Isalos Fine Art

Yes, I've spent some time "away", from both computer and island, and as usual, it was great to leave, and then great to return. We spent a few days in New Hampshire, where I hiked up a couple of mountains, and spent countless hours "gardening" with pruning shears and chainsaw on a point on Squam Lake, one of my favorite places on the planet. In Stonington, we don't get much of a cell phone signal; you know it's summer when you see people walking around with outstretched arms, looking for that elusive signal. At the top of Mount Lafayette, after pushing through snow and ice and wind, I took out the cell phone and discovered a strong signal. So I gave my Mom a call in Missouri, where she said it was seventy degrees and sunny.

For Halloween, the folks at the Opera House sent  the kids on a scavenger hunt. When they arrived here, we gave them the task of finding the piece of art that includes an actual stick that was chewed by a beaver. They all eventually found Jennifer Morrow Wilson's Acanthus, a tall multimedia piece with lights inside illuminating stitched-together hand-made papers and an assemblage of found materials including, yes, a beaver-chewed stick with its distinctive teethmarks, now pigmented orange (she really makes those beavers work). It was a good excuse to get some kids (and their parents) looking at art.    

Jennifer Morrow Wilson, Acanthus, mixed media, 76" x 29" x 6" 

At Jacqueline Wilson's Studio 

In anticipation of the Holiday Small Works Show coming up, we've been visiting some artists' studios, checking-out their work. It's really a treat to get out and see where the art is coming from, and I'm continually amazed at how many artists around here are working full time, producing art that no one else could have created. On any given day they are out there in their studios, working away, fiercely independent of the local art market, which at this time of year might suggest that one go into hibernation rather than come-up with the most inspired work to be created since before last winter's post-election doldrums. We visited the forges of Doug Wilson and Farrell Ruppert, as well as the studios of Frederica Marshall, Jennifer Morrow Wilson and Jacqueline Wilson (not related) and we came back to the gallery loaded-down with goodies for the upcoming show. Not only that, but I felt inspired: these artists are worthy of our attention.

At Farrell Ruppert's Forge