The Davis Square Community

[I asked permission to take photos at every studio pictured in links from this post.]

Before I went to open studios this morning I had the vague idea that I should try to find some new ones or go to a part of the city I don't usually explore during SoS weekend. Once I got there and picked up a map, my idea morphed: Why not spend the whole day going only to studios I'd never been to before - or so long ago that I didn't remember ever having been to them?

stiltwalker tricked me, by switching from displaying at his own place to teaming up with a few other artists and displaying at one of their homes! :) But I think his was the only work I saw today that I'd seen at past Somerville Open Studios, and it worked out really nicely. A majority of what I saw, I liked a lot, and I found several new favorites. Including, to my surprise, a few very close to Davis Sqaure. If you go Sunday, and haven't been to them, by all means visit:

#23 Nave Gallery Annex : https://goo.gl/photos/n74ue9oGHRXCYwpc8

They've got an exhibit of fiber art work by a variety of artists, many of them 3D. In the photos above are pieces by Emily Brodrick, Chris Motley, Ayelet Lindenstrauss Larsen, Gin Stone, and Jodi Colella.

#24 Darkmatter Park : https://goo.gl/photos/o2jddhMqA3an24Hv5

Katharine VanBuskirk has been here for nearly 20 years, and done almost every SoS, yet I've somehow missed it in the 10+ years I've gone to open studios. She and her husband collaborate on an elaborate garden of perennials, trees, pools, rock arrangements, paths, sculptures, and flowers. They've got some dogs even I, not at all a dog person, think are cute :) She told me they also have a couple of nuthatches that nest nearby and visit often, but I didn't see them.

#26 Ceramics in the basement on Willow Ave : https://goo.gl/photos/DY8KweVUrdyxbVnK6

Julie Peck, Sara Shelton, and Eileen de Rosas, really packed this small basement! Recognizably different styles, though they all go together well, and I appreciated how all of them worked birds into many of their pieces :)

#27 Julie Murphy : https://goo.gl/photos/jYG6SXJPoA7gtNxj6

This was her first time ever displaying her work in a public show or event... and I was the first person to ever buy one of her pieces :) It's the bluish one with trees, bees and nautilus shells at lower right in the third photo, so you won't see that one there, because I have it. But you should totally go and see the rest in person!

#44 Miller Street Studios : https://goo.gl/photos/hNt7DuT5v1LwScxPA

Almost 50 artists at this studio building, but very few participate in SoS. Only two listed on the SoS guide, though there were actually three open, and they have shared studios so you can see their studiomates' work, plus there's a bunch of stuff on the walls, making you wish you could go past some of those closed doors.

In that photo album you can see pieces by or studios of Sandra Allik (mixed media paintings often including wood), Christopher Pullman (who did some really intriguing paintings of a bunch of old potatoes!), Linda Lichtman (glass), and Leo Muellener (large paintings), as well as some of the art-strewn hallways.

A couple of the artists I spoke to said they want to entice more of their neighbors to participate in SoS, and one of them (Sandra Allik, if I remember correctly) was collecting a list of people coming by who hadn't been there before. If you haven't been there before, go and sign her book!

Edit: Although her studio at Miller St is not open for SoS, I just learned that Jodi Colella - one of the artists displaying at the Nave annex - made the large fiber pieces in the hallway at the beginning of this photo set.

#49 60 Park Street : https://goo.gl/photos/erMXkmm7oWSx7Hct6

In this album are some of Brad Carreiro's wood lamp light things, Rachael Holmes' intriguing knit bags and shapes, and whimsical robot-themed paintings by Pecan, as well as the delightful front of the house with its cornoctopus in the yard. If you go in person you'll also see work by a couple of other artists.

As a bonus, here's a nifty plant arrangement by Thomas Fraley at #28 : https://goo.gl/photos/oCg7HtcmpzAvzuCe7 - plants aren't what he's displaying, but he works with professionally and I hope he displays a garden in the future. He'd never seen Darkmatter (#24) so I suggested a visit.