TAM NOVEMBER 2025

THE ARTFUL MIND

BERKSHIRE’S MONTHLY ART MAGAZINE FOR PROMOTING ARTISTS TO THE NEXT LEVEL & BEYOND | IN PRINT & FREE SINCE 1994

NOVEMBER 2025

MARY ANN PALERMO

PHOTOGRAPH BY LEE EVERETT

IN PRINT SINCE 1994

NOVEMBER 2025

THE ARTFUL MIND

It all starts with an idea. Ideas are important.

Ideas stimulate the create mind. Ideas keep us alive .

From concept to fruition. Communication and ideas

sets us on the path for a very-merry journey. —-HCB

JOANE CORNELL

FINE JEWELRY

Interview with Lindy Smith Photographer ... 8

Interview with Mary Ann Palermo

Jazz Vocalist / Songwriter / Performer

International Recording Artist & Grandmother

Photography by Lee Everett and

Sam Backhaus Photography ...18

Interview with Lori Bradley

Painter: Alternative Realism ... 26

Richard Britell | FICTION

Valeria and the Ants CHAPTER 6 ... 39

Diaries of Jane Gennaro

Mining My Life .... 40

Publisher Harryet Candee

Copy Editor Elise Francoise

Burma Ruby band 22kt / mixed gold bands

COMMISSION ORDERS WELCOMED

Hand Forged Designs

www.JoaneCornellFineJewelry.com

9 Main St. Chatham, NY

Contributing Photographers

Edward Acker Lee Everett Bobby Miller

Contributing Writers

Richard Britell Jane Gennaro

Third Eye Jeff Bynack

Distribution Ruby Aver

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THE ARTFUL MIND NOVEMBER 2025 • 1

Erika Larskaya

“Enchantment” 48”x 48” mixed media on canvas.

"As an abstract artist, I search for ways to represent the invisible, subtle, and unexpressed.

I am driven to lay out fleeting and intangible experiences on physical surfaces.”

Erika Larskaya Studio at 79 Main St. Torrington, CT www.erikalarskaya.art

2 • NOVEMBER 2025 THE ARTFUL MIND

CALENDAR of EVE NTS

NORMAN ROCKWELL MUSEUM

9 Glendale Rd, Stockbridge, MA

Shine a Light: The Art and Life of Deb Koffman

Through June 7, 2026

Deb Koffman (1956–2021) was an artist, author,

and mindfulness advocate whose vibrant,

text-based works combined wit, compassion,

and visual warmth. Born in Binghamton,

New York, she settled in the Berkshires in 1988—

a move that marked a turning point in her life

and creative practice.

510 WARREN STREET GALLERY

510 Warren St, Hudson, NY

Sun Stroke: New works by Peggy Reeves

November 7-30, 2025

Reception: Saturday, November 8, 3-6pm

ART

510 WARREN STREET GALLERY

510 Warren st, Hudson NY

518-822-0510 / 510warrenstgallery@gmail.com

Thru Nov 2: “MORE”: Anna Cypra Oliver paintings

ART ON MAIN

Main St, West Stockbridge, MA

Thru Nov 30: Plein Air Exhibit; Dec 4-28, Reception

Dec 6: Holiday Small Works Show

BECKET ARTS CENTER

7 Brooker Hill Rd, Becket , MA

413-623-6635 office@becketartscenter.org

Sean McCusker: Live Painting Demo: Nov. 9, 16, 23

& 30 @ 1pm

BERKSHIRE BOTANICAL GARDEN

5 West Stockbridge Rd, Stockbridge, MA

413-298-3926 BerkshireBotanical.org

Thru Nov 30: Flock: Watercolor Paintings by

Robin Crofut-Brittingham

BERNAY FINE ART

296 Main st Gt Barrington, MA

413-645-3421

Thru Nov 30: Two To Tango Two; Holiday Show

opens Dec 6 and run thru Jan 18.

CARRIE HADDAD GALLERY

622 Warren St, Hudson, NY

info@carriehaddadgallery.com

Thru Nov 16: Objects of Affection; Nov 21 - Jan 18:

Landscape Exhibit

THE CLARK ART INSTITUTE

225 South St, Williamstown, MA

413-458-2303

Nov 22 - May 31, 2026: Raffaella Della Olga: Typscripts;

Dec 20 - Mar 8, 2026: Shadow Visionaries:

French Artists Against the Current, 1840-70

CLOCK TOWER ARTISTS’ STUDIOS & GALLERY

75 S. Church St, 3rd fl, Pittsfield, MA

clocktowerartists.com

A collective of working artists, see website

for artists and open studio visits.


FUTURE LAB(S) GALLERY

43 Eagle St, North Adams, MA

Nov 7-29: Reception: Nov 7, 6-8pm: Dawn Nelson:

Stories and Artwork inspired by Ancestors from

Family, Friends and Neighbors, ‘All In The Same

Boat” Talk: Nov 23, 2-3pm. Closing Nov 29, 6-8pm.

GALLERY 13 1/2

13 1/2 Grove St, Adams, MA

Grou Exhibit displaying the creative work of over 17

artists who support and collaborate with The Old Mill

Center by using upcycled materials in their work.

GALLERY NORTH

9 Eagle St, North Adams, MA

413-663-1509

Nov 1-29, Nov 7, 5-7pm: Carlos Caicedo and

Ann Scott

GREYLOCK GALLERY

71 Sprig St, Williamstown, MA

413-884-6926

Oil paintings, landscapes and whimsical metal sculptures-traditional

and contemporary art.

HOADLEY GALLERY

2 Church St, Lenox, MA

Contemporary fFine art and handcrafted objects

JD LOGAN FINE ART

Monterey, MA

Thru Dec 31: By appointment only studio visits:

Abstract Creations made with acrylics and mixed

media on both canvas and wood panels.

LAPIN CONTEMPORARY

60 Roberts Drive, Studio 308, North Adams, MA

Contemporary works of art

LAUREN CLARK FINE ART

684 Main St, Gt Barrington, MA

Lauren@LaurenClarkFIneArt.com

Fine art, glass, sculpture and paintings

MAD ROSE GALLERY

3 Main St, Millerton, NY (Main Gallery)

Thru Dec 31: Through A Lens, A Painting:

Lorenzo Minoli.

MASS MoCA

1040 MASS MoCA WAY, Hunter Center,

North Adams, MA info@massmoca.org

Thru Jan 4, 2026: Dirty & Disorderly: Contemporary

Artists on Disgust.

MCLA GALLERY

375 Church St, North Adams, MA

Thru Jan 4, 2026: Ecologies of the In\Between

NORMAN ROCKWELL MUSEUM

9 Glendale Road, Stockbridge, MA

413-298-4100

Nov 8-April 6, 2026: Jazz Age Illustration

SANDISFIELD ARTS CENTER

5 Hammertown Rd. Sandisfield, MA

sandisfieldartscenter.org / 413-258-4100

Oct 18-Dec 7: UNVEILING: Group show featuring artists

working with portraiture across a range of mediums

and looks at the ideas of portraiture as more

than a reprentation of physical likeness, but more

deeply into an inner world

SHANY PORRAS VISUAL ARTIST

Hancock Shaker VIllage, Laundry and Machine Shop

1843 W Housatonic St, Pittsfield, MA

Thru Nov 30: Solo Show: Simple Gifts: VIsual Translations

of Shaker Hymns and Copland Music

SOHN FINE ART

69 Church St, Lenox, MA

413-551-7353 info@sohnfineart.com

Thru Jan 12, 2026: The Color of Memory: Valdo Bailey,

John Clark, Richard Alan Cohen, Yvette Lucas

SOUTHERN VERMONT ARTS CENTER

860 SVAC Drive / West Rd, Manchetser VT

SVAC.ORG

Through January 4, 26: Into the Abstract: Paul

Gruhler and Neha Vedpathak

SPENCERTOWN ACADEMY

790 Rte 203, Spencertown, NY

Nov 15 - Dec 7: Curator as Artist IV

SUSAN ELEY FINE ART

433 Warren St., Hudson, NY

Thru Oct 30: Do You Hear Me-One Day We Will Fly

Susan Lisbin & Sasha Hallock

In and around the Berkshires NOVEMBER+

THE FOUNDRY

2 Harris St., West Stockbridge, MA

Saturday November 29, 7:30pm

Klezmer Night with Itay Dayan and his Band

Rob Zombie, Hungry Freaks, Fonzarelli, 2020

MORRISON GALLERY

60 North Main St, Kent CT

Through November 16, 2025

Artist Rob Zombie “WHAT LURKS ON CHANNEL X?”

TIVOLI ARTISTS GALLERY

60 Broadway, Tivoli, NY

Reception Nov 22, 5-7pm: Holiday Show and Sale

THE WIT GALLERY

27 Church St, Lenox MA

Contemporary Fine Art and Sculpture

MUSIC | EVENTS

ASTON MAGNA FAMILY DAY!

St. James Place

352 Main St, Gt Barrington, MA

Dec 13, 3pm: Aston Magna Music Festival‘s FREE

Family event for young people of all ages; Dec 14:

3pm: In Dulci Jubilo: Traditional and contemporary

acappella carols by Bach, Rachmaninoff, Lauridsen,

Randall Thompson and others.

CLOSE ENOUNTERS WITH MUSIC

Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center

14 Castle St, Gt Barrington, MA

Dec 15, 4pm: Vivace Chamber Orchestra

DREAM AWAY LODGE

1342 County Rd, Becket, MA

Nov 22, 8pm: Jude Roberts, writes and performs folk

songs.

HUDSON HALL

327 Warren St, Hudson, NY hello@hudsonhall.org

Nov 15, 7pm: Natalie Merchant with Erik Della Penna

MAHAIWE PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

14 Castle St, Gt Barrington, MA

Nov 15, 8pm: Dan Tyminski Band, Bluegrass

MASS MoCA

1040 MASS MoCA WAY, Hunter Center,

North Adams, MA info@massmoca.org

Nov 22, 8pm: Maddie Winer

RACE BROOK LODGE

864 S Undermountain Rd, Sheffield, MA

Nov 14, 8pm: BeauSoleil Avec Michael Doucet

SANDISFIELD ARTS CENTER

5 Hammertown Rd, Sandisfield, MA

Nov 28: 4pm: Special Concert: Josh Luxon-Robinson

Returns.

STOCKBRIDGE CHRISTMAS CONCERT

Dec 20 at the First Congregational Church

4 Main St, Stockbridge, MA

STUDIO 9

Nov11, 7pm: Omar Sosa: Quarteto Americanos Live

Concert Recording Event (Night 1)

Featuring Josh Jones, Sheldon Brown, and Ernesto

Mazar Kindelán

TANGLEWOOD

297 West St, Lenox, MA

Nov 14, 7pm: TLI Presents: Catalyst Quartet performs

“Cinematic Refuge”; Nov 28: TLI Jazz: Ted Rosenthal

Trio with Special Guests – Classics

Reimagined; Dec 19 /20, 7pm: TLI Presents: BSO

Brass

EDUCATION

BERKSHIRE ART CENTER

13 Willard Hill Road, Stockbridge MA

Make Art, Buy Art! Visual art classes, workshops,

events year-round for all ages/skill levels. Shop artwork

by local artists, discounted art supplies, books

CLARK ART INSTITUE


Nov 5: Works on Paper Highlights Talk, Free series

Nov 19: Clark Art’s Collage Club

HOLIDAY CANDLE MAKING WORKSHOP

160 Forrest Park Ave, Adams, MA

Nov 9, 12-2pm: Coconut Soy wax using nontoxic

aromas all the while decorating with festive wax

melts

MAD ROSE GALLERY

3 Main St, Millerton, NY

info@madrosegallery.com

Nov 6, 6pm, 13 & 20: Sandipity/Words of Beauty

Workshop: Your Story In A Unique Form, with Artist

Fedora Maier

NORTH ADAMS CLAY

189 Beaver St, Beaver Mil, North Adams, MA

northadamsclay.com

Classes and workshops on the website

VENTFORT HALL MANSION &

GILDED AGE MUSEUM

104 Walker St, Lenox, MA

Nov 9: Astrology Workshops; Nov 16: Introduction

to Tarot Card Reading Workshops

FILM

CLARK ART INSTITUTE


6pm: 11/06: The Hitch-Hiker (1943)

11/13: The Sweet Smell of Success (1957)

11/30: Pickup on South Street (1953)

12/04: Leave Her to Heaven (1954)

12/11: Kiss Me Deadly (1955)

12/18: The Third Man (1949)

IMAGES CINEMA

50 Spring st, Williamstown MA

413-458-1039 imagescinema.org

Nov 7-13: Blue Moon

TSL TIME & SPACE LIMITED

434 Columbia St, Hudson, NY

fyi@timeandspace.org

Nov 16, 1pm: Met Opera in HD: Giacomo Puccini’s

LA BOHEME (encore); Nov 29, 7pm: National Theatre

of London / NT Live:The Fifth Step

Calendar listing submissions

artfulmind@yahoo.com

Read current and past issues on

ISSUU.COM

YUMPU.COM

Visit:

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Hard copies available at your favorite shop


FRONT STREET GALLERY

Sheffield Farm Road, Oil on canvas, 20” x 24”

Painting classes on Monday and Wednesday Mornings 10-1pm

at the studio in Housatonic and Thursday mornings 10am - 1pm out in the field.

Also available for private critiques. Open to all. Please come paint with us!

Gallery hours: Open by chance and by appointment anytime

413. 274. 6607 (gallery) 413. 429. 7141 (cell)

413. 528. 9546 (home) www.kateknappartist.com

Front Street, Housatonic, MA

Carolyn M. Abrams

"The Yellow Umbrella

Oils/cold wax medium

Atmospheric and Inspirational Art

www.carolynabrams.com

MEMBER GUILD OF BERKSHIRE ARTISTS


Lindy Smith, Common Evening Primrose, Quadriptych, Illinois, 2006

LINDY SMITH

PHOTOGRAPHER

“I am an artist in spite of myself.”—LS

Interview by Harryet Candee

Photographs courtesy of the Artist

I first met Lindy years ago at her photography

studio in Housatonic, MA, where she introduced

me to the intricate process of platinum printmaking.

This experience deepened my appreciation for

her art. As a meaningful gesture of our friendship,

she gifted me a print that featured a hand-brushed

border that authenticates the platinum process and

the image of a rusty big-ol’automobile. Lindy now

lives in her home state of Iowa. The impact of her

work continues to resonate with me.

Lindy is set to visit the Berkshires, where she will

bring her latest book, "Leaves and Light: Sunprints

of American Native Plants" (Prospecta

Press), available at The Bookstore in Lenox, MA.

She will be signing copies on November 29th. In

her book, she chronicles her journey with historic

printing methods, having collected plants from her

property to create sunprints on sensitized papers

coated with platinum or palladium. This collection

showcases her works over the last 25 years.

Lindy will be visiting the Berkshires in November

and introducing her latest book.


Lindy, can you explain your chosen quoted

words: “I am an artist in spite of myself.”

There have been long fallow periods in my creative

life. At Bennington College, photography studentsof

which I was one- were excluded from the art department.

I was negatively influenced by that for

years. Since my documentary work couldn’t be considered

art, it must not be of value, so was boxed up

and shoved under the bed. After college I channeled

my creative energy into making props for window

displays and doing interior design, always skirting

around the issue: my inability to make the leap to

thinking of myself as an artist.

Your photography has shifted directions from

documenting American ranch life to focusing on

nature, specifically the various aspects of native

plants. What sparked your interest in this new

direction?

In 1992 I was witness to something that changed my

life. I tagged along to a three-day horsemanship

clinic in Wyoming being given by the great horseman

Buck Brannaman (the Horse Whisperer). This

was long before Buck became famous, and the students

were local ranchers and their kids. I was immediately

fascinated. I began taking pictures again

and didn’t stop for ten years. I started riding and participating

in clinics with Buck and his early mentor,

Ray Hunt. I traveled around the West getting to

know ranching families and the Western way of life.

It was like a very extended boot camp, terrifying and

humiliating, exposing myself as a greenhorn in front

of folks who had grown up in this way of life. But I

kept at it and paid attention. It was a great lesson in

authenticity. I gradually earned the respect of horse

people who became dear friends. I later realized that

among the myriad of things I was learning from

them, one of the most important was overcoming

fear and to not quit. I was able to introduce myself

as a photographer, although I still couldn’t utter the

word artist.

A couple of years later I visited a gallery in Santa

Fe that specialized in 19th century photo processes.

Seeing some of that work, I instantly wanted to do

Lindy Smith, Beak Grass, Kallitype, Iowa, 2010

Lindy Smith, Prairie Drop Seed, Kalltype, Wyoming, 2005

it myself. The evocative dreamy tonal quality of the

images spoke to me. I taught myself some of those

early processes and learned to make enlarged negatives

for contact printing. For a few years I tried to

follow accepted rules for how those images should

look. But as I began to stray from those rules, I

started to feel much more creative.

By 1998, my work had been taken on by that Santa

Fe gallery and later a gallery in New York. In 2000

I was approached by a publisher about doing a book

of some of the Western work. The publishing experience

was not a happy one for me. When the book

came out, I was devastated by the poor production

quality. I felt this would disappoint the people who

had trusted me enough to have their lives made public.

The book still has diehard fans but at the time I

felt I needed to step away from my camera.

Shortly before this, my then husband and I had purchased

a run down farm across the road from Massachusetts.

It had been abandoned for a number of

years and the pastures were very overgrown. I was

spending more time at home and started exploring

the property with the dogs and horses. One day I had

an epiphany: I was surrounded by really interesting

plants. I wanted to know more about them. In learning

more about them I wanted to make images of

them. But not with a camera. I soon realized this

would be my next project and that I could begin right

outside my door. Believe it or not I had not at that

time heard of Anna Atkins, the 19th century British

amateur scientist and photographer who made images

of seaweeds under sunlight. But somehow I

found my way to printing those interesting plants

outside in 19th century fashion- the sun as the light

source, the plant as the negative.

Tell us about some of the ways your perception

of beauty has evolved, particularly through the

use of sunprints, different papers, and the various

techniques you have explored along the way?

When I first began making the plant images, I was

programming myself to make traditional looking

botanical prints: usually a formal composition with

one recognizable plant. But as I went deeper into the

project the work became more experimental. I

played around with different chemical mixes and

tried out many different papers: cotton, linen, handmade,

French, Italian, English, Japanese. I was beginning

to realize that often the prints I was happiest

with were less technically perfect. This was a huge

step forward for me. I was finally able to stop analyzing

the work by traditional standards; the judgmental

voices were gone from my head. I was

starting to call myself an artist.

Can you go into the step by step process a bit of

what it takes to find a native plant you love and

then create a photographic image of it?

Initially, I was thrilled by nearly every plant I saw.

Each foray was like Christmas. As time went by and

I was more educated about what I was looking atnative?

Introduced? Invasive?- I became much more

selective.

Continued on next page...

THE ARTFUL MIND NOVEMBER • 9

Lindy Smith, Mary's Porch, Berkshire County, Platinum print, 1996


To the point of struggling with disappointment when

first visiting a new environment if I didn’t immediately

land on a plant I wanted, in the sea of greens.

It is hard to say what would ultimately catch my

eye- structure? A plant I didn’t recognize, or one I

knew and cherished and wanted to revisit?

I am a big fan of those giant blue Ikea bags and

would head out with a couple of those to collect, returning

to the studio/garage/basement/barn in whatever

state- wherever I had been invited to stay. I

would pore through the bundles of plants and begin

to formulate a plan. I learned early on that many

plants have definite opinions about how they want

to be portrayed and my compositions in that regard

became collaborations. If I had to fight the plant for

an image it usually wasn’t a successful one.

Once the composition was determined, the paper I

had previously coated with the mixed sensitizer was

sandwiched with the plant between large sheets of

glass- or plexiglass for the largest images, as when I

constructed 3 six foot Cyanotype kimonos for an exhibit

sponsored by the Des Moines Art Center. It was

all lugged outside and placed on trestles for anywhere

from under an hour to days. Exposure times

were very influenced by humidity, temperature, time

of day, time of year. Once I decided the image was

fully cooked, it would all come back inside to be developed.

I would work at long tables with 8-12 large

developing trays set up. If I was at an arts residency,

I would often develop at night until 1:00 or 2:00 in

the morning. Spaces I worked in often had a lot of

windows-or in undeveloped spaces like barns or garages,

cracks or doors that wouldn’t close- with light

most artists would be happy with. But I was always

trying to convert the spaces to have less light. Since

Kallitype is a silver based process it is sensitive to

light. So I would construct tarp tents in the darkest

corner and dry the developed images in those.

What interests you about native plants?

My focus has been on North American native plants,

and I have worked with onlya small slice of those

among endless species. But generally, I love the fact

that they were here long before we were and yet go

unnoticed by so many. They are all individuals.

Some are showy, some are more humble. They exist

(up to now anyway) whether we notice them or not.

Until recently, they have not been intentionally altered

by humans. They nourish and shelter countless

species of insects, birds and four legged creatures.

Knowing that now so many are in danger through

development, invasive plant species and climate

change is heartbreaking to me. Early on I came to

see this work as much conservation oriented as artistic.

After seeing images I have made, people often

say to me that they will never see plants the same

way again. Tom McGuane refers to this in his wonderful

preface to the book. They are no longer

viewed as weeds but as something precious and

memorable and worthy of protection.

I see a connection between photographing slices

of life in the Midwest and native vegetation; both

evoke a sense of impermanence, transformation,

and the passage of time. What connections do you

feel strongly about?

Photography for me has always been about connection.

My grandfather and father were avid amateur

photographers as were family members further back.

LINDY SMITH PHOTOGRAPHER

Lindy Smith, Great Blue Lobelia, Kallitype, Iowa, 2009

Lindy Smith, Cup Plant diptych, Cyanotype Illinois 2006

As a kid I was fascinated by those vintage imageswhere

and when they were made, the qualities of

light and dark and the relationships among the

people portrayed. I spent hours with those early images

and my parents encouraged my interest by giving

me a Brownie camera when I was seven, and my

father taught me to develop film. So yes, for me,

photography has a lot to do with memory and the inevitable

passage of time. Capturing a moment gives

us the illusion of control. Something has been preserved-

a moment that no longer exists- when someone

takes a photograph, and it has weight and

importance.

While studying in residency programs and learning

about these plants, what valuable information

did you bring home and feel prepared to work

with?

Residencies are very rarified environments. Your

time is completely your own. No one will interrupt

you. If you don’t want to stop for meals, they will

be delivered to your studio. If you want to work

through the night, no one will worry about you. The

gift of time includes a bedroom, staff to prepare your

food and keep your room clean and pick you up at

the airport if you don’t come by car. Engaging with

other residents about their successes and tribulations

often made me more clear about mine. Seeing and

reading other artists’ and writers’ work in progress

is one of the perks; I was at a residency in Wyoming

when Liz Gilbert was writing Eat Pray Love. She is

a very funny person and kept us entertained with

stories from her travels. It was cool to see the book

go out into the world and explode in popularity.

Returning home to life’s interruptions and obligations

was always a shock. Giving workshops with

students and speaking to groups sometimes helped

me with the transition. And of course, it was exciting

to work more in detail with what I had brought

home.

Kallitype print is a process based on iron salts

and silver, patented in 1889. It is more affordable

than platinum or palladium printing. In what instances

would you create this kind of print?

Once my prints became larger in scale I didn’t do

much platinum printing any longer. I don’t know

what the cost is now for a few fluid ounces but even

then it was astronomical. Palladium salts were somewhat

more affordable but those prints are often indistinguishable

in appearance from Kallitypes so it

made more sense for me to work in that process.

Kallitype is less stable than the other two but offered

me a bigger color range and a failed print was less

of a tragedy, being less expensive to produce. My

biggest concern with Kallitypes was that somehow

the images would alter in ultraviolet light on collectors’

walls. But I have left completed images under

direct sunlight for months at a time to see if there

would be any changes and they remained unaltered

so I feel confident they are archivally stable.

Plants left outdoors under glass for up to two

weeks are part of a process you engage with,

which you find to be “magical.” Can you explain

why you feel this way and at what stage of the

photography process this occurs?




Lindy Smith, Slender Cattail, Wyoming, 2005

Lindy Smith, Grapevine

Platinum Print, New York, 2003

Lindy Smith, Skunk Cabbage, New York


Lindy Smith, Old Car, Iowa, 1994

Bringing in an exposed print from outside was always

a thrill. I never knew what I was going to see

after removing the glass. Sometimes it would be unexpected

areas of color, or the plant would have

sweated in the heat of the day and created shadows

of itself, or there might be interesting scratches

where I had moved the plant over the coated surface

while composing, or there would be chew marks

from bugs on the leaves that I hadn’t noticed before.

There were a few instances where I experimented

with putting two sheets of identically coated paper

with the same type of plant outside then exposed and

brought inside at the same time; the images would

be radically different. Not much was predictable and

that was the magic for me.

When it comes to color in your prints, what do

you aim to achieve as a rule of thumb? And what

about the other processes you work with?

Aiming to achieve something specific is always a

mistake in these processes! I try hard not to be judgmental.

I try to remember what the Maharishi said

when I learned to meditate:

“No expectations, no anticipations.”

I notice that you appreciate the colors of nature,

as well as the natural patterns and designs. Wondering,

if you ever considered yourself as being

a naturalist or scientist?

I would never consider myself a naturalist or a scientist;

my knowledge barely skims the surface and I

tend to forget what I know! I would say that as the

mysteries of plants became more important in my

life and I formed emotional attachments to them and

shared that with other interested people, I also became

more of an artist.

In Iowa, reflecting on your upbringing, can you

describe what your childhood was like and what

it is like to return there to live now?

I grew up in Western Iowa. My parents were both

teachers. When my father wasn’t painting houses in

the summers to earn more money (everyone knows

teachers don’t make what they are worth), we as a

family would go on camping trips around the West:

Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota. I

know this was where I developed my affinity for the

West. Our parents would turn us loose to exploreclimb,

swim, collect rocks, leaves and pine cones.

One year we rescued a weak and skinny stray kitten

we named Blackie for where we found him in the

Black Hills of South Dakota. He lived a long and

happy life back in Iowa with his BFF, our cocker

spaniel Peppercorn Smith, and our rescued mourning

dove, Peeper.

We lived in a small town and the school K-12 was

a few blocks away. I would walk there with my

father before he would veer off to the high school

entrance and he would sometimes grill me about the

names of trees along our route. In high school one

year, my mother enrolled me for ceramics lessons at

a nearby university and would drive me there.

I was enamored of raku and the instructor as I remember

it used wild grasses for the reduction process.

Later, in college, I had a weaving instructor

who encouraged me to collect and incorporate wild

plants in the weaving I made. All these things certainly

became embedded in my memories and influenced

where I am now.

Regarding what Iowa is like now: as in so many

places, the cities thrive and the many of the rural

areas struggle.



Lindy Smith, Native Grasses

Cyanotype, Kimono, 6', 2014

Lindy Smith, Kentucky Coffee Tree, Iowa, 2014

Lindy Smith, Agave, Platinum print, Arizona, 2002



Lindy Smith, Jack in the Pulpit, Kallitype, New York, 2008

Jacket cover of Lindy’s book, Leaves and Light.

The environment has been massively degraded by

industrial agriculture. The prairies and oak savannas

that covered the state pre statehood are just a fraction

of what they were. But discovered pockets of

original prairie remnants are fiercely protected.

People are aware of the need to save and add to what

is left and there are more and more home gardeners

establishing native gardens, as I have, to encourage

pollinators of all descriptions. Farmers are doing the

same with pollinator strips in crops.

Regarding art and artists here: Mainframe Studios

downtown houses over 200 artist studios and is the

largest non profit studio collective in the country.

The Des Moines Art Center, which has three connecting

buildings, designed by Eliel Saarinen, I.M.

Pei and Richard Meier, and showcases exhibits from

artists worldwide. There are important pockets of

artists throughout the state, many who have come

from other states.

I came back to Iowa after over 30 years in the

Berkshires, after a divorce and the death of my

mother. Neither my father nor I were doing well and

it seemed like a good idea, although it took me years

to adjust. Living in New England, I missed the huge

skies and the prairie of the Midwest.

But here I miss the Berkshires and the artistic and

cultural environment that is sort of absorbed by osmosis,

and I still have friendships there that go back

decades. I try to get back at least annually and l’m

looking forward to the book party Matt Tannenbaum

is throwing at The Bookstore in Lenox in November.

Joe Wheaton will also be pulling together a slide

show of some of the images.

Will you return to studying people, places, and

objects in photography?

My home studio has a wall of negatives, most of

which have never been printed, including portraits

of many Berkshire creatives. I think more and more

often about visiting those files of negatives. If I live

long enough, I will!

If I don’t, maybe someone will discover them after

I’m gone and decide there is important historical material

there worth saving.

We will all be waiting to see you back in the Berkshires

with your new book.

Leaves and Light is 100 images of American native

plants made under sunlight across the country, with

a forward by author Tom McGuane. It is available

at The Bookstore in Lenox, MA —

And there will be a party Saturday November 29 at

5 p.m.!

My hope is that old friends and acquaintances will

stop by to say hello and have a glass of wine.

lindy.smith@gmail.com

lindy-smith-art.com


JANE GENNARO

Jane Gennaro is an artist, writer, and performer

based in New York City. Jane’s work has been

widely exhibited, performed, and broadcast. She

has been featured in the New York Times, New York

Magazine, and NPR among others. Her illustrated

column, "Mining My Life” appears monthly in The

Artful Mind magazine. Jane’s art studio is in Claverack,

NY.

Jane Gennaro —

www.janegennaro.com

shop.janegennaro.com

https://performingartslegacy.org/

WAKING UP TO A NEW DAY

FROM BREAKAWAY SERIES

MIXED MEDIA ON CANVAS, 36"X 48"

ERIKA LARSKAYA

Confinement and Breakaway examine the mental

state of struggle to make sense of our environment,

both physical and psychological. I incorporate childlike

drawing to represent nonconformity; the unadulterated

state before we get confined by rules,

commitment, insecurities, and other “add-ons.”

“I distress and repair parts of the painting, as we

do within ourselves. The drawings of floor plans and

elevations, which I use as a starting point, create a

sense of enclosure, which I expand by continuing

the lines outward, breaking the structural pattern.

This alters the sense of confinement, breaking away

from the [rigid, static] norm”.

Erika Larskaya —

https://www.erikalarskaya.art

DIGITAL ART: SHIMMY

RICHARD NELSON

Art is therapy for me. A good way of processing

my own personal baggage. I illustrate, in detail,

whatever particular ism that I am dealing with. It

helps me to see it and give it a face, so to speak. But

the nature of it is too personal to share openly, so I

obscure it until it is no longer discernible. I know

it's there, but only I know. It's very cathartic!

Richard Nelson —

nojrevned@hotmail.com



Photo: Lee Everett

MARY ANN PALERMO

JAZZ VOCALIST | SONGWRITER | PERFORMER | INTERNATIONAL RECORDING ARTIST & GRANDMOTHER

Singing and performing brings me joy. There’s an element of escape and liberation, too,

but also a connecting with the audience—of sharing the joy.” —MAP


Photography by Lee Everett & Sam Backhaus & courtesy of the Artist

Mary Ann Palermo performs in duos, trios, and

five- or six-piece ensembles across various venues

and events in the Berkshires of Massachusetts and

the New York and Connecticut Tri-State area. She

showcases her talent in multiple genres with a

strong focus on jazz. Her portfolio includes performances

at jazz festivals, concert series, and private

gatherings, where she captivates audiences.

Mary Ann, tell us about remembering your early

realization that music was going to be your main

focus?

I’d go out with friends to karaoke, and this must have

started after my daughter was old enough and I could

have a night out once in a while. People would tell

me that I could really sing, and before long I was

playing in public, with one of my first gigs at The

Lion’s Den as a solo performer, and then the gigs

were more often as a duo, and then with full bands.

This goes back to when there seemed to be a music

venue or two around every corner.

My first Jazz performance was at the Berkshires

Jazz Showcase, which is produced by Berkshire

Jazz.org.


Warming up your voice involves specific exercises

that you practice. What are some of these

exercises, and how do you modify them before a

performance compared to your daily practice?

How do I prep for a performance? Rest, hydration,

throat muscle relaxing exercises, and my herbal concoctions

along with spacing out performances. The

spacing out of performances with two days in between

doesn’t always happen but singing too much

and too frequently is a great way of ruining your

voice. Another important thing is to not always sing

in the same range constantly. Oh, and I’ll bring along

a mix of hot water, lemon, honey, and sometimes

ginger, but don’t tell anyone.

I’m interested in your role as a liturgical guitarist

and professional cantor. As a music director for

two churches in the Berkshires, I’d like to know

what your work entails. What differentiates this

role from your other performances?

For starters, providing music at Mass is not the same

as performing on stage, and it’s a matter of being part

of the communion, part of these parishes. It may

strike some people as funny, my working in the

churches and singing in nightclubs, but overwhelmingly

the support from the parishes has been heartwarming

and I’m grateful for all the kind words and

enthusiasm. I’m blessed to be part of it.

The liturgical guitar is a wonderful addition to religious

music and as cantor my voice is another instrument.

My responsibilities as music director

involve more than playing guitar and singing and includes

directing choirs and selecting the right liturgical

music to match the readings and liturgy. I love

learning the Latin chants, although these can be challenging,

but beautiful.

You are multi-talented and have experience as a

visual artist. When did your journey in art begin,

and what led you to focus on music professionally

instead of painting?

Well, the visual art interest started maybe in third

grade. I was constantly drawing, starting with my

fascination with Disney characters, animals and

wildlife, and landscapes, too, and these were apparently

grand works of art, at least according to the

principal, Sister Mary Magdelene. I always loved

my art classes, and all the way through high school,

In the Night, released in late 2024

by Averosa Records, presents old

Jazz standards and half-forgotten

classics of Jazz reimagined by

singer Mary Ann Palermo and

five-time Emmy winner Dave

Smith on Steinway grand piano.

where I took up acrylic and oil painting. I painted

and drew and worked with mixed media for a long

time, and I’d show in different galleries. Not long

after I moved to New Marlborough I opened up my

own gallery-store selling handmade local artists’

works, including my own paintings as well as those

by my daughter, Elizabeth Torsay-Wilson, who is a

wonderful photorealist painter.

My father loved music and sang all the time, and

there was always music in the house, or at least that’s

how I remember it. Some of my favorite memories

are when my father would take me to different Italian-American

clubs that wanted him to sing, and

there’s my six-year-old self, sitting on a bar stool in

my crinoline dress, watching my father, a cigarette

in one hand, a martini in the other, crooning Jazz

standards of the day. I’d have anisette cookies and

milk or a Shirley Temple and a cannoli, in case you

were wondering.

Music was life to him, and as the oldest of five

siblings, I was lucky enough to have these wonderful

moments. There’s a family story that the Tommy

Dorsey Band had asked him to come on as their

singer, but he was newly married, and life’s demands

were growing. The singer they ended up with, according

to the family lore, was Frank Sinatra.

All things considered, the real question might

rather be how could I resist the desire to sing.

You must lead an exciting and fulfilling life. It’s

no surprise, considering your creative side with

music and your residence in the Berkshires, a

beautiful area rich in culture, music, and art.

Could you describe your family life and what occupies

the rest of your day and evening when

you’re not working on your music?

Well, I do the Berkshire Shuffle, and always have,

like so many others. I’ve been a bank auditor, a real

estate agent, I’ve done featured hand-painted craft

piece work for Country Curtains back in the day. As

I’ve mentioned, I ran my gallery-store. I also make

jewelry, something I started after learning the craft

from a gifted friend. I’ve run a range of sole proprietor

businesses.

I also homeschooled my daughter, who today lives

nearby with her husband and three amazing granddaughters.

There’s a big vegetable garden every

summer, so there’s planting and pruning and weeding,

but that’s kind of interesting considering I’m a

certified herbologist and I can’t resist the urge to

make homemade tinctures.

Just thinking of all this makes me want to take a

nap! Not that I can—I’m getting ready for a weekend

show and putting the music selections together

for the two parishes.

One frustration is that my performance schedule

means I don’t get to see enough of other music performances.

I mean, really, I’ve only gone to one

evening at Tanglewood this summer!

While growing up, what inspirations influenced

you and sparked your desire to focus on your

voice, compose music, and perform?

As I’ve mentioned, a house full of music, and my

father taking such pleasure in singing, I think that

these factors are formative. My father told me once

on the way home that singing let his soul fly, and I

wanted to fly too. I loved to write poems—I think

that started in the third or fourth grade—and this

long practice eventually morphed into song lyrics.

Growing up, the world seemed full of music, pop

songs were brilliant, and rock music was often musically

complex, and all this inspiration somehow

carried through my time as a mother with a baby,

then toddler, and all the stages, but then suddenly, it

seems, there she is, a grown-up married woman with

children of her own.

Going to see performances and concerts always

drew out of me the sense that music had to be in my

life, and in an active way. Not that I let myself dwell

on that impulse, not while there were always other

things that are important, like family. Back then there

wasn’t much support for my pursuing music, except

from my daughter and some of my closest friends,

and when I had the chance, when I started performing

and writing songs, I felt like the rising phoenix.

I love it when my granddaughters see me perform

and see their pride—“That’s Nonni up there!” I believe

I’m helping them know it is important to pursue

their dreams, and that I’m modelling in some

way that a woman can push herself to chase her

dreams. That she can breathe!

Believing in yourself is crucial for any artist, as it

fuels your growth and persistence. With numerous

recordings and albums to your name, your

producer, Tom Teely, has been a vital support

throughout your journey. Tell us about how he

contributed to your music career?

Having the right producers and collaborators is crucial

to growth, and I’ve been very lucky in that regard.

Tom Teeley, who is well-known in the area, is

also widely known as a songwriter, performer, and

actor.



MARY ANN PALERMO Jazz Vocalist | Songwriter | Performer | International Recording Artist & Grandmother

Mary Ann Palermo’s upcoming album cover

He was a key cast member for George Harrison for

Beatlemania, both on Broadway and film and on

tour, and he’s written songs for Alice Cooper and

toured with Joe Jackson as singer-guitarist and with

Marshall Crenshaw, and he still goes out touring

with The Classical Mystery Tour, has released solo

work on A&M Records, and the list goes on.

As a producer Tom is creative, imaginative, and

meticulous. He pushes me to my best, and the collaboration

is fun, but the work is intense. For instance,

we’ll try my singing a phrase in a number of

ways, with different accents and stresses until we

figure out what works best, and I trust his instincts,

and he considers mine. He’s great at musical arrangement,

he’s a phenomenal songwriter, and his

instrumental skill is outstanding, providing guitar,

bass, piano, and synthesizer as needed, and even

vocal harmony or back-up. His musicality seems unlimited,

like when his arrangements of pop and rock

songs on my 2022 album Jazz on the Rocks are

transformed as Jazz Rock, Jazz Pop, Latin Jazz, Jazz

Blues, along with original music from each of us.

The work with Tom on my upcoming album

There’s A Place (Beatles Re-Imagined) has been an

adventurous process, especially given his deep

knowledge of the Beatles opus. What we did with

this work is right there in the album title—re-imagine

Beatles songs. For example, work on “The

Word,” one of the lesser-known Beatle songs, carries

a driving beat much more than the original, with

synth playing a big role. He’ll send me an early arrangement

and I’ll play it trying various vocal attacks,

and by the time I’m in the studio we’ll run

through it, Tom might talk about what he’d like to


add to a track or an idea for a new track, and I might

want to try it a couple of different ways. Sometimes,

as with “The Word,” just a couple of iterations can

do the trick, and that’s because Tom is fully invested

in the production of the song, and not simply a

recording engineer. “There’s a Place” is another

good example of what’s great about working with

Tom. This song was arranged with a more theatrical

tone, even dreamy, and the arrangement pushed me

to stretch my vocal range. The good news is that I

discovered my vocal range is more expansive than

I’d thought.

I’ve enjoyed other collaborations, too. My 2024

album, In the Night, was very different in style than

the work I do with Tom. In the Night is a flashback

to an early form, the American Songbook carried by

piano and voice, where Dave Smith served both as

the Steinway pianist and the recording engineer,

which is very much part of his wheelhouse as a fivetime

Emmy award winner for sound engineering.

There is work I’ve done with Bob Salmieri, a saxophonist,

composer, bandleader, and owner of the

Cultural Bridges record label in Italy. We work remotely,

my getting the music tracks and lyrics, although

on some of our songs I’ve written the lyrics.

There’s about a half-dozen releases we’ve done together,

and many of them have done very well on

the streaming platforms.

Does Tom push you hard to get you out of your

comfort zone and has proven to be a strong

teacher? Or, does someone else do that job?

Tom’s role as producer is making music that is high

quality. Tom is amazing at guiding the vision of the

song we are recording. He encourages experimentation

in phrasing, dynamics, and emotional intensity,

thus bringing out the best in me as a vocalist to

capture an inspired performance. He is fully invested

in the whole process. The music we make is a part

of each of us which in turn renders an amazing musical

product.

The creative journey of writing a song is often a

mix of challenges, delightful experiences, and

some interesting self-discovery. Can you describe

your songwriting approach and share any exhilarating

moments you’ve had while performing

your new music?

It’s a while ago now, but there’s one short period

when I wrote 12 songs and it seemed like flow, it

went on for a couple of weeks. Other times it could

take two months for one song, and I have some song

ideas that are just fragments or maybe the lyrics

without my yet figuring out the music. Two of my

favorite songs—”Whispers of the Angels” and

“You’ve Got Me Started”—each got written in one

night, almost complete, with just some minor tweaking

of lyrics or working to sharpen the bridge. Of

course, when songs get recorded, there’s often a few

changes.

Some songs came to me in dreams, where I woke

up with the lyrics and structure already formed, so

go figure. Other times it could be an overheard comment

in the checkout line or from a friend that inspires

a song. Driving in my car is in some ways my

music office, where I can get a lot of musical ideas

while on route. There’s an interesting project with

The Cultural Bridge Label in Italy, where I got lyrics

in Italian and my job was to rewrite lyrics in English,

working from a bad Google Translate, and that was

a tougher challenge in some ways, but I’m proud of

the end result, with this one song garnering over

100,000 streams to date.

Is there a particular song or a few songs that truly

reflect your life? If so, I’d love for you to share

your experiences surrounding those songs.

Whether they celebrate womanhood, mark a

personal crisis, explore your journey, or draw inspiration

from another artist, music group, or

track, please tell us about it.

In some ways songs come from my own experience

of course, but it is a mistake to assume the song reflects

the artist’s direct experience. “Whiskey Rain,”

which is an Americana/contemporary country genre,

is a good example—I’ve never killed anyone.

“Breathe Now,” one of my favorites, was written

after I got the idea from a friend of mine who was

going through a very rough relationship. The comment?

“I can breathe now that he’s gone,” which

evolved into a song of new birth and strength.

I heard what you said,

I was your stupid mistake

It was loud and clear, even in the dark

There’s no going back, just forward now

What’s done is done…

Gasping for air rising from the ground,

Can’t keep me down.

And I can breathe now that you’re gone.

—"Breathe Now” 2022

People sometimes come up to me after a gig and ask

if one or another of the songs I’ve written is based

on something in my life, and this is a common

enough question, but a song isn’t an autobiography,

at least for me. There are experiences, but there is

also imagination.

Building a music career can be challenging from

a professional and business standpoint. What

specific obstacles have you faced in this area?

Music isn’t the path to riches, that’s for sure, and that

can be disheartening, considering all the time it

takes, and time spent on the less fun parts of the business.

Recording in the age of streaming doesn’t add

up to much remuneration, even though I have well

north of half a million streams the last time I

counted, and I haven’t counted up my Spotify

streams in a while, and this doesn’t even include the

other streaming platforms like Apple Music and

Amazon Music.

Live performance has its own challenge, including

these days the drop in the number of good Jazz venues

in the area and what musicians around here get

paid basically hasn’t gone up for decades. Musicians

work hard in their craft and it takes a lot to perform

and if they are doing their part in promotion to get

paying customers in the seats and give a premium

performance, then they should be compensated

fairly.

If anyone told me a few years back that I would

dealing with a whole range of software programs, I

probably would have laughed. But learn I have. One

program is Canva, which I’ve grown to rely on to

put together ads for shows, Facebook and Instagram

posts, cover art for new releases, graphics for all

kinds of promotion, and when there’s a new release,

including Reels of different sorts—animated and/or

with audio—and even album covers and videos for

You Tube. Microsoft Word comes into play often,

although the whole domain of Microsoft OS can still

drive me crazy. There’s email, the social media platforms.

I’ve even been exploring the AI component

of Canva. If this makes me sound like a tech head,

rest assured. I can all too easily find myself cursing

at the computer.

And there are those times when I’m uploading

audio files to get them mastered, or I’ll be navigating

distribution portals as I put a new release or a new

album out on streaming services, or I’ll be wrestling

with a large file download tool when I’m collaborating

remotely. I’m about as far from being an expert

as you can imagine, but the tech side is

unavoidable to some degree. Don’t talk to me about

updating my website or adding new content to it, because

Wordpress remains mostly a mystery, but I’ve

been getting excellent help with the website that

keeps my site up-to-date.

There’s the equipment side of things, too. Any gig

likely involves bringing along a couple of mic and

music stands with a light for the lyric book and set

lists. There are the tripods for the speakers, a good

power supply filter, extension cords, instruments, a

tip jar and table, and even some merch that have their

own Venmo QR code.


Mary Ann Palermo, “Flowers In Her Hair” Photo: Sam Backhaus Photography

THE ARTFUL MIND NOVEMBER • 21

And the PA systems! While some venues have their

own decent system, I’ll always pack another system

anyway, in case there’s a problem with the house

system, but there are venues that either don’t have a

house system, or one that is not suitable. In that case

I am prepared with a range of PA sets for different

playing conditions, from 500-watt powered speakers

all the way through to a 2000-watt Electro-Voice

system that carries sound well for big outdoor

spaces.

My most recent purchase was a smaller 2000-watt

system, an Alto TS408, that I’ve been loving, especially

at those venues where it requires a lot of lugging.

The latest system and two other of my PA

systems, includes a monitor, which means I’ll pass

that and the speakers through a mix board. I’m always

double-checking as I pack up for a gig to make

sure I have my microphone, of course, along with

all the various cables and connectors required, so I

make a habit of thoughtful sorting as I pack. Speaking

about packing in equipment, one of my best purchases

is an expandable big-wheeled cart that holds

the equipment, and that’s great because I’m often my

own roadie.

When, during the pandemic, my old band and I

were doing outside shows and I got some LED stage

lighting we would use. I’ll be pulling those out for a

private event this month.

How have you found opportunities, like your performance

at the local event in Lee, to be effective

in promoting your music and connecting with the

Berkshires community?

I’m pickier about where I perform these days, and

that’s been better for me. For one thing, as I’ve mentioned

before, I think it is my responsibility to promote

a gig—and this is the venue’s responsibility

too, of course—and all this takes time and effort for

emailing my list, putting reels and reels and posts

and posts up on Instagram and Facebook, and getting

the gig into event calendar listings. There’s a

value proposition between the performer and the

venue: the performer gets paid and the venue gets

more people at their business. I’m still mystified by

performers and venues that don’t understand this aspect

of the business.

These days I’m looking more and more to ticketed

shows, like the performance at Studio 9 this past

May. But private events are good, too, and fun, like

the last four years at the Sheffield Historical Society

Annual Gala, and I’ve been a regular performer at

Canyon Ranch. One of my favorite performances

over the last few years has been my participation in

Millbrook Winery and Vineyard’s Summer Jazz

Concert series. I’ve been part of a show at The Colonial

in Pittsfield, and some time ago I performed at

Valatie Community Theatre. There’s been performances

at senior centers, and holiday shows, public tv,

radio, those sorts of things that you do as you’re establishing

yourself, but these sorts of shows can be

so much fun.

These days I’ve been focused on recording and

loving it, since it lets me put my music out into the

wide world. Of course, promotion comes into play

here, too, which is something I love a whole lot less

than recording, but it is part of the job.

Do you perform outside of the Berkshires?

I have mainly played within the larger Berkshires

area that encompasses the northwest corner of Connecticut

and west of the Taconic range and in North

County, too, which for many South County residents

is regarded as a distant land. As I build my shows

schedule, the target area will expand.

Tell us about your current band members! Have

any of them made a name for themselves in the

world of fame?

I play with the best musicians in the Berkshires.

David Bartley is a really fun and versatile piano

player with great musicality, and lately Joe Rose has

joined me for some gigs, too. There are musicians

that play several instruments who are terrific, like

Tom Teeley who is great on keyboards, bass, and

guitar, and Rob Putnam is versatile, too. For horns I

tend to go with Eric Loffswold, and Charlie Tokarz

is phenomenal. John Meyers, when I can get him, is

an outstanding Jazz guitarist, and Dan Broad and

Mary Ann McSweeney are the best bassists in the

Berkshires in my opinion. I tend to do duos and trios

and quartets, and drums are only sometimes added

in, with Sam Earnshaw as my go-to guy these days.

I need to work with a pool of musicians because

we’re all busy, so when a gig opportunity comes up,

it’s mix-and-match time, seeing who’s got the open

date, so I’m always keeping an eye open for talent.

Speaking of gig opportunities, I was thrilled to perform

with Grammy-nominee Matt Cusson recently

at a private event and there is another coming up in

December, this one a Christmas show. His energy is

Album cover image Jazz on the Rocks, produced by Tom Teeley.

Design credits: Mary Ann Palermo & Sam Backhaus Photography


Jazz Vocalist | Songwriter | Performer | International Recording Artist & Grandmother MARY ANN PALERMO

Mary Ann Palermo, Phoenix Golden Sunset by Sam Backhaus Photography

amazing, he’s so good on the piano, and he has an

amazing voice. It’s so much fun singing and harmonizing

with him.

Tell me, what specifically do you find thrilling

about performing in front of a live audience?

There’s a connection between the performer and audience

that is irreplaceable, and one feeds the other.

I’ve been to venues and have seen musicians who

don’t connect with the audience, and it can seem

more like a paid rehearsal than a show. They might

not realize what they’re missing.

There’s nothing like looking out at the audience

and having the attention of the room, it brings the

energy up and brings out the best in me and the musicians.

I’ll admit that I don’t mind the applause, but

a really good show just makes the world that little

bit better for everybody, me included.

There’s nothing more fundamental to singing than

breathing, and “Breathe Now” came out of a time

when there was conflict and challenge in my life that

threatened my choice and desire to sing, but I’m still

breathing, I’m still singing.

Booking musical appearances can represent a

level of success; generally, the more gigs, the

better. However, do you envision a time when you

can take a step back and focus more on the enjoyable

aspects of your music rather than the

constant effort needed to make things happen?

And how do you envision that to play out?

It’s not so much “the more gigs the better,” and for

me these days, that’s more “been there, done that.”

What’s more important these days is the quality of

the gig, and I’ve grown picky about the venues I’ll

play. I’ve been enjoying The Ostrich Room at Appletree

Inn in Lenox, with its great-sounding space,

but these days in these parts other Jazz venues are

running light, but one can always hope. The reduction

in Jazz venues in the Berkshires is one of the

reasons why I’m leaning more and more toward

ticketed shows in performance spaces, but my focus

on recording remains a priority.

“To be - or Not to be... That is the question!” And,

what’s your response?

Any art carries a mix of wonder and annoyance for

the artist and it is no different with music, especially

if you want to have what you’re doing out in the

world. Writing songs can be agonizing, but in a fun,

puzzle-solving sort of way. Practice, practice, practice,

is a challenge, just in terms of time, but I’ve

been back to my guitar work more and more, thinking

of doing more solo shows of my songs. I’ve

studied piano, but I want to get back to that, since

keyboard work is great for songwriting, and I have

a bass guitar that has been calling my name. Speaking

of voices in my head, I’ve come to realize that

it’s normal for me as a songwriter to have lyrics and

melodies going through my head all the time, although

I’d sometimes want to put this on pause in

the middle of the night.

The fact is that in the world of music if you want

your music out in the world—whether through performances

or recordings—there’s the unavoidable

business part, too. Promotion and seeking the right

bookings and assembling the right musicians take

time and effort and it can sometimes seem like the

business side is too consuming. When it comes to

recording, chasing licensing and rights, checking on

streams and paying attention to promoting them, and

just getting the word out about what you’re up to,

those are the tasks that make you need more hours

in the day.

And then I remember that I sing, and the pleasure

of that, and all the other stuff fades away.

My upcoming performances and new releases are

kept current on my website—

maryannpalermo.com


GHETTA HIRSCH

“Crabapple Red” 12”x12” oil on canvas

SOLO SHOW —NEW WORK

NOVEMBER: and DECEMBER 2025

The Spring Street Market Cafe Spring St, Williamstown, MA

“Crabapple Grey” 12”x12” oil on canvas

Call or text 413-597-1716 — Studio Visits

Ghetta-hirsch.squarespace.com

@ghettahirschpaintings

DON LONGO

I wanted to play with color values, movement and color

schemes that show transitional phases of nature and life. We

are in a transitional phase of summer to fall, young to not so

young, and governance of our nation and our world. This

painting reflects these transitions in an abstract form at least

in my mind.

www.donlongoart.com

"TRANSITIONS" 18" x 24" Acrylics and Enamel paint on canvas


BRUCE LAIRD

Going Where No Man Has Gone Before, Mixed Media on Paper (12”W x 14”H)

Clock Tower Artists

Business Center Studio #307

75 South Church Street, Pittsfield, MA

Instagram- ecurbart


LORI BRADLEY

PAINTER: ALTERNATIVE REALISM

Lori and pup at the Notch Forest

“For me the door to the woods is the door to the temple.” — MARY OLIVER


Photographs courtesy of the Artist

The mysteries of trees and the life they support

evoke a profound sense of wonder and respect.

While we often take trees for granted, Lori Bradley

sees them differently. Inspired by both historical

and contemporary realist painters, she has developed

a unique style called "Alternative Realism."

Her extensive collection of oil and acrylic paintings

celebrates the beauty of nature, with a strong emphasis

on trees. Lori's artwork goes beyond their

physical presence to convey the emotions and

stories they represent. Each piece invites viewers to

pause, reflect, and appreciate the connections between

humanity and the natural world.

Lori, what motivated you to start a Facebook

group opposing the North Adams/Mass Audubon

land management plan that involves logging near

the Notch Road Reservoir and the use of herbicides

near the city's watershed?


What motivated me at first was the fact that the

Notch Reservoir Forest is literally in my back yard.

I walk up through the woods in my backyard, onto

an old logging road that leads directly down into the

Notch Forest by the reservoir. Access to such a beautiful

forest is what inspired us to move to North

Adams. When I saw an article on iBerkshires.com

in July 2024 about a future “climate-smart” logging

plan for the Notch I was horrified. I recognized many

of the words in the article as “green-speak” and a

cover for profit-driven logging. My father was a

logger when he was a young man growing up in the

Adirondack region of New York State and we talked

a lot about logging when we’d go camping. He left

that business because he didn’t like what unfettered

logging was doing to the Adirondacks. He later became

an advocate for the preservation of the Adirondack

Park and other green spaces. So, I was inspired

by him to speak out. I put out a call-to-action on social

media and was amazing and touched by how

many local people came forward ready to stand up

and save their town forest and many creative ideas

on ways to do that. Over the year, opposing the logging

plan became a community endeavor, with forest

activists across the state becoming involved and supportive.

It was just incredibly inspiring. It turned out

that many people, including my husband and I,

walked the Notch Forest and Bellows Pipe Trail during

the COVID lockdown and found that forest to

be an antidote to feelings of hopelessness, isolation,

and depression. People tend to forget how forests can

heal our bodies and our brains. There are studies by

neuroscientists that show this, but at the time of the

logging plan we just knew we didn’t want to lose a

forest we loved.

Lori, can you share more about how the initiative

with Trees as a Public Good helped mobilize sup-

Lori Bradley, Erosion, Acrylic on canvas,18" x 24"

port for your cause, especially with the letters

sent to the mayor and state representatives?

When I first started researching the types of “experimental”

logging projects planned by the town

and Mass Audubon, I found a website by Buckland

resident, Chris Matera: https://maforests.org. The

headline that jumped out at me was “Stop the Massachusetts

Chainsaw Massacre,” and I read on from

there. The information on the site confirmed all my

worst fears, and there was even a link to the greenwashing

euphemisms for logging-for-profit used in

the plan proposed for North Adams. I contacted

Chris for help, and he responded immediately. He

put me in touch with a woman named Janet Sinclair,

also from Buckland. She called and offered me all

the help she could give, including legal advice, information

on how best to tackle city and state politics,

and tons of information about logging and

forestry. She became a great ally for us and eventually

brought renowned forest experts and advocates

to meet with the mayor of North Adams. I

think this all had a big influence on the eventual outcome.

Through Janet, I started attending Trees As A

Public Good network meetings, which were incredibly

helpful, especially in distributing action

alerts statewide that brought in hundreds of signers

for our petition. I met so many brilliant people

though the opposition of the Notch logging plan, and

I continue to work with them on other issues statewide.

How did this project, luckily, finally get canceled?

Good work to all!

I think all the concerted efforts had their impact. In

October of 2024 there were protestors out in front of

City Hall every weekend, led by North Adams resident

Devin Raber. The opposition to the logging

was gaining a lot of visibility, and finally, in December

2024, the mayor announced in the Berkshire

Eagle that she had ended the project. It was the best

holiday gift ever!

The painting Erosion is powerful. Where is it

now? Are there more like this with the same determination

to protect the forest?

I created the Erosion painting after going for a canoe

trip on a remote reservoir in the Adirondacks. It had

been affected by increasingly extreme cycles of

flooding and drought, and I was shocked by how

quickly the perimeter of the reservoir was eroding,

with deep undercuts and trees falling into the water.

The landscape was very dramatic and beautiful in its

way, but it was also horrifying. So, since then I continued

to paint trees that were under some kind of

stress due to human-caused environmental changes.

I’ve been focusing on painting close-ups of individual

trees that I think of as portraits because, to me,

trees all have unique personalities and are a powerful

presence in our lives, even if we take them for

granted.

What drives your fascination with capturing the

energy of trees in their environments, and how

do you incorporate the hidden aspect of their

roots, which are often as expansive as the trees

themselves?

I often went camping with my family as a kid, and

my older siblings thought it was funny to scare me

by telling me the trees were watching and would

grab me if I didn’t go to bed on time. I wasn’t scared

by the trees, but I did start to think about them as

having personalities and the ability to communicate

with humans.



LORI BRADLEY PAINTER

Lori Bradley, Tree Portrait - Vibrant Pine, Acrylic on canvas, 24" x 24" 2025


Lori Bradley, Angry Grackle, Acrylic on canvas, 40" x 32" 2022


Lori Bradley, Welcome Morning Tree, Oil on canvas, 24" x 24" x 3" deep

I also loved Norwegian and Russian fairy tale illustrations,

where trees were always key to the composition

and were as gestural and alive as the human

beings. I’ve always loved the forms of roots and

branches and was inspired by the turn-of-the-century

furniture and architecture made from roots at the

Great Camps in the Adirondacks.

What kinds of trees in particular have caught

your interest, and are they also the ones you focus

on to paint? Have you ever seen the Redwoods in

California or those in Canada?

Evergreen trees are my favorite, and the trees in the

Adirondack Park have always been an inspiration.

We still have a camp there near where my father

grew up, and the few remaining old-growth forests

are inspiring. The forest-economy culture, including

the old-school loggers like those in my family, is also

inspiring. The trees were used for commerce, but

I’ve found there is a deep love for forests and an urge

to preserve them. This has resulted in the creation of

the largest “forever wild” reservation in the Northeast,

the Adirondack Park.

I love the Canadian landscape painters from the

Group of Seven and especially the tree paintings by

Canadian painter Emily Carr. I lived in Canada for

a while and loved the dense pine forests in New

Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and around the Great

Lakes region in Canada and the US. The Appalachian

Mountain forests of North Carolina, Tennessee,

and Georgia are also beautiful and magical.

Do you examine how trees change in response to

climate, their history, and how these factors can

influence a painting?

I have done that since I was a kid because my mother

was very sensitive to changes in trees and the forest.

We’d discuss what was happening with climate

change when we went hiking. She noticed the

changes in the trees at the tops of mountains around

the Blue Ridge Parkway in the 1990s, and it’s always

been something I’ve been aware of and worried

about.

Have you ever had a moment in nature where

you felt like the surroundings magically came to

life? What do you think contributed to that feeling?

Every time I walk in a forest or in a park, something

special happens. Even if I’m in a bad mood, I come

out of those places feeling better and wondering why

I’d been so down. Because I read a lot of fairy tales,

where trees could be both friendly and malign and

always magical, forests always seemed alive to me.

My friends and I played in the woods surrounding

our neighborhood when we were kids, and sometimes

acted out fairy tales there. It was such a special

time and so full of wonder.

What would you say are your most favored

honed skills when it comes to painting, Lori? And

what do you find challenging each time you

paint?

I’m always taking painting workshops to hone new

skills. I’m learning how the Dutch painters created

their incredible floral still life paintings in the 16th

century and trying to adapt some of those techniques

to my paintings. I’m working on a certificate in

woody plant botany online with Cornell Continuing

Education to become much more scientifically accurate

in my depictions of plants. Learning the scientific

specifics of plant form and function is fun and

adds to the mystery of plants.

In the Bird series, where you’ve brought the bird

to life, what insights can you share about this

body of work? I find it both illustrative and imaginative.

Bird feeders are placed all over my yard to encourage

birds to visit and interact, allowing for close observation

of their behavior. They are very humorous

and act in ways so like humans, especially crows and

corvids, like grackles. I love the forms and shapes

of birds.

Still, I decided to start painting them to tell stories

about human interactions and relationships, capturing

emotion with the expressions on their faces.




Lori Bradley, Floral Nexus - a set of 4 - 20" x 30" each

Collage and paint on cradled wood panels, 2022.

I’m currently working on a series of floral still life

paintings that includes birds.

Lori, can you tell me more about your Floral

Nexus series and how you approached its decorative

style and use of color in your designs?

The Floral Nexus series was inspired by some botanical

illustrations I’d done and incorporates techniques

such as using bright colors and expressive

paint. I often work with paintings in a modular way

– where groups of paintings have some internal

structure or pattern that connects individuals to the

whole. I was arranging the Floral Nexus paintings

in various ways, yet they always connect on the diagonal

axis.

How do you manage dividing your time between

New Bedford, MA, where you have a studio, and

the time you spend in North Adams?

Well, I’m slowly transitioning full-time to North

Adams. My husband and I landed in southeastern

Mass because we were both teaching at universities

here. I love New Bedford, though, and enjoy the

coastal pine barren forests in the area, but we plan

to retire to North Adams. The northern forests of

New England and New York are really my spiritual

home, and I get homesick when I’m away from

them too long. Right now, it’s hard to drive back and

forth and maintain friends and relationships in two

different locations. Still, I try to focus on the joy of


it —the experience of driving through beautiful New

England — and feel very fortunate to have found

two such special places to live.

Lori, how do you and your husband, Mark, balance

your artistic lifestyles?

Mark and I are both obsessed with our artwork. We

don’t share a studio, but we do share our ideas about

art and ask each other for advice. Mark is much more

abstract in his style and much less literal than I am,

and that inspires me to loosen up and experiment a

bit more. I think I have the opposite impact on him.

We are both inspired and influenced by nature.

Where are most of your paintings currently displayed,

and how does that influence what you are

working on at the moment?

I regularly exhibit work in a gallery in New Bedford

and have my own studio, which I share with a large

group of other artists. We host open studios regularly,

which have been very well-attended and have helped

me shape my art into a viable business. I also travel

around New England to hang my work in solo

shows. I have a show coming up in October and November

at the Majestic Theater in Springfield, MA.

The curators there saw my still life paintings with

birds, flowers, and vases, and thought they’d be a

good match to hang during the theatrical production

of Steel Magnolias. I thought that was a fun idea

since those paintings are about loss, the ebb and flow

of relationships, and seeking enduring strength.

How are you feeling about the upcoming winter

season? Any ideas on what you would like to

paint?

I grew up on Lake Ontario in central New York, so

I had to love winter. I’m trying to get better at painting

the complex colors of snow, so I will be painting

away, probably creating landscapes and treescapes

from photographs I’ll take of the snowfall I hope we

get this year.

What does your opening quote, “For me the

door to the woods is the door to the temple.”

by Mary Oliver mean to you?

I love Mary Oliver, her poems, and her deep connection

to the woods. I agree with her in this quote.

Forests are a spiritual place for me, and I must visit

them and connect with them often to maintain

energy, equilibrium, and peace of mind.

loribradley@comcast.net

loribradleyart.com

Bicycle. 2025

Whimsical Sculpture by Jeffrey Bynack

made from found metal parts & objects.

Welded and mechanically fit. Perfectly suitable

for indoor and outdoor enjoyment.

See more of this work at ...

413. 645. 4114 / artfulmind@yahoo.com

—Commissions gladly considered—

Meet and Greet

Lindy Smith

Saturday, November 29, 5 PM

THE BOOKSTORE

11 Housatonic St., Lenox MA


18KT GOLD/SILVER LEAF CHIME TOGGLE BRACELET

JOANE CORNELL

FINE JEWELRY

With the tumultuous state of affairs, most are

not comfortable with a purchase that’s a “want”,

not a “need”, of a certain price range. Seams

somewhat frivolous? Well, that’s why I tout repurposing!

Your collection of jewels from over

the years, possibly sitting idly by, no longer exciting,

are the key to your new jewelry item(s)!

Possibly more than one, depending on your stash!

You would be surprised how far your metal/stones

can go. Winter is prime time for me to develop

the designs for you. Black Friday begins my 6-7

days a week in store schedule until Dec. 31st. Before

Nov 28th; Wed-Sat 11:00-4:30, or by appointment.

917 971 4662. Chatham NY is alive

and well, and waiting for a visit!

Joane Cornell Fine Jewelry—

917-971-4662

9 Main St. Chatham, New York.

www.JoaneCornellFineJewelry.com

Instagram: Joane Cornell Fine Jewelry

NORTH FOLK

SKETCHBOOK

STEPHAN MARC KLEIN

I have been making art on and off since my undergraduate

education as an architect in the late

1950s. I rarely leave the house withut a sketchbook

and pen or pencil.

In the summer of 1999, my wife and I rented a

house in the village of Mattituck on the North Fork

of the East End of Long Island, in Suffolk County,

New York.

Unlike the South Fork, whose farms and forests

over the years have been mostly subdivided and

turned into vacation home communities, the North

Fork has remaine agricultural, and we were surprised

and delighted by how farm-like the landscapes

were. For me, they presented endless

invitations to draw.

On many mornings during our summer in Mattituck,

I would take my bike with my sketchbook

strapped down to the luggage rack and go off exploring—and

drawing. I am always experimenting

with different sketchbooks but had not used a square

format before. I was intrigued by the geometry of

the square and how it could both influence, and be

affected by, the placement of shapes within it.

Stephan Marc Klein —

stephanmarcklein.com | smk8378@gmail.com

Member 510 Warren Street Gallery, Hudson, NY

PORTRAIT OF BRUCE BY BOBBY MILLER

BRUCE PANOCK

I am a visual artist using photography as the platform

to begin a journey of exploration. My journey

began in earnest almost 14 years ago when I retired

due to health issues and began devoting myself to

the informal study of art, artists and particularly

photography. Before retiring I had begun studying

photography as a hobby. After my retirement, the

effort took on a greater intensity.

My world had changed for reasons outside of

my control and I looked for something different in

my work. I wanted to do more than document what

was around me. I wanted to create something that

the viewers might join with me and experience.

Due to my health issues, I found myself confined

with my activities generally restricted. For the first

time I began looking inward, to the world that I experienced,

though not always through physical interaction.

It is a world where I spend more time

trying to understand what I previously took for

granted and did not think about enough. The ideas

ranged from pleasure and beauty to pain and loss;

from isolation to abandonment; to walking past

what is uncomfortable to see. During this period of

isolation, I began thinking about what is isolation,

how it can transition to abandonment and then into

being forgotten. The simplest display of this idea is

abandoned buildings. They were once beautiful,

then allowed to run down and abandoned, soon to

be forgotten. After a while they disappear. Either

mankind knocks down these forgotten once beautiful

structures, or remediates them, or Nature reclaims

the space. Doesn’t mankind do the same

with its own?

My work employs references to other photographers,

painters, as well as sculptors. The brushwork

of Chinese and Japanese artists is appealing for

both its simplicity and beauty. Abstract art has its

own ways of sharing ideas which are jarring and

beautiful at the same time. Black and white and

color works each add their own dynamic. My work

is influenced by these art forms, often using many

of them in a single composited image.

Bruce Panock—

Panockphotography.com

bruce@panockphotography.com

Instagram @brucepanock


STANDING, OIL ON CANVAS, 11” X 14”

GHETTA HIRSCH

I had to cut down a tree!

When my cat died a few years ago I had an unbelievable

sadness and it took three years before I

could get another cat. I did not know one could feel

this same sadness when a tree dies. In the Spring,

we had to cut down two limbs of this crabapple. It

still gave me beautiful blossoms in May and continued

to provide shade and beauty to my garden.

By the end of July, “My Tree”had lost its leaves and

was showing lesions on its trunk. “We had a very

dry Summer” said one neighbor! “It will be beautiful

again in the Spring” said another! However

wood dust accumulated at the feet of “My Tree”. I

worried and brought in a tree specialist. “Possibly

termites…. Definitely in very bad shape! SICK!

Can’t save it!” … just like my old cat…. Deciding

to let someone or something go is difficult… Jane

Goodall says global energy resides in all plants, animals

and humans. RIGHT! In the company of “My

Tree” in all seasons of the year I felt this energy. The

leaves, shade, blossoms, color, trunk, snow gathering

spaces were so familiar! The visiting birds and

insects were always welcomed and entertained. I

watched it from my window, my bed, my kitchen…

by all weather!

THE TREE came down. I touched its bleeding

bark and sliced limbs and cried.

I brought the logs inside even though the vermine

was feasting on them and I painted its colors on canvas.

They say that artists can be crazy. Feeling the

passing of a fifteen years old cat with tears is acceptable,

so why not a tree who has been your companion

for just as long?

By the way, if you want to see my paintings of the

logs they will be exhibited in November at The

Spring Street Market Cafe, on Spring Street, Williamstown,

MA. This is a SOLO SHOW of new

works. I will let you know of the Opening Reception

with flyers and Internet.

Meanwhile you can always reach me at 413-597-

1716 if you wish to visit my ART STUDIO. I take

appointments or welcome you as you visit town.

Take note of another interesting event: I am organizing

with other artist friends a FUNDRAISING

for DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS on December

6th, 11am to 3pm at the Harper Center, Williamstown

Council on Aging on Church Street in

Williamstown. Their phone number is 413-458-

8250 if you wish more information. Early December

is a good time to do shopping for the Holidays and

all our art will be for sale at very affordable gifting

prices.

BERKSHIRE DIGITAL

Since opening in 2005, Berkshire Digital has done

fine art printing and digital scanning for artists and

photographers. Archival Inkjet/Giclée prints can be

made in many different sizes from 5”x7” to 42”x

80” on a variety of archival paper choices. Berkshire

Digital was featured in Photo District News (PDN)

magazine in an article about fine art printing. See

the entire article on the BerkshireDigital.com website.

Berkshire Digital does accurate digital scans of

paintings, illustrations and old photographs that can

be used for archival prints, books, magazines, brochures,

cards and websites.

Berkshire Digital also designs and produces books

printed by Blurb.com

“Fred Collins couldn’t have been more professional

or more enjoyable to work with. He did a

beautiful job in photographing paintings carefully,

efficiently, and so accurately. It’s such a great feeling

to know I have these beautiful, useful files on

hand anytime I need them. I wish I’d called Fred

years ago.” ---- Ann Getsinger

We offer restoration and repair of damaged or faded

photographs. A complete overview of services offered,

along with pricing, can be seen on the web at

BerkshireDigital.com

The owner, Fred Collins, has been a commercial

and fine art photographer for over 30 years having

had studios in Boston, Stamford and the Berkshires.

He offers over 25 years of experience with Photoshop,

enabling retouching, restoration and enhancement

to prints and digital files. The studio is located

in Mt Washington but drop-off and pick-up is available

through Frames On Wheels, 84 Railroad Street

in Great Barrington, MA (413) 528-0997 and

Gilded Moon Framing, 17 John Street in Millerton,

NY (518) 789-3428.

Berkshire Digital -

413-644-9663

www.BerkshireDigital.com

ADVERTISE

PROMOTE

BE SEEN in THE ARTFUL MIND

artfulmind@yahoo.com

413-645-4114

HOUSATONIC : OUR RIVER

ACRYLIC ON CANVAS 24”X24”

RUBY AVER

Growing up on the South Side of Chicago in the

60’s was a history, rich and troubled time. As a

youth, my playing in the streets demanded grit.

Teaching Tai Chi for the last 30 years requires a

“Zen state of mind”. My paintings come from this

quiet place that exhibit, the rich grit of my youth

.Movement, shape and color, dominates, spontaneously

combining raw as well as delicate impulses.

I was honored with the exhibition of my abstract

painting (inspired by Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl

Earring) in the Amsterdam Vermeer exhibit 2024 .

Ruby Aver—

Housatonic Studio open by appointment:

413-854-7007 / rdaver2@gmail.com

Instagram: rdaver2


34 •NOVEMBER 2025 THE ARTFUL MIND

BELIEF IN THE POSSIBILITIES OF SPRING

COLLAGE, CRADLED WOODEN BOARD, 12”X12”X2”

FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT

COLLAGE, CRADLED WOODEN BOARD, 10”X10”X2”

JAYE ALISON

"I was really anxious because we were pretty

much snowbound in our homes, being in a particularly

cold 2025 winter. I had moved many of my

art supplies to my studio in Southfield, and had

begun organizing works. The idea of playing with

them, cutting some of the ones to which I felt drawn

to do so, this had been playing around in my mind

for a looooooong time, but this weather allowed

me to take advantage of the opportunity- I couldn't

go anywhere, so I could just focus and play."

Jaye Alison harnesses water-based mediums like

acrylic and watercolor, influenced by a creative upbringing

and artistic journey. Through abstraction

and intuitive color selection, she captures the interplay

between forms with lines that articulate

deep-seated emotions. Her art resonates with joy

and upliftment, transforming personal and worldly

complexities into visual harmony.

The artist is passionate about creating art, painting

on flat, smooth surfaces, and using environmentally

friendly materials.

Alison’s work has been exhibited nationally and

internationally and has appeared in print, film, television,

the web, and Off Off Broadway.

Transforming personal and worldly complexities

into visual harmony. In celebration of Jaye's new

studio, enjoy 10% off large paintings and 30% off

small paintings.

Jaye Alison —

310-970-4517

Studio visits by appointment only:

Pond Shed (behind the Buggy Whip Factory),

208 Norfolk Road, Southfield, Massachusetts

jayealison.com

jaye.alison.art@gmail.com

KATE KNAPP, ORANGE POT, OIL ON CANVAS, 16” X 20’

FRONT ST. GALLERY

Pastels, oils, acrylics and watercolors, abstract

and representational, landscapes, still lifes and portraits,

a unique variety of painting technique and

styles you will be transported to another world and

see things in a way you never have before join us

and experience something different.

Painting classes continue on Monday and Wednesday

mornings 10-1:30pm at the studio and

Thursday mornings out in the field. These classes

are open to all...come to one or come again if it

works for you. All levels and materials welcome.

Private critiques available. Classes at Front Street

are for those wishing to learn, those who just want

to be involved in the pure enjoyment of art, and/or

those who have some experience under their belt.

Kate Knapp —

413-528-9546 at home or 413-429-7141 (cell)

Front Street, Housatonic, MA. Gallery open by

appointment or chance anytime.

www.kateknappartist.com

PHOTO FROM INSDIE THE ART STUDIO, CLOCK TOWER

BRUCE LAIRD

I am an abstract artist whose two and three-dimensional

works in mixed media reveal a fascination

with geometry, color and juxtapositions. For

me it is all about the work which provides surprising

results, both playful and thought provoking.

From BCC to UMASS and later to Vermont College

to earn my MFA Degree. I have taken many

workshops through Art New England, at Bennington

College, Hamilton College and an experimental

workshop on cyanotypes recently at MCLA. Two

international workshops in France and Italy also.

I am pleased to have a studio space with an exciting

group of artists at the Clocktower Building in

Pittsfield.

Bruce Laird —

Clock Tower, #307, 75 South Church Street,

Pittsfield, MA. Instagram: @ecurbart


OILS/COLD WAX

CAROLYN M. ABRAMS

INSPIRATIONAL AND

ATMOSPHERIC

My work is about relationships. Connecting with

my creative spirit and the world and people around

me, most especially Mother Nature in all her

beauty and her challenges. There is a voice in nature

that touches us and connects us to one another

in ways that evokes an emotion and stirs the soul.

My work is about creating that connection. It is a

metaphor for so many ethereal moments in life that

are fleeting and bring with them a bond like no

other. Using oils with cold wax medium allows me

to express this connection like no other medium

has over the years.

My work can be found in the gift shops of Chesterwood,

Becket Arts Center as well as Art in the

Berkshires The Lenox Collection at The Constance

Inn located at 11 Old Stockbridge Rd. Look for me

as well at the Holiday Small Works Exhibit December

- February at the Art on Main Gallery in

West Stockbridge.

For more information on workshops and classes

contact me directly.

Carolyn M. Abrams —

www.carolynabrams.com

Member, Guild of Berkshire Artists

I like to be the right thing in the wrong

place and the wrong thing in the right

place. Being the right thing in the

wrong place and the wrong thing in

the right place is worth it because

something interesting always happens.

CURTAINS

PHOTO: ERIC KORENMAN

MODEL: FRIEDA HOFFMANN

DEBORAH H. CARTER

Deborah H. Carter is a multi-media artist from

Lenox, MA, who creates upcycled, sustainable

wearable art. Her couture pieces are constructed

from post-consumer waste such as food packaging,

wine corks, cardboard, books, wire, plastic, and

other discarded items and thrifted wares. She manipulates

her materials' color, shape, and texture to

compel us to question our assumptions of beauty

and worth and ultimately reconsider our habits and

attitudes about waste and consumerism.

Since she was eight, Deborah has been a sewing

enthusiast, and she learned her craft by creating

clothing with her mother and grandmothers. Her

passion took hold as she began to design and sew

apparel and accessories. After graduating with a degree

in fashion design from Parsons School of Design

in New York City, she worked as a women's

sportswear designer on Seventh Avenue.

Deborah's art has been exhibited in galleries and

art spaces around the US. She was one of 30 designers

selected to showcase her work at the

FS2020 Fashion Show annually at the University

of Saint Andrews, Scotland. She has been featured

in the Spring 2023 What Women Create magazine.

Deborah H. Carter has been featured in The Artful

Mind, Berkshire magazine, and What Women

Create magazine and was a finalist in the World of

WearableArt competition in Wellington, New Zealand,

2023.

“Sending Messages” on display at Hancock

Shaker Village, 34 Lebanon Mountain Rd, Hancock,

MA. Through November 30th.

Deborah H Carter —

413-441-3220, Clock Tower Artists

75 S. Church St., Studio 315, 3rd floor

Pittsfield, Massachusetts

Instagram: @deborah_h_carter

Debhcarter@yahoo.com

EARLY SNOW

WATERCOLOR, 11” X 14”ACRYLIC 16” X 20”

SALLY TISKA RICE

BERKSHIRE ROLLING HILLS

Born and raised in the captivating Berkshires,

Sally Tiska Rice possesses artistic prowess that

breathes life into her canvases. As a versatile multimedia

artist, Sally seamlessly employs a tapestry

of techniques, working in acrylics, watercolors, oil

paints, pastels, collages containing botanicals, and

mixed media elements. Her creative spirit draws

inspiration from the idyllic surroundings of her

rural hometown, where she resides with her husband,

Mark, and cherished pets.

Sally's artistic process is a dance of spontaneity

and intention. With each brush stroke, she composes

artwork that reflects her unique perspective.

Beyond her creations, Sally also welcomes commissioned

projects, turning heartfelt visions into

tangible realities. Whether it's capturing the essence

of individuals, beloved pets, cherished homes, or

sacred churches, she pours her soul into each personalized

masterpiece.

Sally Tiska Rice will be the featured artist at the

Hotel on North, located at 297 North Street, Pittsfield,

MA through September 1, 2025. Set in the

heart of downtown Pittsfield, this beautifully restored

boutique hotel blends 19th-century architecture

with sleek, contemporary design—and is the

perfect backdrop for Sally’s richly layered, lightfilled

artwork.

Sally’s work is on the gallery walls of the Clock

Tower, Open Monday-Friday 9:00-5:00 pm for

self-guided tours.

SallyTiskaRice@gmail.com

www.sallytiskarice.com

https://www.facebook.com/artistsallytiskarice

Fine Art Prints (Pixels), Twitter, LinkedIn

Instagram, YouTube, TikTok

—Andy Warhol

Calendar Listings + Editorial + Advertising & Promoting + Hands‐on & Online art publication since 1994

The Artful Mind welcomes your presence with news of upcoming events.

Please email or call: artfulmind@yahoo.com and 413 ‐ 645 ‐ 4114.


RICHARD NELSON

THE ALPHABET SERIES FROM A TO Z: “R ”

&

Ai

ART

Digital Art

nojrevned@hotmail.com

Rick Nelson on FB


Tea Cup studies

Sally Tiska Rice

BERKSHIRE ROLLING HILLS ART

CLOCK TOWER ARTISTS

Studio 302, 3rd floor

75 South Church St, Pittsfield, MA (413)-446-8469

www.sallytiskarice.com sallytiskarice@gmail.com

Breakthroughs

Acrylic on canvas 12”x18”

RUBY AVER

rdaver2@gmail.com | Instagram: rdaver2.

Housatonic Studio open by appointment 413-854-70067


Valeria and the Ants

CHAPTER 6

The Ants and The Punic Wars

It was obvious why the ants hated the elephants,

but why would the elephant hate the ants? I was sure

Valeria would have some interesting explanation,

but some time went by before I had the pleasure of

talking to her again. Meanwhile, I worked at my job

as the operator of the bumper cars, and I even began

to lecture the customers about the free will aspect

of the ride, going so far as to make up my own lecture

about the superiority of the “free will experience,”

as I called it.

I had no stake in the affairs of the carnival or its

people, and except for Valeria, I kept my distance

from the other members of the troupe. They looked

upon me as a temporary hire, and assumed I would

soon depart. They even went so far as to talk about

me in the third person, when sitting just a few feet

away. They referred to me as “Joe’s Replacement,”

as if that was my first and last name, and after a few

weeks I started to call myself “Free Will Joe,” when

people asked me who I was.

One day on my way to my station I saw in the distance

that Valeria was talking to the owner himself.

They were too far away from me for me to hear their

conversation, but I stopped to watch them for a moment.

She went on about something, and he listened

to her attentively. Their roles seemed to be reversed,

like she was a teacher reprimanding a student who

was doing poorly in school. Then, she walked away

from him and I passed her walking on one of those

dirt tracks bicycles make in a field. I said, “What

were you talking to the boss about.” “Thats’s none

of your business,” she answered, but then perhaps

thinking it was too harsh a reply, she said, “Will you

buy me a lemonade.”

Just like with the fried dough, the lemonade stand

person refused my money when he saw I was with

Valeria, and we sat down at a blue picnic table, and

like before, she said nothing and started to pick at

the blue paint with her fingernail. On her little finger

she had a cloisonne thimble.

Although she had refused to tell me about what

she was talking to the boss about, I could see that

she was troubled about something, so I asked, “How

is Syracuse doing?” This was perhaps the wrong

question to ask her, because she just shook her head

a little and said nothing. “And the Elephant Bruno,

how is he?” I asked.

She suddenly became animated and said, almost

shouting, “He wants me to kill all the ants. He says

for me to exterminate them. I tried to explain that

they are nice harmless beings, but he says, ‘Pour

kerosene on their ant hill, light it on fire, show me

where they are, I will stamp them out.’ but those ants

really have a right to hate the elephants, do you

know, can you imagine what it is like for them when

an elephant steps on their little city.”

Somehow I wanted to prove to her that I was capable

of feeling sympathy for the little things so I

said, “Well, I guess it would be like if a giant meteorite

fell on a city, everyone would die instantly, and

all the buildings would be crushed flat. It would be

happening so suddenly that they would not even

have time for suffering. Everything would stop in

an instant.” “And they would not even know why,”

she said.

“But the elephants hate the ants because they crawl

up into the insides of their trunks and make them

sneeze. A few ants can cause an elephant to sneeze

over and over again for half an hour.”

“But really, and for this Bruno wants them to be

all exterminated, he can’t appreciate it from an ants’

point of view?”

“No, there is more to it than that, it is a historical

thing and quite complicated.” Suddenly she was reluctant

to go on with her explanation, and I could

see that to further elaborate on the subject was going

to cause her a painful emotional effort. I said nothing

but she had difficulty speaking, looked at me

pleadingly, and choked on her words a moment, then

pulling herself together she proceeded to give me a

most fascinating tragic history lesson. This is what

she said.

“Elephants remember things for a long time, and

they have a collective memory, what one elephant

remembers, they can all remember if they chose to.

Not only that but they do not really have any sense

of history, and actually, why should they. What an

elephant experiences this morning for example, is

just the same, more or less, as some similar morning

a thousand years ago. If an elephant stubbed his toe

a thousand years ago, then they can still feel the pain

today, if they want to.”

Having delivered this prologue, Valeria looked at

me carefully, she seemed to be trying to figure out

if I understood what she just said. I suppose she was

thinking, “Why go on explaining if he can’t understand

or even believe what I am saying.” But I encouraged

her to continue, trying my best to conceal

my skepticism.

So she continued, “A long time ago there was a

great war someplace. There were two armies and

one had elephants and the other army had no elephants.

The army without the elephants had a difficult

time because their soldiers ran away at the sight

of the beasts, which they imagined were indestructible,

and possibly even immortal. The elephants in

the elephant army were trained in the art of war, and

took delight in stamping out their enemies, and

squishing them into the ground in the same way that

you see people putting out cigarettes. Spears, arrows

and sword cuts did absolutely no harm to the monstrous

beasts, so that the…

“Romans,” I said, interrupting her. “You are talking

about the Punic Wars between Rome and Carthage,

where the Romans had no elephants. I read

about it in my last year of high school.”

Valeria seemed to be quite disappointed that I

knew about the war and so, for an instant seemed

unwilling to continue, and with a certain sad tone

she said, “So then you know all about how the ants

caused the Romans to win the war then?”

“No, nobody ever said anything about ants, there

were no ants involved in the Punic wars.”

“SO, you are telling me that the best, most important,

and most interesting thing about the war was

left out?” she said. “Well then, I certainly see that

school is meaningless,” and then, with a certain animation

she began again excitedly. “The ants had, for

a long time, figured out that it was the elephants that

had been destroying their cities, and they saw the

war as a perfect opportunity to avenge themselves

for the wrongs that had been done to them. And so,

by the thousands, during the night, before a big battle,

they crawled up into the elephant’s trunks and

waited for the trumpet to sound, and for battle to

begin. Just as the armies were about to clash, the elephants

fell into terrible sneezing fits and…”

At that point I could not suppress a laugh at the

absurdity of what she was saying, but with an angry

look she said, "What's so funny?” I apologized immediately

and she continued with her fable.

“The army with the elephants was completely defeated,

and all the elephants were captured and

chained together into the middle of a big field. Now

the emperor of the Romans put out an order for none

of the beasts to be harmed in any way, thinking that

they could be trained to fight for the Romans, but

the army hated the elephants to such a degree that

all the elephants were put to death starting on the afternoon

after the battle.

The killing of the elephants was a thing that Bruno

found almost impossible to describe to me, he didn’t

want to explain it to me and at first all he said was

‘It took them a week, do you understand what I am

telling you, it takes a week to kill one of us. We elephants

do not die so easily, we have to be stabbed

and clubbed for hours on end, and even then we

don't really, at first, feel anything. But the Romans

were very inventive and industrious people, and

they devised machinery to hoist us in the air, way

above the trees, and then we were dropped on tall

pointed stales that’…”

“But he would not go on, he would not go on and

it was clear to see that even now he could feel those

stakes, and so I did not make him go on.”

Bruno’s statement that it took a week to kill an elephant,

affected me deeply. I had been listening to

her and trying to conceal my skepticism, and also

being careful to suppress any tendency to laugh at

the more ridiculous aspects of the story, but toward

the end, when she explained how the elephants were

dropped onto pointed stakes from a great height, I

was suddenly moved to tears, and had to make a

strenuous effort to repress my emotion and hide my

reaction from the child who was talking to me. I

shifted my position on the picnic bench and turned

my head to hide my face, as if something had caught

my attention somewhere.

When I had recovered my composure I turned to

her and said “Well, now perhaps it will be your mission

to reconcile things between the elephants and

the ants after all these years, and such misunderstandings,

perhaps it is your duty in this life to…”

“That is not going to happen,” she replied because

the elephant is going to be sold next week, and the

boss has already taken a deposit. He is going to be

sold into zoo slavery.” “Is that what you were talking

to the boss about then?” I asked her

“Yes,” she answered, again twisting the thimble

on her little finger absentmindedly. Just then it

started to rain, and we got up from the picnic table.

She walked away down the bicycle path but after a

short distance turned around and asked,” Did you

cry about the elephants?

—-RICHARD BRITELL SEPTEMBER, 2025

CHAPTERS 1 - 5 CAN BE FOUND AT

RICHARDBRITELL.COM



BRUCE PANOCK

REALITY BROKEN

Panockphotography.com

bruce@panockphotography.com

917-287-8589 | Instagram @brucepanock

Curtains

Upcycled Wearable Art

Designed and Created by Deborah H Carter

Photo: Eric Korenman

Model: Frieda Hofmann

Represented by the WIT Gallery

TAM NOVEMBER 2025

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