The End Begins Again
2014
acrylic and graphite on mylar
36x24








Seemed like an appropriate thought and image as one year passes to another.

I did this in November at a workshop with Tim Hawkesworth, but it was actually without Tim Hawkesworth as he was busy in the hospital recovering from a heart attack.

It was an intense and bewildering time for all involved.

So, since my last post I've moved to a new studio space, done some painting, and tried to get back into a regular figure drawing groove.

As for shows, I've got one piece, and older one, in the back gallery at Oxbow Gallery, Northampton, MA.  That will be up through the 4th of January and  another little piece in GALA's new gallery space in Gardner, MA, also up until the 4th.

My solo show at The Center at Eagle Hill remains up through the end of January, and three pieces continue to hang in Worcester at the Hanover Theatre until early February.

I got a small mention and picture of a work in progress in Dean Nimmer's newest book, Creating Abstract Art.  There will be an exhibit at the Taber Gallery at Holyoke Community College of the work from that book.  Show will run from January 26, 2015- February 26, 2015.  Details to follow.

So, as 2014 is laid to rest and the new year begins with great intentions, I wish you all wellness, happiness and peacefulness.

A Place In Mind Reception

I want to thank everyone who came to last night's reception.

Friends old and new from near and far, you each contributed to making this a wonderful evening.

I was surprise, pleased, humbled, and grateful for the turn out, which the director described as the best ever.

A very deep thank you to Eagle Hill, and specifically Paul Overton, director of The Center and Melanie Donovan, technical director for their support and hard work pulling this show together with me.

Here are some picture of the festivities!

photos, thanks to Darrell Probst

Show Opens Today at The Center

A Place in Mind

solo show of paintings by Joanne Holtje 

Artist Reception today

5:30- 7:30 p.m.

The Center at Eagle Hill

242 Old Petersham Road

Hardwick, MA 01037

Complimentary wine and cheese

Followed by a performance of Zydeco music by Les Amis Creole 

(ticketed event)

The exhibit will run through January 31, 2015

Gallery hours, weekdays 3:30p.m- 5:00p.m.

Well, the day is here!  I am a little nervous, a little excited, and looking forward to seeing old friends and new.  Please stop by and enjoy the hospitality of Eagle Hill School.

Concord Art Association

Today is the last day to see the Roddy Show exhibit at the Concord Art Association.

This is a strong show of art from all over the area, juried this year by Meg White of NAGA Boston.

The gallery is located at 37 Lexington Street in Concord Massachusetts, and will be open from 10a.m.- 4:30p.m. today.

Work is also viewable online.

A Place In Mind

Today the paintings went up!
Twenty five in all.
Some have been shown before, and some are brand, spankin' new.

It should be a terrific night with concert following the opening:
Les Amis Creole....Love that Zydeco!



Laissez les bon temps rouler!






Solo Show Opens this Saturday
October 18, 2014 5:30-7:30
The Center at Eagle Hill
242 Old Petersham Road, Hardwick, MA

October Exhibitions

October has been flying by with various show and installation preparations.

In a couple days I will be delivering and installing work for my solo show at The Center at Eagle Hill.
More on that, later.

Already up are three good-sized paintings in the windows at the Hanover Theatre, 2 Southbridge Street, Worcester, MA.

I made these specifically to hang here in the long windows of the contemporary theater facade where they will remain for four months (that's early February 2015).
If you are in the area, take a stroll by and have a look.

Here is a shot after installation:

Kathy Griffin seems pleased, anyway.

Autumn, Sugar Maple
acrylic on canvas
60x20
2014

It's a Conceptual Piece.....

I just sent out an email announcement for my up coming show, and once again, had a digital "fail".

This is what people got to see as a representation of my work.

Brilliant, eh?

I am not going to clutter up the mail boxes of my friends and colleagues with a corrected version this time.  You will just have to come and check out the work in person!

Till then, I am going to grab my charred twig and head back to my cave wall.
Now there's some technology I can get my head around!

The 15th Roddy Show September 9 - October 17, 2014

Much to my delight (and surprise) I have a piece in the 15th annual Roddy Competition at Concord Art Association.

In my haste to get my painting matted and framed in time, I failed to photograph it first.

Luckily, a friend snapped it on my studio wall.

Land Beyond the Clouds
2014
26x18 (framed)
acrylic and graphite on paper












This year the juror was Meg White, director of NAGA, Boston.
She had the overwhelming task of selecting one hundred pieces from the over six hundred submitted in what must have been one long day.

Opening Reception:  Thursday, September 11, 6-8 p.m.

Concord Art Association

37 Lexington Road, Concord, MA, USA

Gallery Hours:  Tuesday- Saturday 10-4:30, Sunday noon - 4:00

Show closes October 17, 2014

Pioneer Valley
2014
10x16
oil on canvas




This is a quick little painting I made last month when I went out painting with a friend.

Because I am a painter and not a record keeper, there is always a generous amount of editing and fictionalization when I paint from observation.

The landscape inspires me, energizes me, and moves me to paint, but I won't feel beholden to its appearance.
What's the sense of that?

So, because I know you are curious, here's a snapshot of the view.

Back from Vermont!

Scroll
2014
100 x 30 inches
acrylic and charcoal on canvas, tree branch



This is one of a number of paintings I made last week during a workshop with Tim Hawkesworth and Lala Zeitlyn at Bennington College in Vermont.

It was such a rich experience.
So much strong work was produced by all the participants.

Tim and Lala have this double gift of being sincere artists and graceful facilitators who are able to create a space and conjure an energy in the studio that invites such surprising things to happen.

"Expression, Abstraction, and the Meta-landscape" through May 31, 2014

Opening Night at Imagine Gallery was a great success!

Thank you to so many friends and family members who made the trip to Northampton for my solo show.


I had the chance to meet lots of new, interesting folks that I hope to see again, as well.

This exhibition, with thirty pieces of my work in a wide range of media, will be up until the end of the month.

Please note:  If you are using Google to find your way here, it will send you to Main Street in Florence, MA, a lovely place, but not where Imagine Gallery is!

Imagine Gallery is on the second floor of 70 Main Street downtown Northampton, very near the intersection of Main and Pleasant.

Regular hours are Fridays from 6-9 p.m. and Saturdays 3-9 p.m.
You are also very welcome to call and schedule a time to visit the gallery.
Call 413-585-5830 to make arrangements.
Tricia and Kitt are warm, generous people who are very welcoming, so don't be shy!

Solo Show Opens This Friday

Expression, Abstraction and the Meta-landscape

May 9 - May 31, 2014

Imagine Gallery

70 Main Street, 2nd floor

Northampton, MA

Artist reception on May 9th 5:30-8:30 p.m.

free to the public

refreshments

My first solo exhibition opens this week in Northampton, MA.

Curator Tricia McDermott selected thirty pieces in a range of media for this show.

The opening is a part of Arts Night Out Northampton, so there will be lots to see all around town.

Hope to see you there!

Gallery hours:  Fridays 6-9

                            Saturdays 3-9

and by appointment 413-585-5830

Reading from the text that inspired this series of paintings.




photo thanks to Anne Gilman

The Artist Talks last weekend at the Sprinkler Factory Gallery were a real success.

This event concluded our group's show entitled "the [space] between".

Thanks to everyone who came and made this show such a rewarding experience.

Now I am packing up another group of paintings for my solo show in Northampton, MA at Imagine Gallery!

Opening Reception is Friday, May 9th 5:30-8:30

the [space] between

opened last night at the Sprinkler Factory Gallery in Worcester.

Today I am sleep deprived, but happy!

Thank you to everyone who came out and made this such an exciting event.

Gallery will be open to the public every weekend in April from noon until 5 p.m.

Keeping It Under Wraps!

The Found Journal Series
11 paintings installed at
The Sprinkler Factory Gallery
38 Harlow Street, Worcester, MA

Opening Reception
This Saturday night!

Yesterday I hung my paintings for the group show entitled
  "the [space] between"

I am really excited how this exhibit is shaping up.
There will be lots of innovative work in painting, sculpture, video and installation.

And , yes I will unwrap the paintings, though this does look kind of cool.....

Second Place in the painting category for December Sun!


This me and my friend, fellow exhibiting artist Paula Hite at the opening reception of the Annual Spring Show in Monson, MA.

There was a really interesting range of work, all very well done.  I was happy to be included, and thrilled to have the honor of a prize.

The exhibit is open weekends through April 13th and is online as well.

Now it is time for me to get busy with preparations for the group show in Worcester at the Sprinkler Factory.

Visit our blog http://thespacebetweenexhibit.blogspot.com to track our progress!

Next Stop: Monson

In One, Out the Other
2014
9x12
oil on panel



This is one of the two paintings of mine that have been selected for inclusion in "the 21st Dimension",
the annual, juried show at the Monson Arts Council.

Opening reception is next Saturday, March 29, 2014 1-4 p.m. at The House of Art in downtown, Monson, MA

GALA Spring Show Opens Tonight

Something about the Sea
2014
44x48
oil on canvas


This is one of the three pieces I will have in this weekend's Art Show in Gardner, MA

I saw some very interesting work, especially some innovative and beautiful sculpture, when I dropped off my paintings the other day.

Come, visit, take in the music and the art.  You will meet some of the most warm and unassuming artists ever!

Details at http://www.galagardner.org

Night Navigation
2014
8x8
oil on panel










This was the one piece I actually finished while at R&F paints in a workshop with Lisa Pressman.

I have it in a gold float frame, and it looks so nice!

I have no immediate plans for it.

Maybe it will go into my solo show coming up in May.

May.  Sounds so far away!  There is still so much snow on the ground, and maybe more coming this week.  sigh.

School Street Open Studios

School Street Open Studios
last Friday night was a great success.

This is a shot, thanks to Doreen La Scola, of one of the walls where I hung some work.

This space had still life and life paintings.  I installed about 30 pieces in all.

The event was very well attended, and guests seem to have a really good time.

I even managed to sell a piece!

Open Studios this Friday Night!

work in process
(detail)
oil on board














Please join us February 28th for Open Studios at 205 School St., Gardner, MA 6-9 p.m.

Art, Music, and Refreshments

Follow the signs, you'll find us!

Figure studies

2014

oil stick and graphite  on gessoed paper

approx. 6x7

You can still find the figure in the first piece, and probably not in the second.  

This was my intention.  I wanted to work using the model as an inspiration more than as a subject.   I find this more interesting than illustrating the human form.  

I would like to try to use these as a jumping off place for something larger. 

Anyway, it was a fun couple of hours with art pals in an undisclosed location in Worcester.  

I think we were there without the proper permission, so I am going to have to leave it a mystery! 

The Things That Keep us Together, diptych
2014
18x12
oil stick on panels



This is from that workshop at R&F Paints that I keep going on about.
Not sure what I think of it.

Feels very busy to me, but I have not been able to find anything I want to edit from it.

I have finally gotten back into shooting my work, so I'll get some more up here soon.

I have some abstracted figure studies from a recent session in Worcester and some interesting mono prints from a delightful Sunday with Dean Nimmer.

Problem Solved!

Corner of my studio


You know I love R&F pigment sticks, but there is a dark side to every love...

As you use them, you have to tear off the identifying label, so sooner of later you (or at least I) have disorganized piles of dirty half sticks  jumbled on my work space.

I spend a stupid amount of time picking through these stubs trying to find a specific color, and making myself nuts!

But looky here:  I've come up with this space-saving, mobile organizer for the sticks and other supplies.

It is a large, metal shoe rack on castors.
The paint sticks go in little plastic bins or aluminum pans from the dollar store.

I've also got my baby wipes for quick clean up, space to hang papers or rags, and my swell new apron from R&F.

This frees up a lot of valuable area on my work counter without loosing much floor space.  Did I mention the wheels?
I love things that I can push out of the way!

Full Calendar

Calendar
work in process, 2014
oil stick and drawing media on paper
28 squares, 6x6







Here are some tasty amuse bouche from a very satisfying workshop I recently attended at R&F paints with Lisa Pressman.  If you don't know her work yet, become acquainted.  She is on to something wonderful.

More on that (with pictures) later.


Here are some dates for your calendar:

February 28th  6-9 .p.m. 205 School St Gardner, MA open studios
  I will be showing mostly smaller pieces, some new, some old favs.  Cash & Carry!

March 21st 6-9:30 p.m. GALA Spring show at the PACC, Gardner, MA
   I will have a few pieces in this community show as well as one piece in the silent auction

April 5th 6-9 p.m. Sprinkler Factory Gallery, 38 Harlow St., Worcester, MA
   opening celebration for 'the [space] between' an exciting contemporary show featuring new works in
       painting, sculpture, installation and video
April 26th 3 p.m. Artists talks for 'the [space] between

May 9th 5:30-8:30 p.m. Imagine Gallery, 70 Main St., Northampton, MA
   My first solo show!   I will be showing work from the past five years with an emphasis on newer pieces.  
Curated by Tricia McDermott.

I hope you can make it to one of these events.  It would be great to see you!

Open Studios in Gardner!

Open Studios in Gardner

Friday, February 28th, 20146-9 p.m.
205 School Street,
Gardner, MA

Lori MacDonald has been the driving force behind this first ever open studios event.

Because my studio is about a half a mile of labyrinthine halls and stairways away from all the action, I will be hanging my works in the collective gallery space and surrounding halls.

Hope to see you there!