by Michelle Raboin | Aug 10, 2015 | Gallery
September 3-28, 2015
This September, Hope and Feathers Framing introduces Five by Five, a group show featuring the works of Amanda Barrow, Scout Cuomo, Isabel Margolin, B.Z. Reily, and Jane Thurber. In celebration of our fifth year in business, we asked five of our favorite artists who have shown in the gallery over the past five years to create five new works inspired by one of the five elements. An opening reception will be held on Thursday, September 3. 2015 from 5:00 to 8:00pm in conjunction with the Amherst Art Walk. The show will run from September 3rd through the 28th, 2015. The public is also invited to attend an anniversary celebration in the Hope and Feathers side lot, featuring a free performance by And the Kids, and tacos from the Taco Tina Food Truck by Mission Cantina.
This exhibition not only showcases unique interpretations of the elements, but also the diverse styles and mediums used by these featured artists. Utilizing print making, Amanda Barrow addresses the element of metal. In paint, Scout Cuomo studies water. Building mosaics, Isabel Margolin depicts fire. With assemblage and sculpture, B.Z. Reily manifests wood. Through collage, Jane Thurber examines earth and soil.
by Michelle Raboin | Nov 1, 2014 | Gallery
November 4-28, 2014
In this new body of work Crigler to explores “Non-Ordinary Reality” through use of meditation and drumming. The images created for this exhibition are inspired by experiences and information received while in a meditative state. This is a continuation of crigler’s work exploring collective consciousness and the cosmic evolution that is unfolding in the multi-verse.
“My hope is not to only engage people with pretty paintings, but to create images that speak to them on a soul level. I create work for the inner light of all, making images that can work as portals to remind us of our true inner-connected nature.”
About the Artist
Michael Crigler is a wild-creative. When he is not out roaming the forests wildcrafting plants for medicine for his work as an herbalist, he is in his studio working as an artist, poet and designer. His work is heavily influenced by cosmic energy, healing, connection of all things and his Cherokee and early Powhatan roots which trace back to Chief Powhatan and his daughter Pocahontas.
His work has been exhibited in North America, Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Japan.
He currently lives with his wife Lauren in Western Massachusetts.
www.michaelcrigler.com
by Michelle Raboin | Aug 1, 2014 | Gallery
August 2014
Steve Eagle has a focus on portraying the best of any given scene. With a background in short animated films, Eagle’s experience includes combining single frames into a continuous moving image. Now focusing his attention on photography, he still incorporates the spirit of animation by compositing several photographs together to produce a single, “ideal” image.
Spending time in the city during the week, Eagle retreats to the Amherst area on weekends and finds much of his inspiration in the countryside of Western Mass. In good weather he goes out with his camera to explore the places where land and water meet, visiting locations like Puffers Pond, Fort River and the Connecticut River. He finds the patterns and reflections of the surface of water to be compelling. When selecting the subject matter for his photographs, Eagle considers the sky, the horizon, the ground, and the feeling of the water.
After choosing a subject, he then takes hundreds of separate photographs – each from a slightly different angle. The images are then blended together, similar to the frames of an animated film. This process allows Eagle to control and adjust the composition, colors, textures and level of details of the final image to create something at once immediately recognizable, yet uniquely special.
Image: DAR State Forest, Goshen MA. 14”x21”
by Michelle Raboin | Jul 1, 2014 | Gallery
July 2 – August 2, 2014
An exhibit of varied works from Nicole Daviau, Mary Carroll, Sharon McCartney, Bobbie Salthouse, Lynne Adams and Andrea Zax.
Six local artists have teamed up to celebrate the common thread that flows through their artwork. The natural world and the setting of the Pioneer Valley unites and inspires their work. “Sticks & Stones” offers six individual perspectives inspired by pebbles, leaves, thread, scraps of fabric, and the fall of sunlight on trees.
Each artist, working in a different medium, will illustrate the influence of the natural world on their work. There will be wool stones from Daviau, torn clay bottles by Carroll, textile constructions created by McCartney, mixed media/assemblages from Salthouse, paintings by Adams, and weavings by Zax.
The exhibition opens July 2. There will be a combined opening and artist reception during the Amherst Art Walk on Thursday, July 3rd from 5-8pm. The show can also be viewed Monday – Friday 10-6pm and Saturday 10-4pm until August 2nd.
by Michelle Raboin | Jun 12, 2014 | Gallery
June 4-30, 2014
Siovhan Hutcherson and Isabel Margolin both began their journey with mosaics in the same way. Seven years ago, Siovhan took a class in the indirect method of mosaics at the Brookfield Craft Center in Brookfield, CT – three years later Isabel happily stumbled upon the same class. “The Indirect Method of Mosaics” was taught by artist and instructor Cynthia Fisher. Since that time mosaics have permeated their lives.
The Indirect Method uses a reverse technique to create a mosaic. Instead of applying the mosaics face up on a prepared cement surface, the tiles in the indirect method are temporarily affixed face-side-down, posing a more challenging and circuitous process. This allows pieces of different sizes, shapes and textures to be used all in the same piece of work.
Cindy Fisher has been a professional artist for twenty-five years with a focus on mosaics since 2000. She gives workshops and classes at several renowned art and craft centers across the country, as well as her studio in Buckland, MA. Her diverse body of work ranges from illustrative to painterly to non-representational. Her abstract mosaics have received prestigious national and international awards, including the Orsoni Prize Honorable Mention in Venice, Italy in 2011.
Isabel Margolin’s art consists primarily of abstract pieces, with a small mix of representational work. This series of artwork deals with shapes and form, everything from the free fall of pins and needles to the cacophonous Mardi Gras. If there is a consistent theme to Isabel’s work, it is color and movement, and a sense of fun.
Siovhan Hutcherson has always been fascinated by colors and shapes and how they relate, as well as the particular joy of crafting by hand. She is often drawn to themes depicting animals and the beauty of nature, but lately, she has also begun to explore more abstract designs. Siovhan’s designs feel as though they have been “painted with glass”.
These three artists are united by their use of the indirect method for creating mosaics, and the show will showcase their different approaches to the medium.
