What does it take to be a collector?

One word answer- LOVE (x3)

We know a guy- let’s call him Mike- He’s a collector. Big time. He’s not rich. He’s not fancy. Or Harvard educated (as far as we know). But he’s an art patron, he’s our hero.

We asked him; How does he decide to buy art?

”I’m very picky, he says." if I see something I really love, 

LOVE-LOVE-LOVE, 

I have to really love it, I buy it.” 

It’s as simple as that. He lives paycheck to paycheck, like a lot of us. He finds a way. He’s passionate about buying art the way those of us who make the art are passionate. 

He pays a little, every paycheck, till it’s his.

Good art is never boring. The painting that calls out to you the first time you set eyes on it will catch your eye every time you pass by it in your home or workplace;  it will continue to surprise and entrance as time passes.

 The Small Works Showcase, 

our annual exhibit of work that is small in size and price, (but not impact) is getting underway, from 

October 16th through January 11. Each piece is under 16 in. and under $500. 

A great opportunity to start, or grow, a collection of your own!

 Above: A few examples from the Small Work Showcase

by Sarah Alexander, Scout Austin, Brenda Cirioni and Dottie Laughlin.

Mary Spencer and Sara Fine-Wilson Gaze and Extension

October 2 – November 2

Reception October18, 5 – 7 PM 

Spencer’s drawings investigate gaze as an extension of the heart and a porthole to the past; Fine-Wilson’s sculptures explore visual history and expand a sense of reach.

Sara Fine-Wilson, From the Core,
mixed media Sculpture

Sara Fine-Wilson’s current body of work explores the idea and process of breaking things down and rebuilding them multiple times, as way to create history in visual form. Evidence of where things may have been connected through smudges, smears and stains indicate the passing of time. Material like wax, plaster, epoxy and construction adhesive are raw, oozy, chalky and refer to what lies under the surface of constructed forms. Part of the process of making this work was to crack, drop, and deconstruct various elements and use the resulting detritus as raw material which the artist then reassembled, combining materials in a visual and directional flow.  In this work she is particularly interested in sculpturally mapping time and creating a sense of reach.

Mary Spencer, Jack Singing in the Wind,
charcoal on paper

Mary Spencer’s drawings provide what the glance of an eye cannot….a porthole into the past, a means of more fully understanding the present, and an inspiration for meditations, fantasies. Drawing conveys an emotional quality, a feel beyond the capture of a camera lens; the hand charges an image with energy, beauty or ugliness. The human gaze is the extension of the heart and mind. The face can gape, glare, and gloat. Emotions filter through a face. For this series Spencer has chosen to limit her subject to eye-engaging men from various occupations, as a way to have a conversation with them. What are they silently saying?

About the Artists

Sara Fine-Wilson is an artist and teacher who works primarily in sculpture and also in photography and painting. She earned a  BFA fromThe Maryland Institute college of Art with a Major in Ceramics, a Master of Science in Art Education from Massachusetts College of Art and a MFA in Ceramics at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia.PA.  She was a resident artist at The Worcester Center for Crafts. She Her work has been shown at The Concord Art Association, Fitchburg Art Museum, Danforth Museum of Art, Gallery 540 at Urban Outfitters World Headquarters. She is an associate member of the Fountain Street Fine Art Gallery in Framingham Ma where her work is represented regularly. She currently teaches Ceramics and painting. She works from her studio in Millbury, Massachusetts, where she lives with her husband Bruce and her dog Arlo.

A Natick, Massachusetts resident, Mary Spencer received her BS from Nazareth College of Rochester, New York and her MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. She taught at Sheridan College of Applied Arts and Technology in Oakville, Ontario, Canada. Spencer has received an ART Grant, a Natick Cultural Council Grant, and a Massachusetts Artists Fellowship in Drawing, the Blanche E. Coleman Award and Fellowships to Yaddo, The Millay Colony for the Arts and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts.  Her work has been shown throughout New England, New York, the Mid-West, Cuba and South Africa. Her work is in the collections of the Boston Athenaeum, the Decordova Museum, the Boston Public Library, and numerous corporate and private collections.

Wellesley Family Showcases Art Together in Unique Exhibit

Grignaffini Rhythms: Music, Strokes & Steel

  A Family of artists- Bob, Lou, Louie & AJ Grignaffini- show their work together in 

Grignaffini Rhythms: Music, Strokes & Steel

September 4 – 28, 2014

Reception September 6, 5 – 7 PM

Dance of the Three Sisters, oil on canvas, By Bob Grignaffini

”Grignaffini Rhythms: Music, Strokes And Steel”, an exhibit of oil paintings by Bob Grignaffini accompanied by the metal sculpture of his cousins Louie, AJ and Lou Grignaffini, is a playful celebration of music in motion.

Guitar Man, by Louie Grignaffini

The four family members are part of a large multi-generational, multi-talented Wellesley, MA clan.  Bob Grignaffini’s paintings celebrate form and color. “I share how an image rests in my memory”, he states.” What inspires me to share this experience is that it provides the opportunity to be honest. When someone is honest in whatever he or she is doing, it is beautiful.” Bob’s work has been shown in various galleries throughout the MetroWest area over the past two decades. Along with engaging in his passion for painting, Bob is involved in natural building and in running his permaculture based landscape design and construction company Grignaffini Earthscape, in Wellesley and Shelburne Falls, MA. 

Scrap Crab, by AJ Grignaffini

Movement is the one thing that made sense to Wellesley High School senior A.J Grignaffini. He believes that life is mostly about motion. Whether physical or visual – physical in the fact that piece actually moves, and visual in the fact that the piece has no stopping point – it all flows together. It is also about movement in the way that some of his pieces come alive. In life, movement is the one thing that can connect all living things, so A.J. feels it is important to express this in his art.

Lou Grignaffini's Sunflower, beside
Bob Grignaffini's Dancing Trees

Since before he could walk, Lou Grignaffini of Wellesley was fascinated by rust and decaying metal. From the orange-like tinge his bike gets when left out in the rain to the dirty black color of steel after it had been held over an open flame. “What’s so intriguing about this decay”, Lou explains, “is that each piece tells a story, every scratch and patina. All of the rust tells a story.” Lou’s father taught him how to weld at a very young age. By the time he was in Wellesley Middle School, Lou was creating work for a juried art show and selling to the highest bidder. This came as a pleasant surprise and continues to help fuel his desire to create more work inspired by patination found in metal. 

The boys' persuaded Lou, their dad, to join them in exhibiting his large-scale metal sculpture alongside theirs.

August in the Gallery- busy creating new work!

Every year, when we close our doors for the month of August, it might seem that we're putting our feet up on a beach somewhere. But this summer, especially, nothing could be further from the truth!

THe gallery has been the scene of intense creativity and collaboration, as member artists work together to  prepare work for our annual members' show. 

Gallery artists bring a new twist to the concept of a Members Show by incorporating collaborative projects in photo, fiber, painting, drawing and sculpture alongside individual works. The project, curated by Denise Driscoll and Carrie Childs Antonini, got underway this month.

 Work in Progress- SYNCHRONIC DRAWINGS

 In this project, artists work in unison on large drawings in teams of two to five people. The challenge for each team is to communicate and experiment as materials and methods are tried, rejected, and selected while the drawing takes form.

Other projects currently in the works include

SERIAL PAINTINGS: Twenty-five 8×8 inch panels are each worked upon by multiple artists, one at a time, in their choice of mixed media.

SITE-SPECIFIC INSTALLATIONS: In 3D (working title) a site-specific sculpture will grow in the gallery using chicken wire, paper, fabric and glue. In Cut Fold Tear, artists may only cut, fold or tear quantities of paper for assembly into an ephemeral installation of paper and shadow.

CELL PHONE PHOTOGRAPHY: In 24 Hours, artists agree to take a spontaneous photo every hour on the hour from midnight to midnight. In Telephone, artists play a game of tag with messaged photos, creating a chain of linked images.

Take a look at more work-in-progress at: http://denisedriscoll.com/multiplicity/

The completed work, along with work by individual artists, will be unveiled during 

MULTIPLICITY, 2014 Members Show, NOVEMBER 13 – DECEMBER 14, 2014.

The Exhibit includes collaborations and individual work by Carrie Childs Antonini, Scout Austin, Lisa Barthelson, Brenda Cirioni, Cheryl Clinton, Marie Craig, Denise Driscoll, Sara Fine-Wilson, Bob Grignaffini, Kay Hartung, Nan Hass Feldman, Joel Moskowitz, Pat Paxson, Roy Perkinson, Stacey Piwinski, Tracy Spadafora, Mary Spencer, Kellie Weeks, and Jeanne Williamson.