"Ordinary Storms" Opens featuring work by Barbara Milot

Barbara Milot combines abstract photos of the sky with scratchings inspired by the growth pattern of shells to create tactile diagrams of turbulent weather patterns. Her series, Ordinary Storms, is on view at Nina’s Nook from October 8 to November 12. Meet the artist during Pumpkin Fest in Turners Falls, Saturday October 24 between 5 and 7 p.m. Nina’s Nook is next to the Black Cow Burner Bar at 125A Avenue A in Turners Falls. Hours are Thursday, Friday, Saturday 12-5 and by app’t. 413.834.8800

"DOWNDRAFT"
"WATCHING"

"EYE"

Artist’s Statement

I have taken photographs of skies and cloud formations for years although I am trained as a printmaker, not a photographer. When cleaning out my studio I came across an envelop of many of these photographs  and began to draw on them and scratch through the printed surface. This was the start of my current body of work, the Ordinary Storms series. 

In this series, I am exploring the tension between the ephemeral, transitory effects of moving clouds and the grounded, physical marks. The photographs are glimpses of the constantly changing effects of light in space, the very essence of ephemera, while the physical qualities of the materials interact with the insubstantial objects. The elusive subject suggests process and change, the transition from one set of conditions to another.

My Process

Throughout the day I am always aware of subtle changes in light, color and movement in the sky, even when indoors. I take hundreds of sky photographs (even during the working day out of a window with a panoramic view of the sky). I crop individual images to determine the compositions and resize them for printing. In cropping, the obvious views of the sky become abstract compositions of color, tone and shape. After printing, I superimpose drawings made from direct observation of natural forms to introduce structure, tactile elements and to juxtapose unrelated images in ways that seem true.  In this series, I work from the growth marks and textural surfaces of shells as they give me visual analogies of diagrams of turbulent weather patterns.

Liz Denny at Nina's Nook

Showing at Nina’s Nook from August 6—September 12: Sculpture by Elizabeth Denny. 

Finding odd bits of abandoned machinery and other junk is part meditation, part obsession for this Florence sculptor and former researcher. She feels that “taking rusty farm machinery apart with an acetylene torch is almost as good as sex….It does’t matter what the medium is, I just function better in life when I am making something.” Denny creates humorous sculptures out of whatever she can get her hands on when “poking around din old dumps and wading in the river."

Elizabeth Denny was the favorite student of Nina Rossi’s father, Dr Peter Rossi, when he taught graduate courses in survey design and evaluation at UMass. He swore she was the smartest student he ever taught, and they maintained an ongoing monthly lunch date for a number of years after graduation. 

Denny and Rossi met at Dr Rossi’s memorial service and realized they share a  love of old junk. This show has been an idea for several years and now becomes reality.  Her assemblages of machinery, river glass, old household items and all sorts of old stuff are on display at Nina's Nook in Turners Falls from August 5—September 12. An artist’s reception is planned for Saturday August 15 from 5 to 7 p.m.

LIZ DENNY: SCULPTURE

TRUNK SHOW

COOL CATS June 11-July 18

Celebrating the Feline Divine!  Let the fur fly at Nina's Nook this montha nd next. Joint he cat fight three days a week in my little alley, ROWWWRRR.

Christine Mero Paintings

Donna Estabrook paintings

Sculpture by Nina Rossi