Walpole Library fundraiser

Local painters have made donations to the Walpole Library art auction.

Recently this article appeared in the Walpole Times:

WALPOLE - Original art work to be auctioned off at the Friends of the Walpole Library Art Auction to be held on Saturday, Nov. 14 from 7-10 p.m. in the Allen Room of the Walpole Country Club. Shown here are five members of the Foxboro Art Association: Nancy Bacevich, Haydi Hurley, Tony Donovan, and Ann Gorbett all Walpole residents, and Kimberly Weineck formerly of Walpole currently living in North Attleboro. Raffle items and a silent auction of donations from local businesses and area attractions further help to raise funds for the new library. Music provided by the Wildewood Jazz Band. For more information go to walpolelibraryfriends.org.

You may recognize a few names in here from Gallery9 and Custom Art Framing. I'm holding my pastel---framed at Custom Art Framing, of course! There's also Tony Donovan of First Friday, October 2nd in the gallery fame. Gallery9 carries the work of Ann Gorbett and has carried the work of Nancy Bacevich.

It'll be a great event at the Walpole Country Club. Hope you can make it!

Final First Friday 2008

Last Friday Ann Gorbett was the artist showcased at First Friday. What a great night it was!First Fridays need some preparation. Ann kindly stopped in earlier to help us out. While she was there, flowers were delivered. Her sisters had sent a bouquet. How nice!

Toward the end of the night Julie and I realized no one had taken photos during the show. Here Julie works to rectify that situation.
And here's the gallery. Ann's work looked fabulous!This photo shows some her work in better detail. The golf pieces are wonderful. It's been a great year of First Friday shows. Thank you, Ann, for being a great artist to showcase at the end to a wonderful year!

Artwork for the season

Ann Gorbett, our Gallery 9 artist who works in palette knife, sold a piece at the SMALL WORKS Show which many people loved.

I figured I'd post it here for you to see.

If you click on this picture you can see it larger and notice how the kids in the background are actually blobs of color which, from Ann's deft palette knife wielding, instead look like kids in the background!

This piece sold to an excited art collector who was delighted with her purchase.

You can do well this season coming to Gallery 9 to buy perfect pieces for the people on your list. We offer a great selection priced from $25 to $165. Fabulous! Buy Art! Give Art!

Ann Gorbett will be our in-house artist featured in our final First Friday of the year. Come by December 5th from 5-7pm to meet Ann, see more of her work, and enjoy some light refreshments. It'll be the perfect respite during this quickly getting more and more hectic time of year.

On exhibit now and in the near future

Our SMALL WORKS receptions last Friday and Saturday were wonderfully successful.

As I said before, I was proud to look around the gallery at the fine selection of work. What wonderful support we've had from our gallery-artists and gallery-friends.

The work will be hanging through the end of the year, so stop in and select the perfect gift this holiday.

Not ones to rest on our laurels, the next gallery event is Friday and will feature Cindy Kerr doing some LIVE PAINTING in the gallery. Our next reception is December's FIRST FRIDAY on December 5th featuring Ann Gorbett. All events in the gallery are a lot of fun.

Please stop by when you can. It'll be well worth your trip!

SMALL WORKS sampling

It's Wednesday and the SMALL WORKS show is nearly here.

Our reception is Friday from 5-7 and Saturday from 11-3. We're excited because our artists have been stopping by with new submissions. Some are framed, some are matted, and some are mounted. ALL are fabulous, and all are priced just right.

I'm quite proud of this show.

Here is another sneak peek at Kathy Weller's work. I am excited about this and all of her fun pieces.
Don't fall too in love with the one I posted from Kathy yesterday. Like I said, I think I'm taking that one home with me. :)

Polo Barrera has large-scale acrylics in the gallery now, but we learned that he also does some wonderful illustration. When we saw them, we had to have them in the gallery.

Introducing: Fisher ManSkating Man
French ManRocket ManI told you they were fun. There are more, too. (One in particular I can't show you because I think I want it.)

Ann Gorbett has been doing some wonderful pieces, too, just for the show. Normally one to work in oil, these are in acrylic.



This is just a small sampling. Matted up they look particularly great.

We do hope to see you either at the reception or throughout the rest of the year. We'll have a wonderful selection for you to buy art and give art.

Scheduled events :: past, present, and future

From now until the end of the year I think things will be BUSY---deliberate capital letters kind of BUSY--for us at the shop (and for everyone, really.) It's exciting, though, and I have a bunch of things I want to mention.

First, Nancy MacCallum of Nancyrosetta was our First Friday artist and what a successful show it was!

Nancy's display, photo courtesy of Nancy MacCallum

Enjoying the reception, photo again courtesy of Nancy MacCallum

Her new work is wonderful. Her blog shows some of her work and I always enjoy seeing what she's making. The cherry blossom pieces make me happy happy.

Our next First Friday will be on Friday (makes sense, right?), December 5th from 5-7pm and will showcase the work of Ann Gorbett. Be sure to stop in for the last FF of the year!

Julie and I are working on some fun things for the holidays and have been viewing and editing proofs on something since Friday (Oh, are we making our designer work! "Can you make this more 'eggplant' than it looks now?" we emailed her just minutes ago.) It's for a little giveaway we hope to have for our Small Works show opening reception on Friday!

Speaking of that, our SMALL WORKS SHOWwill be officially displayed on Friday, November 14 with an opening reception Friday from 5-7 and Saturday from 11-3. We'll be serving light refreshments and showing a wide selection of stellar work.

I've been painting away and so have our other in-house artists. Kathy Weller has diligently been communicating with me regarding her progress. She eagerly decided to do a grouping of small works on mini easels which I cannot wait to receive.

Here is a quick photo she sent me of a work in-progress. (I suspect it might be on its way home with me rather than make an appearance at the gallery. )

Two Kitties, Kathy Weller, all rights reserved

Give us a shot before shopping at generic chain stores for your shopping this season. Come to Gallery9 where you can buy art and give art easily. You'll find great prices and no stress.

Hope to see you at the gallery!

Seasonal changes and questions

As posted recently, if you come by the gallery, you'll notice a lot of changes for the upcoming season.

The front window wall is now a bright blue. We're introducing some new artists and we're in the midst of displaying small works from them as well as our in-house artists. (More to follow on our Small Works Show soon.) A new display showcases some different work for Gallery 9, like Crystal Hanehan's figures and my miniature pastels.

Along with that change, and answering our design challenge posting, Ann Gorbett has created the new blog banner you see. See Dave there? He's saying "art" rather than "arf." Love it, Ann. Nicely done and thank-you for your time in its creation.


Yesterday at the gallery, Julie and I focused our efforts in the classroom getting it spiffed up for a season of activity. We have art classes there but I've been toying with other ideas, too.

Would you be interested in some workshops where you'd create a hand-made piece you could give as a gift? I know I'd take Nancy MacCallum's jewelry-making workshop or maybe a collage workshop or a frame-your-own-small-memento workshop with Julie.

We're working hard during this difficult economy to meet your needs in creative ways which don't break all of our budgets. Your feedback is always welcome either here in a comment or to kim@customartframing.com or julie@customartframing.com.

Thank-you for reading!

Live Painting :: Photos

It was such a treat to witness the magic that is Ann Gorbett and her palette knife. I love the smell of oil paints in the late afternoon!

She worked from a small family photograph.

Photo courtesy of Kim Morin Weineck

These Friday night live painting shows are fast becoming my favorites.

Our next scheduled live painting is on Friday, October 17th featuring our own Kim Morin Weineck. Please stop by and witness some fantastic artwork in the making!

Live Painting :: Ann Gorbett

This Friday, September 19th, we'll have our in house artist, Ann Gorbett, in the gallery for Live Painting from 3-6pm.

Ann Gorbett, Life is a bowl of Mashed Potatoes, original oil 2008

Ann Gorbett's work is, simply put, FABULOUS! She creates wonderful original oils from such sundry references as a trip to Martha's Vineyard or her father's album of 50's snapshots.

Intriguing? Well, it should be even more so when I tell you that she does it all with only her lush oil paints and a palette knife. (Am I kidding? No! I'm serious!)

So come by from 3-6pm and see for yourself how this palette knife wielding master plies her art. It's something else to see!

(To see more Ann, check out the video at the side of our blog and she will tell you all about her work.)

On the agenda for First Fridays:

Tonight, from 5-7pm we are holding our first First Friday artist opening. It's quite exciting.

Jennifer O'Neil, our in-house abstract artist, will be in the gallery to discuss her work and answer any questions you may have. It's always a lot of fun to meet the artist behind the work so please come by if you can.




For a little information about Jennifer here is her artist statement. I love how succinctly she describes how and why she makes art.

"When I started painting I knew I wanted to create pieces that interpreted my feelings and evoked feelings in others. Working mostly from my imagination I choose color and shape that fits the mood of the situation or perhaps simply fits the mood that I am currently in. My goal is to make abstract art accessible to everyone. My hope is that my work draws you in and tells a story, a story that only you know."

Now isn't your curiosity piqued?

First Fridays at the gallery are a great reason to come to Norwood Center which offers wonderful options for meals, too. Perhaps you'll consider coming to our opening and staying in town for dinner and a drink. What fun!

Upcoming First Friday events:
Jennifer O'Neil August 8th
Kerry Hawkins September 5th
Jude McGinn October 3rd
Nancy MacCallum November 7th
Ann Gorbett December 5th

And for those sticklers out there reading this: we know that LAST Friday was the first and the first Friday of August. Much like election day, if the first Friday of the month is the first of the month, our First Friday opening will be on the following Friday. It never hurts to have a little extra time....

In the gallery

If you haven't come into the gallery lately, it is time for a trip. We have exciting work to show you from some fabulous artists, in addition to an expanded line of ready-made frames.

Here is a selection of some of our offerings to whet your appetite--

Andrew Osborne's wood turnings, Kim Weineck's mini paintings, and Lisa W B Walker's hand-thrown pottery. Wonderful.

Nancyrosetta's wonderful jewelry with the ready made frames

And a new artist in gallery 9, Nick Murray
(See the teensy red dot on this one?)
Framed minimally for display and priced perfectly so you can choose the right frame for your decor.

Or not framed but instead displayed industrially with clips on their heavy paper. Quite nice.

And close ups of the framed pieces:

Another artist in house is Ann Gorbett, you'll see her in the video in the upper right corner of this blog. She's working on unique series right now inspired by family snapshots. These are accompanied by letters instead of titles.

These, too, are unframed and priced perfectly for you to be able to frame as you like for your decor.

Here is a close up
And its accompanying letter that is its title, perfect to put on the back of the framed piece.
And another of her works with its title
And finally What fun these are. Her palette knife technique make these works unique, interesting, and appealing to a wide audience. Wait until you see them!

And for our abstract fans, Jenn O'Neil (a show coming up August 1st, mind you!!!) has these bright and exciting pieces for you:

Yes, that's my head and the flash.

And affordable small pastels by me, Kim Weineck. (Hope you don't mind the shameless plug.) Thanks for looking. We hope to see you soon!

Now in gallery 9

As promised, here are some new shots from the gallery.

Here is an oil entitled, you guessed it, "Caramels and Peppermints" by Vanessa St Laurent.
Wonderful new bracelets by Nancy MacCallum. Trust us, you need to have one of these. They are just lovely, unique, hand made treasures!

A new artist for us, A S Donovan who has a loose, painterly style. On the left, a Paris Metro Map followed by two rural scenes. A delight.

Nancy Bacevich is also new to the gallery and she does wonderful pastels. Her figures are captivating and she does take commissions for portraiture.

These are a joy to see in person! Ann Gorbett, another artist new to the gallery, created these "Mini Masters" as an art exercise. Can you spot the Degas and the two Van Gogh's? How about the original composition by Ann Gorbett?
While we love the "Mini Masters," we also loved her own creations. In person you can see the texture and wonderful framing on this pine and maple tree.

Kathy Weller's work displayed on our artful ledge. Inspiring ideas for your own home? (Perhaps you would like two or three of Kathy's pieces to get this similar look.)

And here's Julie working hard to make all the pieces look fabulous---both on the gallery walls and in your home. Thanks for checking in.