Tam jan 2015

Artist Kris Galli Photographed by Edward Acker

JANUARY 2015 MONTHLY BERKSHIRE ARTZINE THE SOURCE FOR PROMOTING ART SINCE 1994THE ARTFUL MIND

‘Miss MaryMac’

Glovelettes

Hand-crocheted Wrist warmers and boot cuffs

All colors, beads & buttons, soft & stylishScarfs & Shawls, too!

...affordable seamstress work available413. 854. 4400

[email protected]

Happy New Year!

ober gallery6 North Main Street, Kent, CT 06757

860. 927. 5030 [email protected]

RUSSIAN WINTER SERIES

Russian Art: Then and Now

January 17 - March 1, 2015

Andrei Filippov: New Works

March 7 - April 26, 2015

Vitaly Komar: Symbols

May 1 - 31, 2015

2 • JAnuARY 2015 THE ARTFuL mInD

Artist Kris GalliHarryet Candee.....10

Planet Waves for JANUARY 2015Eric Francis.....12

Marie Antoinette Eats CakeRichard Britell ... 18

Fiction Sampler from The Virgin of Hopeless CausesAmy Tanner ...11

Simply Sasha Recipe for JanuarySasha Seymour...19

Contributing Writers and Monthly Columnists Eunice Agar, Richard Britell, Eric Francis, Karen Lewis, Sasha Seymour, Amy Tanner

Photographers Edward Acker, Cassandra Sohn, Jane Feldman

Sabine Vollmer von Falken

Publisher Harryet Candee

Copy Editor Marguerite Bride

Advertising and Graphic Design Harryet Candee

Box 985, Great Barrington, MA [email protected]

413 854 4400

ALL MATERIAL due the 10th of the month prior to publication

FYI: ©Copyright laws in effect throughout The Artful Mind for logo & allgraphics including text material. Copyright laws for photographers and writ-ers throughout The Artful Mind. Permission to reprint is required in all in-stances. In any case the issue does not appear on the stands as planned dueto unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control, advertisers will be com-pensated on a one to one basis. Disclaimer rights available upon request.Serving the Art community with the intention of enhancing communicationand sharing positive creativity in all aspects of our lives.

JANUARY 2015

THE ARTFUL MINDARTZINEIn print for 21 years!

Kris Galli, ArtistPhotographs by Edward Acker ...10 THE MUSIC STORE

Ring in the new Year with the gift of music, to those youlove and to yourself!

The music store has begun its fifteenth year in business inGreat Barrington. Helping the community, near and far, makemusic has been an enjoyable and productive enterprise for us.And we look forward to continuing this mission into the secondhalf of our second decade.some of the fun . . . • Composite Acoustic guitars (the forever guitar!) and their peer-less travel guitar, the Cargo, made of carbon graphite and im-pervious to most changes of temperature and humidity• Guild Guitars - Light, powerful, affordable, TERRIFIC!• uKuLELEs! 50+ DIFFEREnT models: soprano, Concert,Tenor and Baritone, acoustic and acoustic/electric, six string,resonator and the remarkable u-Bass!• How about a Cordoba Cuatro?• Or a West African Djembe with a smAsHInG carry bag? • Try Takamine for a guitar to suit almost any budget (LimitedEditions and GREAT sALEs, too)! And so many more brandsand types from $150-$5000 . . . .• Ever heard of Dr. Easy’s Drunk Bay Cigar Boxes?Acoustic/electric cigar box guitars, exquisitely made, whichbring the past into the present with a delightful punch, acousti-cally AnD plugged in!• Harmonicas, in (almost) every key (try a suzuki Hammond‘mouth Organ’).• Picks (exotic, too!), strings (!!), sticks and reeds• Violins, mandolins, Dulcimers, Banjos, even Banjo ukes!• Handmade and international percussion instruments!• Dreamy native American and locally made bamboo andwooden flutes and walking stick flutes!

And there is more to delight the eyes, intrigue the ears andbring warm joy to the heart!

We remain your neighborhood music store, where advice andhelp are free and music is the universal language. Working withlocal luthiers and repairmen we offer stringed and band instru-ment repair. And we just may have something you haven’t seenbefore (an acoustic/electric Kalimba, perhaps?). We match (orBEAT) most on-line prices for the merchandise that we sell, anddo so In PERsOn, for the most part cheerfully (though we re-serve 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 our 15th year.Your patronage helps the community and makes it a more tune-ful and happy place.

The Music Store, located at 87 Railroad Street in Great Bar-rington, is open Wednesdays through Sundays and by appoint-ment. Call us at 413-528-2460, or visit us on line atwww.themusicstoreplus.com

MORRISON GALLERYThe morrison Gallery is exhibiting a winter group show

during December and January. The exhibition introducesworks by new gallery artists - Leah Durner, Vincent In-coniglios, and Insun Kim.

Leah Durner’s work occupies the critical space betweenmodernism and postmodernism—between postwar abstrac-tion and post-Duchampian conceptualism and post-Warholianpop. Durner’s practice includes paintings in oil, acrylic, andgouache on canvas and on paper, as well as works in pouredenamel. Her work in poured enamel references psychedeliaand process art with deeper roots in the exuberance of theBaroque and Rococo as well as in the modernist tradition ofabstraction.

The exhibit will include Vincent Inconiglios’ “Donut se-ries” which began in 2004 as an exploration of color, shapeand space – a theme that has been present throughout his ca-reer. The “Donuts” are brightly colored circular forms paintedwith acrylic on paper and float on white backgrounds or workwithin a complex abstract grid. The title “Donut series” camefrom Inconiglios as a reference to the shapes within his workand to add lightness and humor to his study of the circularform. This series elaborates on his earlier studies of shape andspace and the important juxtaposition of these elementswithin an abstract painting. The sense of play is evident ineach piece.

The show will also include new sculpture by Insun Kim,a self-taught sculptor with a studio in Beacon, nY. Kim fab-ricates tree sculptures made of stainless steel nails, rangingfrom about 3 feet to 10 feet high. she finds inspiration in na-ture, and states “from time to time I will find natural objectsthat seem to radiate beauty in their own way. It is my hopeand my aim to merge this natural beauty with my personalexperiences to produce an art, my art, which can channel anddisplay both influences together.”

Morrison Gallery - 8 Old Barn Road, Kent, Connecticut.Gallery viewing hours are Wednesday through Saturday 11AM - 5 PM and Sunday 1 PM - 4 PM. 860-927-4501;www.themorrisongallery.com

Happy Anniversary... To the writers and photographers and contributers:Thank you for all your work and inspiring thoughts. Have a great 2015!

-Harryet Candee

Insun KIm

Photographer Julie McCarthyKaren Lewis...9

THE ARTFULMIND JANUARY 2015 •3

museums & galleries510 WARREN STREET GALLERYHudson, nY • 518-822-0510“Frigid Fractals”, new photography by H. David stein, thru Jan25.

CARRIE HADDAD GALLERY622 Warren st., Hudson, nY • 518-828-1915 carriehaddadgallery.comPHOTOGRAPHY: Opening Wed, Dec 17, Carrie Haddad newwork on view til sun, Jan 25.

SIX DEPOT 6 Depot st, West stockbridge, mA • 413-232-0205In the Gallery: stephanie Anderson, drawings and watercolors;In the Cafe: Richard Patterson, boxes and moho Designs

FRONT STREET GALLERY129 Front st., Housatonic, mA • 413-274-6607 / 413-528-9546, or cell at 413-429-7141Housatonic Gallery for students and artists. Featuring watercol-ors by Kate Knapp (saturday and sunday 12-5pm or by ap-pointment)

GOOD PURPOSE GALLERY40 main st., Lee, mAnew Works by Rebecca Weinman and multimedia by michaelVincent Bushy will open on Friday, January 9 and will runthrough February 16. Opening reception January 9, 5 - 7pm.

LAUREN CLARK FINE ART25 Railroad street, Great Barrington, mA• 413-528-0432 / www.LaurenClarkFineArt.com; [email protected]“small Works in several Dimensions, 2014”, more than 20artists, nov 22 - Jan 11.

LAWRENCE FINE ART37 newtown Lane, East Hapton, nY www/lawrence-fine-arts.comnew at the Gallery: A still Life by Jankel Adler

LICHTENSTEIN CENTER FOR THE ARTSPittsfield, mATEn sPOT, exhibit, Feb 6-28, Wed-sat, 11am-4pm. ReceptionFeb 12, 5-7pm. Included in this show is marguerite Bride.

MARGUERITE BRIDEnuarts studios, studio #9, 311 north st., Pittsfield, mAmargebride-paintings.com • 413-841-1659Original Watercolors, house portraits, commissions, lessons

OBER GALLERY6 north main st, Kent, CT • [email protected] / www.obergallery.comRussian Winter series

McDARIS FINE ARTVilma mare Fashion Designer623 Warren street, Hudson, new Yorkmcdarisfineart.com or vilmamare.com.Exhibition featuring Lithuanian born, regionally based fash-ion designer Vilma mare of Baltic style. In “Queen of ser-pents' : myth Interfaces Routine -- Fashion Designer Vilmamare Explores Contemporary meanings Through a Lens ofBaltic mythology”

MORRISON GALLERY208 Old Barn Road near the inters. Rts 7 & 341 in Kent, CT.• 860-927-4501 / [email protected] / www.morrisongallery.comWinter group show thru January. Leah Durner, Vincent In-coniglios, and Insun Kim.

NORMAN ROCKWELL MUSEUMRte 183, stockbridge, mA • 413-298-4100mort Künstler: The Art of Adventure: nov 8 - march 8, 2015.

SCHANTZ GALLERIES3 Elm st, stockbridge, mA • 413-298-3044 www.schantzgalleries.com A destination for those seeking premier artists working inglass. (11 - 5 daily)

THE EMPORIUM ANTIQUE & ART CENTER319 main st., Gt. Barringtton, mA • 413-528-1660 / www.Em-poriumG.comCOnTRAsTs:Kelly Young , margaret Buchte, Local Land-scapes, sue macVeety, American Landscapes

THE HARRISON GALLERY39 spring st., WIllimastown, mATracy Helgeson, Jan 3-31

music/theatreMAHAIWE PERFORMING ARTS CENTER14 Castle st., Gt. Barrington, mA • 413-528-0100www.mahaiwe.orgmet Opera Live in HD: Lehar’s The merry Widow, scottEyerly Opera Talk, 11am, sat. Jan 17, 1pm. Reserved seat-ing

10TH ANNUAL 10X10 UPSTREET ARTS FESTIVALThroughout Pittsfield, mAFeb 12 - 22

workshopsARROWHEAD (HERMAN MELVILLE)Pittsfield, mAAuthor Jana Laiz, writer-in-residence will host special writersworkshop program on saturday January 17 for a maximum of10 authors. Applications are being accepted now for the work-shop which will be an all-day event with a provided lunch andwill result in a second event on saturday, April 11 when theworkshop members will be giving a public reading of workscreated as a result of the January work session.

BERKSHIRE FESTIVAL OF WOMEN WRITERSBerkshirewomenwriters.org /[email protected] 31, 11am – 5 pm at Embody Healing Arts in GreatBarrington, playwright Winter miller will offer a “saturdayWriting Warrior Intensive” writing workshop

IS183 ART SCHOOL OF THE BERKSHIRES13 Willard Hill Rd.,stockbridge, mA • 413-298-5252Full schedule of workshops and classes available on the web-site is183.org

SABINE VOLLMER VON FALKENPHOTOGRAPHIC WORKsHOPs • 413-298-4933 www.sabinephotoart.com, [email protected] one on one workshops, scheduled throughoutthe winter months: BEHInD THE CAmERA - sabine’s eyefor detail provides the students with everlasting creative tools.Explore the beauty of patterns, textures, layers, depth of detailin the real. Participants learn how natural light can create dra-matic or lyrical images. Designed for the serious learner whois interested in improving her/his skills. The hope is to con-centrate on the artistic and critical eye. You are asked to bringa digital sLR camera. December 1, 2014 – may 31, 2015

Please send us your calendar listings no later than the 10th of the month prior to publication.

see us on ISSUU.COMhttp://issuu.com/theartfulmindartzine/docs/tam_dec/0

Things to do & People to see... January 2015

One of Irmari Nacht's recycled books "books99Rashid"which will be shown at the Brooklyn Public LIbrary, Feb 12through April 5. Pages from this 4" book are sliced, cut, andexplode to more than 25", while being firmly attached tothe spine. Irmari Nacht resides in Englewood, NJ and SouthEgremont, MA, USA. The public is invited to view the exhibi-tion on the 2nd floor balcony during library hours and to theopening reception on Thursday, February 12, from 6-8pmat the Dweck Center Lobby, Brooklyn Public Library, 10Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn, NY 11238, USA. www.bklynli-brary.org

ee

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A friend of Paul Klee,Adler's (1895-1949) workwas heavily influencedby Leger and Picasso. Hestudied with StanleyHayter at the famed Atel-ier 17. Born in Poland, hespent his early career inGermany. Many of hisworks were seized bythe Nazis and displayedas "Entartete Kunst," orDegenerate Art, and thendestroyed, so his work isrelatively rare. His workis in the collection of theTate, among others. Notour normal thing, butgood work is good workand worth showing, es-pecially since the Nazisintended it for oblivion.

LAWRENCE FINE ART37 newtown Lane, East Hapton, nY www/lawrence-fine-arts.comnew at the Gallery: A still Life by Jankel Adler

THE ARTFULMIND JANUARY 2015 •5

Artist Margie Biener

Congratulations toHarryet Candee

For 21 Yearsof orchestratingTHE ARTFUL MIND

With many more to come

Eunice Agar

www.euniceagar.com

ANN M. SCOTT

Congratulations

and

Thank you!

www.annscottpaint ing.com

Paul Graubard, Jewish CowboyInternational Folk Art Museum, Sante Fe, New Mexico, Permanent Collection

www.paulgraubard.com

Paul Graubard

Congratulations to The

Artful Mind on your

21st year!

“THEY saw another butterfly” Roselle Chartock, collage

“Thank you,Harryet, for all you

do for all of us!”

Roselle [email protected]

413. 528. 4199


ROSELLE CHARTOCKNote from Roselle Chartock about

why she wrote this book...From the outset, I considered the history of the Bondy family

and their school, Windsor mountain, to be a compelling humaninterest saga. What’s more, I discovered close personal connec-tions. For example, their story combined the three major areasof my professional research and writing during 45 years as aneducator, those topics being: the nazi Holocaust, local historyand education, particularly humanistic education, all of whichare referenced in the blurb located on the back cover of my re-cently-published book, Windsor mountain school, A BelovedBerkshire Institution (The History Press):

“When their Jewish heritage and progressive philosophymade the Bondy family a target of the nazi regime, they wereforced to sell their school (in Germany) and start anew in Amer-ica. max and Gertrud Bondy first opened their innovative schoolin Windsor, Vermont, and (after four years in manchester, Ver-mont,) moved the campus to Lenox, massachusetts in 1944.Windsor mountain school was ahead of its time – the facultyhonored diversity, and it became the first co-ed integrated board-ing school in Berkshire County. Families like the Belafontes,Poitiers and Campanellas were attracted to the school for its(arts-related) and multicultural, international curriculum. Fromits golden age to the rock-and-roll era, Windsor mountainstrived to stay true to its mission until hard financial timesforced the school to close in 1975. Roselle Kline Chartock cap-tures the spirit of this Berkshire boarding school that still liveson in the hearts of its alumni.”

I am most grateful for the participation of dozens of Windsoralumni and faculty – some of whom live locally – for their con-tributions to this book, and to Governor Deval Patrick for hissincere and beautifully written Foreward.

JENNIFER PAZIENZAI think I always thought of myself as an artist, someone

delighted in understanding the world by making things. Whatsort of artist I would become was the question. As a very lit-tle girl I so wanted to be a dancer. I also wanted to play thepiano. I dreamt of these things as I drew, painted and helpedcook and bake in my mother's kitchen. With little money fordance or piano lessons my art was directed to the visual.Thenin grade school I was called the class artist because I coulddraw as well as the boy class artist!

Jennifer Pazienza’s work is held in Public and Corpo-rate Collections of the Provinces of new Brunswick andnova scotia and in numerous private collections through-out Canada, the us and Italy. Her work is represented bythe Ingrid mueller Art+Concepts Gallery in Fredericton, new Brunswick Canada,http://www.artcontact.info/?page_id=1292\ and theJonathan Bancroft-Snell Gallery in London, Ontario,Canada, http://www.jonathons.ca/. Locally is representedby the St. Francis Gallery in South Lee, Massachusetts,http://www.saintfrancisgallery.com/ and he has exhibitedwith Good Purpose Gallery, Lee, Massachusetts,http://goodpurpose.org/artist-showcase/. For in an depthArtful Mind interview please see, http://issuu.com/theart-fulmindartzine/docs/tam_nov_issuu_2014/1

GOOD PURPOSE GALLERYREBECCA WEInmAn AnD

mICHAEL VInCEnT BusHYThe Good Purpose Gallery will exhibit the works of local

artists, Rebecca Weinman and michael Vincent Bushy. newWorks by Rebecca Weinman and multimedia by michaelVincent Bushy will open on Friday, January 9 and will runthrough February 16. The opening reception will take placeon January 9, from 5pm - 7pm.

Greatly influenced by 19th Century French painters rang-ing from Corot and Courbet to Vuillard and Bonnard, as wellas contemporary painters such as Cecily Brown, LucianFreud, and Paula Rego, Weinman’s figurative works in oil,watercolor, and acrylic are both elusive and engaging.

since graduating cum laude with her BFA from the uni-versity of massachusetts Dartmouth, and studying at thePont-Aven school of Contemporary Art in the northwest ofFrance, Weinman has traveled extensively throughout theus and Western Europe. When not traveling, Rebecca main-tains a work space in stockbridge, mA.

michael Vincent Bushy is a printmaker, bookbinder andfigure artist, living and working in Pittsfield with his wifeRebecca and their two dogs. Rather than fighting against thenatural properties of each individual medium (such as large-scale drawings or copper etchings), michael Bushy tries touse them as a means of evoking the image that he searchesfor. He is also an art teacher with Hillcrest Educational Cen-ters.

Good Purpose Gallery and spectrum Playhouse are pro-fessional venues that exist to offer students real-life training,experience and integration with the community. Both venueshost professional artists and events on a regular basisthroughout the year, including student events such as plays,performances, art exhibits, and more.

Good Purpose Gallery, 40 MainStreet in Lee, Massachusetts. Thegallery is open 9am - 4pm, Sunday -Saturday. For more information, visitwww.goodpurpose.org

A most wonderful place

to meet, eat and drink!

R T E 2 0 , N E W L E B A N O N , N E W Y O R K

Phot

o: Ja

ne F

eldm

an

“What is my identity? This question produces akind of crisis in my thinking about my

painting and myself.”-Gunther Gerzso

Join The Artful Mind. Be seen.

[email protected]

ISSUU.COM

nEW BOOK On THE HIsTORY OF WInDsOR mOunTAIn (1939- 1975),A LEnOx BOARDInG sCHOOL AHEAD OF ITs TImE

REBECCA WEInmAn

mICHAEL VInCEnT BusHY

THE ARTFuL mInD JAnuARY 2015 • 7

BLUE HORSE REPERTORY COMPANY

845 [email protected]

ST. FRANCIS GALLERYCOnGRATuLATIOns ARTFuL mInD

st. Francis Gallery supports and applauds Artful mind andHarryet Candee in its all encompassing ad-venture to supportthe spirit of Arts and Culture in our wonderful Berkshires.Highlighting many things that are special to all of us and cap-turing our imagination it proves that art is about who we reallyare at our best as a community, a nation, and individual. It illu-minates this in a way that often cannot be expressed by anyother means.

We celebrate our artists and thank them for their dedicationto exploring their souls and providing all of us with a uniqueexperience whereby the products of their energy and work illu-minate our lives. We cannot see our culture without art. It en-ables a wonderful experience that celebrates our humanity,spirituality, and our connection to one another. It is the best ofus, our totality and our inspired creativity, as beings in thisworld today and for the future to see.

We thank all of those who nourish this work in so many waysas patrons and celebrators and viewers. The Arts are one wayto celebrate the purpose of our existence, to create from the veryfabric of our being and become a part of something much largerthan ourselves——the fabric of our universe and the meaningof existence itself. Celebrating the arts and creativity allows usto value one another for the contributions we make to our ownevolution.

The Artful mind has always honored these traditions and ac-complishments. It has understood the importance of art to shakeus from preconceived perceptions, to challenge our generaliza-tions, categorizations, and polarizations, blocking the level ofthinking we are at and shifting it to a “higher order”.

st. Francis Gallery is proud to be a part of this process andproud of all the people who join us to make this adventure pos-sible. But, actually our business is all about creating positiveand uplifting outcomes for all who come thru our doors. It’sabout human relationships and how we make people feel. It’sabout all those we touch. It’s that simple...and that hard.

St. Francis Gallery - Rt 102, South Lee just 2 miles east fromthe Red Lion Inn.

MARGIE BIENERCheck out this website gallery...

ArtworkForKidsRooms.comPrints and Originals make perfect gifts!

Announcing the launching of a new, vibrant, creative on-line art gallery, ARTWORKFORKIDsROOms.COm, fea-turing the colorful, whimsical, imaginative creations ofartist, 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 creative imag-ination, artistic skills and interest in advertising led her tojobs at several prestigious advertising agencies, such asOgilvy & mather, Young & Rubicam, and Deutsch Inc.

Her love for art and children led her to be the Art Directorfor commercials for Disney and Jell-O. margie’s printedtextile designs can also be found on newborn and infant’sclothing. Botticelli, Rocky & Bullwinkle as well as mothernature influenced her designs.

margie’s medium for her creations is acrylic paints andink on both canvas and paper.

Be sure to “walk” through margie’s Gallery, ARTWORK-FORKIDsROOms.COm, enjoy her ingenious artistic styleof mixing colors, imagination and childhood. Her artworkinspires us to smile, and remember the child within all of us.Margie Biener - ARTWORKFORKIDSROOMS.COM

mARGIE BIEnER, DREssED uP FOR BREAKFAsT, ACRYLIC AnD InKCROPPED VERsIOn, COLOR VERsIOn On WEBsITE

McDARIS FINE ARTVILmA mARE FAsHIOn DEsIGnER

mcDaris Fine Art in collaboration with 2440 Design stu-dio presents an innovative exhibition featuring Lithuanianborn, regionally based fashion designer Vilma mare ofBaltic Style. In “Queen of serpents’ : myth Interfaces Rou-tine — Fashion Designer Vilma mare Explores Contempo-rary meanings Through a Lens of Baltic mythology” marewill be exploring contemporary culture through an installa-tion involving a symbolic ceremony that recreates a time ofconnection and cleansing.

The exhibition will be comprised of large tapestries, flagsand artisnal clothing styles including coats, skirts and othervestments. Besides the usual body protection and adornmentaspects of the apparel, Vilma also maintains its spiritual con-tent - protection against harm and the attraction of fertilityand happiness.

Opening day for the exhibit is saturday, January 3, 2015from 6:00 - 9:00 Pm. A closing reception on sunday, Feb-ruary 22 from 2:00 to 4:00 Pm will feature an artist talk inwhich Vilma will discuss the importance of portraying thestudious cultural history of ethnic minorities who observedand valued above all the powers of nature.

A pop up store will feature garments for purchase. McDaris Fine Art - 623 Warren Street, Hudson, New York.

Gallery Hours : Monday 10:00 to 5:00 PM Thursday andFriday 11:00 to 7:00 PM, Saturday and Sunday and Holi-days 11:00 to 6:00 PM. For info: mcdarisfineart.com or vilmamare.com

Edward Acker Photographer

Edwar

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800-508

-8373

PHIL PRYJmA

8• JAnuARY 2015 THE ARTFuL mInD

“Color is my day-long obsession, joy and torment.”~Claude Monet

FRONT STREET GALLERYKATE KnAPP

Pastels, oils, acrylics and watercolors…..abstract and repre-sentational…..landscapes, still lifes and portraits….a unique va-riety of painting technique and styles….you will be transportedto another world and see things in a way you never have be-fore…. join us and experience something different.

Painting classes continue on monday and Wednesday morn-ings 10-1:30pm at the studio and Thursday mornings out in thefield. These classes are open to all...come to one or come againif it works for you. All levels and materials welcome.

Classes at Front street are for those wishing to learn, thosewho just want to be involved in the pure enjoyment of art,and/or those who have some experience under their belt.

A teacher for many years, Kate Knapp has a keen sense ofeach student’s artistic needs to take a step beyond. Perfect set-ting for setting up still lifes; lighting and space are excellent.

Kate Knapp’s paintings are also on display at 510 Warrenst. Gallery in Hudson, nY. Please stop by to see all the manyworks of art by exceptional artists.

Front Street Gallery – Front Street, Housatonic, MA. Galleryopen by appointment or chance. 413-528-9546 or 413-429-7141 (cell).

COLLINS/EDITIONSformerly

BERKSHIRE DIGITALAfter seven years of working for artists and photographers

as Berkshire Digital, we have changed our name tocollins|editions. We are a fine art reproduction service thatoffers the highest quality digital photography & reproductionof paintings as well as Giclée printing on archival papers andcanvas with sizes up to 42” x 90”. Artists & photographersuse us to create limited editions of their images. Private col-lectors and galleries use us to document their collections.Whether the reproduction needs are for archiving, printing,books, magazines, postcards or internet use, BD adheres tovery strict color controls along with delivering stunning de-tail by using either a large format camera with a BetterLight™ digital scanning back for making giclee prints aswell as the best DsLR cameras for publication & internetuses.

In addition to the photography and printing services,collins|editions also offers graphic design, enabling clientsto create show announcements, post cards and brochures.The website, www.CollinsEditions.com has a completeoverview, lots of information and pricing.

The owner, Fred Collins, has been a commercial photog-rapher for over 30 years having had studios in Boston andstamford. He offers 20 years of experience with Photo-shop™ enabling retouching, restoration and enhancement.The studio is located in mt Washington but dropoff and Pucan be arranged at other locations.Collins|editions studio, 220 East St, Mt Washington, Mas-sachusetts; 413-644-9663, www.CollinsEditions.com

BERKSHIRE FESTIVAL OF WOMEN WRITERS

Responding to popular demand, the Berkshire Festival ofWomen Writers is now offering monthly events fulfilling ourmission of nourishing women’s creative voices and visions,and providing more opportunities for women of all ages andfrom many walks of life to share their perspectives in thepublic sphere.On January 11, from 3 – 5 p.m. at the Shaker Dam Cof-

feehouse and Stanmeyer Gallery in West Stockbridge, theLean In with the Berkshire Festival of Women Writers circlewill gather to celebrate the New Year with the theme “Start-ing Anew.” Women are welcome to bring short pieces ofwriting to share (500 words max); there will also be an op-portunity to write together on the afternoon’s theme. Thefree, drop-in monthly Lean In gatherings are hosted by Fes-tival Director Jennifer Browdy and Berkshire Magazine Ed-itor Anastasia Stanmeyer.On January 31, from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. at Embody Healing

Arts in Great Barrington, playwright Winter Miller will offera “Saturday Writing Warrior Intensive” writing workshop.Not just for playwrights, and not just for women, this work-shop is open to all writers looking for an inspiring, high-en-ergy writing workout. Winter Miller is the creative geniusbehind the play IN DARFUR, which was produced to ravereviews by WAM Theatre this past fall. The workshop is co-sponsored by WAM Theatre, the Berkshire Festival ofWomen Writers, Barbara Newman and Jan Seward. See theFestival website for registration information.

The Berkshire Festival of Women Writers will be cele-brating its Fifth Anniversary Season inMarch 2015. There’s still time to reserveyour table at the March 29 Book Expo atthe Crowne Plaza Hotel in Pittsfield; busi-nesses can also sponsor events or place adson our lively Festival website.

Berkshire Festival of Women Writers -Berkshirewomenwriters.org for more infor-mation or email [email protected]

[email protected]

JANE FELDMAN


Photographer Julie mcCarthy, currently working on a series entitled “I Am More Than YouThink I Am,” portrays homeless women in Berkshire County, massachusetts. The close to life-sized, black and white photographs were on display this past October through november in GreatBarrington’s Berkshire south Community Center. At the ending of the show, Julie helped pull to-gether a panel that convened in the Robbins Room where her exhibit of portraits were displayedand a discussion was held on issues surrounding women and homelessness. since I have been work-ing with homeless people at Construct, Inc., since 1999, I was invited to be one of the panelists.

The panel, inspired by Julie’s exhibit of many honest and confronting photos, touched the livesand condition of homeless women in hopes of making their struggles more visible and known tothe public and community. It was the first step forward in finding solutions to this challengingdilemma many women have been facing for a long time. Being female, and totally supportive ofwanting to help, it is my desire to explore and unravel the artistically rendered series of homelesswomen Julie has created and set forth.

During the panel discussion, Julie quietly remained seated in the front row allowing her work tospeak for itself. When asked to explain this body of work, she answered, “In creating work thereare a number of decisions that an artist has to make beyond the subject matter. Each decision im-pacts the viewer’s experience; size, color, and material the photograph is printed on. My imagesare graphic and beautiful in their black and white starkness, and are printed on soft fabric implyingfragility and strength. The portraits are large enough to demand to be seen from a distance. Theyinvite the viewer to move close and read what these women have to say.” many comments weremade by the audience confirming sincere interest in the need to spread further awareness in ourcommunity and beyond the Berkshires about women and their plight. While all of Berkshire countywas represented on the panel by various organizations such as the Christian Center and ElizabethFreeman Center, Julie asked that the event take place and the show be hung in south County becauseof the invisibility of homeless individuals living here in comparison to Pittsfield, mA, just north ofGreat Barrington.

Wearing my social worker’s cap on that day of the panel discussion, I had an unexpected expe-rience directly related to viewing these photographs. One of the women whose portrait was in thisexhibit had been a client of mine in the past month. I was surprised at my reaction. I felt a suddenoverwhelming wave of emotion coming over me. now, being a social worker it’s important to keepemotions at bay when working with clients in order to efficiently help them and to prevent gettingdrained at the same time. While absorbing these portraits and my guard being down, I was joltedby a tide of emotions, not totally ready for, certainly unexpected—feelings of all these women’sstruggles, challenges and untold stories that were unraveling before me from every angle in theroom. Their narratives transcended loud and clear, straight at me, full force. It felt bigger than lifefor me at that moment. I did not allow myself at that point to suppress anything or keep anythingat bay— it was all there for the taking. Julie’s proficiency in her photography skills had an enormousamount to do with the overall success of these portraits and her message. I’m sure now that thesewomen having had the chance of being exposed to the public in this artistic way, their plight ofhomelessness will hopefully be properly addressed.

Julie’s inspirational series of work, “I Am More Than You Think I Am” grew out of an articleshe read at one point and was followed by a discussion with the Director of Co-act, an organizationin Pittsfield devoted to the homeless. In addition, Julie was further exposed to the multitude ofproblems facing the homelessness when she spoke with the staff at the Christian Center in Pittsfield,mA. she has found most of her subjects for this portrait series in Pittsfield, and is currently workingon portraits of south County women. she has great aspirations for this project. she would like forit to be an installation; to be on billboards and building murals, in conjunction with a website con-taining a resource guide. In the near future, sheis planning on putting together an exhibit of photo-graphs from the local soup kitchens. (Yes- they do exist in the Berkshires!).

During her career as a photographer, Julie has been drawn to issues that affect women. This isnot the first time Julie has worked on portraits in a series. Her previous series of photographs ren-dered was “The Hair Project,” and focused on female cancer patients and the loss of hair due tochemotherapy. That led to a self-published book of the same name. Another one of Julie’s seriesexplored the idea of what home means to women today, as they are no longer bound by traditionalroles of wife and family. Julie traveled across the country interviewing and photographing womenwho have created their own definition of “home”.

Julie was mostly comfortable talking about her work more than about herself. “Coming from afamily of storytellers, I am more of an observer and listener. As a Bereavement Counselor at Hos-piceCare in the Berkshires for many years I honed those skills. When I left Hospice and decided toturn to photography I realized I had found a perfect medium in which to express myself.”

If I had the choice of subjects I would want to capture through the lens it would be AlbertEinstein. (Lucien Aigner was lucky enough to have that opportunity!) For Julie mcCarthy, her primechoice for subjects would be mother Theresa, maya Angelou, and surprisingly, mick Jagger. It ischaracter that she likes to photograph most, and believes faces are like maps of people’s lives.

I met Julie for the first time at this panel discussion. Prior to meeting her, I knew about herthrough the photography work she did for The Artful mind artzine. Julie has certainly stretched herartistic wings over the past years and I am grateful to her for giving a voice to women who may nothave had one, and also for her willingness to be in-part the subject of these written words. V

“In creating work there are a

number of decisions that an artist

has to make beyond the subject

matter. Each decision impact’s

the viewer’s experience; size,

color, material the photograph is

printed on. My images are

graphic and beautiful in their black

and white starkness, but they are

printed on a soft fabric implying

fragility and strength. The por-

traits are large enough to demand

to be seen from a distance, but

invite the viewer to move close

and read what the women have

to say.”

-Julie McCarthy

PHOTOGRAPHERJULIE MCCARTHY

by Karen Lewis

KimToni

Aida and Juana

Ritza and Yahriliz Julie


Harryet Candee: I get the impression, and following that im-pression, that you truly believe a picture tells a thousand words.I also feel that you create using all your senses. And – you becomemore empowered and grounded to the earth and to yourselfevery single time you pick up a paintbrush – oh! Even if you dothrow it a thousand feet in front of you from some kind of frus-tration, or finale to a chant– its all part of the process you havetouched upon since a teenager.What I find interesting is that we’ve communicated in many

ways, for a few years, except we’ve never met for one single cupof coffee yet! So, I need to ask you, Kris… where did you comefrom? Ok….tell me about your childhood in words- but via theway and means you would paint. Kris Galli: Harryet, it’s so true. Where is this elusive cup of coffeewe’re always saying we’re going to have? And the broader questionis, why can’t we allow ourselves two cups? That way, we’d eachhave our own? Don’t we deserve that?

Anyway, to get on with it, yes I think one has to be entirely present- senses, cells, memories, baggage, all of it. I also think this is whya life in the arts is so arduous, and can sometimes be too much forthe artist to handle in a healthy way. Being fully engaged with thepractice of art-making, not leaving any spare parts outside the doorwhen you come into the studio, that requires a commitment and self-acceptance that can take its toll. But when it happens, when you’rein communion, and all systems, senses and power are involved inwhat you’re doing, it’s a beautiful thing. Being in “the zone” asksthat you leave everything behind that isn’t you; it’s a tough place toget to, but well worth the trip.

my childhood… okay, let’s see. I was born in Pittsfield to workingclass parents, the youngest of three kids. I always hesitate to say Igrew up there, because I don’t think I really grew up until I was inmy thirties, and by that time I was somewhere else. But I think I canhonestly say the career path I’ve chosen is a direct result of the…well there’s no other word for it, the darkness of my childhood.There’s a pretty deep vein of depression that runs through my family,and as a result, my formative years were spent watching one or some-

times two members of my family fall apart. Ourhome was not the happiest place to be. The result ofall this was that I wound up spending a whole lot ofmy time alone, reading, sitting in trees, thinking waymore than a kid should be allowed to think. Throughall of this, my father was my saving grace. He soldinsurance for a living, and I would wait until he gothome late in the evening. Then we’d share those Ital-ian staples, pepperoni and provolone, me sitting onthe kitchen counter, swinging my legs and and lis-tening to his tales of being raised in a house withtwelve aunts and uncles. He provided me with the conversation andaffection I was craving, and I’m forever grateful for that.

still, things weren’t stellar, and due to these problems at home Ibecame withdrawn, and didn’t play well with others. By the time Iwas through with grammar school, I had been bullied to the point ofbloodshed. A defining moment was when I walked into my sixthgrade class to find all the kids lined up there waiting for me. Thenthey all watched on while the class bully slammed my head into adesk. Ah, the joys of childhood…

my school experience didn’t get any better after that, and in theend I dropped out at fifteen, and ran away from home. I rode Grey-hounds and eighteen-wheelers across the country, ended up living inColorado with an abusive, drug-addled boyfriend (more monsters toconquer), came home, left again, on and on… but long story short, Isurvived.

I began to paint in my late teens, doing mainly color fields, as away to express the beautiful mess that was roiling around inside me.I found that when I gave that mess a color and a form of some sort,it became an ally. I don’t think I myself was ever in danger of fallingonto that bottomless pit of despair that was feeding on my mother,for one, but seeing that struggle at such an early age created in mean extreme sort of sensitivity. There was nowhere for me to go butinto the embrace of the arts. I found solace in books, music, andpainting, in that order.

Kris, now knowing this, let’s move into another direction to settlemy curiosity. When you paint, from the get-go of a painting, it’sFOR YOU. You never think about who will buy it, where youcan show it, none of that… that’s what is so amazing about yourart. Not to mention it’s a private world, a unique trip how youcleverly unravel each painting you create. Am I on the righttrack, or what?Kris: Well, you are and you aren’t. First, I think any working artistwho says she’s painting only for herself is a bit delusional. Ask your-self: if I were the last remaining person on the planet, and I had avery limited amount of time before some sort of flesh-eating demise,what would I do with my time? Personally, I’d probably search therubble for some baked goods, see if I couldn’t fire up a CD playerwith some Bill Evans, then sit tight and watch it all go down. I cer-tainly wouldn’t want to paint, not without another living soul aroundto bounce it off of.

Granted, when one first picks up a paintbrush, or a pen or a pianofor that matter (although picking up a piano is not advised), one isprobably in the purest stage of work that they’ll ever be in. That’swhen it’s all you, all real. After that, the conflict of expression vs.commerce enters in. Throw in the pursuit of proficiency or even mas-tery, and you’ve got the basis for some serious soul searching. Forme, once my work started selling, it became a real challenge to re-main authentic with my painting. The question of making a namefor one’s self, of gaining the respect of peers, and of course money;all of these things can’t help but affect one’s work. The questions are

KRIS GALLIARTIsT

Kris Galli, Danse Noir, Oil on canvas, 24x36

Interview by Harryet Candee Photographs of Kris by Edward Acker

always with me: Am I making this picture because it will look greatin a gallery? Is it something I would hang on my own wall? Am Istill telling my own story, or have I co-opted someone else’s? Is thereany love in this endeavor? For me these questions are a constant partof my process.

In some ways, I also use my art-making to visualize a desire orneed and a path to problem-solving. Do you, too, share this as-pect of being an artist?Kris: Definitely, although maybe not in exactly the same way. myart does function as a problem-solving tool for me, but in a very in-direct way. It happens in the form of how the act of painting hasmothered me throughout my adult life. Painting has become thefriend I go to when I feel unjustly treated, or angry, or sad. It can doanything, take on any problem - through color, gesture, texture… it’sall there. Anything I need to say can be said on the canvas. And it’sa really good thing, because in many ways I’m a very isolated per-son. I go a thousand miles deep, and I have a lot to say. But really,how many people would be willing to sit and drink coffee for hourson end, listening to me babble on? I do have my wonderful guy,who’s incredibly supportive and my salvation in so many ways, buthe has a life to live too. That’s where art comes in. my buddy, Art.

If you were to step into another form of art, say performing arts,and were the director, with an unlimited budget to put on a the-atre performance, what would you want to create? What a great question! Let’s see… well, it would most definitely bea comedy, and with an ensemble cast. I think the whole thing wouldhave to take place in the kitchen, where all of life’s great questionsare posed. There would be a great pot of stew bubbling on the stove(a steaming metaphor for the theme), and massive arguments anddysfunction. It would need to address everything, everything thatvexes us as soft-hearted, vulnerable creatures, everything in theworld would need to be addressed in this kitchen. The play wouldbe twelve hours long, and no one would come, but they’d be missinga great deal.

I hope my questions aren’t annoying – I just feel your art workis sacred in a way. I don’t want to impose upon you in any way,so with saying that, can you answer this question: What do youfeel your purpose on earth is?Annoy me? Are you kidding? This is so much fun for me! But lis-ten… remember when I told you I used to sit in trees when I was akid? Well, that’s what I was thinking about: What in God’s name amI doing here? It dogs me, every moment. And of course it leads di-rectly to the question of an afterlife, a deity… what a can of worms.Basically I think there are two ways to look at this question. First,what’s our collective purpose in life? To this I say, I have no clue.I’ve run the gamut from feeling like there were angels riding on my

shoulders and I was here to bring light to everyone I knew (late twen-ties), to becoming a card-carrying atheist (somewhere in my forties)to where I’m at now, which could be called Who Knows & That’snot Really the Point Anyway.

The second view concerns my own personal journey. Honestly Ithink my purpose is to yank myself up by my own bootstraps andovercome, to overcome fear, to overcome illusion (that’s a big one),to overcome inertia, anger, all of it. To learn to love in a sane way.And not to sound too grandiose, but I truly think I was born to teachmyself to paint. somewhere, at some point, I started this thing andwas waylaid. And I’ve always felt I came here to finish it, or at leastto advance to some degree, and to do it largely by myself. AlthoughI’ve gotten some wonderful advice from various people through theyears, anything I’ve learned at the easel, I’ve had to learn throughsweat and tears. This has been the theme in almost every area of mylife, and where art is concerned, it’s given the whole thing the feelof a mission. I’m just bound and determined to do it.

Do you ever find working with a sharpenedpencil fulfilling enough or do you always veertowards the fault-line of needing to paint andmake a palette of color?I’ve never been one to sketch, which I find odd,actually. As an artist, sometimes I feel like Ishould be out there with my sketchbook, scrawl-ing out everything around me. But it’s just notwho I am. Oil paint, on the other hand, I find tobe the most sensual, gorgeous thing in theworld. I have tubes of paint that are thirty-fiveyears old, and I can’t bear to throw them away.They seem to me a connection to something an-

cient and very sacred. When I squeeze oil paint out of a tube andsmell that lovely smell, I’m connected to all the masters that camebefore me. And the smooth texture of oils on canvas brings out anyspeck of talent I might have. I need that buttery feel and those richcolors to create. Pencils don’t do that for me.

Where do you like to paint the most?I paint in one place only, in a room in our apartment that looks outover the Lenox Library. I suppose if I had my druthers, I’d have astudio out in the country somewhere, with a bird feeder by the win-dow and happy little squirrels watching me through the glass. Per-haps they’d be singing… But one never has their druthers, does one?Where can one get druthers, anyway?

Do you paint from imagination?Yes, I do. But I also use photographs to guide the process. The im-ages I paint appear to me out of the blue, which is why I think they’reso closely related to my subconscious and my past. Anyway, as Isaid, I don’t carry a sketchbook, but I do carry a notebook at alltimes, and as I have these ideas, I write them down. Girl untanglingstring. Girl in a storm of hats. Like that. Pages and pages of theseideas. Then I’ll choose a model or two to photograph. This is whereit’s convenient to have a photographer for a husband. Edward is al-ways willing to photograph my models, and he does a great job withit, as he does with all of his work.

When I have a stack of photos, I work from a few at a time, some-times using elements from different ones. I might use an expressionfrom one photo, with a pose from another. It works best when every-thing I want is captured in one image, obviously.

not just any model will do. I need to see a depth of emotion andcharacter in a woman or girl in order for the piece to convey what I

want it to. You can look at ten people staring into space, and yet onlya few will be saying something very special with their eyes, or theirmouth, or their stance. some of our greatest paintings couldn’t bewhat they are without that particular model’s depth of character.Think of Picasso’s picture of Gertrude stein, or sargeant’s Portraitof madame x. Or Balthus’s paintings of his niece, Frederique. noteveryone has that degree of impact in their bearing.

Your husband Edward Acker, is a photographer, and a great oneat that! What’s it like having a partner who also has great pas-sion for art? And, what are your similarities and differences ofhow you both interpret a subject through art?Edward and I have very different ways of approaching our art, andI don’t think it could be otherwise. His images are stunningly soulful,and I think this is largely because he absolutely loves people. Heloves people, dogs… he even saves worms on the putting green. Youname it, he loves it. And his love for all of creation is what shows inhis work. It’s that mystery element that no one can put a name to.Another thing about him - I’ve been with Edward for twenty-one years, and I never cease to be amazed at how fearless he is. And overtime I’ve come to realize that this is what makes his work so com-pelling. When you haven’t got an ounce of social anxiety in yoursystem, you’re not going to be afraid to dig into your subject with asort of relentless grace, bringing them into the light without theireven knowing it. COnTInuED on nExT PAGE....


Kris Galli, The Sock Monkey’s Version, oil on canvas, 36x36

Kris Galli, Onion, Oil on canvas, 30x30

12 •JAnuARY 2015 THE ARTFuL mInD

I, on the other hand, would still be sitting in trees if I could getmyself up there. I love to be alone, to work alone, to shut out every-thing else and lose myself in what I’m doing. When I’m painting,hours go by and I don’t even notice. I don’t come up for air at all.Pretty soon the sun’s going down, the room is growing darker and Irealize I can’t see what I’m doing. It often makes me laugh to myself,the fact that I’ve been so “gone.”

Where we come together is in the way we see the world. Whenwe walk down a new York street together, surrounded by all thosepeople going about their business, both of us are seeing paintings,photographs, everywhere. We’ll be having lunch, and it’s a constant,“Look at that woman; that’s a painting!” or “I have to photographthat guy leaning against the wall with the cigarette!” We both seethe world with a sense of awe and novelty, as if we both just landedhere from the planet xenon and it’s all strange to us. And I thinkthat’s a huge part of our relationship. It’s a way in which we’ve al-ways been alike, and it binds us together.

As an artist, can you name a few things that are lessons you havelearned about art that you feel are utterly true and would begood to share as a gift of knowledge with readers?I’ve always been a big fan of the quote by Emerson: “Do the thingand you will have the power.” Or Picasso’s version: “Inspiration ex-ists, but it has to find you working.” This advice is key for me. Inmy mind, I cannot do a thing. This is the mindset my family has al-ways struggled with, and it’s in my very blood. And that little voicecan rattle on and on and wear itself out, but when I pick up a paint-brush and go at it for a couple of hours, things start to take shapethat I never thought possible. It’s all in the Doing. The voice in yourhead is a nobody; don’t give it the time of day. It’s what happenswhen you lose yourself in your work that matters.

I’ve also learned that the arts are an area where one never, everstops learning. I recently read something amazing about the 19thcentury artist Hokusai. I have it here with me because I wanted toshare it with you. Hokusai is quoted as saying, “… all that I haveproduced before the age of 70 is not worth being counted. It is at theage of 73 that I have somewhat begun to understand the structure oftrue nature… consequently at 80 years of age I shall have made stillmore progress; at 90 I hope to have penetrated into the mystery of

things; at 100 years of age I should have reached decidedly a mar-velous degree, and when I shall be 110, all that I do, every point andevery line, shall be instinct with life…” Wow, huh? How’s that forperspective?

Let’s go technique… Can you explain how you developed yourrendering style in painting, whether its figurative or landscapeor still-life oriented? I know I am asking you, in other words, totranslate how you blend and what is involved in creating a colorpalette?my methods for painting landscapes or abstracts are very differentfrom what I do when I paint a figure or a still life. my non-figurativework is largely a release from the tightness of painting in such detail.so here I’ll focus on the figure.

I work in the classical style of first laying down an imprimatura,a thin wash of color, usually raw umber mixed with a little titaniumwhite. I do the initial form with this mixture, wiping out with a softcloth areas that will be highlights, and laying in the umber in varyingdegrees of value in the mid tones and shadow areas. This will dry ina day, and on the second day I add another pass, going over every-thing again, this time beginning to add color, bringing out flesh tones,working on shadows and highlights. my flesh palette has changed alot over the years. For many years I would work on figures only tolook at them the next day and see that they were much too hot orcool. Then I’d need to go in and correct things, which ran the risk oftotal ruination of the piece. In the past few years, I’ve hit on a com-bination of raw sienna, Venetian red and ultramarine, along with ti-tanium white, mixed in various combinations for different areas.These three together seem to solve that temperature problem, andafter that, the fine tuning with other colors is much easier than it usedto be.

I mix colors entirely on the palette while I’m working, a practicefor which I’d probably be thrown out of art school. I’ve never beenable to mix colors ahead of time, and the gray scale method of mix-ing is not part of my language. Being self-taught, I’ve picked upevery bad habit there is, but it’s way too late to change horses now.In any case, that second day should serve to create a nearly fully-formed picture. It may still need a lot of work, but it will be able tonow tell me what it needs. It’s as if I’ve raised it to be a teenager,

and now it can sass back at me.On subsequent days, I try to really bring the piece up to where it

should be, and after that it’s just a matter, as I said, of listening tothe painting itself. I go into the studio and stand as far away from itas I can, and it will yell across the room to me and tell me what todo. Of course I’m speaking figuratively, but this has never failed tohappen. Once a painting reaches a certain stage of near-completion,it takes on a life of its own, and my job is only to listen to it, andgive it what it asks for.

Also, I always paint with a full length mirror leaning against thewall behind me. I’m constantly turning around to look at the paintingin that mirror. If something is “off,” it will be very obvious in the re-flection. I don’t know why this is, but it’s a great tool.

Do you listen to music while painting? What venue of music doyou prefer?Ah, music is my joy and my muse. music healed me as a kid, and itheals me still. When I walk into my studio, the very first thing I askmyself is, “What do you need to hear right now?” I’m a closet DJ,and I think I just might have missed my calling. Too late now.my tastes are very specific and also very broad. I listen to many dif-ferent styles - classical, jazz, rock - I once spent an entire week lis-tening to nothing but ocean waves. But whatever it is, it needs tospeak to me and it needs to be good. I love Cassandra Wilson, BillEvans, Brahms, and Beck. Favorite songs range from J.J. Cale’s Thesensitive Kind to Tchaikovsky’s Andante Cantabile for Cello andstrings. Tom Waits’ Drunk On the moon gets heavy play, and I’vejust fallen back in love with Led Zeppelin, who held my handthroughout my wild childhood. The Beatles’ Abbey Road is a mas-terpiece… I could go on and on. music is everything.

sometimes I just need silence, for days at a time. The absence ofsound is in itself is a great form of medicine, although on this subjectI have to stop and complain for a moment. I suffer from Tinnitus.my ears ring very loudly, constantly. It’s a very annoying problem,apparently with no cure. Anyone who knows of any miracle reme-dies, please contact me. If it works, I’ll paint your dog, your grand-mother, anything you want.

I love asking this question…. Tell me all about a day in the lifeof Kris.I get up, make a very strong cup of green tea and an Ezekiel Englishmuffin with almond butter - did you want this much detail?! Okay,let me skip forward a bit. most mornings I work for Edward for afew hours, putting together clients’ orders, putting up websites ofwedding and family photos, answering e-mails, things like that. ThenI shower and go straight into my studio, normally around eleven o’-clock. In the summer, I’ll work for a good five to seven hours, takinga break to go to the coffee shop around four. These short winter daysmess everything up… by the time I get to painting, I have only threeor four hours of good daylight. The coffee break ends up coming toolate, and then I lie awake all night in a caffeine frenzy. Anyway, lateafternoon or evening, Edward comes in from his day of taking pic-tures and making people smile, and we decide what to do about din-ner. Will it be in, or out? It’s out way too often. Or we may just stayhome and get more photo work done. One thing about Edward andI, we both have this crazy work ethic; it just never seems to end, andthere’s always something to catch up on.

Later, before bed, we like to get in an episode of Frasier on net-flix. We’ve never owned a TV, but we both have heavy seinfeld andFrasier addictions. Yes, I know, time has moved on, people arewatching other things now. But not in this house. Entertainment-wise, we’re living in the nineties, children of Larry David.

Weekends, as anyone who knows us knows, you can usually findus eating at the bar of one of Berkshire County’s fine dining estab-lishments. It’s something we love to do, and it’s a real stress relieverfor both of us.

Well, I do hope our paths cross soon, the Berkshires has just somany cafes where you can spend an hour or two and get awayfrom the creative space we spend endless time in. Is there anyother place you would consider living? If so, where and why?Incase you don’t have an answer for this kind of questioning,how about – if there was any place in the world you would wantto live, where would that be? Would there be a a time period re-lated to that?Having lived in southern CA and Colorado, and having traveled thecountry a bit, I do know that I’m a northeasterner through andthrough. I love new York, and martha’s Vineyard, and northamptonis one of my favorite places. Edward and I talk often about getting aplace on the Vineyard, but these long cold winters are getting old.The problem lies in finding a place that resonates with who we are,and that’s also warm, sunny, cheerful and otherwise antidotal for thewinter blues.

Kris Galli, Red, 36x36

Kris Galli, Then She Became Very Quiet, Oil on canvas, 48x36

KRIS GALLI


As for the fantasy relocation, I often escape in my mind to abeach somewhere in Brazil. I’m not sure why - I’ve never beento Brazil. But I see myself sitting at a little outdoor bar near thewater, listening to someone singing gorgeous Brazilian songs. Youknow the kind. I think I want to be the Girl From Ipanema, pro-vided that I could wear a one-piece bathing suit, and maybe acover-up…

Laughing at that one, Kris....Are you also involved in any otherkinds of art? Do you write? Are you a chef? Nature lover?Acrobatist? Alligator wrestler? Farmer?I’m a frustrated writer, and have been ever since I was a teen.There was a time when I thought that was what I would do withmy life, and I have dozens of notebooks from years ago, chock-full of short stories with no endings. If I’d been able to end thosestories, who knows what I would’ve done? Pulitzer? Penthouseoverlooking the Hudson? most likely, I’d still be starving, butwith an apartment cluttered with manuscripts instead of canvasstretchers.

Our world is so complex, with millions of people doing theirbest at whatever that may be. I am wondering, in today’s agewith technology being the leader in many ways, what are yourthoughts on how it works with or against the art of creatingand being original?When you think about it, art itself is something of an anachronism.Think of how far we’ve advanced. These things of the heart: lit-erature, music, visual art, the theater - they aren’t necessary in apractical way, but they’re very sacred to us. We’ve hung on tothese things because they’re still, after all of our advancement,the best way to convey our experience to one other. People willalways create; it’s the very essence of being human. The onlything that changes is the medium.

Tens of thousands of years ago, it was discovered that a gooddrawing of a bison could be made on a cave wall, using naturalpigments or charcoal. These materials were what was available atthe time, and through them, early man discovered his ability tocommunicate and express himself using images. Five thousandyears ago, Egyptians found they could depict their gods on papyrusor stone. In fifteenth century Italy, artists discovered they could sus-pend pigment in linseed oil, and an artistic revolution ensued. Thepoint is that humans have always been creators, and we always willbe; it’s only the means that change. Whether computer art and digital

photography is a form of devolution or an advancement isn’t thequestion. This is just the way it is. Humans evolve, new mediaemerge, art changes. But the heart remains the same. It’s in our na-ture to create and that will never die. so no, I don’t think technologyis the enemy of art. It might just be the downfall of mankind, but notof art…

Your art is peaceful and yet quiet but active; keep-ing the viewer pondering the riddles you plant. Ilove that aspect of your work. Many times I amasking myself – who is this female Kris haspainted? Is it another side of Kris? Or is it a livingmodel you have chosen to weave a story around.Can you explain the psyche behind the scenes?I’m often reminded of The Picture of Dorian Gray,and how having that painting up there in the attic keptDorian from aging. For me, it’s sort of the opposite…painting has raised me, and feeds my growth as theyears pass. I paint women, and yes, those women aremyself. It actually took me a while to figure this out.But yes, they’re telling the viewer about what’s it’sbeen like for me. The image of the woman, not ecstat-ically happy, but determined and looking for some-thing undefinable, this is all about my life. In the lastfew years, I’ve noticed my women becoming a bitstronger. They don’t care quite as much if you’rewatching them as they try to figure things out. And ofcourse, this is me in my middle age, more stable andmuch more comfortable with who I am. I see that asa magical function of art. Without my knowing it, Iseem to be painting myself from a weepy child into astrong woman.

You have interpreted art in a beautiful way, em-powering the female as a tangible force of energyand life. Why have you not painted the male fig-ure…or do you, but keep it a secret?I’ve been asked this many times, and I wish I had abetter answer. I’ve never had a desire to paint the malefigure. my figures are the archetypes of my own per-sonal journey. When I want to depict pensiveness orchallenge or self inquiry, I automatically see it asbeing embodied in a female figure. Whether this isbecause I see women as being the vessel for thesethings in a more perfect way than men, or whether I’mjust telling a female-oriented story, I don’t know theanswer to that. But, although I’m heterosexual, I thinkwomen are extremely beautiful, in a way that mencan’t even approach. There are worlds of emotion inthe female face and body, and I’m drawn to that in thesame way I’m drawn to a box of paints. It’s a treasuretrove of opportunity for expression. It’s a means ofconveyance for my mind-stuff.

Having said that, I’ve painted Edward a number oftimes. I’ve sold only one of these pictures, and I’llprobably never sell another. They seem too personalto let go of.

Have you ever interpreted fairy tales throughpainting? Using words, right at this point, Kris,what are your words of wisdom you can share andwe can probably learn from?no on the fairy tales, although I feel a kinship withthe use of archetypal figures to tell a story. I don’tknow that I’m qualified to offer words of wisdom -I’d love it if you’d check back with me in thirty years!I’m sure I’ll have a few nuggets for you then! Here’ssomething I’ve learned though. If you’re doing some-thing you feel called to do, you need to allow yourselfthe luxury of quitting. Gestation and rest are as valida part of the process as the actual act of creating. Ican’t tell you how many times I’ve quit painting “forgood.” now, I let myself do that, but I do it as a friendwho knows me. I say under my breath (so I can’t hearme) “Oh, that’s just Kris. she does this.” I know thatif I let myself get angry at it and give it up, I’ll go offand grow a bit, whether that takes days or months,and eventually I’ll be back. so I say, take a rest. Gohave a cry, take a look at the help wanted ads. If it’sreally in your DnA to do this thing, it will come backto you like a lover, once it sees you walking away.

Also - and this is very important - when all elsefails, have a snack. Remember to wash your handsfirst.

now Harryet, how about that coffee?

Ready! -h.

h

Kris Galli, Then She Became Very Quiet, Oil on canvas, 48x36

Kris Galli, Yellow, Oil on canvas, 30x40


EUNICE AGARwww.euniceagar.com

I am a native of Great Barrington and attended the localpublic schools, Bryant school and searles High school. Fortwelve years I had the same art teacher, Doris Whittaker.Once in the eighth grade, for the first and only time, she hadus take turns posing on the teacher’s desk and drawing eachother. It was as if I had been hit by a ton of bricks. I knewat once that that was what I wanted to do. In the high schoolclasses we had oil paint. Two friends and I won the Hal-loween window painting contest for three years, starting withthe very first contest in l949! Then it was art history andstudio and college and the Art students League of new York- and I have been painting ever since.

Wool Cap with Ear Band

MARGUERITE BRIDEWATERCOLORS

As one of 10 artists selected for Pittsfield’s “TEn sPOT”exhibit at the Lichtenstein Center for the Arts, margueriteBride will be featuring some favorites from herlighthouse/seascape series in this invitational exhibit. Oneof her paintings will be displayed on a billboard in some-where in Berkshire County leading up to the 10x10 exhibit.TEn sPOT will be on display February 6-28, 2015. Galleryhours are Wed-sat. 11am-4pm with an opening reception onThursday, February 12, 5-7pm.

spearheaded by Barrington stage Company and the Cityof Pittsfield, the 4th Annual 10×10 upstreet Arts Festival iswhich will be held throughout the city’s upstreet CulturalDistrict from February 12-22, 2015. Berkshire Gas will beonce again be the lead sponsor of the 10×10 upstreet ArtsFestival.

Visit Bride’s website “What’s new” page or her Facebook“marguerite Bride Watercolors” for the latest exhibit andshow schedules.

Commissions for vacation and house portraits are wel-come at any time. It’s not too soon to think about 2015 hol-iday gift giving…take photos now if you want a winterscene in the Berkshires.

Visit Brides studio by appointment. Marguerite Bride, NUarts Studios, Studio 9, 311 North

Street, Pittsfield, by appointment. Call 413-442-7718, or413-841-1659 (cell); website: margebride-paintings.com/ email: [email protected]

SABINE PHOTO ARTPhotographic one on one workshops, scheduled through-

out the winter months:BEHInD THE CAmERA - sabine’s eye for detail pro-

vides the students with everlasting creative tools.Explore the beauty of patterns, textures, layers, depth of de-tail in the real. Participants learn how natural light can createdramatic or lyrical images. Designed for the serious learnerwho is interested in improving her/his skills. The hope is toconcentrate on the artistic and critical eye. You are asked tobring a digital sLR camera. December 1, 2014 – may 31,2015.

A published and collected fine art photographer, she hasa number of specialties. One of these is a focus on commer-cial and editorial portraiture, collaborating with professionalsto provide their publishers / labels with an imageportfolio. sabine’s talent lies in both choosing thelocation and working with the subtleties of lighting. Her eyefor the “Yes moment” results in timeless imagery. she hasthe talent to bring introspection to the art of life style pho-tography. she is the interviewer, catalyst and image-maker.Her InsIDE and OuT studio is located in stockbridge, mA.

signed books: “WOODLAnD sTYLE” and “sHELLCHIC “, m. H. marshall, published by storey, all photog-raphy by sabine.

she is a member of AsmP, The International Center ofPhotography ICP, and the Wedding Photojournalist Asso-ciation, WPJA.

Sabine Photo Art - for more detailed info please con-tact Sabine Vollmer von Falken Photography at tel. 413-298-4933, [email protected]

EunICE AGAR, summER FuRnITuRE

mARGuERITE BRIDE, CAsTLE ROCK, WATERCOLOR


ARIES (March 20-April 19)You are ahead of yourself, although you have this crazy ideayou're lagging behind. Like any inventor, you have more ideasthan you can put into practical use. One sticking point thoughis the idea that nothing worthwhile is accomplished unlesssomeone is exploited. It's time to question that. Cooperationis voluntary. so don't feel bad about asking people to collab-orate with you. Remind them it's a privilege to work towardgoals that benefit the community. some of the more unusualpsychology will be focused on your early environment. What,exactly, happened as a child when you tried to get people tocooperate with you, or with one another? That set up negativeexpectations, and it's time to let them go. If you can, so caneveryone else. That is leadership.

TAURUS (April 19-May 20)This month, several planets make their way across your mid-heaven -- the angle of your solar chart that describes yourhighest goals, achievements and reputation. This calls on youto take on a leadership role you might think is not in your na-ture; however, at least astrologically, it's the essence of yournature. You lead by example, and with the quality of yourideas. so start with being bolder, more vocal and more artic-ulate about your priorities. Follow that with careful observa-tion of the people around you, and several rounds of listening.Chances are whatever you're doing will require two revisions,taking you to mid-February. Till then, hang loose and allowyour ideas to evolve. Look at things from different perspec-tives. Your tree-like stability sometimes resists this, thoughtrees are exceptionally responsive to their environments.Among the people offering ideas, there will be a few gems.

GEMINI (May 20-June 21)This year your relationship life settles down enough for youto actually keep track of what is happening. Relationships areextensions of yourself; what they 'extend' into your environ-ment is your process of making contact with your deeper self.You have experiences with others that seem impossible tohave alone. That's not strictly true; but it's easier to see certainthings projected outside of yourself. One of those is how peo-ple grow and transform. You have seen people address thedarkest elements of themselves, and emerge in a differentplace. In some ways you're less confident about being able todo this yourself, though the fact that you know others have isproof of what is possible. Events early in the month in oneespecially important partnership will enable you to get be-neath the surface layers of personality, ideas and opinions. Onthis deeper level, you can access authentic change at youremotional core.

CANCER (June 21-July 22)It's not true that others are stronger or more persistent thanyou. They may, however, be more inclined to use force, andyou are sensitive to that. You also expect people to be con-nected to their feelings, though that rarely turns out to be true.If you find yourself provoked into a confrontation, wait a fewdays before responding. Pause, listen and observe. most ofall, feel. The situation is not what it seems, and anyone actingup or dramatizing is likely feeling powerless. For you, themessage can be an affirmation of your own strength, and yourpower of faith. Cancer is famous for its cycles, owing to itsclose connection to the moon. now you get a chance to holdsteady. someone has a debt to you, and once that becomesobvious, some form of payment, or at least acknowledgement,is due. In the end, however, that transaction must be volun-tary.

LEO (July 22-Aug. 23)Get a handle on group dynamics, an important theme of your

life right now. There is a larger entity involved, and withinthat everyone must be clear and open. unlike bees and ants,who must adopt a hive mentality centered around one leader,humans have the capacity to live in mutual community, whereindividuals are consciously aspects of one another. A numberof factors indicate this is a 'get serious' moment around any-thing related to creativity, children and sex. You could say it'sa time to understand the role of pleasure in your life, and howthat influences your ability to be productive. Take full respon-sibility for your creative power and its results, rememberingthat pleasure and productivity are no longer solo activities, orcontained in one-on-one partnerships. The learning challengeis seeing (and experiencing) yourself as fully integrated intoa group process. It needs you, and you need it.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sep. 22)Your ability to focus is a gift and a privilege. Your intelligenceis also a gift, and a key to the universe. There have been timeswhen you've perceived yourself as the victim of these things;that is no longer the case. Brains and beauty are coming backinto style. Your environment is populated by people whovalue their connection to others, and recognize you for whoyou are. The sticking point is self-criticism, often taken to ex-cess. You may perceive this as weakness and lack of self-awareness. You're probably correct, though remember to begentle on yourself, and on others. Do everything you can tokeep your point of view wide and inclusive of all perspectives.Tap into how others receive information and intuition -- youhave a lot to learn from them, and what you learn will greatlybenefit your worldly goals and your inner growth agenda.

LIBRA (Sep. 22-Oct. 23)Events this month will contribute to the sensation that you'reat a tipping point. The theme is independence from the struc-tures of the past, including your concepts of family and rela-tionship. I would include every structure you've taken forgranted, including your notion of what makes you safe. Theconfidence you're feeling is real, and it's associated with mak-ing the choice not to hold yourself accountable for the actionsof others. If you're feeling better about yourself, that's aboutmaking up your mind that you are the assessor of your worth.It looks like you're taking an idea or creative vision more se-riously. From another point of view, you may be observingthat something you've long dreamed of is now possible. It al-ways was, though your perception makes all the difference.Devote yourself fully to it, and check in on how muchprogress you've made by mid-June. You'll be impressed.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-nov. 22)saturn has left your sign, offering you newfound freedom andflexibility. The thing about these kinds of developments is thatthe effects tend to be short-lived. The way to maintain thefeeling of lightness is to remember how much you had to doin order to get there -- and keep doing whatever that was. Ifpeople need to put you under less pressure, that's becauseyou've stepped up to your agreed-to commitments willingly.It may have taken your entire ancestral lineage to produceyou, who have figured out that you are responsible for whatyou say, think, do and feel. You are responsible for what hap-pens in your environment. But this only becomes a burden ifyou pretend it's not true -- then suddenly you're under every-one's thumb. To really be free, you don't have to live up toothers’ expectations. Rather, you must set high standards foryourself and exceed your own expectations on a regular basis.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 22)Attend to your responsibilities in the order they come due,and while you're at it, get ahead on longterm projects. Youmay feel like people are suddenly noticing your presence, tal-

ent and wisdom. Invest some energy into social affairs, butkeep your focus on what you know needs to happen. Thebeauty of this moment is that your best ideas will translateeasily into something tangible. It's not merely your imagina-tion telling you that your long-range objectives are withinreach if you concentrate your efforts. You have seen the powerof negative thinking waste your energy and derail your peaceof mind. That is becoming a thing of the past, though you mayhave one last run-in with a point of view you're done with.The key to the puzzle that seems to vex the human race: takeabsolute responsibility for your own thoughts, and move onfast.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 20)If you've been putting off decisions about money, you willsoon know exactly what to do. There will be some mattersyou can attend to during the first week of the year. However,should there be any additional preparations necessary, I sug-gest waiting until after mercury stations direct on Feb. 11.The more money is involved, the more important it is to waitout mercury retrograde to allow additional information toemerge. meanwhile, the recent sign change of saturn is en-couraging you to tune into yourself for all of the informationyou need, on nearly any subject. In the end, the final checkon any decision is your intuition. In the next few months, youmay lose interest in what anyone thinks on any topic of im-portance to you. Pry yourself out of that every now and thenand reality-check with one or two people you trust. The finalcall is always yours.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19)You are entering The Year of the Peak Experience. A numberof factors describe this; one is letting go of an obsession withconsequences that have stalked you for a while. This has beenan excellent exercise in accountability. You have learned howto think things through. You've figured out that what you donow influences what happens later. Even as you experimentwith more daring people, places and experiences, you have adiversity of safety devices in place -- and at times you mayneed to override them. For example, you may be more con-servative than usual in financial and sexual matters. You maycheck your intuition regularly, seeking facts to support yourhunches. In order to succeed at anything, you will need to takesome risks. The good thing is that those can be consciouschoices rather than involuntary reflexes. That and a modicumof intelligence is all anyone needs, and you have plenty morethan that.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20)no need to wonder what has become of your insecurities: themighty saturn has taken its place at the top of your solar chart.This is your moment to take command of your life. Pisces hasbig dreams, though few know the extent to which you aredriven to achieve something real. However, in recent years ithasn't been easy to concentrate your efforts; there has beentoo much going on. mainly there has been a confidence issue,part of which involves being accused of the profit motive. Irealize not every Pisces aspires to be Jesus or Buddha, butmost people born under your sign put service first, pleasuresecond and profits last. Your current phase of enhanced lead-ership directly involves focusing the drive to make money atwhat you do. Whatever their theoretical philosophy, everyonelikes to have money in their pocket. Even better if it's earnedwith a clear conscience, as yours most surely is.

~ Read Eric Francis daily at PlanetWaves.net

Planet Waves Eric Francis JANUARY 2015 PlanetWaves.net

Another year and we are 21!! 16 • THE ARTFuL mInD JAnuARY 2015

ArtistEleanor LordOne of many at...

510 WARREn sTREET, HuDsOn, nY WWW.510WARRENSTREETGALLERY.COM

518-822-0510

Happy Anniversary toHarryet and

The Artful Mind!From

Matt BialerWATERCOLORS

https://www.flickr.com/photos/99845620@N03/ [email protected]

Happy 21st Anniversary! Supporting the spirit, soul and wonder of the arts as well as the connection

between all of us.

Gallery will be re-opening in the spring

fri-sat sun-mon 10-5Lakey Bazzano

ARTWORKFORKIDSROOMS.COM

Country Sheep, acrylic and ink

Visit the website gallery of-

Artist Margie Biener

Saint Francis Gallery1370 Pleasant street. route 102 LEE. MA

413. 717. 5199 www.saintfrancisgallery.com

Jennifer Pazienza

Happy Anniversaryand

Congratulations Artful Mind!

Jennifer Pazienza, Scuro, 96x72, Oil on canvas

Part III have to digress and say something about the Empress. The

Empress did not like Bach's music. she had distinct memories ofher own music teacher from when she was a child, back in thedays when Bach and his fugues were all the rage. “Look at thismusic,” she said, “All of the voices are exactly equal. It is as ifBach had no respect for aristocracy, to him a simple peasant’sbass voice is as important as a king’s tenor. All the voices are ex-actly equal.” she suspected that Bach was a subversive.

When the Empress was a child, attitudes toward the formal,intricate music of Bach were changing and his works were be-coming outdated. As a young woman she remembered distinctlythe introduction of a new style of music in which light melodiouspretty fare took the place of the older turgid works.

But among the old music teachers, the mastery of Bach’s musiccontinued to be the bar all students had to measure up to. Thisexpectation still exists today. How many modern cellists havegiven up in despair shipwrecked on the unaccompanied cellosuites, how many pianists today have nervous breakdowns over“The Well-tempered Clavier.”

Everyone knows that Yo-yo ma can play the hardest Bachcello suites while joking with friends and also balancing hischeckbook, and we are told that Glenn Gould could play thoseBach fugues, even the ones with six flats, while at the same timefiling his fingernails and doing tricks with a yo-yo.

marie Antoinette and her mother the Empress were amongthose lesser mortals, whose teachers — purple in the face andgroaning in exasperation — hammer the edge of the piano withtheir batons in tempo to the music screaming out “one, two,three,” all the while.

This was why the Empress hated the music of Bach, and it isthe self-same reason she wanted little marie to master his works,so that the child would succeed where she had failed. Her littlegirl was going to be perfect, a royal angel, a little Goddess,primed and perfected and polished to be sent off to rule the Frenchwith an enlightened mind and heart. But little marie was just an

ordinary child with no special skills, destined for tragedy, and thisBach fugue was just the beginning of her trials.

What was the poor music tutor to do? He could not bear thethought that his failure would lead to his being fired, and worseyet, that marie would be severely punished. He thought about hisown teacher of years ago, whose theories he had adopted as hisown. His old teacher had this to say: “A child never makes a mis-take, and should never be punished for anything.”

Why did he say that a child never makes a mistake? Becauseevery supposed mistake is simply the correct answer to someother question the child understands.

so then, if a child is playing a piece on the keyboard and theymake a mistake, one can ask this question, does that mistakesound good? If the mistake sounds good, scratch out the originalnotes, and write in the mistakes, and give the child a guilder. Re-ward all mistakes and encourage accidents, give your blessing tostruggling incompetence. Remember this, a branch from a treegrows down to the ground, even so, it only seeks the light.

The only way the music tutor found to deal with the Empresswas to stall and put her off from day to day; meanwhile he madeno progress with little marie. He accepted her insistence aboutnot playing Bach, but was confused by her obvious antagonismto the lesson itself. The tutor always had great luck with his youngcharges.

His success with his students was not so much that he was agood teacher but rather because in the company of children hebecame a child himself, often forgetting all about music andspending the entire music session playing jacks, knuckle-bones,or even hopscotch.

You may think it is just great to be born a princess, or in thecase of marie Antoinette an Archduchess, but you would be en-tirely wrong. As marie said herself, “I am just an ordinary childwith ordinary looks and this business of having to be a princessis like being forced into a little gilded footlocker to be sent off toa foreign land to be the wife of a ‘smockmordermonten.’”

smockmordermonten was not a peasant word, it was a veryrare word used only by young female aristocratic girls to describetheir future royal husbands. Roughly translated it meant a youngman who is fat, smelly, talks with a fake lisp, is awkward and in-capable of any sort of sexual activity.

You will remember that marie was one of 15 children so shehad often seen how one of her sisters had been packaged up andset to another country to be a queen, only months later to writehome pathetic letters full of euphemisms hinting at a wretchedcourt life full of desperation.

How did these terrible matches come about? It was just thatphotography had not been invented yet, and so the introductionof the future husbands was done with portraits painted by hacks,accompanied with love letters written according to strict courtformulas. so it was that these young future queens were fed ro-mantic nonsense constructed by court matchmaking profession-als.

marie Antoinette at that time was being considered as thematch for the French Dauphin, the future King Louis xVI; shehad to have her portrait painted and it had to be perfect. This wasa big problem for the court painters employed by the Empressand, like with the music tutors, had led to some terrible scenes

and arguments. For over a year pictures had been painted of herand none had been satisfactory.

The court artists could have substituted a generic pretty facefor marie's ordinary face, but this was very verboten. (Verbotenis a German word, and everyone knows what it means.) When afamily has half a dozen princesses to marry off to foreign courtsone did not want to get a reputation for pictorial fraud. The por-trait had to be idealized, but at the same time had to possess thoseoddities that make a painting both charming and yet idiosyncratic.

All day long marie’s life was a series of meetings with profes-sionals who's job it was to perfect her intellect and improve herappearance. As it was, she had to start her day at half past five inthe morning because it took two and a half hours just to get herdressed and do her hair, 14 court ladies had this task as their per-manent occupation.

marie had an hour after lunch when she was free to do what-ever she wanted. This time was spent with her best and onlyfriend, a girl named Angela. Angela was the same age as marieAntoinette, and the daughter of one of her ladies in waiting.

After eating lunch, marie and Angela would race down thelong hallways of the palace, down several flights of stairs andinto the kitchens where every day food was prepared for thousandof people by a staff of hundreds of cooks and attendants.

It is impossible to imagine or describe a royal kitchen at thetime of marie Antoinette's childhood in Austria. It was a roomthe size of a football field, alive with activity. At the far end itshuge doors were open to the outside world all year round, andoutside long lines of carts were lined up waiting to deliver theirgoods.

This was the only time that marie and Angela were able to seewith their own eyes the real world, the world of farmers, servants,cooks and every other sort of commoner. This complex world wasa source of continual fascination for the two royal girls, who nev-ertheless would never venture to cross the barrier that separatedthem from the outside world.

marie's music lesson was right after this hour marie spentwith her friend Angela in the palace kitchens. The music tutor no-ticed right away that he was tearing his young charge away froma favorite activity, and he turned over in his mind how he couldutilize marie Antoinette's attachment to Angela to his advantage.

“Look marie,” the music tutor said, “why don't we have An-gela come with you for your music lesson, we could have the twoof you learn to sing some duets.” marie was all in favor of thisidea.

“All right then,” said the tutor, “Angela can come to the musiclesson, but in return you must promise me that you will learn aBach prelude to perfection, that way you can make your motherhappy, and keep me from getting fired from my job.”

~Richard Britell

MARIE ANTOINETTEEATS CAKE

From: No Cure For The Medieval MindRichard Britell

Another year and we are 21!! 18 • THE ARTFuL mInD JAnuARY 2015

“The job of the artist is always todeepen the mystery.”

-Francis Bacon

The Unquiet Grave

When Kaspar woke a few hours later, still dressed andlying on a motel bed, he was panicked, his heart racing. Hedidn’t know where he was, only that—he had to—

Joaquin heard the door slam from a great distance. He wasfar away, having a picnic in an abandoned old mine high upa mountain. There were bats in the cave, but the bats didn’tbother Joaquin and his girl. They had flashlights, and they hadfun making designs with light on the cave walls, designs thattransformed into, well—things he couldn’t translate into anylanguage his mind knew, but the cells of his body, his mole-cules and atoms knew what they were. They knew.

It took him a long time to come back from that place towhere his body lay sleeping. It took him even longer to re-member how to move the different parts of that body. He wasjust with—what was it that brought him back? It was some-thing—jarring. All at once he remembered: the door slammed.

“Kaspar?” The room was silent. “Kaspar?” He reached

over and turned on a light. Kaspar’s bed was empty. “shit.”“Jesus, boy, you require more babysitting than any kid I

met yet.” He pulled on jeans, a t-shirt, and his boots, andopened the door.

The glare from the street light flooded into the room. Heshaded his eyes and looked around. Where had that crazy boygone? They were in a corner teepee belonging to the sort ofkitschy motel built in the late 1920’s, right on the street.Joaquin walked further out, goosebumps forming on his armsfrom the cold, looking up and down the road. no sign. Heglanced over at the cemetery across the street, and saw some-thing that made him look twice. Adrenaline shot through hisveins, chilling his blood even more. A man. A man almostfallen out of the light shed by the streetlamp. Crouched overa grave. Digging. With his hands.

In horrified wonder Joaquin observed the handfuls ofgrassy sod piling up next to Kaspar as he dug with alarmingdetermination. The hunched, bestial quality of Kaspar’s bodymade him resemble nothing so much as a wolf. Joaquin hadto fight the urge to run for his life and pretend he’d never evenmet the cursed wretch. “Goddamn,” Joaquin whispered.“Ayudame.” He didn’t know exactly who he was asking forhelp, but he sure knew he needed it right then. With somestrength, wherever it came from, he stumbled across the streetuntil he stood just a few feet away from Kaspar.

But was it still Kaspar? His face had mutated into some-thing that looked—what was the word he’d used? Possessed.He looked possessed as he dug mechanically into the earthnear an old headstone. Incredibly, Kaspar had cleared almosta foot of the hard packed dirt. showed no sign of slowingdown.

Consigning his soul to someone’s protection, Joaquinmoved closer. “Kaspar? son?” silence. He squatted down be-side the man, spoke to him again.

Kaspar kept digging. Dusty spit ran down his chin.Joaquin forced himself to take Kaspar’s face in his hands.

The digging stopped. ¡santos del cielo! Rabid, burning eyes

glared back.Well, Joaquin considered, there were

certainly more mundane ways to die.Kaspar’s gaze dropped. He could not process

this interruption.“Kaspar? son?” nothing. “What are you doing? Talk to

me, Kaspar!”After a moment, a response came from far away. “I have

to—she—doesn’t belong here. I have to get her out.”Ah, thought Joaquin. This is it. He was as gentle as he

could be with the devil in his hands. “Get who out, son?”A howl emerged from Kaspar to wake the sleeping dead.

He jerked away. “Alenka! Alenka is here and I must get herout!” His chest began to heave as if he were trying to cry butcouldn’t.

Jesus, thought Joaquin. He’s gonna bring the cops downon us. Kneeling, he took Kaspar’s face in his hands again.“It’s all right, son,” he crooned. “It’s all right.”

Excerpted from The Virgin of Hopeless Causes by Amy Tan-ner, available in softcover and electronic versions on Ama-zon.com. Visit www.amytanner.net for news and unfoundedrumors.

FICTIOn sampler

Simply Sasha by Sasha Seymour

Food Babe's Homemade Mac & CheeseHappy New Year art lovers!

Have any of you artful minded folks ever hear of the Food Babe? Her name is Vani, and she isawesome! She is on a quest to discover what's really in the food that we eat. Not only does shetackle some big name food companies, she also comes up with some killer organic recipes of herown!

I thought I'd share one with you, and I chose this one because Mac and cheese is the ultimate comfort food to enjoy on a wintery January evening! She even hides a vegetable in there and your

kids won't even know it! How fantastic is that?Enjoy!Ingredients:~ 2 Tbsp organic butter~ 12oz raw goat milk mild cheddar~ 1 head of cauliflower~ 16oz package organic sprouted whole wheat pasta~ Sea salt and black pepper to taste~ Dash of nutmeg (optional)

1. Cook pasta according to package directions2. steam cauliflower3. shred cheese and cauliflower 4. mix cheese, cauliflower, butter and spices in with the cooked pasta5. You're done!


FRONt StReet GALLeRY

Painting Classes on Monday and Wednesday mornings 10 - 1pm at the Studio and

Thursday mornings 10am - 1pm out in the field. Open to all

413-274-6607 413-429-7141 (cell) 413-528-9546Gallery Hours: Saturday and Sunday 12-5 or by appointmentFRONT STREET, downtown HOUSATONIC, MA

Kate Knapp

20 • THE ARTFuL mInD JAnuARY 2015

LAuReN CLARk FiNe ARtRepresenting

kris Galli

Lauren Clark Fine Art25 Railroad Street, Great Barrington, MA

413.528.0432 LaurenClarkFineArt.com

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Tam jan 2015