Lynette Benton ‘96GS

As a Simmons alumna ‘96GS (MCM), last academic year I wrote a blog here about collecting affordable art.

This year, it‘s my great pleasure to begin a Reconnect with Simmons blog about creative writing. I‘ve been writing for a long, long time, and have had pretty startling success with it. Now I want to share the "tools & tricks" successful writers use with others.

My published work includes essays about my experiences in higher education, which have appeared in the Chronicle of Higher Education, Insidehighereducation.com (written under pseudonyms), and in a blog interview focusing on the impact of business executives in higher education.

During the 1980s, I wrote art reviews for Art New England, articles for the Bay State Banner, and other small pubs. More recently, my work appeared in the March edition of Skirt! magazine, and my articles in the Stoneham Sun, Lexington Minuteman, and Arlington Advocate.

I also write articles—about 70 of them in the past three months!—for Examiner.com. My topic is Boston writing careers.

I teach creative writing and lecture on Tools & Tactics for Creative Writers.

And finally, finally, my creative writing web site is up, though I‘ll be adding new content to it and refining it for a few weeks. Take a look at lynettebentonwriting.com

For more info about my writing, email relief11@comcast.net. Or just leave a comment on my blog here.

Recently posted by Lynette Benton

Poll Update

By Lynette Benton on November 6, 2009 6:29 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

You remember the poll I mentioned in my previous blog? The one that asked the question: "Are the people who often say, 'I've always wanted to write' serious about becoming writers?"

Well, for a while there, it looked as if no one really believed these folks. 75% of respondents said they were "just dreamers." Pretty bad, huh?

But as more people responded to the poll, the numbers actually got better. So far, 28 people have voted. Here's how the answers look now.

VOTE HERE.jpg

Question
"Are the people who often say, 'I've always wanted to write' serious about becoming writers?"

Answer
Yes 7%
No 25%
They'll gt around to it eventually 32%
They're just dreamers 35%

I was interested to see that some voters left thoughtful comments, and doubted the legitimacy of the question itself. They wondered if the opinions would offer me any useful information. (Since I know that some aspiring writers responded, I think the poll does give me useful info--both about the writers themselves and other people's perceptions of their stated desire.)

One man pointed out that writers have to write. Others just mean that they want to make money writing.

Another wondered what I meant by "serious."

The most exciting comment was from a woman who said she used to be someone who "always wanted to write." She is now a person who can say, "I am a writer." Nice news.

Check back here in a few days to see the final verdict.

If you'd like to cast your vote, just click on http://polls.linkedin.com/p/64368/qlhro.

Who's Serious About Being a Writer?

By Lynette Benton on November 4, 2009 7:10 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

I'd love to get your take on the seriousness of aspiring writers. Please respond to this short poll, and I'll share the results here.

http://polls.linkedin.com/p/64368/qlhro

Thanks!

What's the Deal With Online Writing Classes?

By Lynette Benton on November 2, 2009 9:18 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

I'm a fan of online writing classes--mostly.

Nothing beats their convenience. No commuting to class in the dark after work, no searching for parking; no sleepy ride home late at night. Just you, snuggly at home, or out in the open air, learning in comfort, any time you choose.

Another advantage is that you have access to any instructor you want. Proximity is no issue. You can take a class in Boston from someone living in the Midwest--or as far away as Burkina Faso.

But learning online does take a bit of getting used to.

Tone of voice, facial expressions, and individual animation are all lost. You communicate with your instructor and classmates via email, and by and large, they are only names to you. Of course, you can see your instructor's writing, and maybe a photo, on her web site. And after a while, you do associate your classmates' names with a certain kind of writing. But that's about it.

Unless . . . you take a class with an instructor who places more emphasis on interaction between the two of you and less on your interactions with your classmates. Andrea Collier, who teaches personal essay writing a couple of times a year, is one one such teacher. Take a look at the profile I wrote about her at Andrea Collier.

You can find out more about choosing an online writing class at How-to-choose-an-online-writing-class.

If you've got questions about creative writing that you'd like me to address, just leave a comment!

Writers' Groups

By Lynette Benton on November 1, 2009 10:51 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

It can be difficult to find a writing group. But, one of the best benefits of taking an in-person (as opposed to online) writing class is that some or all of your classmates might become writing group partners, after the course is over. That way, you'll have ongoing (and free) writing instruction, feedback, encouragement, and community.

WOMEN AT TABLE.jpg

You also get to set your own rules. Maybe your group meets monthly, rather than weekly, as you would in a class. This will give you more time to work on your writing between group meetings, and it will also make it easier to critique group members' work.

You can even decide that rather than each person's reading everyone else's work, each group member swaps work for critiquing with only one other member.

And, if my writing group experience is anything to go by, you'll meet in the comfort of one another's homes and enjoy fabulous food. Either the host prepares all of it, or members bring something tasty to each meeting.

One thing to watch out for, however, is a situation in which someone (or several people) in the group does not do any writing, but turns up at meetings mostly to eat and critique others' work. That uneven participation eventually leads to resentment in those who are actually writing.

How to Choose a Writing Class

By Lynette Benton on November 1, 2009 10:11 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

Writers have to exercise and expand their writing skills all the time. It's an ongoing requirement. One of the best ways to do this is by taking a writing class.

Some of the advantages of participating in a writing class are that you:

become part of a community of writers
learn new techniques
get help solving writing challenges you're facing
get encouragement in your efforts, and
get feedback on your work
write on a schedule

But there are drawbacks, as well, to taking a writing class.

The instructor might not be versed in the genre you're interested in. (Google the instructor to find out his or her writing credits.)

The instructor might not be very good at instructing. (Ask your writer friends or call the administration of the school and ask about the instructor's previous valuations.)

Your classmates might not be on your level. (The course description usually specifies the writing experience expected of students. But if it doesn't, ask the school's administration.)

You might underestimate the time required for you to produce weekly writing assignments. (See www.examiner.com/How-to-choose-an-online-writing-class.) And related to this: you probably will have to read your classmates' work.

That can be a good thing. Reading others' work shows you how they handle various writing challenges--for example, choice or words, use of scenes and images, truth telling in non-fiction.

However--and the "however" is a big one--you'll have to spend precious writing time not writing, but critiquing a dozen other people's work. That's why, in the classes I teach, I do not have my students read their classmates' work. If you have very few hours each week to dedicate to your creative writing, it's a real hardship to use some of those hours on someone else's work.

Getting Started as a Writer

By Lynette Benton on October 26, 2009 3:31 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

Ever since a student in one of my creative writing courses interrupted my opening spiel with, "Excuse me. Could you tell us what your qualifications are?," I begin my Tools & Tactics for Creative Writers lecture by stating my experience.

Undergraduate English degree. Graduate degree in communications management. Published author of articles and essays. Awards. So, that's how I began the Lexington adult ed lecture.

Then I asked what the participants' writing goals were. As mentioned in my previous post, they were clear about what they wanted to do and what they needed from my lecture.

I let them in on a dismal secret, meant not to distress them, but to spur them on.

Book publishers receive many millions of manuscripts a year.
Only 1% of all manuscript submissions are published.
93% of books sell less than 1,000 copies.
The majority of books sell only 99 copies.

And twelve--that's right, 12--authors make 85% of all the money made by book authors!
And most authors only get 10% of the cover price.

Besides talent and persistence, writers need good resources, plain and simple. We need tools to beat the odds against getting our work published.

I offered tips to help them become bona fide writers. Begin identifying as a writer. Read books, such as If You Want to Write, by Brenda Ueland, designed to inspire writers. Join a community of writers, either live or online. Get a job as a writer--although commercial writing will affect your creative writing. We'll discuss that later.

Take writing classes. Some of the best and most numerous are offered through Harvard University Extension School, in Cambridge, Mass. The Cambridge Center for Adult Education is another place with writing courses in many genres, and instructors with loyal followings.

Blog postings are supposed to be about 275 words long, and I'm over that limit. So, I'll go over the pros and cons of both online and in-person writing classes and writing groups, and tell you where to find some of the best in my next posting.

My First Tools & Tactics Lecture

By Lynette Benton on October 16, 2009 1:32 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

Wednesday night (October 14), I held my first Tools & Tactics for Creative Writers lecture, a condensed version of my six-week course.

As I'd mentioned in an earlier posting, I'd been apprehensive about the lecture because I couldn't fathom what the participants' level of creative writing would be.

I spent the morning nipping and tucking my presentation, which refused to print in "Notes" view. So I had to copy all the notes for the slides into a Word document, and hope for the best.

Afterwards, I went over to Waltham to teach my 2:00 class there, and hoped my lecture audience would be half as engaged as my Waltham students.

Back home, I collated everything and put the handouts into nicely colored, plastic pocket folders. My business cards arrived 30 minutes before I left home, so I slipped them into the folders, too.

At Minuteman High School, where I was to present, no one met me in the gigantic cafeteria area as planned. But someone with a walkie talkie managed to locate the adult education coordinator, who took me to the room where my class was to take place. The laptop worked, but the projector didn't--until the program director frowned over it and fiddled with it. Then suddenly, voila.

An even bigger voila: My husband Joe was standing in the door. He had just registered for the course moments earlier and showed up to offer me support. The man is truly my treasure.

The students arrived. I started my presentation. I didn't need my notes after all. (The group I forgot to mention--Chicks Who Write--my husband reminded me of.)

Two class members had already written novels (impressive). One wanted to write articles and essays (my specialty). One wanted to write a nonfiction book about science (my hobby is reading science books and articles). What could have been better? We had a blast.

I've seen one of the evaluations. It's glowing. I'm thrilled.

In my next post, I'll tell you what I covered in the presentation. I hope it will help you.

What do they know? Part 2

By Lynette Benton on October 8, 2009 4:38 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

(Note: Part 1 of this post appears below this entry. Blame the logic of the publishing software.)

Since I don't know anything about the audience for my Tools & Tactics for Creative Writers lecture next week, I thought I'd start out with a quotation that most writers could relate to.

It could be a fairly neutral "call to arms," like Ben Franklin's: "Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing."

Or one that just adds to the conundrums writers face: "There are three rules for writing the novel. Unfortunately no one knows what they are." That one's courtesy of Somerset Maugham.

Probably not a good idea to start with a downright discouraging one: "Millions find their voice; few find an audience." Robert McCrum, former Observer literary editor.

There's one I like to tell women audiences, who arrive at my classes looking simultaneously weary and frantic. It's by Linda M. Hasselstrom, author of Windbreaker: A Woman Rancher on the Northern Plains. She's referring to the question women ask her whenever she gives a reading.

"The first question is always, 'How do you find time to write?' I'm always very polite, because I know people have varied priorities and most of these women are wives, mothers, and/or grandmothers. But I want to shout: Don't have children, don't clean the house, tear the telephone off the wall, throw a brick through the TV. Say NO; say it again, all together now: NO! NO! NO!

I will NOT bring a hot dish to the Ladies' Aid Society meeting.
I will NOT pick up your child or your cleaning.
I will NOT serve on a committee, no matter how high minded its purpose."

Wonderful, huh?

What do they know? Part 1

By Lynette Benton on October 8, 2009 4:12 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

I'm preparing to give a lecture next week. It's called Tools & Tactics for Creative Writers. I teach this because unless (and even if) someone's earned a Masters in Fine Arts creative writing, they won't know what steps to take to get their work published. Or, they'll be familiar with the steps only in the broadest and vaguest terms.

So, in the past year, I've done a huge amount of research not only about the steps writers need to take to get their short or long work published, but about the resources that exist to help them/us.

I'd considered naming my presentation "Tools & Tricks" for creative writers, because successful writers use tricks in their work. If the work is good, those tricks are invisible to us as readers--unless we're performing a literary analysis of the text, for some reason. (I did a lot of that as a literature major in college.)

As Somerset Maugham wrote, "Art conceals art, in writing as elsewhere. The skill of a skilled writer tricks you into thinking that there is no skill [involved]."

But I've got a dilemma. I have no idea who will be in my audience this time. I don't know what they know. As I prepare, I waver between advanced information so that the experienced writers won't get bored and introductory information so that the beginning writers won't get frustrated.

I like a lot more certainty than that, but there you have it.

Want to publish your book?

By Lynette Benton on October 6, 2009 3:29 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

A month or so ago, I spoke with a woman who was considering attending my October 14 Tools & Tactics for Creative Writers lecture. But, before committing, she had a question.

"Will your talk cover how to get an agent?"

I should have just said "yes," and left it at that, but instead, I asked her to tell me a little about the writing she had done.

"I've written a children's book," she told me.

I talked to her a bit about what it takes to get a book published these days. It's very difficult. The publishing landscape has altered entirely in the past 5 years. And it's almost as difficult to get an agent as it is to get a publisher.

But the questions I get most often from people who don't know that or who don't yet have a lot of writing experience is, " How can I get an agent [or a publisher]?"

I spoke to a friend about this and she suggested that I begin my talks with information about how to get an agent or a publisher, to get that out of the way. The information is downright depressing, but there actually are ways to get an agent and/or a publisher. It's not easy, but obviously it can be done.

So, what I'm going to start with in the future is:

To get a publisher, you need an agent.

To get an agent, you need a book proposal and/ or an outline, and a query letter. (If it's fiction, you need several sample chapters or--gasp--the whole book.)

To write a query letter and book outline, get an agent, or get published, you need a platform.

To do all of the above, you need to write very well.

And you need support and guidance.

I've simplified the steps quite a bit, and hope I haven't left anything out.

But the good news is that it's possible to get an agent and get a book published. It's done all the time...

Want to write a book? Do you read them?

By Lynette Benton on October 4, 2009 10:15 AM | 2 Comments | No TrackBacks

I teach at two senior centers. At the beginning of each course, I always ask what the students are reading.

The first time I did this, only one out of eight students responded that she read books. All the others looked sheepish, and admitted that the only thing they read was the daily newspaper. In teaching subsequent courses, I'm always amazed at how few of my would-be writers actually read anything.

In his memoir, On Writing, Stephen King relates an experience he says he's had more times than he cares to recall. After he's given a reading, someone approaches him and says,

"I've always wanted to write a book."

"What books have you read lately?" King asks.

The would-be author replies, "Oh, none. I don't have any time to read!"

King thinks, but doesn't have the heart to say, "Then you don't have time to write a book."

There are many, many reasons that those who want to write not just a book, but anything, must read, and read voraciously.

1) That is how you learn how it's done. It's how you internalize the words, rules, structure, strategies, tricks, and everything else that makes a piece of writing work.

2) You've got to ask yourself: If you don't read anyone else's writing, why expect them to read yours?

3) And of course, if you don't have time to read, you don't have time to write.

There's a huge world out there in books (and articles, essays, poems, and so on). Treat yourself to that world.

If you really want to write

By Lynette Benton on September 28, 2009 9:35 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

The idea for this blog originated when my local reference librarian told me that each week, she gets queries from patrons who want to write. They want to know about books that would inspire them, or articles that describe what agents and editors are looking for in a manuscript.

SIMMONS draw_the_line pencil.jpg

After I heard that, I realized that when people hear that I'm a writer, they often respond wistfully, "I've always wanted to write."

Then they continue: "But I don't know how to get started, or what books and magazines I should consult, or how to structure a novel. And who would publish anything by a novice writer?"

Well, this blog will cover all that and much more. I'll tell you what I'm teaching my students. I'll share what's been going on in my writerly life since I left Simmons a little over a year ago. And I'll look for your questions and answers in the Comments section here.

If you've always wanted to write, but have felt your dreams were hopeless, you'll get help here.

I've gotta go write another article about Boston writing careers for Examiner.com. I love doing that. You can check out all 70 of them at www.examiner.com/Boston-Writing-Careers. Or just get some encouragement from www.examiner.com/Boston-Writing-Careers-launch-your-writing--career.

Oh, one other thing. May Sarton, poet, diarist, and novelist noted that many people want to have published a book, but few want to do the work that actually writing one entails. So, do you really want to write?

If so, you can start small.

Ania Gilmore's Japanese Sumi-e

By Lynette Benton on July 6, 2009 7:14 PM | 2 Comments

Along the River

I first saw an Ania Gilmore's painting in an exhibit at the Concord Art Center, in Concord Massachusetts. It had cherries in it. Or plums. I can't recall. All I remember is the stark white background and the rich ripe fruit nestled among the leaves on the black branch. My husband was with me. We were surprised at how the painting seemed to reach towards us. The work was "Along the River," above. We loved it.

Out in the Town

We saw another of Ania's paintings at a juried show at the Concord Art Center this winter. From across the room, it was unmistakably hers. Without the color of "Along the River," "Out in the Town," above, nonetheless grabbed me. It depicted lobsters, which I'd never imagine being attracted to. Go figure. I think it's the work's delicate brush strokes and their varied thicknesses that I like so much, and the perfect downward direction. I've included "Family Circus" below, just because I like it--and its title.

ANIA FAMILY CIRCUS.jpg

Family Circus

Before we met and spoke with her (as she took down an exhibit of her work at Starbuck's in Lexington, Massachusetts), I would have characterized her work, broadly, as "in the Japanese style." But now I know more--and you can too. Just go to www.wisegeek.com/what-is-sumi-e.htm for a coherent explanation of Sumi-e, this ancient Asian painting technique.

Ania says that "A few years ago, I took an art class in China and Japan that enabled me to grasp the values of a culture rich with a history I had not been exposed to in the past. I was able to examine Asian art, culture, and architecture, which inspired me to look for the inner peace that I found in Japanese Sumi-e." Ania loved Sumi-e's "simplicity, quietness, and the white space that is the hardest to paint, but necessary to rest one's eye on. The peace that I was looking for arrived, quietly and unexpectedly."

ANIA RICH.jpg

The Rich Cricket

The "Rich Cricket" is among her denser, more colorful works. The yellow-greens in this painting really appeal to me. And you have to pay close attention to actually detect the cricket.

Ania's recent work is "The One Hundred Tea Pots."

She is very prolific, so it's impossible to show more than a tiny fraction of her work here. But you can take a look at more at www.aniaartstudio.com/studio/Gallery.aspx?gallery=Sumi-e. Email her at design@aniaart.com.

Let's Go Shopping

By Lynette Benton on June 18, 2009 9:33 AM | 1 Comment | No TrackBacks

13 Forest Street Gallery

I've showed you the affordable art that I like; I hope you've liked it too. You've probably noticed that I've included contact information of the artists, which is one way to buy--actually a very inexpensive way to buy. There's no gallery markup, no commission. And you develop a relationship with the artist, which I can tell you, is a nice thing.

Another way to buy inexpensive art is at open studios. Most towns have them. You get to see the work in the artist's studio, and talk directly with the artist about their work. Many towns in Massachusetts sponsor artist open studio days; you can find listings with dates and locations here www.artistlink.org/?q=spacetoolbox/forartists/openstudios.

All during the warm weather, there are art fairs, often held in the town center, on the green, if there is one. I personally find the art exhibited there typically a little academic and predictable, so after a quick look, I wander away to the ice cream stand, which is where my husband really wants to be. But these fairs are worth a look--you never know . . .

Several of the artists I've showcased here have exhibited at the Concord Art Center, which exhibits truly fine work, as opposed to some cooperatives, whose artists' work doesn't seem all that imaginative, challenging, or daring. I want the art I collect to display originality in the subject, technique, point of view, materials, etc. I want to stop every now and then as I pass it in my home and take a good look at it again.

Galleries can be intimidating, not known for warmth and friendliness, which is why I want you to check out 13 Forest Street Gallery (http://www.13forest.com), which isn't on Forest Street, but on Massachusetts Avenue in Arlington, Mass. (That's a photo I took in their Gallery, above. A couple of others are below.) This gallery carries every type of art you could desire, and the owners, Marc Gurton and Meryl Perlson, are knowledgeable, friendly, and very interested in the work they show, and in their artists. And they actually enjoy intereacting with gallery visitors. They have frequent exhibits. and their prices are very reasonable. Contact them at info@13forest.com.

Sarah Alexander: Botanical Close-ups

By Lynette Benton on June 5, 2009 1:53 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

Sarah Chin. Lanterns Summers End sized.jpg

Chinese Lanterns (Summer's End)

I first saw the art of Sarah Alaexander at the Audobon Wildlife sanctuary at Broadmoor in Natick, Massachusetts, after a chilly, but happy tramp over the paths with my husband. Joe's a nature-loving landscaper, so when we spied a room exhibiting naturalistic botanical art, we raced each other to it. The exhibit was large, the walls covered with paintings by this daughter of a British mother, who grew up surrounded by English gardens. She has been honored by numerous exhibitions and awards--no surprise. I returned to the Broadmoor exhibit to buy one of her works, but by the time I got there, it had been sold. I told a friend about Sarah's work; my friend promptly went to Holliston Mills and purchased two paintings.

Sarah's work represents a birds' eye view of the landscape. Just look at those gorgeous colors and highlights in Chinese Lanterns, above. Among the aspects of Sarah's work that appealed to me is the work's resistance to "prettifying." The artist has depicted flowers, seeds, and weeds so that they are beautiful, but still natural. The vivid colors of Coneheads, below, jump out at the viewer, while a ghostly substance waves around the coneheads.

Coneheads

Sarah's talents are all the more remarkable, since she suffers from Grave's disease, which affects her vision, often causing her to see double. She writes that compensating for this has led her to look very closely at nature, which explains why so many of her images are close-ups.

Sarah has just wrapped up a number of exhibitions, but she will be participating in a 3-person show at the Norfolk Library (in Massachusetts) this coming August. Take a look at her web site (www.wanderingmindstudio.com) to see more work by this sensitive and prolific artist, and find out about her other upcoming exhibits. Contact her at wanderingmind1@netzero.com. But don't try to buy Chinese Lanterns. I'm after that one myself.

Ekua Holmes: An artist of dramatic contrasts

By Lynette Benton on June 5, 2009 1:11 PM | 1 Comment | No TrackBacks

I met Ekua Holmes many years ago, although I can't remember where. Over the years, however, I have enjoyed seeing her art at numerous exhibitions, and wanted to include it in this blog.

After I took a look at the art on ther web site (www.ejdesignsonline.com/gallery.html), I decided that her work reminded me of Romare Beardon's, the famous collagist. When I mentioned this speculation to her, she expanded my ideas about those who inspired her. Jacob Lawrence has influenced her work more than Beardon, but she does detect Beardon's influence in her work. Of this influence, she says, "Probably just an osmosis of looking at and loving African American art for so many years and the fact that we both work in collage."

Lawrence didn't create collages, but like Lawrence's paintings, Ekua's art features intense, primary colors. Her art is fearlessly bold, yet personal and intimate, as you can see from the two examples below. It "honors the past. It rescues the discarded and forgotten. It lifts up relationships, especially the family," as she has been lifted up.

Newsy Neighbors

Sankofa (below) looks like the profile of a young boy. The texture is thoughtfully lovely, the tones subtle and complementary. Again, the work is intimate, personal.

Most of Ekua's art is priced out of the range of this blog, but these are examples of her more affordable works. (Note that she works in many media, so check out her web site.)

Her work is included in a group show of African American Artists at the Gallery Sol & Bartolome in Santiago de Compostela, Spain during June, 2009. (Note that she works in many media.)

For more information about Ekua Holmes's art, you can contact her at ekuaholmes@gmail.com or 617.262.1988.

Lots More Photography: Maggie Hsu (W.W. King)

By Lynette Benton on May 23, 2009 8:54 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

Peony White

On a jaunt to the Winchester Library, I wandered into a small room reserved for quiet meetings and, apparently, art exhibits. Photographs by Maggie Hsu (W.W. King) hung on the walls. The first one that struck me was of a White Peony (above), in part because peonies are among my very favorite flowers (they are so rich, highly scented, and "overdressed"), and because I drawn to the photograph's bold detail. Maggie Hsu rendered her flower as Georgia O'Keefe did hers: up close and massive. At the same time, the image has an abstract quality to it; it could almost have tricked me into believing it represented erupting ice floes in the Arctic.

Maggie Hsu began taking photographs in earnest around 2001. She likes to make " a good image that's different;" depicting a flower, in black and white, from this perspective certainly is different. The effect is lavishly painterly. Her technique is digital; she feels it allows her to be more creative.

Red Barn (above) is, not surprisingly, a prize winner: the New England Camera Club Council awarded it a medal for Best New England Entrant in its 2008 Color Projected Image exhibition. The impact of this photo stopped this viewer in her tracks. Reminding me of those threads of sugar that master bakers create (though I associate this with a cool, rather than sweet, taste), the snow provides an outline for the barn, which appears precariously nestled against the trees.

I've always loved the irony of a photographer photographing another photographer. That's what we've got in Two Photographers, above. With its stark contrasts, the photo conveys a sense of absorbed, expansive isolation.

This photograph of Burano, Italy (near Venice), is a nocturnal version of a watercolor that hangs in my living room. It's interesting that there's a place in Italy that resembles what might be some secret corner of a Caribbean Island, because I didn't expect colorful houses in Italy. The reflections on the canal water are beautifully eerie. And the shapes of the boats and their reflections carry the eye to the back of the photo. This is a lovely work by Hsu; trust me: the reproduction here doesn't do it justice.

Maggie Hsu has many photos, and they are worth seeing in the flesh. Her work will be exhibited at Holyoke Center at Harvard University in Cambridge from July 24 - August 26, 2009, and during October at Lincoln Library in Lincoln, Massachusetts. Go take a look.

You can contact Maggie at hsuemail@yahoo.com.

Taking a Look at Photography 1

By Lynette Benton on April 17, 2009 4:49 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

I've been boning up on art photography to expand my limited--okay, my non-existent--knowledge of the medium by reading The Art of Collecting Photography, by Laura Noble. It's a good book for someone like me, who loves photography, but has never felt fully comfortable collecting it, or even discussing it with any confidence.

The book contains information on the very recent place of photography in the history of art-making, and its difficult acceptance as a fine art medium. Included are impressive works by well-known photographers, such as Dorothea Lange, Alfred Stieglitz, and Edward Steichen, as well as photographers mostly famous to those in the know. It contains a glossary that explains what's meant by those terms we see at photography exhibits but don't understand: gelatin silver print, silver bromide print, and one of my favorites, photogravure. (It sounds so esoterically old-fashioned.) There's also advice for collectors, as on any number of web sites.

MARK HOPKINS

My husband Joe and I saw photos by Mark Hopkins at a recent exhibit at the Concord Art Association, and were immediately drawn to his ability to render realistic objects and phenomena as abstract works of art. Take a look at Foam Aswirl, the first image above. (Note: Don't be fooled. A certain amount of lovely clarity is lost due to resizing all these images.) If I didn't know this dynamic image was of water, I might guess it represented gases floating up from some exotic planet. I love the way force and motion are captured--I rave about this wave.

Eelgrass Motion, the second image above, takes us close to the flora we see in ponds, when we take the time to look. Hopkins has a series of photos depicting frost on window panes. The third one aboveÂ (Frost 12) is just one. In the original, the ice sparkles in a way that couldn't be captured, once I resized this image to fit here. The fourth image above is Pondweed, one of Joe's favorites. In the original, the colors and pronounced sense of depth in this stunning photo jump out. Yet the photo has a calming effect.

I wish I could insert more of Hopkins' photos, like the Great Blue Herons, here, but I can't. So to see more of his work, go to www.concordart.org, click on Previous Exhibits. On the next page, click on Coleman Gallery, then select Mark Hopkins, under 2009. He can also be reached at mopkins@verizon.net. All of his photos are $250 or less, framed!

Cities and Towns (3)

By Lynette Benton on March 28, 2009 7:50 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

Here's one final entry about artists who portray cities and towns in their own unique ways. Gerald Schwartz's art caught my eye as soon as I saw it on dailypainters.com. (Check out this site to see nearly every variety of contemporary art you can imagine.)

Schwartz paints cities (as well as other subjects outside the purview of this particular posting). His nighttime scenes employ intense colors as well as techniques to depict the nocturnal, that are completely mysterious to me, a layperson. I only know that he creates evocative images that nostalgically remind me of my early years in New York.

In the first image above, the artist uses bright lights, intense colors and tight depictions of the taxis and buildings to suggest the crowding of a hopping downtown area on a party night. I can almost hear the sounds of impatient car horns.

In the second image,the street is all but deserted, the reflections from the shrouded street lights making the area seem almost ghostly, in spite of the bold neon of the bar sign.

The last two images (sold a long time ago!) move me a great deal. I love the way night and fog and activity are portrayed.Â

See works by Schwartz at:Â www.dailypainters.com/artists/artist_gallery/1038/Gerald-Schwartz. Be forewarned: many of his reasonably-priced paintings, including the cityscapes, are already sold. So check back at his site often.

Cities and Towns (2)

By Lynette Benton on March 6, 2009 9:28 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

PERLHalsted.Lake.jpg

PERL Highway57.jpg

PERL TowardsNewOrleans.jpg

My last posting discussed ways that artists depict urban and some suburban landscapes and I mentioned that my husband and I are drawn to those paintings that convey a certain sense of emptiness and mystery. You've probably seen "Early Sunday Morning," a well-known work by Edward Hopper, a master of this style. Even when his paintings include humans (for example, in "Night Hawks"), there is an undeniable quality of isolation surrounding them.

I don't remember how I first came across the work of Karen Perl (karenperl.com), a Chicago watercolor and oil painter, but I was immediately struck by the silence and perhaps dread in her urban series. These paintings instruct us about the places we live and visit--and that we might lose to decay, demolition, or far more serious and irreversible threats. The scenes are satisfyingly pared down almost to abstraction. Though they represent Chicago, they could be almost anywhere. (See "Halstead Lake," 1^st image above.)

Her "Disappear" series is particularly haunting. In some of the paintings in this suite, I'm reminded of Hopper's Early Sunday Morning, because the areas depicted seem as though during a workday, they would be populated by active people going about their business. They would be energetic. Yet, in her treatments, only the streets, buildings, and other symbols of city life appear, as if in a mirage. In other paintings, there is a definite sense that the area has been abandoned--either by choice or accident. The images are very thought-provoking and unnerving, as if the population has fled, or is hiding behind close doors and windows, frightened.

Karen's watercolors are less unsettling, taking a long, and not incidentally, "green" view of a road. These are beautiful works, yet in "Highway 57" (2^nd image above), the sunny sky seems about to be overcome by clouds. "Towards New Orleans" (3^rd image above) is one I like very much, but still, perhaps because of the devastation that that city has undergone in recent years, it too, is a little sad.

The watercolors are all in the "affordable range; that is, around $250.

Karen also paints pets and classical images, which you can see on her web site. Her work will be exhibited in November, 2009 at Packer Schopf Gallery, 942 West Lake Street, Chicago, 60607, 312-226-8984. If you live in the area, try to get over there.

Call Karen on her cell: 312-504-2800 or email her at: karen@karenperl.com

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