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The work of three artist friends, Sally Dillon, Susanne Personette, and Ruth Rinard, who share a love of painting in soft pastels. The title was inspired by the answer they often find themselves giving to viewers of their work who inquire: “What is that? Is it oil paint?”

Sally says,” The pastels themselves — and the simplicity of using them — are as inspiring as whatever scene I am painting. The method of applying color is direct and every mark can vary in size and intensity. With an infinite number of colors and textural possibilities, I feel like a kid again, making bright colored marks with pastel on sanded paper. Pastels are such fun! Who could ask for more?”

Susanne says: “For as long as I remember, my eye has been caught by the color of light and color of shadow in nature. Pastels are the most richly satisfying way for me to joyfully respond to what I see. I am thrilled by the intensity, vibrancy, and purity of these colors and their intensely tactile application to sanded paper. Pastels are deeply colorful, completely engaging, generously forgiving, and incredibly flexible.”

Ruth says: “I have always felt a deep connection to the visual world, and I’ve drawn since childhood. It is only within the last ten years, though, that I found the medium that allows me to fully express what I both see and feel. When I am drawn to an object or scene, I want to explore what makes it special and worth observing, what qualities might be easily overlooked or passed by. A shape, a color, a line, or a mood — all can compel me to see and explore with awe in pastel.”

An opening reception will be held on Thursday, November 2nd, during Amherst Arts Night Plus, from 5pm to 8pm.

About Sally Dillon:
Sally has been a fiber artist for more than 40 years, specializing in hand-painted silk and more recently felted wool.  After retiring from the craft fair circuit a few years ago, she decided to try her hand at some more traditional artist’s materials and techniques, and fell in love with pastels. 

About Susanne Personette:
Susanne has been drawing, painting, and studying art since childhood. In the midst of a 30+ year career in architecture, taking a pastel workshop was the “eureka moment” when she found “her” medium.  Painting as often as possible during the past ten years of her career, her recent retirement finds her eagerly pursuing her passion for plein air painting in pastel.

About Ruth Rinard:
After careers in academe and health sciences, Ruth became intrigued with the freshness of pure pigment and the tactile possibilities of pastel. When she realized she could use her drawing skills within the painterly framework of pastel, she never looked back! Ruth has studied painting with Christine Labich and exhibited work with the Connecticut and New Hampshire pastel societies.

New work by local artists Rhys Davies and Ann Knickerbocker. This show marks new and live experiments in approach and process for the two artists. The two artists will be painting live in the gallery a few hours each week, separately on their own work and together on a single piece, a growing arrangement of painted brown paper to reach, they intend, to the gallery ceiling.

Ann Knickerbocker paints large, gestural bright-colored abstractions more inclined to light than realism. Ann says her new works are “abstract paintings about abstraction”, a different approach to painting than her usual method of beginning with a specific topic. Rhys Davies paints tangles of flowers, not-quite flowers, in deep colors, nature woven into secretive shape and shadow. In his new body of work, Rhys aims for less control of his process, to “let the images appear”.

An opening reception will be held on Thursday, October 5th, in conjunction with Amherst Arts Night Plus, from 5pm to 8pm.

About Ann Knickerbocker:
Ann and her husband, Charles Tarlton, moved to Florence from San Francisco in 2014. Her painting “You Must Thrash This Out for Yourself” will be included in a show of Gallery One Connecticut artists at the Marquee Gallery in New London, September 13 – October 7, 2017. She has exhibited in solo shows at The Emily Dickinson Museum (September 2016) and at Cider House Media in Easthampton (September 2015) and is a former member of Amherst’s Gallery A3. Her work was selected for juried shows at the Essex Art Association in 2017 and 2016, for the Northampton Biennial in 2015 and for the 105th Juried Annual of the Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts in Mystic, Connecticut in 2016.

About Rhys Davies:
Rhys is a Welsh-born artist and illustrator who currently lives in Amherst. In this new body of work, he aims to not over-control the process and let the imagery slowly happen. He has exhibited in the UK and Denmark, and locally at Wunderarts and The Emily Dickinson Museum in Amherst, and The Elusie Gallery and the Grubbs Gallery in Easthampton. This will be his fourth show at Hope & Feathers.

September 7th – 30th, 2017

“Why do you paint? For exactly the same reason I breathe.”

A selection of sketches, drawings, and paintings by E.E. Cummings (1894-1962).

It is not generally well-known that the poet E.E. Cummings was also a visual artist, who experimented with art as he did with words. He devoted as much time to drawing and painting as he did to poetry, and considered himself equally an artist and a poet. Cummings said art was his “twin obsession“; painting and writing were daily routine, both necessary means of expression. He published sketches and drawings and exhibited paintings early in his career, but ultimately withdrew from the New York art scene in the early 1930s. Art became a private pursuit as his writing increased in popularity and his reputation as a poet was firmly established. His art reflects some of the more modern and boundary-pushing art trends of the time, especially post-impressionism and fauvism, and the influence of artists like Cézanne and Matisse can be clearly seen in much of his work.

This exhibit is a selection of Cummings’ artworks curated to show a range of his artistic experiments. Most have not been shown publicly; most were probably not intended to be seen by the public.

The pieces in this show are from the collection of Ken Lopez of Hadley, MA. All works are for sale. A portion of the proceeds from sales at this show will benefit Reader to Reader, Inc., a nonprofit literacy organization.

An opening reception will be held Thursday, September 7th, 5-8pm, during Amherst Arts Night Plus.

Saturday, September 16th, 5:30-7:30pm: “Flash Poetry, Spoken Word, and EE Cummings” – a special event in conjunction with the Amherst Poetry Festival, featuring readings of Cummings’ poems, poems inspired by Cummings artworks, and poetry mad-libs! Readers will include local poets Dara Wier, Lori Desrosiers, Paul Richmond, and more! Organized and emcee’d by Alison Murchie, local writer and creator of the popular monthly “Unbuttoned” spoken word evenings in Easthampton. Event starts at 5:30pm, readings begin at 6pm.