Image: Topography (detail), Gary Hawkins; ink and washi on paper; 2014
Artists use sketchbooks for as many different reasons as there are artists: daily practice, planning book, travelogue, dream journal. Sketching happens from life, memory, ideas, or repetition.
What distinguishes sketchbook work from other artist works is the sense of a thought being puzzled out, a problem being explored. There’s an openness to leaving the thought incomplete. Usually (but not always?) sketchbook work is done in one moment, and the next time the sketchbook is opened, a new pieces is begun.
CURATED BY:
Ellie Laramee-Byers and Rachel Mello
OPENING RECEPTION:
Friday, January 29, 2016; 6:00 pm-8:00 pm
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EXHIBITION DATES:
January 29-March 3, 2016
LOCATION:
Nave Gallery Annex, 53 Chester St, Somerville, MA
GALLERY HOURS:
Thursday-Friday, 6:00-8:00 pm
Saturday, 2:00-6:00 pm
ARTISTS:
Catherine Aiello, Nancy Anderson, Tony Astone, Heather Balchunas, Audrey Bellinger, Seth Berkowitz, Hannah Earley , Ben Foley, Gary Hawkins, Liz Helfer, Anne Johnstone, Lisa Kraase, Yvonne Troxell Lamothe, Ellien Laramee-Byers, Rachel Mello, Chiara Pieri, Bryan Ramey, Robin Richstone, Laura Scheuerell, Sean Shinnock, Solei, Christina Tedesco, Daria Theodora, Meg Turner, Ekaterina Vanovskaya
ABOUT THE CURATORS:
Ellie Laramee-Byers was the Coordinator for the 2015 Somerville Open Studios. Her paintings are primarily watercolor or acrylic, and she has a professional photography practice as well.
Rachel Mello’s work in cut silhouettes can be seen outside Somerville City Hall in the Phone Art Box Project, at Boston Harbor Arts Outdoor Gallery, and outside Journeyman Restaurant in Union Square. Her work can can also be found in 13FOREST Gallery and Blue Cloud Gallery. She’s working now on a larger installation of cut silhouette work for a solo show in November of 2016 at Laconia Gallery in Boston. Rachel was the Coordinator for the 2013 SOS and served for several years on its board of directors. She was trained as an architect and theater set designer and now works as a color specialist and design consultant with Latitude Color Design in Somerville.
Ellie and Rachel met and became friends through volunteering for SOS, and by both having studios in the Mad Oyster Studios building. During the Spring of 2014 Ellie and Rachel made a plan to get together every Thursday morning for an hour or more of sketching. They shared tools and learned techniques from each other, and have continued their weekly practice since, even remotely when either is traveling. This is the second annual Sketchbook Show they have curated together for the Nave Gallery.