Tuesday, January 8, 2008

There's Art in New England?


I went to a printmaking conference at Boston University about 5 years ago and remember being impressed by the range of work coming out of the city. Having grown up just a couple hours north in a small town outside Keene, NH (which is also a small town), I've admittedly done my best to evacuate what I often size down to be a region that paints decoys and landscapes. Even though Boston is tucked away in New England and more emphasis is placed on the Red Sox than on ... well... anything else, there are half a dozen schools in the area that make it more of a thriving art community than I once thought (MassArt, BU, SMFA, Smith College, Hampshire College, UMass Amherst...I could go on). There are also stores and groups in the area making it just as craft happy as Baltimore, too. Grace at Design Sponge did a great Boston Design Guide HERE

Recently transplanted from the farmlands of upstate NY to the depths of Cambridge, MA, My friend Jon Daly is working on an MFA in painting at B.U. and has just updated his website for the first time in a while. Since his time at Syracuse University, Jon's paintings have gone in a million different directions- but at the moment, have settled in a place that is a great amount of creepy and beautiful rolled into one. We here at Red Prairie Press love us some creepy girls on the beach, some little twin boys skinning foxes, and some...guy playing tag with a fence post. Not sure I can actually credit Boston with any of this progression really...but it makes for a good mention of beantown without having to talk too much about sports. Go check out Jon Daly's paintings for yourself at www.jonathandaly.com and his other life as half of the design team at www.entirecatalogue.com.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

KEENE, NH??? Where's your Westmoreland pride?

Mom

Red Prairie Press said...

excellent point.

Lindsay said...

man that first one is GORGEOUS. makes me want to paint again! so simple yet so elegant, in a creepy way.