After Hours Appointment? Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy!

Despite all of our advertising, website and word of mouth many people still do not know our retail hours. They are Tuesday through Friday 10-6 , Saturday 10-2 or by appointment. Most of our regular customers know that those hours are guidelines. We will never be open fewer hours than that but frequently we will be open more hours than that.

Our trusty framer, Brian, arrives at the gallery at 7:30 AM Monday through Friday- meaning that if you need to drop something off, he is here. He can help pick out framing but he is not very good with the computer so he can't give you a price quote. He doesn't like to chat about art but we find he has an unerring eye when it comes to framing and fancy layouts.

Even though our hours say we are closed on Mondays one or more of us is frequently at the gallery. Having this day free allows us to make appointments without worrying about covering the gallery. I will use it to hang new shows or do some of the dirty work around the gallery. It is casual Monday for us so we will often be in jeans- or in painting and wall patching clothes. It is the rare Monday that at least one of us is not on duty. The caveat is that we tend to leave by 4 in the afternoon.

We frequently have early morning meetings which means we arrive at the gallery at 7:30. If we stop into the gallery first it may mean you receive an email that early. It gives the illusion that we work 24 hours a day!

We are also happy to make appointments to meet you at the gallery. Some people think that they will be inconveniencing us if they make an appointment, but it is exactly the opposite. We could be open seven days a week - sitting & waiting and hoping that you will show up on a sunny Sunday. Or we can make an appointment knowing that you have made a special trip to see us. We think this is a much better deal for everyone. We have opened the gallery at 6 AM, stayed until 8- or showed up on Holidays. We are very accommodating.

So..... how happy are we to make an after hours appointment? This happy:

Unleashed! A Benefit for the ARL of NH

McGowan Fine Art announces the opening of “Unleashed!" featuring the work of Janet Duncan, Bruce Campbell, Jane O’Hara, Elizabeth Mayor, Holly Meade and Adelaide Murphy Tyrol. The show will run from June 22- July 30, with an artist’s reception on June 25 from 5 to 7 PM. This show is a benefit for the Animal Rescue League of NH and is free and open to the public.

“Unleashed!” is the dream of McGowan director, Sarah Chaffee, who is singularly devoted to her rescue dog Henry. “I have always had a strong connection to animals and I support rescue operations,” says Chaffee. “It was hard to pick just one organization when my audience comes from the tri-state area, but I think that helping any rescue organization is a win-win for animals.” The show itself will feature the works of 6 artists from around New England. The works range in medium from woodblock print to wire sculpture.

Both Adelaide Murphy Tyrol and Jane O’Hara do more classic portrait-style interpretations of companion animals. Jane’s series of dogs from her neighborhood convey her love for them and their myriad personalities without taking away their dignity. In “Best Friend-Trusty” a Boston Terrier strikes a macho pose but melts the viewer with a large grin and an even larger tongue. Adelaide’s “Peace and Love” likewise portrays an appealing white dog holding an olive branch. The dog’s tag is a red heart which adds a colorful accent to his white fur.

Holly Meade uses wood and linoleum blocks to create her engaging images. In “Red Horse” she neatly fills the page with the image of a jumping horse- neck arched, tail in the air and hooves pointed. It is elegant and wild at the same time. Janet Duncan also employs a graphic style with her watercolors. In “Pablo & Savvy” her broad swatches of color create an array of color- and also a moment of sharing for a young girl paddling a kayak with her shaggy dog. In “Everywhere That Mary Went” a young girl leads her lamb around a lawn. The bright green of the grass challenges a red jacket and snowy, white lamb to create a vibrant composition.

The unique work of Bruce Campbell provides three dimensional relief to Unleashed! Bruce is a catalogue designer for the Metropolitan Museum and uses his commute time on the train to create simple wire sculptures of animals. With a minimum of tools and fuss he bends the wire to create gestural figures of moose, dogs, reindeer and butterflies. These are occasionally given some sparkle by the inclusion of sea glass. The lines of his work relate to the woodblocks of Elizabeth Mayor. Her deceptively simple lines and shapes are spiced up with the addition of pigment and colored White-out. In “Mmmm..Kitty” a thin white line defines the arching back of the cat. Elizabeth then uses White-out to fill in the surrounding negative space. It is a playful use of materials to match her playful imagery.

All in all this is a show that is sure to delight animal enthusiasts and art lovers. There will be works by other artists available- Judy Lampe, Barbara Carr, Louise Chouinard, Hannah Phelps and more

Gary Haven Smith Studio Tour

This past Saturday eight of us caravaned out to Gary Haven Smith's studio to see how he creates his sculptures and paintings. It was a bit rainy but that helped to keep the black flies away- always a scourge this time of year in NH!

This first image is of the outside of Gary's sculpture shed. The large door allows him to back his truck up to unload the huge rocks onto the trolley for his stone saw. You can see a new sculpture sitting at the entry.

This second image shows his saw in the background. It is about 1 story high and uses a diamond tip blade (strand). He has rails to pull stones on a trolley towards the blade. A consideration in his design is the limitations of his equipment. He can only lift the saw blade up about 5 or 6 feet so that the stones cannot be too large or need to lie down and accommodate a horizontal cut. Another consideration is that his crane can only lift 2000-2200 pounds. Eliminating weight by removing stone is imperative.

Next to the stone cutting studio is a another space where he mills metal pins for joining stone, carves slate, assembles smaller pieces. There was an amazing amount of equipment - and ingenuity on display. It becomes clear that Gary is a problem solver when it comes to interpreting his vision.

Upstairs is his painting studio which is less coated in stone dust! It was a tight space so it was difficult to take many photos without seeing the backs of all the attendees. This is a shot of the painting station with a jumble of oil paints and the encaustic medium he uses to apply them to slate and lead. It is fun to see some of his older paintings and how they relate to the most recent work.

After we were done touring the studio everyone spent a few moments to walk around Gary & Susan's lovely yard which has a variety of Gary's older and newer pieces. These sculptures benefit so much from being placed in a landscape. The light color and curvilinear lines of the stone provides a contrast to the dark green trees and grass.

For those of you who missed the tour we will do it the next time we have a show of Gary's work in about 2 years.