promote public art. For our winter project, we are painting 4' x 5' canvases for Webster House. Watch for photos in the next couple of weeks as our artists make some progress on their paintings.

Call for Artists

At the Derry Public Library we have a considerable wall space with a professional hanging system in place, and we feature the work of a different artist every month.  We also have a locked display showcase with 3 shelves.  I am always looking for great new art work to share with the community and wonder if any of you would consider hanging or displaying your work here?  Several artists could also share the space for a month.  Depending on size, there is potential for around 17 to 20 pictures to be hung.

The only month I have already booked for this year is February.  I’ll attach our Exhibit Policy which might answer other questions you have.  Otherwise of course you could email me directly.

Thank you very much for considering displaying in our space!

Susan

Susan S. Brown

Assistant Director

Head of Reference

Derry Public Library

64 E. Broadway

Derry, NH 03038

Ph: 603-432-6140

Fax: 603-432-6128

Email: susanb@derrypl.org

Derry Public Library

EXHIBITS POLICY

Approved 2/12/07, 7/21/14

The Derry Public Library seeks to provide information for its residents in their pursuit of academic, personal and recreational interests.  The library provides a limited amount of wall and showcase space for non-commercial use by the public for displays of an educational, historical, art or hobby nature.

Organizations, schools, and individuals wishing to utilize the Library for an exhibit must first consult with the appropriate contact person listed below who will determine the relevance of, the conditions for, and the availability of suitable space for the exhibit. The Library Director (in consultation with the Trustees if necessary) has final say in any unusual circumstances.

EXHIBIT SPACE                                                              CONTACT PERSON

Adult level (“large”) locked showcase                             Head of Adult Services/YA

Adult level wall display spaces                                         Head of Adult Services/YA

Children’s level locked display case                                Head of Children’s Services

Children’s level shelf-top display

 (NOTE: no security is provided for this space)             Head of Children’s Services

All other spaces not normally scheduled must be requested and discussed with the Director.

1.       Library initiated exhibits will be given priority

2.       Preference is given to local (Derry) exhibitors over others.

3.       Exhibits are scheduled for one calendar month. Installation should be completed within the first two or three open days of the month, by arrangement with the contact person. Removal must be prompt, on or by the last open day of the month.

4.       All exhibits must be appropriate and suitable for a mixed public audience. All items must be presentation ready (framed and ready to hang, etc.)

5.       Each exhibitor is responsible for hanging or displaying his/her own exhibit, and for providing all necessary materials, signage, display racks, etc. for organizing the exhibit. The Library may provide use of bar hangers for wall displays to use in conjunction with the installed hanging system. Ladders are available. No nails or screws may be placed in the walls. No book display racks are provided.

6.       The Library does not assume financial liability for injury, loss or damage. Since the exhibit may not be supervised, exhibitors should consider the possibility of providing private insurance if security is a concern.  In advance of setting up any display of loaned materials, exhibitors must sign a waiver of liability holding the Library, its employees and trustees, and the Town of Derry harmless for any injury resulting from the installation of the exhibit, or for any damage to or loss of loaned material.

7.       Publicity is the responsibility of the exhibitor unless the exhibit is co-sponsored by the Library. The Library may elect to publicize exhibits on its web site and/or in other ways, but this is not guaranteed. (Permission to photograph and use images from the exhibit for publicity is assumed granted by the agreement to exhibit.)

8.       Exhibitors may not schedule special openings or other events without the permission (in writing) from the Director. All arrangements must be approved by the Director at least two weeks prior to the event and must conform to other Library policies.

9.       No prices may be posted on the items on exhibit, nor may an admission fee be charged. A price list with contact information may be placed near the exhibit. Transactions for the purchase of an exhibit item shall be directly between the purchaser and the exhibitor. No sales may be made on the premises without express permission from the Trustees, which must be arranged no less than one month before the exhibit. No exhibit material which is sold during its display in the Library may be removed before the end of the exhibition period.

10.    Consideration will be given to new exhibitors over those who exhibited within the last 12 month period.

11.    Granting of permission to use Library facilities does not constitute an endorsement by the Library staff, the Library trustees, or the Town of Derry, of the content of the exhibit, the materials, or of the exhibitior(s).

12.    Failure to abide by these requirements could result in denial of further requests to make use of Library exhibit spaces, and/or immediate termination of the exhibit.

Derry Public Library

Exhibit Application and Waiver of Liability

Waiver

This agreement is made the __________ day of ____________, _________ by and between the Derry Public Library and __________________________________ (Lender).

1. That the Lender wishes to loan to the Library _________________________________________ to be exhibited for one calendar month.

2. That the Lender understands that his/her materials are loaned, installed, and exhibited at his/her own risk and that neither the Library Director, Library staff, The Library Board of Trustees, nor the Town of Derry shall be responsible for theft, vandalism, fire or other damage to the exhibit.

3.  That the Lender will not bring any action against and shall hold the Library employees, the Library Director, the Library Board of Trustees, and the Town of Derry its agents and/or employees, harmless for any damage to the material loaned.

Cara Barlow, Director, Derry Public Library

____________________________________   ________________________________________

(Lender)                                                                    (DPL)

Application

Exhibitor(s): ___________________________________________________________________

Phone:  _________________   E-mail:____________________________________

Address: _____________________________________________________________________

Brief description of content of exhibit: _____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

I wish to exhibit for the month of _______________, (year)______________.  I agree to install the exhibit by the end of the second business day of the month and remove the exhibit by the end of the last business day of the month.

[ ] Adult level wall display  (Approximate number of pieces: ________)

[ ] Adult level locked showcase display

[ ] Children’s level locked showcase display

[ ] Children’s level open shelving display (NOTE: no security is provided!)

                [ ] Special arrangements:  please describe:

               

                [ ] The Library will not provide any opening reception. If you wish to hold a reception or other special           event in connection with this exhibit, you must have permission from the Director.

           

            ( Director authorization for above:_______________________________________, date________________)

        

No prices may be visible in the display(s). A separate price list with your contact information may be left at the desk for patrons to view. We suggest that your price list be easy to coordinate with the items (i.e. by numbers or titles.) All sales are between you and the purchaser, and must be handled off Library premises.

Will you be selling any items? _____ yes    _____ no                  Please describe or attach price list.

Exhibit and Reception Jan. 17, 2015

Several of our members have paintings on exhibit at the Audubon Center.  While the reception is this Saturday, the paintings will be up until the middle of February.

For directions and more information to the center:
http://www.nhaudubon.org/about/centers/massabesic/

There are hiking, cross country ski and snowshoe trails at the center. There is no fee to use the trails.

More boxes

Boxes for our fundraiser in October. Boxes and photo by Eileen Belanger.

Left to right: Snowman by Linda Feinberg, Barn by Stephanie Bogalis Byrd, Flowers by Bea Bearden.

More next week!

Mural Painting In Progress

Our artists have started painting the mural at 720 Union Street, Manchester (between Harrison and Brook).

Lady Slippers by Rollande Rouselle

Scene on left by Eileen Belanger. Scene on right by Deb Curtin.

Turtle (middle panel) by Deb Funk. Unfinished fruit and vegetables by Shirley Perry.

Butterfly on left by Daniela Edstrom. Caterpillar on right by Anthony Williams.

Paintings on the theme of "Nature in the City" by Friends of Art Manchester. More paintings will be up next week.

Please note that Families in Transition will be having a reception on Thursday, August 7 to celebrate the new design updates at their Douglas Street Housing in Manchester. These updates include paintings by our artists. Please contact our treasurer, Linda Feinberg, if you would like an e-mailed invitation.

Summer Thoughts

Your House

I like the time
spent at your house.
The most fun was
when we walked
in your garden.

We adjusted the
sprinklers, and
got wet doing it.

And the grass
thanked us by

coming up
even greener-
next morning.

The meals were good too.
The roast was
the best.
And the broiled potatoes?
The finest
I've ever had.

When will you
invite me back?

I want to see

your grass and
flowers again-
eat from your big table
the sweet meats
and fruits so fine-
picked right off
your pear tree.

Poem and photos by John Mitchell
Photos from The Smoke Stack Complex, taken with 35mm Cannon AE-1 camera with 70 mm lens in June 2007. Thank you, John.

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Just a note: Priming has started on the wall at 720 Union Street. Murals to start soon.

Life on a Star

Out of Portsmouth Harbor we motored on the fishing vessel, Perseverance. It was my fifth year as a volunteer on Star island in the Isle of Shoals. This year my two sisters went along for the adventure. A full weekend of chores was in store for us in our assigned tasks of cleaning, and gardening.

The Oceanic hotel has been in operation since back in the days before electricity. It still evokes another era as one of the grand dames of period architecture - graceful staircases, wainscoting and a general ambiance of class in all the details. The chapel is the central building of about six other stone ones. It was once used with multiple purposes as general store, meeting house and storage.

The island has a religious past as a retreat and still is supported in this mission. It has become a successful place for many people to get away for a weekend, engage in one of the many workshops offered or just be. Elegant in one sense but simple in another. The place has nothing you would expect but everything you hope for - quiet solitude, the wind and water, friendships to be made, a moment or two for reflection in our hurry up world. It is always with dedication we give our time to keep this wonderful place going. And did I mention the food? Upscale like you wouldn't believe for an island where everything has to be brought in. They are going green in many ways but the upkeep is constant. I was taken off my assignments when they found out about the one task I could do and I spent the rest of my time prepping old window frames with a heat gun, removing broken glass, adding new panes, points then glaze. I loved it!

www.starisland.org

Guest post and photos today by member Deborah Curtin.  Thank you for this information and the photos.