Summer projects

Design awarded to our member and chief muralist Anthony Williams. Anthony will be painting this design on a utility box downtown. Congrats.

As a group we have submitted some proposals for summer murals, but we do not have any news yet. Our treasurer, Linda Feinberg, went to a Southern NH Planning Committee meeting on the millyard and did some networking.  Anthony and Linda will attend a meeting next week of Old Sol and try to get some interest in more public art downtown.

Member Joe Smiga received 30 copies of his new book "Blackest of Fridays".  This is his 8th book and is not available in stores yet. He already sold his first one to his chiropractor. Joe is a good salesman.  The novel is a thriller involving good police work and terrorism.

Please send in your news and summer updates to our blogger, Linda: lhfeinberg@gmail.com
Thank you.

Next meeting and two calls for Art

Next meeting is Tuesday, May 17th at 7:00 p.m. at Deb's house. If you need more information, please feel free to contact me. LHFeinberg@gmail.com. We will discuss possibilities for a summer art project. Please bring your ideas.

Tina gave me some more Calls for Art.

CALL FOR ART!

Wanderlust: A Visual Symphony

Plymouth State University's KDAG Exhibitions Program, with exhibit partner, The New Hampshire Music Festival are seeking artwork, for 

the upcoming Summer 2016 exhibition in Silver Center for the Arts, Wanderlust: A Visual Symphony, which will be on view during the New Hampshire Music Festival.

NHMF's theme of wanderlust, will take audiences on a creative journey through countries and places around the world including Brazil, Germany, New York City, and Russia. The exhibit will celebrate the power of art to move and inspire us, connecting to music and travel themes.

Artists are invited to submit 1-3 images of artworks. Artwork is limited to work that can hang on walls.

Interested artists should go to the link below to submit a jpg of their artwork, accompanied by a brief artist's statement describing how the work relates to music themes, an artist biographical statement, and contact information.

https://www.plymouth.edu/gallery/exhibition-kdag/visual-symphony/

The deadline for submissions is June 10, 2016.

Guest Co-Curator: Bradford Dumont, NH Music Festival Artistic Administrator

Exhibit Dates: July 1- August 15, 2016

Call for Printmakers!   Finding Place on Paper:  Contemporary Poets and Printmakers Explore the White Mountains Co curated by Elizabeth Ahl, Parker Potter, and Cynthia Robinson Plymouth State University's Museum of the White Mountains is seeking a limited number of prints made recently, for the upcoming exhibit, Finding Place on Paper: Contemporary Poets and Printmakers Explore the White Mountains Artists from (or connected to) New Hampshire and the New England region, for whom the White Mountains as a place is featured, played a role, or been an inspiration in their work are invited to submit 1-2 images.  Selected prints may be paired with contemporary poems for visual display and/or included in printed material associated with the show.   Interested artists should go to the link below to submit a jpg of their print, accompanied by a brief artist's statement describing how the work relates to the White Mountains, an artist biographical statement, and contact information. https://www.plymouth.edu/museum-of-the-white-mountains/exhibitions/inspired-by-place/submission-form/ The deadline for submissions is August 15, 2016. Exhibit dates: October 24-December 16, 2016. To learn more about the Museum of the White Mountains, please visit http://www.plymouth.edu/museum-of-the-white-mountains/ Click on the "Call for Artists" tab at the top for more exhibit information.

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

Summer Project

Just a little preview of some of the proposals for the tunnel on the Piscataquog River trail. Photo above shows sketches for the tunnel by Anthony Williams.  Photos and sketches below are from Stephanie Byrd. The proposals have to be approved by the mayor and alderman before we can proceed with this project.

Photography Exhibit by Joe

Our member, Writer Joe Smiga, has been taking photography classes and currently has an exhibit at the Hooksett Public Library. The exhibit is on the main floor across from the reference desk. There are additional photographs and paintings on exhibit on the lower level as well from other artists and photographers who take classes and workshops there.

This is Joe's first large photo exhibit.The photographs were taken on a trip to the Canadian Rockies in June and show elk, mountain goats, a cute chipmunk, beautiful mountains and lakes.

Several of our artists have submitted work for approval for murals to be painted on the Piscataquog Trail (in conjunction with Riverwalk Beautification Alliance). These proposals are for the spring and summer and we hope that they are approved.

We are still looking for new members. You can pay your $5 annual dues online with Paypal at the top of the page.  We will need additional painters for the summer projects so please consider joining us.

Inside Mural - Finished

With thanks to Shirley Perry for the photos. Our artists finished the mural in the O'Malley headquarters. Left to right: Anthony Williams, Deb Funk, Shirley Perry, Stephanie Byrd.

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.