Newsletter January 2024
Thank you to everyone who framed, visited & shopped in 2023!
We can’t wait to see the amazing projects you bring us in 2024!
Now on View :
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View the show now until February 2024
We are moving! February 2024 Newsletter
 
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A Becker’s Dozen, Prints by Fred Becker and Jean Morrison Becker
From Carla Becker:
This show is a tribute to my parents, Jean Morrison and Fred Becker who lived and worked in Amherst from 1968 to 2004. While my mother was primarily a painter, she was one of a few women artists who worked at the Atelier 17 Print Studio in the late 1940’s.
My parents met at the Atelier 17 Printmaking studio in New York City in 1946. Originally from Paris, Stanley William Hayter the director of Atelier 17 moved to New York when World War II broke out in Europe. It was a meeting place of artists emigrating from Europe to escape the war and American artists. It was known for its cutting edge experimentation in printmaking.
Fred was already an established printmaker having worked on the Works Progress Administration (WPA) from 1935-39 when the project was shut down. He connected with the Atelier in the early 1940’s and returned in 1945 after his stint in the army. He was considered one of the expert printers and helped print works by Miro and Tanguy.
Jean had studied painting and theatre at Sarah Lawrence College but moved to New York to pursue her dreams in the early ‘40s. She joined the American Red Cross during the war and performed theatre for the enlisted men in England. After the war, she found her way to the Atelier through artists she shared a studio with.
In 1948, Fred was offered a professorship at Washington University in St. Louis to create the Printmaking Department that continues to thrive today. My parents married in 1949. Jean taught painting in the Art School’s Night School.
In 1968 the family moved to Amherst when Fred joined the faculty at the University of Massachusetts. He retired in 1986. Jean taught in the UMass Continuing Education Division from 1972-86. In 1972 Jean continued her education and earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from UMass in 1978. She became very active in University and Amherst town activities. Always interested in women’s education, she was one of the founders of Everywoman’s Center at the University. Jean was on the Amherst Public Arts Commission and was the initial director of the Burnett Gallery in Jones Library.
Both Fred and Jean are represented by Dolan Maxwell Gallery in Philadelphia.
Their works are held in many major museums in the US and abroad.
About Hope & Feathers Framing and Gallery:
Hope & Feathers offers expert custom framing to artists, art lovers, and anyone looking to preserve and display their favorite things. The staff are highly skilled designers and have been crafting one-of-a-kind frames for over three decades. They also offer in-house archival printing and photo restoration services, and feature local artists in monthly exhibits in their gallery space.
Original Paintings by Ali Moshiri
About the Show:
Moshiri’s work is based on observations from nature, primarily landscape. His work over the past fifteen years, while still based on these observations, has veered toward abstraction, though he does not see it as such. Moshiri explains: “The ultimate result is that of the paint and the painted surface, in an attempt to capture its own nature with only minor hints or references to anything external to the painting.”
About Ali Moshiri:
Born in Iran, Ali Moshiri was educated in England and the US, returning to his native country for medical school. After his residency in Cincinnati, he worked at the Austen Riggs Center in Stockbridge where he met his mentor, Leo Garel, who had been the artist-in-residence and a pioneer in art psychotherapy. After a period of painting on his own, he sought guidance and instruction from Garel, developing a relationship that lasted until Garel’s death in 1999. Moshiri and his family live in Amherst
The exhibition opens November 1st and can be viewed Monday – Friday 10-6 pm, Thursday 10-8 pm, and Saturday 10-4 pm until December 1st.
The Brookfield Trail by Karen Tunnell
Hope & Feathers Framing and Gallery hosts “The Brookfield Trail”, Original pencil drawings by Karen Tunnel.
The exhibition opens October 4th, and can be viewed Monday – Friday 10-6 pm, Thursday 10-8 pm and Saturday 10-4 pm until October 31st.
About Karen Tunnell:
In 2021 I moved from midtown Atlanta, Georgia to South Amherst, next to a hay field at the top of the Brookfield Trail. Over the year I photographed the trail in every season, taking close-up shots and landscape views of wildflowers, vernal pools, hemlock forests, ice formations, farm machinery and old barns: all images that to my southerner’s eye seemed exotically beautiful. These colored pencil drawings grew out of those photographs and are a reflection of my love for my new place in the world.
Artist Reception Thursday, October 5th from 5 to 7 PM
Close to Home II by Maggie Hodges
There is such a lovely glow of the early morning light on Skinner Mountain, the sparkle on the Connecticut River, or the sunlight shining through the trees. My paintings capture my feeling and impression of the beauty in nature and especially in this area. When not painting I love being outdoors; hiking, kayaking, skiing, mountain hiking, and gardening. My paintings reflect my deep connection to nature through color, light, and atmospheric perspective. I choose to paint in oils because it offers richness through applying the paint in different textures and thicknesses which I find adds depth and interest to my paintings. I have lived in Amherst for more than 35 years and have a studio/gallery at 409 Main Street, Amherst #216
The exhibition opens August 24th, and can be viewed Monday – Friday 10-6 pm, Thursday 10-8 pm and Saturday 10-4 pm until September 30th
Opening Reception Thursday, August 31st from 5 to 7 PM
Masks are optional in the gallery
Gone in a Flash by Isabel Margolin
Hope and Feathers Framing is excited to host a flash show of Isabel Margolin’s previously shown work. These pieces are priced at reduced costs and will only be available for a brief time. Be sure to stop in and see the glimmering colorful display of fanciful mosaics before they are gone in a flash.
About Isabel Margolin:
In the spring of 2009, I began to make mosaics choosing to work in the indirect method, a technique that I have employed ever since. For the indirect method, I place my materials face-side-down on sticky paper, not knowing the final results of my design until I turn the piece over into a bed of cement. Through a certain controlled randomness, a willingness to cede one’s expectations to gravitational forces, and the power of sticky tape I apply the indirect technique to expand the boundaries of this art form. This is a process of chance, choice, and discovery.
Personal Interiors by Diane Nevinsmith
As a practicing artist for the last 50 years, I have I have covered a lot of different mediums. Oils, printmaking, stained glass, sumi-e, suminagashi, paper marbling, and paper-making. For the last 20 years, I have worked mostly in watercolor. My newest work is watercolor portraits. It is my intention to create a portrait, not for the sake of representing a likeness, but to intrigue and interest the viewer to want to know more about the person. What are they doing? What are they thinking? It is my hope that the viewer will be inspired to create a story in their mind to go with the portrait; that it will resonate with their own life experience in some way.
The exhibition opens July 6th, and can be viewed Monday – Friday 10-6 pm, Thursday 10-8 pm and Saturday 10-4 pm until July 31st
Masks are optional in the gallery
New Works by Lynne Adams
Lynne Adams’ latest artwork explores the profound spiritual connection between nature and the human experience, particularly focusing on the landscapes of Western Massachusetts. Through her unique technique of cold wax and oil painting, she delves into the transformative power of the natural world and its ability to heal and provide sanctuary.
In her paintings, Lynne aims to capture the essence of the spiritual energy that emanates from the landscapes she encounters. The use of cold wax and oil allows her to create rich and textured surfaces, enhancing her artwork’s tactile and sensory experience. With expressive brushwork and a harmonious color palette, she invites viewers to immerse themselves in the healing presence of nature.
New Works opens on June 6th and is on view Mon-Fri 10 AM – 6 PM, Thurs 10 AM – 8 PM, Sat 10 AM – 4 PM until July 1st.