LOUISA GOULD GALLERY
54 Main St.
Vineyard Haven, MA 02568
(508) 693.7373
www.louisagould.com
PRESS RELEASE (Martha’s
Vineyard
) Please join us for an artist reception this Friday
from 5 to 8 pm for 25 artists. A portion of the proceeds will benefit
the Martha's Vineyard Striped Bass & Bluefish Derby Scholarship
Fund.
Please come and meet these
talented artists, enjoy live music and light fare while supporting children's
education. Ed Jerome will be signing; "Fishing the Vineyard"
from 5-6pm. Ed edited the book that features Ray Ellis's paintings.
The show will run until October 15th.
The Louisa Gould Gallery is
delighted to announce a group show of sporting art. In the spirit of
the Vineyard and the 62nd MV Derby we celebrate the island, its natural
beauty and all aspects of fish and fishing in various mediums. Artists
contributing art and to the fund include: Peter Corbin, Ovid Ward, Marjorie
Mason, Thaw Malin, Ray Ellis, Ed Jerome, Steve London, Janet Messineo,
Lisa Vanderhoop, Washington Ledesma, Donna Blackburn, Alan Brigish,
Traeger di Pietro, Sherrill Blalock, Shelia Fane, Anne Howes, Louisa
Gould, Charles Giordano, Luther Kelly Hall, Brian Kirkpatrick, Dimitry,
Christopher Pendergast, and Doug Henry.
Luther Kelly Hall
We are delighted to welcome
“Kelly” to the Vineyard and the gallery. Kelly is well know off
island for his masterful paintings.
Luther Kelly Hall grew up fishing
and hunting in the mountainous region of northeastern Pennsylvania.
He graduated from Wilkes University in 1970 and later completed his
graduate studies at the University of Connecticut. He has also studied
art at Lyme Academy College of Art and Connecticut College.
Currently a resident of Historic
Coastal Mystic, Connecticut Hall has immediate access to the sources
of his saltwater fly fishing subject matter. The variety and drama of weather,
water, lighting conditions, the ever-present physical danger and the
abundance of marine organisms and predators are never ending inspiration
to him.
His salt water and fresh water fly
fishing images and illustrations have been featured in sporting
publications and exhibits throughout the United States, Western Europe,
Canada, and Japan. The list includes: Atlantic Salmon Journal,
Gray's Sporting Journal, Yale Anglers Journal, Redbone Journal,
Sporting Classics Magazine, Natural New England Magazine, Fly Fisher
Magazine (Japan), Pennsylvania Angler Magazine, Wilkes University
Magazine, The American Museum Of Fly Fishing, Orvis- Manchester,
Vermont, and
Hunters.
"Fly fishing is a total
experience. It is a blending of comedy, science, athletics, poetry and
art," says Hall. "It takes the fisherman to beautiful places
and introduces him to memorable people. Many of my richest experiences
in life and many of my fondest memories in life are a by-product of
a day on the water."
Dimitry Schidlovsky
Dimitry provides the original
paintings of the grand slam for the derby. Prints of these orginial
paintings are given to the Grand Slam winners at the Derby prize giving.
Gould gallery is the only gallery to sell his original grand slam oils.
"Painting brings me closer
to the beauty and the mysteries of nature. My intention is to bathe
the viewer with sensations of light and to uplift their spirit. The
paintings are reflections of what I observe, feel and desire to share.
Skillful reactions, spontaneity, and the passion to tell a story are
the key ingredients to my life as a painter."
"My draftsmanship is the vital facility that perpetuates the synthesis
of my expression. The eternal ever-changing universe of light, form,
time, space, and movement are points of departure that are essential
to my inspiration. As a result, every line and form has a dynamic and
relative purpose that culminates into a personal expression."
Dimitry's work is life affirming and sincere. His pictures are alive
and engage your senses. through his use of color and masterful technique
you experience energy, light. atmosphere and mood. These dynamic elements
are essential parts of his compositions. When looking at his pictures
you get a sense of freedom, purpose and enjoyment of the creative process.
Dimitry's favorite activity is oil painting. He attributes his dexterity
to excellent draftsmanship. His oil paintings include experimental expressionistic
images with as adventurous attitude, which leaves a mark on the viewer.
Dimitry is a contributing artist to Outdoor Life Magazine, American
Hunter Magazine, the Martha's Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby.
He received his education at Parsons School of Design- Applied Science
Degree in Illustration and at the University of New England- Bachelors
of Science in Marine Biology. He has been freelancing as a professional
artist since 1983. Dimitry has developed a career, which includes fine
art, illustration, graphic design, computer illustration and production,
web site design, off-set printing production, photography. extensive
life drawing, reportage, oil painting, intaglio lithography, portraits
and teaching.
Dimitry is an Adjunct Professor of drawing- State University of New
York, Farmingdale.
Dimitry is a founding member of the board of directors of the Sea Cliff
Arts Council, L.I. New York.
Among some of the companies that have commissioned him for his artwork
are the following magazines, newspapers and corporations: American Hunter,
Audubon, Adobe, Cablevision, Forbes, Field & Stream, GEO, Harper
& Row, Harvard University Press, Interactive Week, IBM, International
Herald Tribune, Mitsubishi, Molecular Medicine, Nabisco, New York Times
& Science Times. Newsweek, National Wildlife, Outdoor Life, Random
House, Red Herring, Sound & Vision, Smithsonian, Science, Scientific
American and Simon & Schuster.Dimitry's artwork appears in numerous
fine art collections.
Janet Messineo
Janet is a legend in fishing
circles on the island. She is an active member of the Derby Board.
I graduated from the Pennsylvania
Institute of Taxidermy n 1987. I specialize in saltwater skin mounts
and mount trophies for local fisherman and visitors from around the
world. Along the journey to perfect my art, I have had the pleasure
of doing work for Jim Belushi, Spike Lee, William Weld, Charles Ogletree,
Bill Clinton and many other prominent people. Fish that I have mounted
are hanging on the walls in 36 states across the nation and in China,
Canada and England.
I am married and we are raising a son. In my "spare time"
I am a member of the Martha's Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby,
Former President of the M.V. Surfcasters Association and support the
RFA and MSBA. I have written articles about taxidermy and sports fishing
for many magazines including New England Out-of-Doors, On the water
and Vineyard Style. I've had two stories published in New England Stripers,
a fishing anthology in 2005.
Since 1976, I have fished from the beaches of the Vineyard stalking
the illusive Striped Bass. My 30 years of fishing have been chronicled
in "Reading the Water, written by Robert Post, 1988 and On the
Run, by David BiBenedetto, 2003. I am also a shore fishing guide and
the name of that business is Vineyard Surfcaster.
I have an unending love and immense respect for the Striped Bass. I
hope this feeling shows in my artwork. Every fish that I begin with
is unique in it's own way resulting in each piece being one of a kind.
The word "Taxidermy" has its origin in the Greek words taxis
(to move) and derma (skin). The ancient Egyptians embalmed fish as well
as humans, and sometimes placed embalmed fish in the burial vaults along
with the remains of important deceased people. Attempts to preserve
creatures are noted as far back as recorded history. Today, the challenge
for the taxidermist is to preserve these miracles of nature in as near
a lifelike form as possible. There is a special joy in working with
Mother Nature's original and perfect art.
Steve London
Steve is an avid fisherman
and member of the MV Derby Board.
Steve London was born in 1954
in New York City, attended Brown University and Dartmouth Medical School,
and works as an anesthesiologist on Martha's Vineyard and in Maui, Hawaii.
His passion for fishing is
lifelong, dating back to party-boat outings from Brooklyn with his grandfather
and fishing around Long Island with family and friends. He was later
introduced to the Cape and island waters, as a Family Physician in Provincetown
MA. Now a resident of the Eastville area of Oak Bluffs, he is fortunate
to be in close proximity to both the fishing grounds and the Hospital.
As a regular MV Fishing Derby participant and 2-time Blue Ribbon winner
at the Martha's Vineyard Agricultural Fair for his smoked bluefish,
Steve enjoys handling fish, and was attracted to the Japanese art of
Gyotaku. He studied Gyotaku with a master printer at the Hui No'eau
Visual Arts Center on Maui, and uses the 'Direct Technique' in which
non-toxic ink is painted onto the fish, which is then rubbed onto natural
paper of fabric, creating a one-of-a-kind exact image of the fish. Adhering
strictly to the traditional form, the image is unretouched after its
creation, save for the hand-painted fisheye. Since the fish remains
quite edible after painting, Gyotaku combines form and function, allowing
the fisherman to document the catch in the field and eat it too.
Ray Ellis
Ray Ellis provides his legendary
derby prints each year. The gallery is delighted to sell these on behalf
of the Derby. In addition, we are selling “Fishing the Derby” book
of Ray Ellis’s derby paintings for the Derby.
Ray Ellis has been painting
for over sixty years on all seven continents. In 2004, the Telfair Museum
of Art in Savannah, Georgia honored the depth and breadth of Ellis'
career with a major traveling exhibition titled Ray Ellis in Retrospect:
A Painter's Journey. He was subsequently awarded the Salmagundi Club's
Medal of Honor for lifetime achievement in the Arts.
Ellis was born in Philadelphia and attended the famed Philadelphia Museum
School of Art. His first one-man show was held in 1947 at the Pennsylvania
Academy of Fine Arts. After serving four years in the Coast Guard during
WWII, he founded his own advertising agency in New Jersey and New York,
but continued to paint in his spare time. During this period he was
elected to the American Watercolor Society, and his works were widely
exhibited and received numerous honors.
In 1969, Ellis was able to devote all his time to painting. In 1974
he moved south to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina and then to Savannah,
Georgia. He later resettled on Martha's Vineyard where he maintains
a home and studio.
In the early 80's, Ray Ellis and Walter Cronkite collaborated on a series
of fine art books which celebrate America's coastlines: South by Southeast,
North by Northeast and Westwind. Many books have been published since:
The Spirit of Golf, The Road to Ballybunion, Ray Ellis' Savannah &
the Lowcountry, Martha's Vineyard: An Affectionate Memoir, Coastal Images
of America, Fishing the Vineyard, and Lowcountry. The catalog that accompanies
the retrospective exhibition is titled Ray Ellis in Retrospect: A Painter's
Journey. One of Ellis' favorite subjects is flowers and gardens. In
2005, a book of select garden paintings was published, titled Ray Ellis
Paints Flowers. Ray Ellis' 15th book, By the Light of the Moon, showcases
a theme that has captivated him for many years - moonlight. It is due
out September 2007.
For three consecutive years beginning in 1998, Ellis was commissioned
by the President to paint scenes of the White House to be reproduced
as the official Christmas card.
Ellis is represented in fine galleries across the country. His works
have been exhibited in U.S. Embassies in Geneva, Vienna and London.
Ray Ellis paintings are in the permanent collections of the White House,
museums across the country and private collections worldwide.
Peter Corbin
Peter Corbin is primarily known
for sporting landscapes, merging the natural wonders and elegant drama
of the sporting life with the realm of fine art. His vivid sporting
scenes convey a sense of place, mood, and atmosphere in the light reflected
off the water or the transmitted light through the clouds or trees revealing
influences of the Hudson River School.
Corbin studied both painting
and sculpture at Pomfret School, Wesleyan University where he received
a B.A. with High Honors in Art, and the California College of Arts and
Crafts. His greatest influences have been A.B. Frost, Ogden Pleissner
and Winslow Homer.
He grew up in a home filled
with fly rods, shotguns, Labrador Retrievers and the sporting art of
A.B. Frost. Using his experiences as a life long angler and hunter he
has traveled from The American West, British Columbia, South America,
Europe, New Zealand and Africa recording portrait commissions for his
clients' love of the outdoors and places they cherish.
We are selling his book which showcases
years of extraordinary sporting paintings.
Ovid Osborn Ward
Ovid Osborn Ward grew up in
Virginia and spent summers at his grandparents' home on Martha's Vineyard.
There he was fascinated by rooms filled with artifacts from around the
world, brought home by one of his grandfather's many whale ships.
Inspired by this and nurturing
a lifelong fascination with art and design, Mr. Ward began his career
in 1968 with a Master's Degree in Industrial Design as an automotive
stylist at the Chrysler Corporation. In the early seventies, he moved
to San Francisco, and won a competition to redesign the Oakland waterfront.
He then returned to the East Coast and worked as a marine architect
for Hatteras Yachts. He moved permanently to Martha's Vineyard in 1974
and began bringing his own vision to fruition. He has since independently
designed and built 24 one of a kind boats for sports fishing. He also
designed and piloted the speedboat that set the outstanding record around
Martha's Vineyard.
In 1990, Mr.
Ward turned his considerable talent and energy full time to the visual
arts. Now a prolific marine artist and sculptor, his eclectic work also
includes seascapes and landscapes, architectural detail, and renderings
of machines of speed and beauty. Bringing his training in design and
impeccable technique to bear on his work, his realistic representations
are dynamic and engaging. He brings a unique perspective to each piece,
never failing to delight with the surprise of an unexpected focal point
or a skewed angle. His deep roots on the vineyard and love of place
allows him to capture the particular colors of the Island waters, clouds,
and light in his kinetic paintings. The primary medium for the body
of his work is acrylic on board. Recently, in conjunction with the Martha's
Vineyard Bass and Bluefish Derby, the artist painted a series of the
four Derby fish, and that has been mounted by the harbor in Edgartown.
Miniature reproductions in cold cast bronze are also created by the
artist.ran a limited edition set of prints. In 1993, using the same
techniques which brought him success in marine design, Mr. Ward sculpted
the full-scale fluke of a sounding whale,
Brian Kirkpatrick
– Folk Artist
"Born in 1953, the youngest of three children in the rural but
art rich area of Mystic, Connecticut, I began my life. As a boy I spent
most of my time outdoors fishing, hiking and horseback riding.
My neighbor was an artist,
a student of Robert Brackman. We were told not to look into her studio
window, but one day I did. The walls were covered with many paintings
of nude men and women. That was my first introduction to the art world.
At the age of fourteen I went
to work in my family's painting business working with my grandfather.
He was a master at mixing paint and I quickly acquired this talent.
There were no color charts, you had to mix the color to a wallpaper
or fabric or maybe a sweater. We used cans of colorant carried in a
wooden box. It could take hours to match a color.
It wasn't until the spring
of 2003 while on a trip to Italy that my world came full circle. The
city of Venice would change my life. It was like a dream, I had never
seen so many colors in one place. The next day I went into an art store
and bought watercolors, brushes and paper. I have never stopped painting.
I feel that my love of colors and painting connected through a natural
progression of experience.
Today Marco Island, Naples
and the Everglades are my winter studio. Spring, summer and fall are
spent painting scenes of Mystic and Martha's Vineyard. My Mystic studio
is alive with all the different seasons, events and people I have painted."
A
definition of folk art is a form of art originating among the common
people of a nation or region usually reflecting their traditional culture,
especially everyday items and occurrences depicted, produced or decorated
by unschooled artists. Old Mystic artist Brian Kirkpatrick follows in
the best traditions of American folk art, painting his surroundings
in a fresh and vibrant way.
Kirkpatrick
keeps studios in Old Mystic, on the west coast of Florida, and on Martha's
Vineyard, Mass. It is in these varied locales that he finds his inspiration.
An avid outdoorsman, Kirkpatrick has chronicled in his paintings the
activities of countless fishermen, birds, and wildlife. Kirkpatrick
is also a lover of antiques, which find their way into many charming
still life paintings. He captures the charm and beauty in every day
events, such as the county fair, a lobster dinner, or an old car rumbling
down the street. He paints many portraits of the colorful characters
that populate his haunts; characters who inevitably define a region
– be they a Menemsha lobsterman emptying his pots, a town historian
spinning yarns, or an old horse whisperer giving his four-hoofed friend
a brushing.
Kirkpatrick
is entirely self-taught. As such his paintings display the naiveté
and primitive style typical of "folk art." His paintings celebrate
the joy to be found in the simple things, and they can harken us back
to simpler times. This is what the best folk art does. Not only does
it tell a story or capture a moment in time, but it can sometimes send
as back to a place remembered only in the very back of our mind. Kirkpatrick's
work, typical of much folk art, challenges the viewer only as much as
the viewer wants to be challenged. Taken at face vale, the scenes are
simple, usually happy. But the viewer can delve deeper if he wishes;
there are complex stories to be shared in many of Kirkpatrick's paintings.
In just a few short years,
Brian Kirkpatrick has made an impact on the art worlds of the areas
he frequents. His appointment as an Elected Member of the Mystic Art
Association in 2005, and the inclusion of his works in numerous important
juried regional shows attest to the influence Kirkpatrick is likely
to have on the Florida and New England folk art communities in the years
to come.
Charles F. Giordano
Charles F. Giordano's work
reflects a love of the outdoors. His is a broad canvas in which man
and nature play harmonious and complementary roles. This is evident
in his series of "Game Fish," where he strictly adheres to
the biologic integrity of his subjects while also capturing their luminescence,
beauty and spirit.
A graduate in Fine Art Photography
from Rochester Institute of Technology and an avid outdoorsman, Giordano
comes from a family where art has always been a significant part of
his family life. His father is a professor emeritus in art education
at Syracuse University. His mother, an accomplished watercolorist, worked
with the Yupik community for many years and was a member of the Alaskan
state Arts Council.
"Art is the profoundest
way to explore the world," says Giordano. "By contemplating
a subject as you make a piece, subtle truths become evident that are
hidden to the casual observer. Patterns emerge, similarities suggest
themselves, and you discover connections you never knew existed. The
most amazing connection of all, and one which is too often ignored,
is the link between humans and their own natural habitat."
Nature has been a recurring
theme throughout Giordano's career. His childhood and youth spent in
the wilds of Alaska, and his later years among the shores and hills
of West Tisbury, on Martha's Vineyard, left a lasting impression. This
is evident in his series of Native American headdress portraits, where
the human subjects are composed entirely of feathers, actually merging
with nature. His majestic larger-than-life portraits of farm animals
show a reverence for the complicated balance of agricultural coexistence.
Giordano declares: "If
what you are interacting with sensitizes you in some way, or makes you
aware of something you previously weren't, then it has performed its
artistic role. And if a little fun creeps in ... there's no harm in
that. I believe this is true whether it be a traditional piece of artwork,
found object, or catching a fish. Art is literally everywhere. The trick
is to be sensitive enough to recognize it."
Thaw
Malin
"Whenever
possible, I work en plein air, out in the countryside. I paint that special
view which speaks to me. Who knows, it may no longer exist after the next new
house is built." Mr. Malin is most comfortable spending sunrise or sunset
hours painting the drama of the light out on location. Once back in the studio,
he often enjoys creating larger oils from these outdoor landscapes or
seascapes.
Malin
does many paintings on commission:
your
house, your boat, or your favorite view.
Doug Henry
New Hampshire artist Doug Henry's decorative art blends the
beauty of natural wood with a distinctive painting style, enhancing the charm
of his creative perspective.
His art is cut from a wood panel, painted and then distressed giving it an
antiqued vintage appearance. His subject matter includes nature, rural
architecture, animals and early modes of transportation. Doug draws his
artistic inspiration from artists like Edward Hopper, Eric Sloane, the Wyeths
and most recently his influence comes from Vermont artist Warren Kimble.
Doug grew up with art watching his father work as a graphic designer in his
home studio. Attending Paier College Art, he majored in illustration. For over
25 years Doug's illustrations have appeared in advertising, on book jackets and
in magazines. His clients have included Barrons, Random House, Scribners,
Federal Express and Visa.
In 2000, Doug began to transition to fine art. Gallery on the Green in
Woodstock, Vermont gave him his first solo show. His work has been shown at
galleries in Williamsburg, Virginia, New York City and currently at the Artist
Guild in Manchester, Vermont.
Doug lives in Hanover, New Hampshire with his wife Robin and their two boys,
where he creates from his home studio.
Ann Howes
“A work of art should speak to the viewer. It should
transmit a feeling as well as visual stimulation. Capturing nature with
watercolors in some of the ‘forgotten corners’ around me satisfies my own inner
convictions. Appreciating nature to its fullest, I paint the feelings as well
as the visual sensations elicited by a massive land/seascape or a tiny flower.
In this way I can pass on to others the imprint these wonders have made on me.
Ann Howes is a member of and serves on the Board of
Directors of the Martha’s Vineyard Art Association, which operates the Old
Sculpin Gallery in Edgartown, MA. Ann exhibits her watercolors through the Old
Sculpin Gallery each summer season and also exhibits with the Vineyard Artisans
at the summer Artisans Festivals at the George Hall on Sundays, and the various
Festivals at the Agricultural Society Hall.
Ann holds signature membership in many watercolors
organizations, regional and national, including American Watercolor Society
(AWS), National Watercolor Society (NWS), Philadelphia Water Color Society
(PWCS), Pennsylvania Water Color Society (PWS), Transparent Watercolor Society
of America (TWSA), and the Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club in New York City.
Ann’s honors include being Holiday Card Artist for the
Philadelphia
American Cancer Society in
2000. She was honored by her alma mater, Centenary College, with their
Distinguished Alumni Award in 2002 for her contribution to the arts.
After summering on Martha’s Vineyard all her life, Ann
became a year-round resident in 2002. She continues to exhibit her watercolors
across the United States, as well as in the local artisans shows on MV.
Marjorie Mason
Marjorie Mason was born in
New York City in 1955 and grew up in Palm Beach, Florida and on Cape Cod. For
23 years Mason’s paintings have depicted the changing light and seasons of the
Martha’s Vineyard landscape. Her work flows with the genuine grace of the
living seashore as only the monotype process can uniquely capture. Mason
discovered monotype at Rhode Island School of Design where she majored in
Illustration. After obtaining her BFA in 1981 she went on to New York City
where her monotypes where well received by an elite corporate market. There she
studied with Master printmakers Cheryl Pelavin and Kathy Caraccio. After moving
to the Vineyard permanently in 1987, Mason focused more on the demands of
private collectors and Island galleries. She has continued her formal education
studying with Island artists John Di Mestico and the late Lois Mailou Jones who
was a dear friend. She has also studied with Provincetown impressionist Lois
Griffle and Monhegan artist Don Stone.
Mason has exhibited her
work in one-woman shows on Martha’s Vineyard and New York City and is displayed
internationally in many private and corporate collections.
"
I am constantly asked
about the monotype process and why I choose it as my main form of expression.
This lesser known printmaking technique gives painters a way to create a
permanent oil painting on untreated paper. There is no other way to do this.
The result is a unique image with the richness characteristic of oil paint and
the delicacy one associates with watercolor. The white of the paper works with
the paint translucence to achieve this. As the name implies, there can only be
one painting produced this way which is fine by me. Monotype is a painting done
in one sitting because the print must be pulled while the paint is wet. I love
the spontaneity of this process and also the mystery. One never really knows
how the print will come out and there are many beautiful discoveries. To me,
the process works like nature itself and echoes my love of the land and
seascapes I seek"
Lisa Vanderhoop
Lisa Vanderhoop is a painter and photographer, specializing in wildlife
images. Her educational background is in biology from the College of
Environmental Science and Forestry at Syracuse University. She worked in
science research and then went on to work in science/nature documentary
filmmaking as a writer, researcher, sound recordist and associate producer.
She has worked on films for National Geographic, Audubon, the Nature Series,
ABC, the New England Aquarium and other PBS productions. Her father is an
artist, she is a self-taught artist and she concentrates her work on the
amazing wildlife here on the Vineyard, particularly marine life. She lives a
very marine oriented life; when she's not painting her and her husband, a
well known fishing charter captain here on the island, commercially fish for
scallops during the winter months and fish for striped bass during the
summer season.
Art show gets in the Derby spirit
Soft
light surrounds a row of anglers lining the jetty in Ovid Ward's
painting, "Fishing the Derby." Photos courtesy of Louisa Gould Gallery
By Pat Waring - September 13, 2007
There's something fishy going on at the Louisa Gould gallery in
Vineyard Haven this week and it's a good thing. Friday evening's
opening reception for her newest group show drew almost as many anglers
as the Derby weigh-in station and produced more fish than the average
trip to Wasque might.
Raising funds for the
Martha's Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby Scholarship Fund, the
show brings together some two dozen artists showing at least 65 pieces
of work, all with a fish or fishing theme.
Though one might not expect to see artists and fishermen mingling in a
glitzy gallery, Friday's party showed the mix to be very harmonious. In
fact, a good number of the artists represented here are avid fishermen
themselves.
Fishy treats! "Antique Lures" depicted in brilliant colors by Brian Kirkpatrick.
Longtime
Derby president Ed Jerome got the evening off to a promising start,
signing copies of "Fishing the Vineyard" (Compass Publishing, 2000,
$30), which features splendid paintings by Ray Ellis. Edited by Mr.
Jerome, the book offers some dozen stories by Island fishing buffs
which range from moving memoir to little-known history.
"I'm impressed with Louisa's efforts to pull this together," said Mr.
Jerome gratefully as he visited with guests later.
Nearby, Janet Messineo whose unique taxidermy art ranges from delicate
minnow jewelry to sculptural assemblages of glistening fish who look
like they just leaped out of the sea to grace your coffee table,
praised Mr. Jerome's work. "We can't let him go, there'll never be
another Ed Jerome," she said, citing his skill in coordinating the
35-member volunteer Derby committee of which she is a member.
Ms. Gould floated through the crowd greeting visitors and artists. She
said that all proceeds from sales of "Fishing the Vineyard" and Ray
Ellis prints will go to the Derby scholarship fund. Artists will donate
a portion of their sales to the fund and Ms. Gould will also contribute
a percentage of the gallery's income from the exhibit.
"It's almost been organic," she said happily about the growth of the
exhibit. After inviting "a handful" of artists to submit work, she
heard from many more who were eager to participate. The result is walls
lined with art in a fascinating variety of styles and mediums,
capturing the spirit of fishing and the Derby in myriad ways.
Ms. Gould whose forte and passion is shooting pictures of boats, last
year became the official Derby photographer. "I discovered that
fishermen are as avid about their sport as yachting people are," she
said.
After spending "30 out of 35" nights at the weigh-in, Ms. Gould got to
know Derby organizers and competitors well, and came up with the idea
for an exhibit.
Waves crash and water swirls, but the angler in Luther Kelly Hall's "Keeper" perseveres.
More
than two-thirds of the expansive gallery space is dedicated to the
show, from realistic scenes of fishermen lining beaches and jetties,
casting into the surf, heading out in boats, or hauling in a big one,
to decorative and fanciful depictions of fish, fishermen, and even
tackle.
Exemplifying the tone are Dimitry
Schidlovsky's arresting paintings in the Grand Slam series commissioned
by the Derby. The newest, "Faithful Blue," shows a gleaming bluefish
battling against the line above a glistening ocean.
Time stands still and a low sun molds the sand with shadows in Ovid
Ward's serene painting of fishermen lining a State Beach jetty as
seagulls stand at attention. Beneath, two oils by Donna Blackburn
convey an entirely different feeling, intense and energized, as
fishermen venture into crashing surf.
In another mood altogether, Charlie Giordano offers four elegantly
framed prints of individual fish, each one spare, delicately detailed,
and with only a hint of color. And Brian Kirkpatrick uses a
cartoon-like style and bright primary palette to portray "Uncle Bobby"
(Bob Flanders) out fishing in his little blue boat, and a bouquet of
lures as tempting and bright as lollipops for bluefish.
Alan Brigish shows four Derby-related photographs among his larger body
of work, including an atmospheric study of busy fishermen in Menemsha
seen against a lemon yellow sky, and a man with his rod as a
magnificent dawn gilds the Edgartown horizon.
Favorite fishing haunts are shown at dawn, at dusk, and even in the
eerie dead of night as in Traeger diPietro's painting of a fisherman
alone and afloat under a bright moon, the clouds scudding past.
Leslie S. Smith, a charter captain and former Derby president, is
showing pastel seascapes, and one piece specifically for the exhibit, a
bonito chasing a hook underwater.
Anne Howes picks several shore locations for her fishermen, and
drenches them with subtle light. And how many elusive fish lurk beneath
Lanny McDowell's churning waves? Luther Kelly Hall paints his fishermen
on the distinctive rocks of the Connecticut shoreline where he lives.
One avid angler still pursues his catch though blasted by rain and
surf, and several fishermen take to the high seas in radiant light.
There's plenty of wit and whimsy in this show too: Sheila Fane's bright
prints of fish on handmade paper, Washington Ledesma's huge fish with
tiny sculpted scales and lots of personality and his Gold Fish
Sculpture, ornate as an ancient icon. Sherrill Blalock's stripers in
"Jail House Rock" have that "let me outta here" look in their eyes, and
Lisa Vanderhoop titles her print of a fish lunging for the plug "Bass
Candy."
Patrons began drifting out promptly, the sailors mindful of the Moffett
Race start the next morning, which Ms. Gould herself would be
photographing. The fishermen, likely re-inspired by the art, went home
to dream and scheme about what beach they would be on for the Derby's
opening barely 24 hours away.
The show continues until the Derby ends on October 15.
Louisa Gould Gallery, 54 Main St., Vineyard Haven. For more information, call 508-693-7373 or visit louisagould.com.
©TheMartha'sVineyardTimes2007.Printed with Permission.