I am grateful for the ability to support the Cape Ann arts community along with my dear friend and program partner, Kristine Fisher in producing 1623 Studios Cape Ann ARTWaves. We spend the early days of 2021 pulling together this highlights video and really hope to build an even larger following as we go forward. We have worked with some of our favorite local creatives to land on a new brand and produce this video so many thanks to Linda Stockman and Renee Gonsalves for their contributions. Enjoy and please share!
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From Happy to Exuberant! Inspired by Rocky Neck’s Call
This week I was notified that three of my pieces were juried into the virtual Rocky Neck Show called “Exuberance: The Marvelous Art of Craft.” When I first saw the call to artists, I was intrigued by the description which read “This is a Juried Members show that highlights artistry in craft in traditional media as well as the more offbeat, innovative or peculiar. Emphasizing a sense of curiosity and wonder, the show aims to surprise viewers with inventive materials, techniques and surfaces. ” While I had created several interesting pieces that I hoped would qualify, I also had a very unusual find in my studio that really needed to be crafted to meet the goals of this show. Finally after looking at this found piece of metal, a marine gasket, I began to see what could become of it by melding my most unusual shapes of sea glass with this incredibly, perfectly patina(d) found object. I loved jumping into this with no expectations, but just the thrill of seizing on a chance to delight the viewer. The final result was “The Happy Gasket.” I am equally thrilled that the Purse Pendant and Assemblage made it into the show. The Purse Pendant is part of series that popped into my head as part of my love of wearable art. We love purses and in my sea glass collection, I had many curved pieces that reminded me of purse handles. That was the starting point to design around these unusual shapes. Assemblage actually started as a purse pendant, but it worked better as as design in it’s own right. These three are all statement pieces for just the right fashionista or lover of Wearable Art. I invite you to join this incredibly colorful exhibit and support Rocky Neck’s creative endeavors. I would also like to thank Claire Sanford who is an accomplished fine jewelry artist and crafts person as well as champion of the arts. I knew it would be amazing as soon as I saw that she was involved. What an honor! (Click on the image below to see all three in a slide show)
The show runs through the end of the year online. You will find many interesting works and all are for sale!
My Love Affair with Low Tide
My Love Affair with Low Tide
When I moved to Gloucester in 1994, I knew nothing about tides. I grew up near Lake Erie, but tides were not part of our daily intake. At first when I moved to
East Gloucester, I enjoyed staring out at Wonson’s Cove to watch a huge swath of water depart and return – filling up and emptying out like a bathtub every 6 hours. Truthfully, I couldn’t wait for it to be low tide to see what treasures were left behind. This was my first true relationship with Low Tide and it was love at first sight! It also paved the way for my interest in sea glass hunting and my husband’s guidance as to when and how to find it!
Low tide also gave me the opportunity to take much longer walks on all the beaches – opening up places that were inaccessible at high tide. After being accosted by an angry neighbor once in Wonson’s Cove, I also learned about “Tidelands” the law that covers public rights around the shore. Until 1641, private property ended at the high tide mark and then Mass Bay Colony started to grant Low Tide or inter-tidal rights to some land-owners. Gloucester having so much history has such areas and so one does have to respect local exceptions that go all the way to the low tide mark. It’s a fascinating distinction and some is covered on the MA website. Still one can fish, “shellfish,” navigate, or hunt birds in all areas. I ask…and why can’t sea glass hunting be added?
Speaking of shellfish. Now that I live on the other side of the island and on the river, I adopted another great low tide activity – clamming.
There’s something very gratifying about heading out to dig for clams and then bringing them home to steam up for dinner. With a particularly large harvest or larger clams, the next step is to make baked stuffed clams. For me, it is a simple as jumping in my kayak and in 5 minutes I can forage the raw clams for a few good dinners! I am the proud owner of a shellfish/clamming license from the City of Gloucester. Now more than ever, it’s really important to have one to guard against illegal poaching of our stock and the occasional “closures” for red tide or rainfall related issues. There’s a certain romance about clamming which truly entails the most primitive tools and a lot of muscle!
Low tide also creates the most exquisite beachfront along the river and the seaside for my other favorite activities – beach yoga, reading a book, and walking out to our Boston Whaler! My vocabulary now includes important nuances that help clarify just how “low” is low? Is it merely an 8 ft tide? Or 11 feet? Is it a full moon tide? The moon’s gravitational pull is powerful along the shoreline and it produces the most amazing low and high tides! To that point, I have to give some kudos to the “flood” tide for launching the boat, sliding my kayak into the river, and wiping out the greenheads in the marshlands.
So now I have come full circle and try to observe the changing tides anywhere I travel. Admittedly, when visitors to my studio ask the inevitable question “where do you look for sea
glass?” My response is always, “you are asking the wrong question.” It’s not where, but when. And truly my favorite time is at the crack of dawn after a stormy night when most people would prefer to be curled up in bed!
A time for Storytelling & Community| Artists digging deep to share their journeys
Living on Cape Ann is a gift because it’s a community. Real communities celebrate each person’s unique contribution. They also come together in a crisis and support each other. Now the virtual world and the real world are coming together for artists who have been the foundation of Cape Ann’s Creative Economy. One of our gems, is the re-launched local TV station, now called 1623 Studios. The leaders approached me to create a show that interviews 2-D and 3-D artists and organizations. Together with fellow artist and arts champion, Kristine Fisher, we are proudly doing just that on our new show Cape Ann ARTwaves .
To date, we have interviewed Jo-Anne Crawford & Loren Doucette from the seARTS and Rocky Neck Art groups, Stephanie Cole (Memory Sculpture), Matt Cegelis (Photographer), Chris Williams (metal sculpture), Beth Williams (glass artist), with many more to come! Spoiler alert – James McCleod, Jill & Bob Armstrong, Leslie Heffron coming your way soon. Please enjoy and share these wonderful stories in one of several ways. Follow the 1623 Facebook Posts that are teed up on Sunday night; join the 1623 Studios email list; follow the YouTube Channel and Instagram or just check out my Cape Ann Designs page where I will eventually have all of them posted as well. You will also see them on seARTS eblasts. Click through the photos below to see the featured artists!
On local cable channel 12 , the schedule will be
- Mondays, Fridays and Sundays at 2:30 am and 7:30 pm – great for after dinner aperitif and sleepless nights!
- Wednesdays at 2:30 am – night owls!
- Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 6:30 am and 3:30 pm – early birds and afternoon coffee!
Real communities celebrate each person's unique contribution. They also come together in a crisis and support each other. Now the virtual world and the real world are coming together for artists who have been the foundation of Cape… Share on X
Sharing Creativity| A Boundless Gift We Can Give Freely
Sharing Creativity| A boundless gift we can give freely
The many forms of creativity
Creativity comes in many forms. I grew up in a household dominated by a family business, where creative problem solving was a regular guest at the dinner table. Interestingly, neither of my parents had the luxury of actually pursuing a creative career path when they were growing up. For parents who remember WWII and other such global tragedies, it was all about getting a job – thus my father encouraged me to be an accountant or an engineer. I did neither. I chose to complete an English & History undergraduate degree and later an MBA in Marketing – somewhat of a compromise. However, they did encourage us to have a creative outlet as a hobby. My brother and I dabbled in theater, piano, dance, and took summer classes. Later I turned to writing and ultimately jewelry design to pursue a separate creative path. My mother truly had a creative soul that came out later in life in the form of humor and innovation where she wowed her fan club with presentations on the importance of laughter and left me a book of her “Ideas” that will take a lifetime to absorb. She was so excited about my hair jewelry business, she completely changed her hairstyle to wear my barrettes. My father, a true engineer at heart is still baffled, but fully supportive nonetheless!
Despite one’s upbringing, creative pursuits are still not part of everyone’s personal or professional DNA. That’s actually good news. It opens up a wide range of opportunities for those of us who are blessed with some creative strain. Given the mental and physical challenges of our current global climate and health challenges due to the CV, I don’t know what I would do without the chance to go into my studio and immerse myself in jars of sea glass and the treasure hunt to find just the right pieces that fit together for a piece of jewelry. I feel blessed. Likewise, my husband can sit down and lose himself at his piano. In the ideal scenario, I am motivated when people actually purchase my work, but in the meantime, I am finding other ways to use my creativity and a good part of it is SHARING. This comes in many forms and here are my observations which I hope inspire YOU to do the same.
It’s not just the end product, it’s the process
When you create art, you rarely end up with a result that you expect. That’s part of the joy. Interviewing artists recently for @1623Studios #ArtWaves I am learning more about each person’s process. The process creates an emotional… Share on X
When you create art, you rarely end up with a result that you expect. That’s part of the joy. Interviewing artists recently for a new collaborative show @1623Studios #1623ArtWaves, I am learning more about each person’s process. The process creates an emotional roadmap from which the viewer can benefit. I have started down that path with my own work – a rather simple idea, but one that would allow my clientele to semi-customize the pieces that I have started. Artists who are capable of sharing their process in some way can provide inspiration for others and also break down the barriers for those who might not understand the end product. I could write a book on a piece that I morphed over the last year until I finally got it to work right! I will reveal it when we launch the new Cape Ann Artisans brochure.
It’s time to “dabble”
Many people wait until they are retired from the “real world” (whatever that is) to pursue their creative interests. Some are lucky enough to do it in parallel without sacrificing income. Either way, the stillness and forced isolation of the current environment is handing us this opportunity on a platter. Pick up that paintbrush, oil up that sewing machine, plant that garden, pick up that needlework, glue those old pieces of ceramics together or start writing that book! It could be life altering or simply a great way to stay mentally stable.
Take your work in new directions
If you already have your creative legs in motion, this is the time to step it up a notch – open up the Pandora’s box of creativity and let it rip. I’ve heard this from a number of artists who are amazed at what’s showing up on the canvas. It’s also a great time to sign up for an online class to learn new techniques. If you don’t do it this time around, at least use the time to do the research. If you are commercially oriented, there are many classes underway to hone up on your digital marketing skills. My good friend and fellow artist, Beth Williams set up her online store. I managed to photograph ALL the work I have in the studio, make some different types of jewelry (new hair forks & a ring), add gifts (soap dish, paper weight) and get it onto Flickr and I hope to even learn more about the functionality of my digital camera. I know there much more I can do to improve the photos of my work.
Help others find their creative spirit
This is the ultimate way to share creativity. If you have a strong creative bent, offer to coach friends, family, and colleagues who want to explore their creative side. Once they choose the path, and start something, stay in touch and offer feedback, examples of others who have done something in their genre, articles that might be of help. Just pointing out to someone, hey, you always coordinate colors so well, did you ever think of putting them together on paper? Your voice is beautiful, have you ever recorded anything? Cooking is a great form of creativity. My 83 year old father has taken to using “HomeChef” to wow his wife with newly minted cooking skills. It’s never too late!!!
Just return to or increase the volume on something that makes you feel good
Beside my creative business, I have plenty of creative hobbies (defined as things that no one will ever pay me to do) – cooking, sewing, gardening, and decorating that give me a sense of accomplishment. Thanks to YouTube, one can find videos on nearly everything online. I have been so impressed with entertainers (famous and not so famous) who have opened their doors and are singing from the balconies, or giving concerts online. I was completely touched by the raw and real One World Together at Home virtual event. My husband has been playing his piano on family video calls, and I have taken to making masks just for family and friends to ensure their safety, and sharing all my favorite kitchen creations around town with my friends who have rigorous remote work schedules or child care duties.
The bottom line is that creativity is a gift that most of us have deep inside even if we don’t know it. We can all help each other today and always by motivating each other to find it and pay it forward in one of many ways. It might be fun to make that creative “to do” list and check in with it a year from now!
Barrettes Galore! Buy now & get a credit toward a future purchase in the studio.
It’s rare that I have the time or patience to photograph every piece that I make. So I am challenging myself during the “Coronavirus” interlude to put more work online. I invite you to visit my Facebook Page and check out the 76 barrettes that I just posted. There’s more work coming soon. I also invite you to enjoy some new pieces in this post. I have made a sea glass RING for the first time and also a totally new type of hair fork. Also some one of a kind pieces – a soap dish and paperweight!
