Mill Brook Gallery & Sculpture Garden

236 Hopkinton Road, Concord, NH  03301

603-226-2046

www.themillbrookgallery.com

Contact person: Pam Tarbell

“Visions and Reflections: Diverse Journeys”

Nine Contemporary Painters and Sculptors from New Hampshire October 28th-December 24th

Reception: Sunday, November 6th 3-6

Maureen Ahern, Barbara Danser, Marsha Hewitt, Charles P. Goodwin, Patrick McCay, James Rappa, Gail Smuda, James K. Wolcott, and Soo Rye Yoo

“Visions and Reflections: Diverse Journeys,” is about the many choices we face in our lives, the roads we walk down, and our reflections on those decisions. Being an artist is not an easy choice: one has to continually turn on the creative juices by producing new work.  An artist is driven by creative improvement: never quite satisfied, making new challenges, and rising to another level.

Maureen Ahern (Dublin) is the Director of the Thorne Sagendorf Gallery at Keene University. Her paintings have been featured in numerous exhibits.

Ahern say, “My work does not describe a particular place or scene; rather it attempts to share the experience of seeing over time. I want the viewer to feel the effect the blink of an eye can have on their perception of what is real around them.”

Barbara Danser (Jaffrey) creates bronze sculpture and has taught painting in New Mexico and Italy. Danser say, “My art focuses on the joyful energy of life in nature and on the continuum of time: beginnings and endings, rejuvenation, connections between Earth and universe and the mystery of the spirit.”

Marsha Hewitt (Harrisville) recently retired from Head of the Art Department at Keene University. She now spends her time creating encaustics (layers of images and wax). Hewitt say, ” My vision is of the plains of East Africa:

the magnificent beauty of the endangered African wildlife and the fragility of the ancient indigenous Maasai culture. Can either continue to survive?”

Charles P. Goodwin (Warner) constructs his paintings with thick impasto, building up layers of paint until the shadows on the colorful painting become part of the design. Goodwin says, “These paintings are an exploration of paint and its glorious vocabulary of color, surface, physicality, texture and mass. They invoke scale and sculptural depth…surface relief and tonal contrast weave intertwined paths for the eye to travel the surface.”

Patrick McCay (Bedford) is an Irish born-Scottish painter, Dean of the Fine Art Department at New Hampshire Institute of Art. McKay has exhibited at London’s Royal Academy and The Royal Glasgow Institute of Fine Arts. McKay says, “The nostalgic imagery appears to facilitate the clarity I seek and the landscape, its people, geography, vegetation, animal life and places that appear to contain a bounty. The new work represents the first few chapters of my engagement to my new surroundings.”

James Rappa (Deerfield) creates mixed media works on paper and exquisite scluptures in steel and stone.  Rappa says of his new series “I have created work that speaks of growth and harmony. My compositions are a call to rise above the past and move in a new and positive direction to the future.  The abstract forms invite the viewer to consider their own vision and reflections through each pieces.”

Gail Smuda  (Concord) teaches at Southern New Hampshire University, where a retrospective of her art work will be shown in November, 2011. Smuda is a nationally recognized book artist; her topics often deal with domestic women’s issues. Smuda says, “My Vision and Reflections always revolve around history and women’s place in the narrative. I seem to see more similarities, as I age, between the lives of women in the past and my own life, but with very subtle variations in the way those similarities play out. The play between the past and the present are where my work usually seems to fall.”

James K. Wolcott (Concord) is a retired doctor who has returned to his first love of art. Wolcott paints on layered fabric with non-objective patterns, transforming a variety of natural and plastic woven fabrics into richly layered surfaces.

Soo Rye Yoo (Rye) was born in South Korea, and studied art E-hwa Art School, Korea, and the New Hampshire Institute of Art.  She is owner/director of the Soo Rye Gallery in Rye, NH. Yoo says, “My paintings are metaphors: stories of nature and expressed in a formative beauty. The bird and the moon that often appear in my paintings are messengers, conveying our lives. It is my goal to paint life: soft, warm, peaceful images in a way that soothe the viewer’s mind and body.”

Curator:  Pamela R. Tarbell

River Day, a day of celebrating the Androscoggin River, is a day full of things to do and see.  There will be a “parade of boats” or anything that floats where all are invited to show their ingenious floating. 

 River Day, a day of celebrating the Androscoggin River, is a day full of things to do and see.  There will be a “parade of boats” or anything that floats where all are invited to show their ingenious floating creations and parade down the river.  FREE River Boat rides for children 11 and under from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM (accompanied by an adult). 

There will be seminars, workshops and aquatic displays.  Ice cream, cotton candy, fried dough and French fries will be served all day.  There will also be children’s activities including games, petting farm, crafts, log rolling & fishing contests and face painting. 

In conjunction with River Day, WINGZILLA is an all-day fun occasion you and your family won’t want to miss.  This grand event is being presented in collaboration with the Berlin NH Fire Fighters Association.  Wingzilla is a Barbecue Chicken Wing Cook-Off Competition and “Luck of the Draw” Horse Shoe Tournament!  Cash prizes awarded to the winners of both competitions!  There will be a Beer Tent all day!  Come, enjoy the show and tantalize your taste buds with BBQ Chicken Wings as you’ve never experienced. 

  This Friday, April 22nd, the museum will be celebrating Earth Day from 10am-3pm.  Enjoy an educational day learning about the Earth and its environment.

May 14^th - Coffeehouse Concert featuring the Bradford Bog People - lively foot-stomping traditional Appalachian music. Come enjoy the music anytime between 1:00 pm to  7:00 pm. This event is part of a “Celebrate Bradford’s History” event. It coincides with the Grand Reopening of the Historical Society at the Old Post Office Building, by the entrance to the Transfer Station, which will be held from 10:00 am – 2:00 pm on May 14^th.

June 11^{th -} Mink Hills Band – Bluegrass, folk, swing and original music. The show starts at 7:00 pm.

July 15^th-16^th - Lettvin Concerts, featuring the Shames Family on classical piano and cello. The show starts at 7:30 pm.

August 7^{th - Band Concert and Ice Cream Social with Kearsarge Community Band. The show starts at 2:00 pm and is FREE for all.}

August 28^{th - Church Service with Pastor Lynne Hubley. The service starts at 10:00 am}

Contact Laurie Buchar at lbuchar@gmail.com, 84 Rowe Mountain Rd., Bradford, NH 03221, 603-938-5372 for more information. We look forward to seeing you in Bradford Center.

If you have never been to the Old Bradford Center, read below:

Directions to historic Bradford Center are not so easy, especially because the covered Bement Bridge is under construction.

Turn off of Rte. 114 by the town sand pit onto Jones Rd. Follow that for less than one mile until it merges with Center Rd. Follow Center Rd. for about two miles, past historic Battles Farms, to the intersection with Rowe Mountain Rd. Go left on Rowe Mtn. Rd and follow one quarter mile. The Meetinghouse will be evident on your left, with adjacent Schoolhouse, Burial Ground, Town Green, Town Pound. A signpost and plaque mark the spot. Caution for GPS users: try using the address 35 Rowe Mtn. Rd., but do not follow directions that take you on Forest St. unless you have a four-wheel drive.

* Open every Sunday June 5th through October 30th (excluding August 21st, September 4th and September 18th) 10am-4pm

Click HERE for artist and craft application. Click HERE for Farmers Market application

Portsmouth Open Market @ Strawbery Banke Museum is a juried outdoor independent art and Farmers Market. 65-70 local and regional artists and farmers will be chosen to set up shop and sell their wares in historic Puddle Dock. Shoppers can expect high quality handmade goods that reflect the unique aesthetic of the Open Markets, set against the backdrop of the sparkling Atlantic coast. We have hand selected a diverse collection of artists that create house wares, paper goods, handbags, jewelry, prints, ceramics, clothing, accessories, paintings/drawings, sculpture and many other one-of-a-kind curiosities.

We encourage marketgoers to treat yourselves to a visit at the Strawbery Banke Museum and stroll the grounds and surrounding area to learn more about this important piece of American history. Strawbery Banke, first settled  in 1623 by European fishermen is steeped in history. In 1630 settlers moved up the coast to Puddle Dock, formally a tidal pool and set up residence.

Fast forward to 2011 on a rainy Saturday in March when a couple of New England Open Market folks take a ride to Portsmouth and discover Puddle Dock. Our first thought was “what a wonderful place for an open-air market!” So here’s to a wonderful future at Strawbery Banke Museum and Portsmouth’s first weekly open-air market!

Imagine a sultry day outside of the local cigarette factory. Out from the factory come the girls on their break.

“Love is a rebellious bird that no one can tame…” sings Carmen to the soldiers and townspeople in the square. And it just heats up from there.

You can see all this, and Seville’s famous Barber by Opera North at the Lebanon Opera House, but not on the same day!

Carmen, by Georges Bizet, plays on August 6, 8, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, and 22.

The Barber of Seville, by Gioachino Rossini, plays on August 13, 15, 19, 21, and 23.

Two operas you must see in your lifetime, and right here in NH.

Personal note: I’ve sung in the chorus in both operas. The Barber is a lot of fun, but the tessitura is quite high for the first tenors. Carmen has one of the worst entrances for chorus ever written. You’ve got to be awake and ready for this one: “Carmen! sur tes pas, nous nous pressons tous!” It comes with no lead-in right after the Habanera, and you know how you can be mesmerized by that, especially if your Carmen is all she’s supposed to be, as ours was in the Palm Beach Opera. Whoof!

Don’t miss either one!

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Currier Museum of Art

 Turning Wood into Art - The Jane and Arthur Mason Collection; on view until September 27.

The Children’s Museum of New Hampshire

Teddy Bear Clinic & Tea Party
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
10 am - 12:30 pm

Sharon Arts Center

The 4th Annual Paint Out

Reception with the Artists and Wet painting Show & Sale in the scenic village of Harrisville, NH

Friday, August 21, 2009 from 5 to 7 pm

($5 donation to attend the reception)

• Chow Down! 25th Annual Chowder Festival at PPAF on June 6, starting at 11:30 am. Tickets are$10 for adults, $5, 12 and under.
• And get some GREASE, opening June 26 on the outdoor stage

Millbrook Gallery & Sculpture Garden

•  St. Paul’s School Art Faculty Exhibit - May 25 to June 14
• First People of North East Exhibit - Honoring Native American and multicultural heritage, June 19 to September 20 - Traditional and contemporary paintings and crafts by Native Americans and others that are so inspored. Reception: Sunday, July 12 from 1-4 pm
• Invitational Outdoor Sculpture Exhibit - June 21 to October 18

Seacoast Repertory Theatre

•  Urinetown - May 8 to May 31
• How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying - June 12 to August 9
• Gypsy - June 26 to August 23

Canterbury Shaker Village

•  Thunderama - June 14 from 10-3, New England’s vintage Thunderbird Club classic car show
• Strawberry Jamboree - June 20 from 10-5, strawberries, plants, shorcake, sangria for sale; garden and craft vendors; strawberry bake-off!

Claremont Opera House

•  Rumpelstiltskin - June 2, 10 am
• Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - June 29, 10 am

Thorne-Sagendorf Art Gallery

•  100 Years of Academic Community (exhibit of photographs andmemorabilia) - June 5 to August 2

New Hampshire Farm Museum

•  Farm Kitchen Series - June 6 (All About Butter) and June 13 (Cooking With Spring Greens)
• New Hampshire Dairy Day - June 20
• Archeology Workshop - June 27 and 28

Leisure Travel Plans Down, Spending Down, but Vacationing Still Important

The Harris Poll of 2,401 U.S. adults surveyed online between April 13 and 21, shows that 35% of Americans are not planning on taking any leisure trips this summer. 77% are anticipating that they will not travel on business in the next four months. But not everyone is planning to stay home…  65% of adults are planning a vacation this summer, including 17% who are anticipating making three or more trips this summer.
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=107050

! Be sure to wear your flapper dress or zoot suit - the best costume will win a prize!

The Lamont Gallery at Phillips Exeter has just signed on. Be sure to see this exhibit:

Writers: Photographs by Nancy Crampton

Thursday, April 2, 2009 - Saturday, May 9, 2009
Opening Reception: Friday, April 17, 6:30-8pm
Gallery Talk: April 18, 10-11am