Poltrack Blog

New Ipswich illustrator Matt Patterson  spoke about his love of amphibians and reptiles at the New Ipswich Library. Matt did the illustrations for the book The Snake and the Salamander: Reptiles and Amphibians from Maine to Virginia. He brought along original prints and as an extra treat a pet African Spurred Tortoise. Eddie the Tortoise  was the big hit with everyone Just to be clear, Eddie is a SHE, She loved the library. One of Matt's illustrations. He uses coffee for the wash. He paints in acrylics. He always starts with a pencil drawing. I love this expression Matt holds Eddie (Female). She spends summer outdoors.

Among the photographs in the New Ipswich Historical Society collection is a series showing the wallpaper of the Appleton Inn & Batchelder House. These were elaborate prints depicting scenes in France. Unfortunately the photographs are not in color,  but a similar design can be seen on the walls of the Barrett House in New Ipswich via the Historic New England Website .

The  MacDowell Colony  is an  artists' colony  in  Peterborough, New Hampshire , United States, founded in 1907 by  Marian MacDowell , pianist and wife of composer  Edward MacDowell . She established the institution and its endowment chiefly with donated funds. She led the colony for almost 25 years, against a background of two world wars, the  Great Depression , and other challenges. The mission of The MacDowell Colony is to nurture the arts by offering creative individuals of the highest talent an inspiring environment in which they can produce enduring works of the imagination. Over the years, an estimated 7,700 artists have been supported in residence, including the winners of at least 79  Pulitzer Prizes , 781 Guggenheim Fellowships, 100 Rome Prizes, 30 National Book Awards, 26 Tony Awards, 24 MacArthur Fellowships, 9 Grammys, 8 Oscars, and 8 National Medals for the Arts. [3]  The colony has accepted visual and interdisciplinar...

The annual  Fall Foliage Art Tou r is held on  Indigenous People's Day  Weekend in the MonadnockRegion. This year two New Ipswich art galleries participated in the tour. Roland Coates wrote "Over the past couple of years I have moved away from using watercolors to focusing on colored pencils. I am a realist and am fascinated with what I can do with them. The colors blend beautifully and more realistically than watercolors. I experience the subject coming alive at some point during my composition, which is very exciting.". Roland works from photographs and many of his pieces feature recognizable locations such as this drawing of Barrett House on Main Street I love the light in this drawing Waterloom Pond in New Ipswich Roland did this drawing from a photograph provided by Danielle Le Bris This was a popular piece, Roland explained that he sold one of these at a show in Jaffrey Translucent Roland joked that he was a "Buddha-p...

The annual Fall Foliage Art Tou r is held on Indigenous People's Day Weekend in the Monadnock Region. This year two New Ipswich art galleries participated in the tour. Artists Danielle Le Bris & Gerry Friedman have coffee on their patio at the Torch & Palette Studio in New Ipswich work of Danielle Encaustic Painting Stop by and have a cookie, register for a raffle - Open Oct 7th - 9th from 10AM till 5PM Danielle likes to work with large canvases A monotype hand pulled print, only one can be printed. Ask about the process when you visit I forgot to ask about these two paintings, but something is going on So many questions Detail of a very large self portrait   www.poltrack.net

I visited the home and studio of New Boston artist Jon Brooks in New Boston. It is a whimsical place which reminds me of something from Tolkien. Mirrored chimney and no straight lines, even a peace symbol Main entrance Jon makes furniture. His work is displayed at the Currier Museum in Manchester, NH I loved the kitchen Need a colander? Jon is best known for his ladders and chairs Vanity on Craigslist but paint job by Jon September sunshine This chair was remarkably comfortable, fit like a glove Outside view of the house with a new addition In 2011 Jon lost his work and workshop in a fire . From the ruins this figure was carved. It now graces the outhouse Workshops, note the lack of right angles Jon Brooks A life of balance with nature The workshop   www.poltrack.net