Java Mehta Joshi and I became Facebook friends after I noticed her design of a book cover. I was intrigued by the colors that she had used. When she invited me to attend her Open Studio I could not resist the opportunity.
Her Open Studio exhibition was located at 2027 Mass Avenue, Lexington, MA where 18 artists were showing their arts and crafts. My first stop was at the jewelry table presented by Anand Dhara Creations of Archita Roy. Archita lives in Nashua but spends a great deal of her time with her daughter in Lexington. She enjoys making jewelry and almost all of the income goes to help children in need of The Calcutta Mercy Center, Kolkota and The Omkareshwar Ashram School, Indore, India to help children suffering from extreme poverty or serious illnesses. I was touched by the noble cause of Arpita.
My next stop was Dr. Java Joshi whom I was meeting for the first time. The room was full of Java’s different style of paintings of cottages from rural India and some black and white drawings of still life of various artifacts. She has earned a Ph. D. in painting and she likes to paint in many forms including oil, acrylic, pencil and ink. I was intrigued to see so many cottages of different styles. She said, “I visit the rural and remote areas of my hometown, I am fascinated by the different styles of huts and cottages in the villages.
Java shared a tribal painting of her village which is known as “Sonja” named after a festival which is celebrated by unmarried girls of the area to seek good husbands. Java enjoys drawing scenes from plays of different styles. She not only enjoys drawing them, she participates in them as well. She seemed like a multitalented person and I was glad to make the acquaintance.
As soon as I got out of Java’s room, I was struck by the vibrant colors coming from Gail Francine’s room. Gail travels to Hawaii to seek inspiration for her paintings. She mostly paints water colors and loves to paint flowers. Professionally, she is a career counselor but loves Nature. “I like to draw,” she said “so that I can manifest in colors what I love in this world --not in the literal sense but still do my best.” She shared that around her mid-life “I became very interested in the natural world around me. I wanted to know the names of the sumptuous flowering trees in Maui and the sailing clouds overhead in the never-ending skies of New Mexico. I sought time to look, listen and be stirred by whatever caught my eyes.”
I went upstairs and came across many other artists of different styles. One of them was Lisa Heffley who designs beautiful jewelry and works at the yoga center in Arlington, Maynard and Acton. I particularly noticed her jewelry with Om. We struck a conversation about changing styles of Yoga only to be reminded by my friend, who had accompanied me to the art center, that I have already spent quite a long time chatting with artists. It is always fun and interesting to meet artists of different styles and genre. While I missed meeting several other artists, those I met left deep impressions on me. I hope to visit them again next year and write about them and find the connection.