Natick Artists Shine in Framingham Gallery

Five Natick artists are exhibiting in a show entitled Industrial Strength at Fountain Street Fine Art in Framingham through Sunday, July 31. 
An opening reception will be held on Saturday, June 25, from 5 to 8 pm.

The call for submissions of art stated, “the gallery is a large, well-lit space that holds the gritty charm of its 19th century manufacturing roots, which speaks to our theme- Industrial Strength.”

Juror Howard Yezerski, of Howard Yezerski Gallery in Boston chose 65 pieces out of the 232 that were submitted for consideration. 

Natick artists Susan Rustad Smith and her husband, Dan Smith, have work in Industrial Strength, as do David Lang, Pamela Picassito, and Marie Craig, who is one of the two co-directors of the gallery. 

Susan Rustad Smith, who is a former educator, has over twenty years of experience painting with watercolors. Though she works primarily in watercolor, she also paints on silk. Her work is inspired from her traveling in Europe, the Caribbean and around the US. She also enjoys working with photography, which she uses as a part of her painting process.

“The process and challenge of capturing light, color and texture in watercolor continues to hold my interest and fascination,” Susan Rustad Smith said in her artists’ statement.

“Watercolor itself is a surprising and sinuous medium: its very nature is changeable and can be unpredictable, often leading to some unexpectedly delightful results. When I drop in color on wet paper, I love watching the colors mix and flow to create new shades rather than premixing on my palette. I love the creative process of combining paint and water to express the subject matter and my emotions.”

Dan Smith was trained as an immunologist, and has worked for several decades in oral health research at The Forsyth Institute, and also teaching at Harvard.

The Forsyth building where he has worked contains what Smith says is “a magnificent and extensive collection of small tiles and large mosaics created by the Delft Company and the Saturday Evening Girls in 1910-12. This visual art very likely served as subliminal inspiration for my photography.”

In his artists’ statement, Smith said “My interest in photography is, in part, borne of environment. I was raised in Rochester, New York at a time when Kodak was king of the imaging hill and “George E.” provided me with a summer job through college. Many years of “snap-shooting” followed.”

He continued by saying “The natural realm, animate and inanimate, has always captured my attention. Unusual perspectives, whether gained through novel angles or altered light and content interests me as well. The subject of my work in this show, Bent, Not Broken, is the Gehry building at MIT, which is all about “bending” perceptions of design and color.”

Fountain Street Fine Art is located at 59 Fountain Street in Framingham. For more information about the gallery, or Industrial Strength, please visit www.fountainstreetfineart.com or birthingagallery.blogspot.com, or call 508-879-4200. Gallery hours are Friday through Sunday at 11 a.m.  to 5 p.m. and by appointment.