By James Kinneen
Hometown Weekly Reporter
While The Westwood Artists have a permanent display at the Westwood Media Center, the collective of painters, sculptors, jewelry makers and other artists who must reside in Westwood to join, now have an annual March display on the bottom floor of the Westwood Library. Known as “The Westwood Spring Show”, the exhibit, which was open to all of the club’s artists who wanted to be displayed, features art ranging from ceramics and jewelry, to oil paintings, all the way to varied fiber crafts. It will be on display throughout the month of March.
Nineteen Westwood artists have work on display, with this being the first show in two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns. Given that all the artists are Westwood residents, it’s not surprising there are plenty of images that should look familiar to local neighbors. Andrew Jonic has a pretty watercolor of Powisset Farm in Dover and Karen Cagan has a nice photograph of a worn lifeboat at the Hale Reservation, for example. Those are both for sale -- as are the majority (but not all) of the art pieces on display. While there is sometimes a small fee to cover advertising, The Westwood Artists do not have to pay to display their artwork, but are sometimes limited to how many pieces they can show in one exhibit.
While there are other local pieces, when pressed on what piece on display stood out to them, Kathy Zola and Lisa WB Walker pointed to Melanie Guerra’s image of somewhere a bit north of us: Alton Bay, New Hampshire.
“Melanie Guerra is a Westswood-based photographer with three pieces in the show,” they explained. “This scene, ‘Colorful Alton Bay’, shows a group of cottages in an idyllic waterfront setting. She enhanced the color appeal by printing on a metallic paper rather than traditional photo paper. The result is magical.”
While printing on metallic paper may be innovative, the other artist the two wanted to talk about used an even odder technique.
Bonnie Blomquist uses things she’s found to create her art, which “combines personal design sense, good composition, and excellent craftsmanship in her hooked rug fiber wall hangings. ‘Lobster Fishing Boat’ incorporates found objects, like driftwood, fishing net, shells, and a semi-circular frame for an unusual take on a traditional craft.”
If you’d like to see what your neighbors and fellow Westwood residents can create, have a look in the library through March 31.
