Internal Combustion: a gallery transformed

transformation complete!

Special thanks to the all the artists who submitted work, to juror Joseph Carroll, who selected and curated the exhibit, 

and to the three fabulous interns whose assistance made this happen in record time.

See more images of work on exhibit at 

images-fountainstreetfineart.blogspot.com

Internal Combustion/ Juror Selections

INTERNAL COMBUSTION:

 152 entries

+ 76 artists

 x 1 juror =

a very strong show!

We spent the better part of the day watching quietly while Joseph Carroll carefully examined each piece, as he made his selections for the show. Earlier, we had randomly arranged the submissions  along the walls and on every surface of the gallery, in order to make each piece visible at first glance without introducing any bias.

Joseph may have experienced a bit of sensory overload when he walked in (as you might expect from the above images), but was undaunted as he methodically studied each piece. If several pieces had been submitted by a single artist, he often considered them together. By the end of the day, he had selected and arranged 50 pieces by 38 artists.

Joseph told us later that he likened the experience to "walking into a party where you didn't know anyone", and trying to get a feeling for which people you'd like to get to know a little better. He commented that as he grew a little more familiar with the individual pieces, he noticed common themes in work that was executed with different media and of different styles.  He curated the show to reflect this interplay and create a conversation between the disparate elements of individual pieces, with the intent that the exhibit as a whole comes together in a way that is greater than the sum of its parts.

Come see for yourself!

Internal Combustion runs from June 22- August 4.

Please join us for the

  Opening Reception, Saturday June 23, from 5 -7pm

or visit us anytime-

Gallery hours are Thursday-Sunday 11-5

Our summer hours are as follows:

Closed July 6-7, Independence Day weekend

July 13- Aug 4, Fri-Sat 11-5 

and as always, by appointment

508-879-4200

It takes a Village....

or perhaps, America’s biggest town

Artists, historically, have played an important role in society- as observers, interpreters, instigators. So what’s our part to play, here, now, in downtown Framingham, officially (fun fact) the biggest town in the US?

Roy Perkinson, Rte. 135, Late February, oil on canvas

Artists have a proven track record of being on the front line of revitalization and renewal in communites everywhere, Just in Massachusetts, examples abound. Let’s take North Adams, a mill town in the Berkshires completely transformed by MassMOCA. Facts and figures can be found at Economic Impact of MASS MoCA in Berkshire County, MA.  Boston’s SOWA Open Art Market, was instrumental in the turnaround of Boston’s South End neighborhood. Sowa market: rebirth of bostons south end. Waltham Mills Art Studios are a part of the revitalization of Waltham’s formerly seedy Moody Street.

Artists play a vital role in our community

- as volunteers, actiists, revitalizers.

The Danforth Museum, Amazing Things, and the Framingham History Center are already an important part of Framingham's cultural economy. But this is just the beginning... 

 

So support your friendly neighborhood artists- 

Visit your museums and galleries, often! 

And buy something. (a greeting card?) 

Grab a coffee or a snack at a local shop. 

Pick up a list of our favorite things and to do places to eat when you visit the gallery, and get a free pass for same-day admission to the Danforth Museum.

And be the change that helps everyone realize that South Framingham is 'the cool part'

of town!

12x12 panels starting to bloom

Back in January, 100  12x12 in. birch panels arrived in the gallery, wrapped in plastic and naked. Building artists and our members took them, one or two at a time. Many commented that they planned to use this as an opportunity to experiment with a new idea or technique; others were looking forward to working smaller, (or larger) than they usually did. Some discovered that they really loved working on panel as opposed to canvas or paper; for others it was an adjustment.

These panels are the one unifying feature for our upcoming show'12x12'. We've asked our member artists (over 40 at this count) and all the artists who have studio space in the building we share at Fountain Street Studios to contribute one or two pieces on these 12x12 in. panels for this show. There is no other common 'theme', subject matter, or medium. Each is for sale at $200, a real value, and a great way to discover a new favorite artist!

(Roy Perkinson, Grove Between Fields, oil on panel)

The panels are starting to return, like birds in the spring, bright with color, each wonderfully different. Based on what we've seen so far, this year's crop is even better than last year's (we had a similar show, 10x10, last April, which was very successful). 

'12X12' 

opens on April 20th 

(please note, we'll be closed Thurdsay April 19th for installation)

Scout Austin, Not one Without the Other,
mixed media

We'll be posting pictures of more panels as they arrive on our facebook page, so check back often for  previews.

Kay Hartung, Biocell 3, encaustic and mixed media

The Visitor

 Last Thursday, we were gearing up for another quiet weekday (although the gallery has been open Thursdays since November, it’s still a pretty well-kept secret). A couple wandered through, and as we chatted with them, we noticed a woman quietly working her way through the exhibit. We introduced ourselves and asked whether she was a first time visitor, or if perhaps she had other business in the building. The woman told us she had come specifically to see the show, and as we talked, she introduced herself as Cate McQuaid, art critic for the Boston Globe.

 She’d come because she’d been invited- by the artist, by colleagues and friends of the artist, by other members, by us! (‘Enough, already!’ perhaps, but she came, didn’t she?) That friendly persistence is what piqued her curiosity, enticed her to drive out to the wilds of Metrowest, and got her in the door.

But she didn’t know what to expect. She told us she hadn’t come with the intention of writing a review, but rather a desire to see what all the fuss was about.

Cate spent quite a while carefully and systematically examining the work, and after few minutes, began taking notes. She worked with a genuine, purposeful approach, and asked thoughtful questions about Nan and her work. Before she left, she told us that after seeing the work she had decided to review the show, and asked us to send images of certain pieces to the newspaper.

“Many of Nan Hass Feldman’s post-impressionist-style landscapes and cityscapes at Fountain Street Fine Art pop with bold designs and contours”, the review reads. “Fishing on the Blue Li River” shows fishermen in low boats, zigzagging over the rippled water. The artist cleverly outlines reflections in the water’s shimmer. These lines Feldman traces into the paint give her works a jazzy rhythm.

 She also takes risks with hues; the cypresses in the foreground of “The Burgundy Hills of Puygiron” are salmon and pink, as well as green. Hills beyond them resemble so many quilts mussed on an unmade bed. The burgundy and green slopes beyond ripple like ocean waves”. Read the full review here.

For Nan Hass Feldman, having her show reviewed in the Globe was really exciting and validating. For the gallery, a review by an official representative of the Boston art scene gives us more credibility and legitimacy, and helps establish Fountain Street Fine Art as one of the few places this side of Rte. 128 where you can experience the best in local art.

Dreaming East, Dreaming West runs through Sunday, April 15^th.

Gallery hours are Thursday-Sunday, 11-5.

Please note, we will be closed on Easter Sunday April 8^th. 

The Red Sail II, mixed media sketch

 One of the intriguing things about Nan Hass Feldman's new series of work from China is the way many of the paintings are shown along with their companion sketches. Nan's visit to china was short, and she 'didn't want to miss anything', as she told us. She worked feverishly to record her observations in mixed media sketches. The sketches have an immediacy, a translucent quality that makes them quite different from the paintings. Their composition is nearly identical, but the paintings are larger, intensely vibrant, and rich in the texture and detail that are hallmarks of Nan's work.

The Red Sail, oil on panel

As artists, we delight in seeing the 'sneak preview', the sketch where the ideas come together and the decisions about form and color take shape. Certainly, the difference between the two is striking and palpable. 

Which do you prefer? 

See for yourself the sketches and accompanying paintings at nanhassfeldman.com/China_show
Better yet, there's really nothing like seeing the real thing. 
The gallery is now also open Thursdays, as well as Friday- Sunday from 11-5. 

Or call us, 508-879-4200, and we'll open the doors just for you!

Please join us on Saturday, March 31, 6 – 8pm, 
for an Artist's Talk with Nan Hass Feldman and Poetry Reading with poet Alan Feldman
Alan Feldman’s poetry has appearedin many magazines over the years—The Atlantic, The New Yorker, The Nation, Poetry, and others.  A Sail to Great Island, his most recent full-length collection, was awarded the 2004 Felix Pollak Prize in Poetry and published by the University of Wisconsin Press.  


Nan will also teach a Pigment Stick Workshop, Saturday, April 14th, from 10am - 2 pm.
Using only pigment (oil) sticks, clear medium stick, color shapers, and paper, Nan will demonstrate and teach how to create painterly works that bridge the gap between drawing and painting. This portable, easy and versatile medium lends itself to spontaneity and complex surfaces, can be used for small or large works. 

$60/members, $72/non-members
min. 4 people, max. 12
Registration deadline: April 10
More info and registration at fountainstreetfineart.com/workshops

a kid's-eye view

"When my daughter was about seven years old, she asked me one day what I did at work. I told her I worked at the college- that my job was to teach people how to draw. She stared back at me, incredulous, and said, "You mean they forget?"   ~ Howard Ikemoto

Kids are some of our favorite people. They take things at face value, and view the world with a joy and immediacy that is enviable.

That's why we're happy to see kids here in the gallery. A visit to the gallery with kids is a great opportunity for conversation about color, shape, texture. The space is big enough for a kid to explore and small enough for a brief visit to be satisfying without becoming overwhelming, or worse, 'bo-ring'. It's also a great way to introduce the concept of 'museum etiquette' without spending a bundle in the gift shop or snack bar!

Kids are a sophisticated audience. They have a natural curiosity and no preconceived notions. They know what they like. This month's show is particularly 'kid-friendly' in that  Michelle Lougee's sculptures are textural, vibrant, not overly fragile, and in many cases, at a kid's eye level. Bob Grignaffini's paintings have a richness of form and color that have universal appeal.

Both artists tap into that sense of wonder and intensity that eludes a lot of adults. And equally obvious, from the reactions of the young art-lovers who have seen the show, they 'totally get it' as well!

Bob Grignaffini & Michelle Lougee's work will be on view through March 11; Gallery hours are Thursday-Friday 11-5. Kids of all ages are always welcome!!

Professional Development for Artists

Being working artists as well as gallery owners ('gallerinas', we've been called), we have a unique perspective, being on both sides of the fence, so to speak.

Obviously, the most critical piece is making the art- That's Step 1- without that, there's nothing. Then, there's the education piece- whether by reading, experimenting with new techniques, visiting museums and galleries,  or exploring worlds within and around us. That's Step 2.

Step 3- 'BE READY' sneaks up on us- but it's critical.
While we're busy creating and learning, our work gets stronger, and guess what, people start to notice! As more opportunites arise to show our work, it's really important that the accompanying material we present to galleries and museums is well-presented and professional- in short, reflects, complements and informs the quality of our art.  Artist statements, bios, and resumes need to be articulate, thoughtful, well-written, and READY!

The only thing worse than a bad picture is NO picture.  When a newspaper asks us for images, the ones we reach for first are the ones that are appropriately sized (300dpi, 6 in. longest side, about 1 MB jpeg file size) and labeled (Artist last name_artwork title.jpeg)  And they need it NOW. More than once, a reporter has expressed interest in featuring a piece from a show; unfortunately we haven't had a jpeg to give them. The artists who didn't have the material available lost an opportunity to have their work seen by a wider audience because they were not prepared.

Periodically, we're offering brief, tarketed workshops to build the skill set needed for Step 3, so that we can get it right and 'BE READY' when asked for these materials. Two which are upcoming are listed below. Visit our website for more information and to register.

Photograph Your Artwork, taught by Jeremy Graves of Damianos Photography

Friday, March 30, 2012
9:30 am to 12:00 pm


Cost: $60 Fountain Street Fine Art members

  $70 non-members

minimum 4 students, maximum of 12

registration deadline 3/25/12

Learn how to photograph both 2-D and 3-D artwork. Angle of view, lighting, metering, polarizing and appropriate lens type/focal length will be covered. The session will take place in a gallery setting, giving participants the opportunity to learn to take effective installation shots as well. Basic knowledge and familiarity with your camera is necessary.


Writing Your Artist Statement Doesn’t Have To Hurt: Nail It Once And For All!

Taught by nationally recognized expert Ariane Goodwin, Ed.D.

Saturday, June 9, 2012 12 – 4 pm

Cost:      $65 Students and Fountain Street Fine Art members

  $75 non-members

Registration deadline 6/1/2012

Ariane Goodwin is the creator of the SmARTist Telesummit, and author of Writing the Artist Statement: Revealing the true Spirit of your Work, a comprehensive guide to writing an effective statement. In 4 hours, articulate your vision and prepare your statement, a key tool for reaching your buyers and collectors, who love your art, but need that extra push to pull out their wallets.

Two artists, two distinctly different media; is there a connection?

              YES. Definitely!

above:Grignaffini and Lougee's work in the Gallery.

 The work of Bob Grignaffini & Michelle Lougee, when brought together, complement each other in surprising ways. Each artist has a strong body of work, compelling in its own right. 

But there’s a synergy, a kind of electric current that jumps between the paintings and  sculptures, that makes the show greater than the sum of its parts.

In retrospect, it makes perfect sense. On the surface, the form and color used by Bob Grignaffini in his work is replicated in the shapes and textures of Michelle’s sculpture. But beyond that, conceptually both artists are strongly attuned to the natural world around us, and to a sense of place.

B. Grignaffini, Into the Garden

In his painting, as well as his work as a landscape professional, Bob shows a passion for creating self-sustaining ecosytems, for designing edible landscapes,  and for working with unprocessed materials such as stone and rough cut timber. Whether on the canvas or in the landscape, his work strives to show the heart and organic movement in what he is creating. His love of material carries over to his painting in the sense that his works have a very painterly quality. Expressing a love for the texture and color of the paint, equal to whatever image he is portraying on the canvas, is closely intertwined with nature, and infused with a sense of our place within it.

M.Lougee, Apologia.

Michele Lougee’s body of work, entitled Material Nature, is a collection of tactile woven forms inspired by microscopic ocean creatures. With some 20,000 types of organisms in a liter of seawater, there are many beautiful forms to draw from. In a continued exploration of material, she has used plastic bags, to crochet  enlargements of some of these life supporting underwater organisms.

The work of both artists is informed by their passion, understanding and concern for the fragile beauty of the world we inhabit, and reflects this in distinct but complementary ways.

Bob Grignaffini & Michelle Lougee: Painting & Sculpture 

runs through March 11.

Gallery hours Thursday-Sunday 11-5 

and as always, by appointment 508.879.4200

For the love of ART

The Artist’s Valentine (1996-2011) project has run its course and sadly will not be happening this year. For those of you not familiar with the Artist’s Valentine Project , it was a fundraising event for artists, by artists. Artists created & donated valentines, which were then sold. The proceeds from the sale were put toward merit grants for artists.  We thought this was such a great project that we had planned to ask our artists to make some valentines to donate to them.  As it is not happening, we are still going to invite artists to create & donate valentines to sell at Fountain Street Fine Art. The proceeds from the sale of valentines will be used to fund our Summer Project. Details for our summer project are still in development, but we can say it will be fun, and entries will need to be postmarked by July 15! More info will be available over the coming months. In the meantime, come visit to donate and/or buy your one-of-a-kind handmade valentines.

For the love of ART- 

Flash artful valentines sale!

Looking for a one-of-a-kind valentine? Come to Fountain Street Fine Art and check out the growing selection of handmade valentines and other one-of-a-kind works of art for sale.

The suggested minimum donation for handmade valentine cards is $5.00.  Other work in our Small Work Showcase ranges in price from $20 - $500.  All proceeds from Valentine sales will go toward funding our Summer Project.

This is the Final Weekend for  First Anniversary: PAPER.

Please stop by!

PAPER: a Preview

The gallery was a pretty busy place last weekend, the first weekend First Anniversary: PAPER was on exhibit. One of  those visitors was Jim Welu, our juror, who stopped by to see 'what we'd done with the place', ie. to see how we'd curated the show. He selected roughly one quarter of the nearly 200 pieces that were submitted, and the challenge was to create one cohesive exhibit from a really disparate collection of work. He was delighted to see what had come from the chaos of what he had seen when he had come to jury the show.

 Exhibiting artist Roy Perkinson was manning the gallery on Saturday, when Jim dropped in. 

According to Roy,  Welu thought the show looked very good. "He really enjoyed himself, and made at least 3 attentive circuits looking quietly and with evident pleasure, looking leisurely at everything. He just was thrilled to see the way everything was displayed in such an interesting way. 

Lynne Damianos, Palm Leaf, photograph

Timothy Wilson, Portrait of Packing Paper, photograph

He very much liked the hanging of Lynne Damianos' "Palm Leaf" photograph beside the one of the end view of sheaves of paper, for example. Welu was also impressed with the range of inventiveness and skill in the works around the room, and especially amazed that sculptural objects of such substance could have been made from paper, among other materials."

J. Utting Schutter, Twining Flask, detail

"He also went to great lengths to remain unbiased", continued Roy."He enjoyed telling me of his anxiety over trying to make his judgments without identifying the artist; it was important to him NOT to see who had done what." Some of the names were familiar, like that of Worcester artist Susan Swinand, but he was surprised by other artists whose names and work he recognized only after the fact.

Susan Swinand, Falling Moon, watercolor

As Roy told us later,"He was a terrific guy! We had the nicest time talking about art, painting, museums (with all their characters and foibles), and so much more. I had heard so much about him from many of my friends, and it was all true."

The four pieces pictured here are just a taste of the eclectic yet cohesive, diverse yet complementary, collection of work on exhibit. 

We invite you to join us at the Reception, 

Saturday January 21st, from 5-7 pm, 

and see for yourself!

Many voices get us heard (and Seen!)

One of the most exciting things about curating a group show like First Anniversary: PAPER, is seeing the way the individual pieces, each strong in its own right, contributes to the whole, inevitably making the show somehow greater than the sum of its parts.

First Anniversary: PAPER

The quality and beauty of the work should speak for itself, and once you're in the gallery, it does. But how to get more visitors into the gallery to see for themselves what we have the privilege of seeing every day?
These days everyone is constantly bombarded with information- see this, buy that. Our blinkers are up, most of the time, simply to keep from being overloaded. There are ways to get past the 'noise filters'. One of the best ways is by personal communication. It's critical for each artist who exhibits his/her work to tell their family, friends, and fans. They are our cheerleaders. Tell them to pass the word onto their friends, and grow the web of contacts.

Another way, conversely, is to add MORE noise. The Harvard Business School Newsletter recently published an article called 'It's Not Nagging: Why Persistent, Redundant Communication Works'. The basic premise is that repetition penetrates the firewall of information overload, and gets attention to our message. Hearing a similar message from multiple sources (or multiple platforms- print media, e-newsletters, social media, word of mouth) makes that message stand out, and prompts us to take action- in this case, to come see the show!


The gallery takes its responsibility for generating traffic to this and all our shows very seriously. Postcards are printed and widely distributed; email blasts are sent regularly to our large and growing list. Press releases are sent to all local and regional publications. Personal invitations are sent out. We use facebook and tweet often. 


In this era of hyper-local news, however, some news media will only post news that is directly relevant to their community. For example, news about a gallery in Framingham may not be featured in Natick, or Sudbury. Unless, of course, the artist from that town contacts them directly.


Core Artist member and media-savvy artist Roy Perkinson prepared and sent a press release of his own to the local media outlets in his community, in addition to the one sent by the gallery. This is not duplication, or even addition, of efforts- it's multiplication. His press release has a good chance of being noticed because he's a town resident. Our press release will add a recognition factor, and reinforce his. The article that is written will be seen by readers who may also see the same information elsewhere. And so on.


An easy place for every artist to start promoting themselves online is the Patch, hyper-local e-news blasts in many communities in Massachusetts and all over the US. It's very easy to submit a news tip or post an event. 


If you have any suggestions or ideas on ways to spread the word, please share them with us. We think the gallery has a lot to offer, and we don't want to keep it a secret!


Oh yeah, and SHARE THIS BLOG!