Sam Norton
A&E Editor
Art is more than just holding a paintbrush against a blank canvas. It’s more than coloring between the lines. It’s the way artists perceive the world around them.
For many artists, art is their representation of their memories, their lifestyles, and their passions.
For example, the artists at this year’s Art in the Park, held in Ashuelot Park on Sept. 1 and Sept. 2, showing their artwork meant providing the public a glimpse into their lives.
What makes their art stand out among others is that there is a story present in every moment that is captured. However, sometimes it just takes an artistic eye to spot the moments worth capturing. For photographer Bob Janules, those moments worth capturing were ones involving nature.
“I remember seeing a book of photos when I was young many, many years ago, and they were photos of nature,” Janules said. This book written by Eliot Porter, a pioneer of color photography, provoked a sense of inspiration in Janules.
“He would photograph a patch of ground that has plants or flowers that captured an artistic view,” Janules said. After deciding to further his research on nature photography, Janules searched the Internet for one of Porter’s books.
“I happened to select by fate what was called, ‘Nature’s Chaos,’ where all of the photos were of images of nature that had fractal characteristics,” Janules said. This book, which featured text by author James Gleick, introduced Janules to the chaos theory and fractal geometry.
Fractal geometry is when you select an equation and the equation is iterated multiple times into the computer, which then creates a mathematical set that forms intricate patterns, Janules explained.
“It is very much like photography where I’m not creating the image, I’m not painting it, it is there in front of me and I have to select what I want to keep as a final,” he said Like Janules, painter Brenda Ferro also finds inspiration in nature and wildlife.
“I’m a nature girl, and if I’m going to do anything else that I’m painting, it’s going to be still life pieces,” Ferro said.
However, these still life pieces must contain an item that relates to Ferro personally.
“Some people can take stuff randomly from the local thrift shop and throw it together and paint it, I need to relate to it,” Ferro said. Many of Ferro’s still life pieces possess a personal item from her mother, grandmother, or great-grandmother.
“It has to have a personal connection for me,” Ferro said. And that is what is important to her, capturing special moments and memories.
Ferro has been selling her work professionally since 2000. However, this was her first year selling at Art in the Park. Unlike Ferro, this is artist Mike Mooney’s fourth year showing at the annual art festival.
For the past four years, Mooney has showcased at Art in the Park with his mom, photographer Sue O’Connor.
Mooney, who has been creating art since 1997, is accustomed to a variety of mediums, from acrylic paint, oil paint, photography, pen ink drawings, to oil pastels, Mooney has worked hard to become a diverse artist. Knowing how to use multiple mediums alows Mooney to cover a wide-range of subjects.
“I allow the moment to inspire as well as the thinking and mentality behind it,” Mooney said.
These moments help dictate what medium Mooney will recreate it with.
“It really just comes moment to moment, piece by piece,” Mooney said. For painter Hannah Carpenter, it’s not the moments that inspire her; it’s her customers who do.
“I get inspire by making cool art that people want to buy. It can be whatever you want it to be, it is completely interpretable,” Carpenter said.
Carpenter, who started painting in 2005, has been showing at Art in the Park for five years and served on the planning board for four years.
Carpenter said that the event, which is completely volunteer based, is a great event for not only attracting customers, it is an event that benefits the Keene community as well.
Every year a raffle takes place where all of the proceeds go towards scholarships for Keene High and Monadnock Regional High, Carpenter said.
“There’s a good strong mission behind the event too,” Carpenter said. This event introduces the community to new artists and artwork, and also gives returning artists the opportunity to increase their clientele.
“Personally, I am always in the same spot, and people always know I’m here,” Carpenter said.
“It’s a great community event and it attracts a lot of people,” Carpenter said. For these artists, Art in the Park is a way for them to not only sell their artwork; Art in the Park is a chance for them to share their inspirations and passions. It’s a way to provide the public with diverse perspectives on what defines art.
And in order to do that, sometimes you have to color outside the lines.
Sam Norton can be contacted at
snorton@keene-equinox.com