Michele is a visual artist who grew up in the Midwest, six in line of nine children. Whether in or out of school, art making was a constant throughout Michele’s life as she was inspired by creative parents, nature, recycling materials and a dynamic junk drawer. Michele celebrates the gifts of her youth through her art by embracing quirky elements of design and color to express ironic or poignant narratives. This playfulness invites the observer to see the unremarkable as quite extraordinary. Michele’s work includes more traditional paintings in oil, watercolor or acrylic as well as printmaking, ceramic, sculpture and mixed media. In 2022, Michele collaborated with master chocolatier, Michael Nichols of m cacao in Amesbury, MA, to create six unique designs for edible cocoa butter screen print art bars. Four art bars are currently available with two additional to be unveiled by the end of 2023.
Artist of the Month: June 2023 – Don Hammontree
“When it comes to my artwork, there are three personal traits of mine that are usually reflected in it, though not necessarily all at once. Firstly, I’ve got a vivid imagination. As an example, I’m fascinated by older cars and how their front and rear-end designs almost mirror human expressions – the headlights resemble eyes; a bumper may reflect a smile. There’s also a sense of deep curiosity — I’ll often seek out buildings in a new city that have unique (though not necessarily pretty) architectural details for inspiration, or I’ll search street-view sites online for interesting scenes of places I’ve never been. And lastly, I have a strong memory — if so moved, I’ll try to re-create scenes from my past that I find special or inspiring with as many details as I can recall.
Artist of the Month: April 2023 – Joe Gemellaro
I was born to draw. I never thought it was anything special until I started receiving complements from both students and teachers in grammar school. The Edgar Allen Poe portrait is a slight revision of a portrait I did of the author back in sixth grade. My portraits often celebrate and honor those who have given much to society: musicians, athletes, authors, poets, actors, and even a few politicians.
Artist of the Month: March 2023 – Will Putnam, Deanna O’Neill
Will Putnam is an Andover, MA, based photographer who focuses on creating images that he hopes will inspire the viewer — to appreciate beauty, to wonder, to think, perhaps to be moved emotionally.
Artist of the Month: February 2023 – Lidia Mikhaylova and Baluka Shop Nesting Dolls
The Hidden Beauty in Simplicity - Lidia Mikhaylova
Artist of the Month: January 2023 – Aliiyah Cole, Graham Long
Born in Melrose and raised in Lawrence, Massachusetts, I began drawing realism in eighth grade and eventually reconnected with art as a hobby in my Junior year of high school. I am currently a Sophomore at UMass Lowell and pursuing a Bachelors degree in Studio Art. After receiving my BFA, I hope to attend an MFA program.
Artist of the Month: December 2022 – Diane Maroun
Artist statement Painting is one of the things I love doing Although I try other things painting is the one medium I come back to Animals and Victorian style pieces are a favorite and I hope to add Fantasy pieces as well I am interested in usually one strong light source to show a subject to a…
Artist of the Month: November 2022 – Tina S. Gagnon, Karan S. Penton
Tina S Gagnon Artist Statement Nature amp Nostalgia Those are the subjects that I am pardon the pun drawn to I am a hyperrealistic artist and the devil is in the details the more details the better The medium of colored pencil affords me the ability to hone in on that aspect Nature has so…
Artist of the Month: October 2022 – Dorothy Lorenze and Renate Berthold de Bustard
Dorothy Lorenze paints contemporary still life and interiors following the classical atelier methods of oil painting Her representational paintings realistically and poetically render translucency texture and atmosphere She enjoys celebrating the simple forms of nostalgic and evocative subjects finds inspiration in surprising moments of unexpected color or patterns of reflection in familiar objects A recent transplant to…
Artist of the Month: September 2022 – Bridgette Caron
Bee Caron is a 16 year old realist photographer She loves nature and animals and hopes to share the pure beauty of the world She attends Central Catholic and has been a photographer for over 3 years Bees self taught journey started when she received a camera for Christmas and realized her passion for photography Her favorite…