Six Unique Holiday Gifts!

Text and Photography by Melanie Bernier

Does your holiday gift list need more style and soul? Give something truly unique this holiday with a present from Gateway Arts. We have six festive gift ideas meant to impress anyone on your list, from the young to the young at heart. Every item tells a story! Best of all, your purchase will support local artists with disabilities. Most of these items are available to purchase online – and shipping is free!

Images: Melanie Bernier 

Chenille Scarf, $45.

The perfect gift for: Fashionable men and women will appreciate this soft, colorful winter accessory. The rich, velvety texture and classic stripe design can be dressed up or down, while the weight and fabric provide cozy warmth. Chenille scarves drape wonderfully for a composed winter style. Each unique scarf is hand-woven on our looms at Gateway and come in a wide range of colors.

Buy it: In the Gateway craft store.

Image: Melanie Bernier. Model: Lucas Horgan, Financial Manager.

         

Trash T, $22. Design by Larry Edmiston

The perfect gift for: Both satirical and edgy, this graphic statement T is perfect for the young adult on your shopping list. Printed on the ever-popular American Apparel cotton T, it comes in a variety of styles including men & women’s sizes, heather grey, white, crew neck, and V-neck.

Buy it: Online or in the Gateway craft store.

        

     

Barney's NY 2013 Canvas Collection, $150 per canvas.

Artist: Donna Esolen. Image: Gary Batty.

The perfect gift for: Art enthusiasts, city dwellers, and lovers of the five boroughs will be charmed by these paintings of the Big Apple. On display now at Barney’s NY in Copley Square, this stunning collection portrays NYC past and present, as uniquely interpreted by our artists. Each 12x16 canvas makes a perfect, affordable gift for the cosmopolitan in your life.

Buy it: Online, through the Gateway craft store, or by contacting Lucas Horgan at (617) 734-1577 x19 or horganl@vinfen.org.

Opening Doors: 40 Years of Gateway Art, $30. 

The perfect gift for: This book is a must-have for lovers of outsider art, supporters of adults with disabilities, and curious bookworms. Gateway history is told through the work of our artists in this comprehensive volume of artwork highlighting the lives and careers of 18 Gateway artists.

Buy it: In the Gateway craft store.

Artist: Rebecca Levy. Image: Melanie Bernier

500 Piece Puzzle, $25. Design by Rebecca Levy

The perfect gift for: You can’t go wrong with this gift. A calming activity on long winter nights, puzzles provide entertainment for families, roommates, couples, and individuals alike. The busy and colorful abstract design by Rebecca Levy will continue to challenge with each use. Ages 12 and up.

Buy it: Online or in the Gateway craft store.

Artist: Melissa Shamfield. Image: Andrew Levine

       








Baby Cow T, $12. Design by Melissa Shamfield

The perfect gift for: Kids age 3 – 24 months can move freely in this adorable cotton T featuring a wide-eyed cow. This popular design is comfortable, affordable, and cute! Choose from mint green (not pictured), heather grey, and ruby red crew-necks in a variety of sizes.

Buy it: Online or in the Gateway craft store.

Movin' On Up

By Courtney McKenna

A selection of Up The Ladder artists: Matthew, Kristina, Amy, Donna, work study Edem, David, Yasmin, Carmen, and Donna

Leaves are not the only things changing over here in Brookline, where 21 Gateway artists have been selected to move their careers Up The Ladder. Working in small groups to allow greater focus and minimum distraction, these artists have been given access to individualized support from Gateway's staff of professional artists. Staff members instill in these artists an understanding of their creative practice and how to turn it into a real career option.  

The Project Director, Courtney McKenna, is working one-on-one with each individual to develop an artist statement and professional resume, while Portfolio Director Gary Batty photographs finished work to build their digital portfolios. McKenna and Batty's work will facilitate the mainstream art world's access to the inventory of these 21 artists, opening their careers to added exhibition possibilities. Members of the Up The Ladder Board, as well as UTL staff, meet regularly to discuss the progress being made.  

UTL Facilitator Ashley shows the progress being made by artist Carmella S. at staff meetings

Groups have participated in field trips to the Institute of Contemporary Art, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and the Waterworks Museum.  The artists were particularly infatuated with the ICA's Barry McGee exhibition, where they were given time to explore and remark on a variety of pieces. Matthew Treggiari, a lover of cats and drawing on napkins, was especially fond of a corner of the exhibit featuring a cluster of framed napkin drawings. “Oh, wow” he remarked upon being pointed in the direction of the piece.  

Artist Matthew and UTL Director Courtney discuss the work of Barry McGee at the ICA. 

Funding from the Shapiro FamilyFoundation and a variety of private families and organizations allow us to give our artists these ‘Wow’ moments, and help them connect the work they make to the larger contemporary art world outside of Gateway Arts.

It has been a great first 6 months. Artists’ works have been featured in special exhibits and have been purchased from various collectors and gallery owners.  Our excitement for our artists is growing, and we can hardly wait to see what the next 6 months will bring. 

Stay tuned!

For inquiries on Up The Ladder or to support the project, please contact Courtney McKenna at mckennac@vinfen.org or Hannah Hoffman at hoffmanh@vinfen.org .  We look forward to seeing you at our next event! 

Staff Pick: Handmade Card by Barbara Brown

Hand-made products are always in season at Gateway Arts, and our warm, personal greeting cards are the perfect pick for a month that welcomes back the sweater. Paper Studio supervisor Mark Hennen has chosen a card by artist Barbara Brown to share for our October Staff Pick: 

With the waning of the harvest moon we’ve had some cool nights, but no frost yet in the Boston metropolitan area.  Gateway artist Barbara Brown recently captured the essence of this seasonal interlude on a 5 ½ in x 4 ½, one-of-a-kind note card. 

Working within the parameters dictated by the card stock and its small size, Barbara effectively combines keen observation with confidently gestural color pencil work to offer us an unpretentiously literal vignette that captures the jaunty body language of four successful urban farmers surrounded by the verdant tangle of their late season garden.

To learn more about Barbara Brown and her work, visit her page on our website. 

Staff Pick: Portraits of Audrey Hepburn, by Charles Hurvitz

This month's selection comes from Courtney McKenna, the Clinical Assistant & Special Projects Coordinator at Gateway Arts. 

Photography by Melanie Bernier

In this particular series of work, Charles Hurvitz has chosen to focus on the late Audrey Hepburn. Sitting with a photograph, markers and vellum, Hurvitz enthusiastically begins to sing tunes from the musical My Fair Lady.  Moving his hand in rhythm with his voice, these portraits become more than drawings; they venture into the realm of performance art.   

Each portrait presents a different mood of seemingly different women. 

 The emotion in Charles’ deliberate marker strokes allows each piece to effectively develop. They become less about Audrey Hepburn, and more about individuals and moments.  Charles’ color choice and line placement present to us perhaps a saintly figure, a darkly clad and hidden face, and a woman leaning on a man. Throughout all of these, Charles is able to create spirited images with a haunting energy.

Charles longs for times gone by.  He often asks if individuals remember an actor or musician, while remarking “they’re old”.  He has successfully given these interpretations of a woman known so well, new life.  

Find more information on Charles Hurvitz and his work on our website. 

Artist of the Month, August 2013: Andrew Granger

Text by Melanie Bernier. Photographs by Melanie Bernier and River Cortes.

Canoe, 2011. Earthenware with underglaze.

Handbuilding with earthenware connects an artist to the natural world. This may be part of the allure for Andrew Granger, an Eagle Scout and avid camper.

The plasticity of the medium allows him to create representations of what might be found on a walk in nature. Seemingly crude at first, these sculpted rocks (above) are textured with lacerations which suggest fissures, and have been treated with a gunmetal underglaze. The results very specifically convey mudstone or shale. A rearing cobra and coiled rattlesnake are more energetic examples of Granger’s natural theme.

Rearing cobra, earthenware and underglaze.

Coiled rattlesnake, earthenware and underglaze. 

These architectural sculptures (below) are both straight-forward and whimsical, as they lead us to imagine ancient ruins uncovered in a remote and tropical landscape. The obtusely angled, pocked building blocks again portray natural stones which have been collected to raise a miniature civilization.    

Granger’s pottery has the same hand-worked quality of his sculptures, and his designs are often completed with a painted natural spiral. The high contrast underglaze finishes make these functional pieces really pop. 

Andrew Granger’s work can be found in our craft store in Brookline, MA. Learn more about Granger and his work on our website. 

Staff Pick: Skirt by Janet Inman

Photographs by Melanie Bernier
Gateway's Fabric Studio Manager, Ashley Brown, brings you this month's selection:

Summer is breezy and bright, and so is this cute A-line skirt created by Janet Inman. The palette that Janet used is brilliant for summer, and the neon colors she selected are trending this season. Janet constructed a random pattern of pinks, greens, reds, blues, greens, and oranges.

The idea for this skirt came directly from Janet’s last project in the fabric studio. She created a unique set of toddler’s overalls. She created many stripes below a sun. When asked what these decorative stripes were, she exclaimed, “A rainbow!”  The rainbow overalls were such a hit that she wanted to create more from this theme of rainbows, and she chose to work on a skirt.

She executed this skirt perfectly. The colors are not arranged in the predictable order of a conventional rainbow.  The spontaneous pattern keeps the skirt fresh and appealing. The quality of the stripes are not rigid and straight like those you would see manufactured by a machine in the big box stores. Instead, this skirt has varying thick and thin lines, giving the skirt a whimsical, artistic quality. This skirt will keep you guessing, not all colors wrap around to the other side, at times there is a sharp shift in color. Because the skirt is not predictable, it catches your eye and keeps your eye moving with curiosity.

The skirt makes a versatile piece for any wardrobe. It matches well with many color shirts making this piece a welcomed addition to any closet. This piece was quickly snatched up and purchased upon completion. However, all hope is not lost, Janet enjoys doing commissions! Contact us today about commissioning an item of your choice.

Interview with Ray Salter

Photographs by Melanie Bernier and Gary Batty. Edited by Melanie Bernier. 

Ray Salter speaks with Gateway director Rae Edelson about the work in his current exhibition, Portraits, on display in the Gateway Gallery until August 31. To learn more about the exhibition, visit our website.

Salter sits with his work in the studio. 

Edelson: How did you happen to do a series of portraits of writers and painters? Is this a common theme in your work?

Salter: I really look for a spontaneous character in my paintings. I like working with well-known people, especially writers and artists, and try to capture their spontaneous character.

Do you sketch your paintings before committing them to paper? How do you work, what is your process?

I usually try to get a fast, transparent sketch, and then I go from that right into the painting alla prima. I’m thinking about working the way [Henri de Toulouse-] Lautrec worked by getting a spontaneous drawing and then working from that.

You work on a variety of papers.  What do you like to paint on?

I particularly like to work on cardboard because, like Lautrec, it gives you a basic tonal quality that you can work with. It adapts very well to painting alla prima, or all at once.

When I first knew you, you were concerned about some of the smudges that occurred in your painting. At this point it looks like they've added value to them. I've always loved your smudges, how do you feel about them?

As long as it works towards creating a total spontaneous effect, I think it can sometimes work to your advantage to have a smudge or a smear. I don’t set out to paint that way, but it sometimes happens, sometimes in the drawing itself.

What colors are used to execute your vision, and why?

I try to work with a limited palette because it works better for spontaneity and for creating a myriad number of effects, rather than jumping into a huge palette which can be confusing and disorienting. So I use color in a very interpretive way, maybe four or five colors at the most. It’s a discipline to work that way.

I know you have a great background in literature and philosophy as well as art. In this series you have Mark Twain, Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Poe, Wolfe, and Wharton - quite a wonderful bunch.  Do you have a favorite author in this group?

Probably F. Scott Fitzgerald. I really like his writing style and technique. He doesn’t necessarily have the most arresting face, but he’s a hell of a writer.

The age old dilemma of who is the best American author always seems to be between Melville and Fitzgerald. Would you pick Fitzgerald?

I’d pick Fitzgerald.

Have you had the fortune or misfortune of seeing the new Great Gatsby movie? What do you think?

The part of the movie that I did see, about half an hours’ worth, was pretentious and very transparent. [ Baz Luhrmann is] trying to create an effect that was not within the book but outside of it, and completely unnecessary as far as I’m concerned.

"Portraits" in the Gateway Gallery.

Staff Pick: Sculpture of J.R. Ewing

This month's selection was written by River Cortes, the head of Gateway's Pottery studio. 
Photographs by Melanie Bernier

J.R. Ewing is the villain that Dallas fans love to hate, and Michele has sculpted him in clay. Michele was not a sculptor before joining Gateway in 2004, but now she delights in giving form to her favorite celebrities and animals.

Michele's intention was to create a straightforward portrait of J.R. Ewing, and she has succeeded at that. But her process has left the piece with a curious energy. The portrait is comprised of disparate media: unrefined clay forms; acrylic paint, applied with evidence of masking and layered brushwork; and details drawn on with paint marker. All of these convey ostensibly logical information, but the unexpected combination of media creates an energetic interplay of harmony and contradiction.

As with much of the work by Gateway artists, the strength in Michele's piece exceeds the intentional.  Its physicality makes it easy for the viewer to be engaged not only by what Michele has deliberately created, but by what she has incidentally allowed.

Staff Pick: Dom Tufo's "Book"

Photographs by Melanie Bernier

The first blog entry for our new Staff Picks series is by Peter Laughlin, who facilitiates the Folk Art and Music studios. His pick is a wooden box/book by artist Dominic Tufo. Take it away, Peter:

Dom Tufo, Book, 2013. Paint and pencil on wood. 11x9x2.5" 

Like much of Tufo’s work, Book can be seen as playful, yet serious; simple, yet mysterious; unassuming, yet profound. What was initially a pre-fabricated crafter’s box shaped to appear as a large book is now a piece of abstract folk art. It features four major panels, some of which possess the fantastic quality of a nursery rhyme, others the feel of a frustrated old textbook.

Tufo, in his late sixties, has an invariably direct approach to art which allows him to produce a consistent body of work with the frivolity of Kandinsky and the intensity of Munch.  He works in a variety of media including wood, paint, pen, pencil, and diverse fibers.  In this piece, painted wood and pencil have been applied in layered fashion. His purity of expression has yielded something which can be considered both clandestine and conspicuous, created in a sublime state of truthfulness.  Its open-ended construct is both topical and timeless.

This lovely piece functions as a coffee table companion, or as a container for secret keepsakes.

“Book” by Dom Tufo is available for $35 in the Gateway Craft Store.      

Artist of the Month, May 2013: Debra Belsky

Text and Photographs by Melanie Bernier

Marker and pencil on paper, 2013. 

May's Artist of the Month is Debra Belsky, who has worked at Gateway since 2007. Called "Deb" or "Debbie" by many, her colorful, introspective artworks reflect her interests - which include animals, babies, and moods - and day-to-day ruminations. 


Deb's aesthetic is particularly well suited for a month associated with bright colors, newborns, and nature. However, while colorful, her work is sometimes infused with unsettling details: for instance, a baby's blue eye covered with squiggly red veins, or a checkerboard-tooth grin under large black nostrils. Her personal brand of dark humor is especially pronounced when she explores themes such as sour moods, crying, conflict, and physical pain. 

Pen and marker on paper, 2013.

Deb's special attention to order, color placement, and pattern make her work immediately recognizable. Sometimes rainbow stripes line the outer edge of her paper to form a decorative border; other times, they lay in diagonals behind a figure for a psychedelic, flashy effect. 

Crayon and pen on paper, 2012-2013.

Marker and pen on paper, 2012-2013.

She employs her whimsical aesthetic across a variety of media, from pre-fabricated objects to ceramics, fiber art, and jewelry. Her jewelry and wooden sculptures often focus on color and pattern, while her ceramic pieces might explore the human form, and work as an extension of her drawn imagery. 

Marker on wood with glue, 2013. 

Ceramic clock with glaze, 2012. 

Ceramic sculpture with acrylic paint, 2012. 

To see more of her work, visit Deb's page on our website or our Artist of the Month Facebook album.

Interview with the Artist: Michael Oliveira

Text and Photography by Melanie Bernier

Detail of Michael's embroidered portrait of artist Kayla Johnson.

Working silently at a desk, seated in his wheelchair, Michael Oliveira is very clearly an artist dedicated to productivity. He slowly and methodically needles his work, typically taking up to 20 seconds to complete a single stitch. Given his process, it’s no surprise that it’s taken him over four years to complete this piece, an embroidered portrait of fellow Gateway artist Kayla Johnson. Today, as he lays down his final stitch, his hard labor proves well worth the effort.

Michael typically works on this piece every Monday afternoon in Weaving studio. His instructor, Jenine Shereos, took her position as Weaving Studio Facilitator a few months after he began this piece. While she can’t speak to his initial impulse to create the portrait, she describes how he has come to her studio every Monday afternoon and gotten straight to work: wheeling to his cubby to pick up materials, and finally settling in an empty spot at one of the work tables.

He’s an extremely independent worker. Michael has developed his own embroidery method that results in a unique surface texture of contrasting thick and thin linework. Jenine, who is herself a fiber artist, says the aesthetic of his stitching is unlike anything she’s ever seen.



Michael poses with his embroidered portrait, finished a few minutes prior.

We caught up with Michael right as he announced "I'm done!":

Gateway: So you just finished this piece in weaving. Congratulations! How did you make this?

Michael: I drew Kayla first, then I (embroidered) the head outline black, then the ears, this one then this one then this arm, the leg, the other leg, the arm, then the mouth and teeth and nose. The eyes too.

GW: They look really nice. How did you decide which colors to use?

M: Kayla’s eyes are brown and her nose, too. And she has white teeth.

GW: And what about her arms and legs - why did you decide to do them blue and red?

M: I don’t know. I just like to draw them blue.

GW: What made you choose Kayla as a subject?

M: She’s a friend.

GW: You like doing portraits. What is it about portraits that you like best?

M: I like to draw the other clients here.

GW: What choices do you make as you work? Do you select all the fabric, the colors of thread?

M: Yea, I pick the colors (of embroidery thread) and put them on the fabric (that I choose).

GW: How long did this piece take to complete? A few months? Years?

M:  I don’t know when I started.

GW: So what is this piece going to be?

M: A pillow.

GW: What are you going to work on next?

M: Maybe David (O’Toole, fellow Gateway artist – ed)

GW: What’s the best part about being an artist?

M: You can do art like a drawing, painting, and stuff in pottery. I am doing a bear in fabric. I drew it, then I sewed the eyes brown, the ears brown, all around.

GW: Is there anything else you want to say about Gateway?

M: I love coming here (BIG smile).

By the end of studio time, Michael has begun his next piece: an embroidered portrait of David O’Toole.

Jenine will turn the completed embroidery of Kayla into a decorative throw pillow, which will be for sale in our craft store soon.

Toast to Gateway

A Toast to Gateway was a great success! The champagne was flowing, the music was lively, and the art was outstanding. Thanks to everyone who came out and showed support for our artists and studios.

Special thanks to Patti Kraft, Robin Helfan of Robin's Candy, Margaret Bodell, and our live group The Next Band.

Artist Becky Gellar (right) with friend.

Artist Neri Avraham poses with his painting (bottom right).

Director Rae Edelson (right) with Julie Bernson

Art Director Stephen DeFronzo (right) with GAC members Jack and Judy Cunningham.

Full house!