Meet the Artist Archive
Archive of past Meet the Artist events
View past Meet the Artist events with the Guild and our fine artists in informal presentations of their work, process, inspiration and tools.
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Please CLICK HERE for the most current Meet the Artist events.
Meet the Artist
Shany Porras
Abstract Painter
Tuesday, April 26, 2022, at 3 pm
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Co-Presented with:
Lenox Library, Lenox
Bushnell Sage Library, Sheffield
Berkshire Athenaeum, Pittsfield
Ramsdell Library, Housatonic
Mason Library, Great Barrington
Zoom link:
Join on Zoom
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Meeting ID: 811 2314 7255
Password: 609196
Shany Porras' abstract paintings visually translate what one experiences through music. She started studying classical music when she was young, allowing her to enjoy music into her adulthood. As a visual artist, she "sees" music as an abstract language, and she translates music to paintings, much in the same way she would translate one language to another.
Shany chooses music that is inspirational to her, selecting topics such as today's popular or politically charged music, orchestral and chamber music, or music from her home country of Venezuela. Each painting is unique to each musical piece. Her selection of mediums, including acrylic paint, graphite, wax crayons, ink, spray paint, found objects, etc., hinges on her interpretation of the language of music.
Her art is deeply influenced by Bauhaus and the American abstract painters of the 20th century, borrowing from their techniques and applying them as needed to interpret music.
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Shany Porras has a B.A. and a B.F.A. from Rice University in Houston, Texas. At Rice, Shany started as an architecture major, then transferred into the Fine Art program after her sophomore year. She focused on painting and lithography, establishing a foundation of abstract art.
Shany's paintings have been selected into juried shows such as the Connecticut Academy of Fine Art's annual juried exhibition and Fountain Street Gallery's annual call for art. Shany currently maintains a studio in Pittsfield, MA, and actively shows across New England and New York City. Shany is an associate member of the National Association of Women Artists (NAWA). Fountain Street Gallery in Boston represents Shany Porras, and her artwork may also be seen at www.ShanyPorrasArt.com.
Meet the Artist
Keith Emerling
Oil and Watercolor Painter
Tuesday, May 24, 2022, at 3 pm
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Co-Presented with:
Lenox Library, Lenox
Bushnell Sage Library, Sheffield
Berkshire Athenaeum, Pittsfield
Ramsdell Library, Housatonic
Mason Library, Great Barrington
Zoom link:
Join on Zoom
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Meeting ID: 825 5510 3471
Password: 497517
Join Artist, author, and culinary creative, Keith Emerling for a Meet the Artist presentation with the Guild of Berkshire Artists. Keith will be sharing his paintings, in both oil and watercolor, two of his three books, a short video of his August 2021 exhibition at Lauren Clark Fine Art, a tour of his website, and other creative endeavors.
“Creating almost anything exhilarates me. My art has taken many forms including: painting, photography, writing, cooking, recipe creating, video, website creation, book design, publishing, and my newly discovered joy of beginning guitar and voice. All these expressions are unique as they revolve in a cycle that has revealed itself continuously throughout my life. When one pauses, the next cues up and plays.”
Meet the Artist
Nicole Irene
Mixed Media Artist
Tuesday, June 28, 2022, at 3 pm
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Co-Presented with:
Lenox Library, Lenox
Bushnell Sage Library, Sheffield
Berkshire Athenaeum, Pittsfield
Ramsdell Library, Housatonic
Mason Library, Great Barrington
Zoom link:
Join on Zoom
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Meeting ID: 834 8433 2572
Password: 682051
Art instructor, aspiring poet, and mixed media artist, Nicole Irene, creates out of her home in the Berkshire hills of western Massachusetts. A gem + mineral enthusiast and consciousness explorer, she believes in magic. Nicole Irene is moved by the beauty of the nocturnal sky, esoteric spirituality, astronomical phenomena, mysticism, and cosmology.
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Nicole Irene specializes in abstract geometrics, fluid applications, and reinventing our rich heritage of craft through employing artistic processes and embracing methods that lie outside the art historical canon. She manipulates unlikely combinations of ideal standard and unsophisticated materials that pry apart the hierarchies of artistic value.
Rebelling against conservative categorization and aesthetic conventions, Nicole Irene challenges notions of status, excess, and taste with a fresh and playful sense of experimentation.
Meet the Artist
Jill Gustavis
Painter
Tuesday, July 26, 2022, at 3 pm
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Co-Presented with:
Lenox Library, Lenox
Bushnell Sage Library, Sheffield
Berkshire Athenaeum, Pittsfield
Ramsdell Library, Housatonic
Mason Library, Great Barrington
Zoom link:
Join on Zoom
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Meeting ID: 816 8034 8805
Password: 687719
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Jill is a lifelong and self taught artist who currently focuses on watercolors. Many of her subjects include botanicals, landscapes, and still lifes depicted in a style that ranges from realistic to expressive. She is a Pittsfield native who now resides in Hancock with her husband and 2 cats and enjoys plein air painting along with hiking and biking.
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"I strive to create pieces that are expansive yet intimate, using color and value that push the sense of presence for the viewer.
My goal is less to create a realistic depiction of a specific scene and more of a real connection to the energy of the moment.
In turn, like a visual gratitude practice, paying close observation to these moments, and studying their personalities, cultivates a genuine love of the constant flow of beauty in everyday life."