More weekend plans

For those who will be in northern Dutchess County this weekend, I recommend checking out the opening of Faces Of Nature, a joint exhibition by Adrianne Lobel and Jennifer Axinn-Weiss at Sharada Gallery, 45 East Market Street in Rhinebeck. Pair the gallery visit with the American Symphony Orchestra performance at Bard College’s Fisher Center -- now this could make for a fab weekend. Actually, those are my plans. ☺

And, since I will be in the neighborhood, I hope I'll have time to shop at Leonardo's Italian Market at 51 East Market Street in Rhinebeck. I seem to remember there's a televised sports event on Sunday that will require some good food in the house -- Leonardo's has fresh mozzarella made daily, 14 varieties of fresh pasta and ravioli, homemade sauces and Italian sodas - the real thing! Yum ...

I am very much looking forward to the exhibition... Jen is a wonderful artist who creates the Gourmet Giggles cartoon in Hudson Valley Connoisseur magazine. I always enjoy seeing Jen and her husband, Michael Weiss, a professor at the Culinary Institute of America who writes the wines column for HVC magazine.

Here is more information about the exhibit from the gallery:

Sharada Gallery presents FACES OF NATURE, the first exhibit of the year by artists Adrianne Lobel and Jennifer Axinn-Weiss in their personal interpretation of nature. Though the styles of the artists are different—both their visions reflect a shared theme in their exploration of nature and their respective work reflects this awareness and representation.

In FACES OF NATURE, Adrianne Lobel exhibits an amazingly intricate multi-layered style of interpreting her world. She has simplified the elements to their essentials making negative spaces and the spaces between objects as powerful as the objects themselves. Adrianne's exploration of space is a poignant observation in their elegant composition. She has emphasized the underlying geometry in our everyday world and brings it to the surface.

"FACES OF NATURE" examines each artist interpretation of their world. The exhibit plays on the intersection between what is seen, and what is unseen. The different aspects to experiencing the environment we inhabit. What underscore these observations and insights are Lobel's years of experience as a stage designer. In her work, Adrianne has to be acutely aware of her spatial environment in order to create a particular atmosphere on stage. Adrianne Lobel's work is energetic, alive, abstract but figurative.

Jennifer Axinn-Weiss is a painter who explores her unseen and natural world. She has integrated the unseen world of spirit with the physical world. Art she feels is the place where invisible presence can be made visible through image, color, and light. She is compelled to paint so that she can capture the subtle aspect of her natural world.

The exhibition FACES OF NATURE will be on exhibit at Sharada Gallery from Saturday, February 2 to March 9. For more information, call 845-876-4828.
Sharada Gallery is located at 45 East Market Street, Rhinebeck. Hours are Wednesday through Friday, noon to 5 p.m., and weekends, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.


Buy local art!

Classical weekend

When I went online last week to buy my tickets, I saw this performance was selling well. And why wouldn’t it – given that it’s a wonderful orchestra with a great program in a fabulous venue. Maybe I’ll see you this weekend at one of the American Symphony Orchestra performances conducted by Leon Botstein at the Fisher Center at Bard College.

Here are the details:

Friday, February 1 and Saturday, February 2

Debussy, Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun
Dukas, The Sorcerer's Apprentice
Scriabin, Piano Concerto in F-sharp minor, Op. 20
Soloist: Wui-Ming Gan, piano
Copland, Symphony No. 3

Both concerts begin at 8 p.m. in the Sosnoff Theater at the Fisher Center on the Bard College campus, Annandale-on-Hudson. (Pre-concert talk by ASO Composer-in-Residence Richard Wilson at 6:45 p.m.) Tickets: $20, 30, 35. To order: visit www.fishercenter.bard.edu or call 845-758-7900.

Cheers!

I like beer. Well, I like good beer. Maybe it's because I used to live in Germany (where they have GREAT beer), but I've always been none too satisfied with the beer I found in the United States. That is, up until the last few years. It seems like the artisan craft beer movement has really grown in this area -- with brewers such as Keegan Ales in Kingston, Gilded Otter in New Paltz, Hyde Park Steakhouse & Brewing Co.., Skytop Steakhouse & Brewing Co. in Kingston, Spotty Dog Books & Ale in Hudson, Barrington Brewery & Restaurant in Great Barrington, Massachusetts and my hands-down fave, Brewery Ommegang in Cooperstown (I really LOVE Belgian-style ales). You can buy some of these beers at local stores and restaurants but you have to go to the source for others.

So it was exciting to see an opportunity to taste acclaimed craft beer in a fantastic setting right on the banks of the Hudson River -- the Brooklyn Beer Dinner at Shadows on Hudson in Poughkeepsie.

Here are the details from Shadows:

THE BROOKLYN BEER DINNER
6:00 PM, Thursday January 31
Come enjoy an evening of gourmet food paired by Garrett Oliver, the Brewmaster of The Brooklyn Brewery. He is also the author of The Brewmaster’s Table, and the foremost authority in the United States on the subject of traditional beer. Garrett Oliver began brewing professionally at Manhattan Brewing Company in 1989 as an apprentice. He was appointed brewmaster there in 1993. In 1994, Garrett joined The Brooklyn Brewery as Brewmaster, partner, and Vice President for production. He soon became widely known both here and abroad for his flavorful interpretations of traditional brewing styles and as an avid and entertaining lecturer and writer on the subject of fine beer. Garrett has hosted more than 500 beer tastings and dinners in several countries, writes regularly for beer and food-related periodicals, and is internationally recognized as an expert on traditional beer styles and their affinity with good food.

Visit here for the full menu and info about reservations for the event.

If you like beer -- good beer -- this sounds like a not-to-miss event. Cheers!

An Art Trio-Patch, Pile & Proof

An Art Trio—Patch, Pile & Proof, an exhibit of about 50 works from Hudson Valley artists Martee Levi, Grace Knowlton and Carlos Uribe, has just opened at the Blue Hill Art and Cultural Center, 1 Blue Hill Plaza in Pearl River. (Call 845-359-1584 for information.) The exhibit runs through May 30

Here’s some insight from the center:

‘An Art Trio-Patch, Pile & Proof” is an exhibition of three art professionals doing the same thing (abstract art), differently.

“Martee, Grace and Carlos enjoy very separate journeys finding and fashioning, yet each one chooses what we throw away and each one creates wholeness and beauty from our discarded fragments,” says Carolyn deLisser, coordinator of the exhibition.

Martee Levi, who resides in Cold Spring, has a way with patch, patch, patch, creating relationships in form, line and color that empowers the strong, elegant abstract compositions in the exhibition. Seeking the underlying unity of fragments and separated elements is what motivates her work. Ms. Levi’s works can be found in private collections from New York to Paris. She is a graduate of Columbia University and the Rochester Institute of Technology.

Grace Knowlton of Palisades is fascinated with piles, piles and piles of dirt. Widely known for her spherical sculpture, Grace’s attention have moved away from the sphere’s elegant, closed form to ordinary dirt-how it falls, collects, colors and always slumps. She has soil collected from different parts of the world embedded in her paintings. Her work has been exhibited at fine institutions across the country including the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in NYC, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC, among many other venues.

Carlos Uribe pulls proof after proof exploring and creating multi-layered patterns through the process of silkscreen printing. An innovator in print-making, Carlos continues to discover new relationships in form and color in his printmaking technique. In this exhibition, he closely observes the matte quality of silk screening ink taking on a new dimension as it is applied to varnished copper plates. Uribe resides in Milton and is the Director of Arts Education at the Garrison Art Center. His recent work is currently on view at the Harlem Textile Works in NYC.

The Blue Hill Art and Cultural Center has been the site for major exhibitions of Fine Art since 1984. It remains the prime exhibition space in Rockland County for American and international artists of outstanding achievement and reputation whose work is suited for public space. Blue Hill Plaza is a beautifully landscaped corporate center where a pond and an atrium unite two contemporary buildings that house Rockland’s prime businesses.

Intimate music, intimate settings

It's my birthday weekend -- and I'm being overwhelmed with entertainment opportunities in addition to the Steinway film and gallery talk I mentioned earlier. How about some fantastic live music?

Paco Peña Flamenco Music and Dance will appear at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington, Massachusetts at 8 p.m. Saturday. Visit here for ticket information. This is GREAT music and I highly recommend visiting this wonderfully restored small theater. (And I'll remind everyone that Great Barrington is an easy drive from most of the Hudson Valley. It's a nice community to visit, in general.)

More information from Mahaiwe:

When Paco Peña decided to launch his now world famous company, he set out to bring onto the stage a true rendition of what the Art of Flamenco represents: a spontaneous collaboration between artists of different disciplines who inspire one-another to create a unique and unrepeatable experience that is new and surprising to themselves as much as it is to any audience present. Flamenco is not written down, but passed on from generation to generation. It holds an intense appeal that is timeless. Flamenco rhythms are vital; it is like a primal pulse, like the rhythm of the earth... and everyone must get to feel it!


ADDITION:
Speaking of wonderfully restored small theaters: There's also the Blue Brothers film at the Bardavon theater in Poughkeepsie on Friday evening. Then there's the Bruce Springsteen Concert Film: Live in Barcelona at the Colonial Theater in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, also on Friday evening. And the Blind Boys of Alabama at the Bearsville Theater in Woodstock on Saturday evening. You just can't be bored if you're living in the Hudson Valley!

Gallery talk in Rhinebeck

If you find yourself in Rhinebeck on Saturday afternoon, artist Lilli Farrell will discuss her work from 3 to 6 p.m. at Sharada Gallery at 45 East Market Street. I am really attracted to the images in her current exhibit at Sharada, “Stepping through the Veil” – check them out for yourself in person (exhibition runs through January 31) or at www.sharadagallery.com

Perfect pianos

The feature-length documentary Note By Note: The Making Of Steinway L1037 will be playing at Upstate Films in Rhinebeck this weekend (January 26 – 28).

Here’s some more about the film from Upstate:

Filmed at the Steinway Factory in Queens, NY, the film documents the year-long creation of Steinway piano #L1037 from a 20 foot plank to a full size concert grand. Interviews with the workers document the different approaches each brings to his job. It is this craftsmanship that contributes to the subtle nuances of a Steinway instrument. Interviews with the rainbow coalition of workers are intercut with world-class musicians discussing what they look for in choosing a piano and what draws them to Steinway. Jazz legends Hank Jones, Kenny Barron, and Marcus Roberts, along with classical maestros Pierre-Laurent Aimard and Helene Grimaud, perform as well as discuss the relationship between an artist and his instrument, and Harry Connick Jr. stops by to let us know how he “likes his pianos to push back a little.” unrated. 80 mins..
Saturday Jan 26, 4:15 show and Sunday Jan 27, 12:45 pm show: Filmmaker Ben Niles in person

(US 2007, dir by Ben Niles)

If you admire the craftsmanship and elegance of Steinway pianos, you’ll want to check out the fabulous photographs we'll be featuring in the February-March issue of Hudson Valley Connoisseur (on sale very soon at local Barnes & Noble shops and other retailers listed here). Spencer Ainsley photographed a vintage Steinway for us last month at Vincitore’s Piano Center, which is located in Poughkeepsie close to our magazine’s offices.

Fun in the bookstore

My daughter and I were part of the crowd who showed up last Saturday to see Peter Yarrow at Barnes & Noble in Kingston in celebration of his Puff the Magic Dragon book with CD and Puff and & Other Family Classics CD. We heard his wonderful musical performance while we had hot chocolate (her) and cappuccino (me) in the store’s café. (Maybe it’s because I am literally a child of the 60s -- my daughter knew almost every one of the songs he sang.) Then we joined the line of folks who waited almost two hours to meet the singer/author. I have to commend the store’s staff for having so well organized what could have been a crush of people waiting to see the singer. (As we entered the store, we were assigned to one of eight groups, each with its own time to line up to meet Yarrow.) Even though we were near the end of the last line (which wound around much of the store), Yarrow was still gracious and friendly when he signed the book and CD we’d brought. Here he is in a video, singing Puff at another event in Fairfield, Connecticut.

While we were waiting, I happened to see a sign announcing that Dan Leader (owner of local artisan bread company Bread Alone) will be in the store at 3 p.m. this coming Saturday (Jan. 26) to talk about and sign his book, Local Breads: Sourdough and Whole-Grain Recipes from Europe's Best Artisan Bakers. We featured Leader’s wonderful baked products in the August 2007 issue of Hudson Valley Connoisseur magazine. If you go Saturday, you can ask if the latest Hudson Valley Connoisseur magazine has arrived yet – I promise that we’ve got some great stuff in store for you in the February-March issue!
Barnes & Noble, 1177 Ulster Avenue, Kingston 845-336-0590 or barnesandnoble.com

A new green year

If you're a Plantaholic like me, the New Year means one thing -- it's time to sit down and enjoy all the plant and seed catalogs that arrived in the mail over the past month or so.

This is serious stuff for us Hort Heads (that's short for horticulture -- for the non-gardeners among us). Getting ready to see the latest varieties of mint discovered by Richters (the Herb Gods in Canada) or the hottest hues in annuals introduced at White Flower Farm (just over the border in Litchfield, Conn.!) requires a certain amount of pre-reading ceremony. My tradition goes this way: Resist reading the catalogs as they arrive and collect them in a pile until the first week in January. Select day with block of uninterrupted time. Prepare beverage (a nice pot of tea works well) and grab a handful of sticky notes or page markers and highlighters. Get out garden notebook/diary. Hide Visa card. Find cozy spot. Read. Mark favorites. Dream.

Even if the holidays brought me, say, a gift certificate to White Flower Farm in Litchfield or Phantom Gardener in Rhinebeck or my local Adams Fairacre Farms or Catskill Native Nursery in Kerhonkson – I still need to go through the plant catalog routine. It’s an obsession. ☺

Speaking of plants and seeds, I received this recent e-mail from the Hudson Valley Seed Library, which is a wonderful, relatively new organization with a great purpose.

GROW LOCAL!

This February, the Hudson Valley Seed Library will be offering seeds from over 35 varieties of vegetables, flowers, and herbs. Varieties were carefully selected based on adaptability to our region, historical significance, excellent flavor, and unusual beauty. Seeds came from the most reputable, responsible, and sustainable sources. No seeds in the collection are GE or even affiliated with any bio-tech corporations, most are organic, all are open-pollinated, and a unique selection were locally grown. This year’s seed company sources include Seed Saver’s Exchange, Baker Creek, and FEDCO. Locally grown seeds in the Seed Library came from the Gardiner Library, unique donations from backyard gardeners, and seeds saved during a workshop at Phillies Bridge Farm.

For the first time, seeds will be available for sale and check-out at multiple locations. Sites include the Gardiner Library, the February 9th and March 8th Winter Sun Farm winter markets at Deyo Hall, and other High Falls, New Paltz, and Woodstock locations to be announced. The book library part for the Seed Library has grown as well. We have added another 25 books on seeds, seed saving, food politics, heirloom gardening, and horticultural history. Another exciting new part of the library is our collection of seed ephemera. Vintage seed packets, catalogs, advertisements, and more will be on display starting in February.

The Hudson Valley Seed Library is actively looking for donations and volunteers. We especially need help creating a website, printing materials, filling seed packets, and growing out local varieties to increase seed stock. Those donating time or money can receive free seeds and be included in print and online publicity. Hudson Valley Seed Library members can send in special seed requests by January 4th , receive discounts on attending seed saving workshops and purchasing seeds, and check out Seed Library seeds for free. Seed Library membership is free by emailing info@seedlibrary.org. For seed related news, issues, book reviews, seed saving tips, and the latest Seed Library happenings, subscribe to the fledgling Seed Library Blog at seedlibrary.blogspot.com.