Work by Patricia Cahill, Elisa Campbell, Shirley Fredrickson Conant, Adele Gladstone-Gilbert, Bernie Kubiak, and Susan McQuaid March 1 – 31, 2021
The members of the Burnett Gallery Committee welcome this opportunity to share some of our artwork with you. While the Burnett Gallery is closed due to the pandemic, our virtual gallery is open with a new exhibit every month and past exhibits may be viewed in the Gallery Archive.
Work by Patricia Cahill
Patricia Cahill has been painting western Massachusetts images in acrylic on canvas for use as floorcloths and wall hangings for more than 20 years. She has exhibited her work at Cooley Dickinson Hospital and other sites. Previously she has been on the staffs of the Springfield Newspapers and the Springfield Museum of Fine Arts. She can be contacted at pac29x@gmail.com.
I find painting is a form of concentrating my attention on a scene, or plant, or “slant of light” that has caught my eye and my heart. I have always felt connected to the landscape and living beings around me, so I have been an environmentalist all my life, and my painting is a fundamental aspect of that. I fell in love with landscape paintings as a child, seeing a landscape by Constable in the National Gallery. I’ve been painting watercolors of local scenes and plants for about 20 years. Contact: elisa.campbell@gmail.com
Shirley Fredrickson Conant began painting as soon as she moved to the Connecticut River Valley 20 years ago as a retired elementary school teacher. She is a watercolor painter specializing in landscapes of this area and of coastal Maine where she summered for many years. Shirley has had several shows at the Burnett Gallery and at the Deer Isle Artists Association in Maine. She can be contacted at shirley@sconant.net.
I, like so many others, have found peace in nature during the pandemic. The natural world has inspired my art in the past but I have found it difficult to focus on art making this past year. The pastels I’m sharing were painted when I shared a studio space in Amherst Center with several women artists. Each piece depicts a spot where I was awed by the scene in front of me. “After the Rain, Central Park” refers to a peaceful spot I visited often with a lifelong friend who is now gone. I occasionally “Paddle on Lake Aldrich” in Granby. Once I get on the water, I feel a hundred miles from home. “Sunset, Water’s Edge” is inspired by a dazzling show of light from the shore of one of the Iles de la Madeleine, in Quebec. I hope my artwork brings you the solace of nature. (These are not for sale.) I can be reached at adeleggil@gmail.com.
I’m a photographer at home in the landscape or the street. Photography is the start of a dialog between me and the viewer. I like to produce images that encourage story telling or gets people to wonder about the image. You can reach me at bkubiak@gmail.com or my website: berniekubiak.zenfolio.com
For almost 40 years, I encouraged my elementary school students to "be bold and take risks." I decided to follow my own advice after retiring from teaching several years ago, having always wanted to pursue an interest in making art. So far, I have dipped my toes into the worlds of drawing, pastel painting, and monotype printing. Who knows what's next? In the words of Rumi, "There are a thousand ways to kneel and kiss the ground; there are a thousand ways to go home again." I can be reached at mcquaids10@gmail.com.