Fellowship Through Art
The Art We Live With…
from the collections of our parishioners
Date installed: May, 2021
How does art connect us? In our homes many of us harbor a piece of art—a painting, print, drawing, photograph, poster, sculpture, weaving, ceramic, or other—that somehow inspires us and reminds us about something, somewhere, or someone. It’s a response that is almost universal, and that we share across our First Parish community. This is the idea behind ‘The Art we Live With’ and this little showcase of our prized (not valuable necessarily, but prized) works of creativity that have meaning for us. It may also be that, by sharing the art we like and love, we invite connection and insights about one another.
So, we thank those who have contributed to this special show, and we invite all to spend a little time viewing these works. Enjoy.
p.s.: If you like what you see, please feel free to join us by submitting a piece of your own. Contact Camille Schmidek.
Scroll down to see enlarged images
and descriptions…
A Swiss Alpine View
Artist unknown
Oil Painting
Collection: Richard Alles
This Swiss mountain scene belonged to my grandfather, the famous Harvard and MGH oral surgeon and world reknowned scholar, Dr. Kurt Thoma. He was born in Switzerland and lived in Weston his final few years on Oak Street. Harry Heohler presided over his memorial service at First Parish. The magnificence of this view has always pleased me.
The Minister
Artist: Ruth Anaqqtuusi
Stone & Stencil Print
Collection: Jeff Barz-Snell
This handmade limited print is by the well-known Inuit artist (Canadian) Ruth Annaqtuusi. It was a gift to me upon my ordination in the fall of 1998 by my wife’s aunt, Sandra Barz, who is a well-known Inuit art collector and scholar with an international reputation. The print depicts what the artist imagines as the first encounter between a Christian missionary and local Inuit tribe. It’s called, “The Minister.” It’s a rather intriguing piece, with the hand of God depicted as feminine, since the Inuit people often thought of the divine as female.
Squirrel
Artist: Rodney Richard, Sr.
Woodcarving
Collection: Georgia & Tod Foote
This is a squirrel carved with a chainsaw which Tod and I purchased at an Arts Association fundraiser in Rangeley Lakes, Maine many years ago. We’ve always loved this simple piece made out of pine. It’s now a favorite of our granddaughter, Savannah.
A bit about the artist (excerpt from The Folklife Center in Orono, ME): Rodney Richard, Sr. was born in 1929 and began carving at a young age whenever he wanted a toy. As an adult he has carved a wide array of items: sets of logger figures, animals (best known are his tiny rabbits, he has carved over twenty thousand which are all over the world), and a life-sized Native American figure for a doughnut shop in Rangeley.
Woman with Parasol
Artist: Esther McCall Foote
Oil
Collection: Georgia & Tod Foote
This is an oil painting by Tod’s mother, who started her art in the latter part of her life. The way she mixed the colors has always made it a favorite.
Charles River
Artist: Ray Doyle
Watercolor
Collection: Fiona Roman
This watercolor of the Charles River in mid-summer was painted by Ray Doyle. A Copley Society Artist, Ray photographed this view from our front yard. Although it is an invasive plant, the Purple Loosestrife provides quite a show in July. Not to be outdone, the Autumn leaves, Winter snow and drift ice, and the Spring Iris delight us with their unique, seasonal beauty. It’s home.
The Flatiron Building
Artist unknown
Collection: Chris and Stephanie Goff
Our parents acquired this interesting and unusual piece in the 1960’s. It depicts the Flatiron Building in New York City and is painted on a surface that includes wire and solder. We love it.
Lakeside Vista
Artist: John B. Mattson
Acrylic
Collection: Rob & Holly Kulow
My [Rob’s] Grandpa Mattson painted this picture. He was a lawyer and professional trumpet player who I was pretty close to. Most summers we’d visit him and Grandma in Winthrop, MA, when I was growing up. Later in life he took up painting because he’d always wanted to. He’d put on a red-checkered beret and go into his tiny home office, letting me watch while he set up his easel and got out his brushes and paint, but expecting me to leave once he’d settled on his stool in front of the canvas. This untitled work may not be the greatest, but it’s loaded with memories and encourages me to pursue my interests for the pleasure I get from doing them.
The Head of a Young Woman
Artist: Leonardo da Vinci
Print from drawing
Collection: Cynthia Berg
Also titled “Study of a Girl” or “A Study for the Angel of the Virgin Rocks”, this is a print from a drawing by da Vinci (1452-1519). I bought it in the 1960’s from a street vendor selling prints—on a bridge!—in Florence, and it’s been a favorite portrait all these years.
Leonardo, through his flowing lines, accents the sharper highlights of her face as she discretely glances at us over her shoulder. A few strands of her hair, perhaps a translucent veil, and her shoulder are lightly touched in this drawing.
She pulls us in, and we wonder, “Who was she and what was her story?”
Marshland Pairing
Artist: Hunter Nesbitt
Pastel
Collection: Jean Masland
Living by the marshes along the Eastern Shore of Chesapeake Bay, my brother Hunter and his wife revel in a unique world of water and light. Lucky them. Hunter is an accomplished artist and has shown his work in galleries in Baltimore. These lovely pastels always take us back to a place we love so much.
Aboriginal Art
Artist unknown
Mixed media
Collection: Jean Masland
This piece takes me back to the time when we lived in Australia. It was on a trip to remote Alice Springs that we discovered a gallery that supported and featured the work of Aboriginal artists. This mesmerizing piece has adorned our home ever since.
Little Red Schoolhouse
Artist: Mary Balch
Watercolor
Collection: Betsy Gibson
This painting was one of many created by Mary (May) Balch, a direct descendant of John Balch, who came to the New World in 1623 and then moved to what is now Beverly in 1625. A house believed to have been built by his son, Benjamin, still sits on the “plantation” land in Beverly and is one of the oldest existing dwellings in the U.S. May was a cousin of my paternal grandfather.
This piece has always made me smile and marvel at the detail that May was able to capture with watercolor. I never met the artist but I can imagine her, first as perhaps the young girl making eyes at the boy in the front row, and then as a mature independent woman who never married and made a successful life for herself.
Les Vieux Messieurs
Artist: Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
Collection: Marillyn Zacharis
This piece caught my eye because it was done by a famous artist for a simple piece of sheet music. In late 19th century Paris, one franc bought you this stylized Lautrec drawing as well as the song text printed on the back. Art as part of everyday society.
The image of the gentleman with top hat and long curved line to indicate perhaps a cape, with smudged figures of other gentlemen behind, with the music hall coquette as the object of attention –all tell a story even without the words.
Two Original Newton Street Views
Artist: Alice Davenport
Oil
Collection: Dick Floyd and his sister Jayne Kamin
(top) This is an original painting by Alice Davenport. Alice and her husband Henry were both popular and famous painters in the metro Boston/Weston area in the 1930’s, 40’s, and 50’s. I remember Mrs. Davenport painting this picture from my bedroom window, looking across the Land’s Sake property bordering Newton Street. I was 5.
(below) The accompanying piece, owned by my sister, was also painted by Mrs. Davenport, depicting the same view in the Fall. It was painted in 1945 and was commissioned by my parents, Edith and Paul Floyd.
Swans
Artist: Mary Lou Touart
Enamel
Collection: Ellen Touart-Grob & Larry Grob
My mother was a very talented artist. She was a trained fashion designer but left the New York fashion industry when she and my Dad moved to Boston in the mid-50’s to raise our family. When I was a young child, mom started exploring other artistic media such as silkscreen, needlepoint, silver jewelry, plus enamel paintings and jewelry. This is one of her favorite enamels. She designed it after a photograph titled “The Mute Swans of England” by Lord Snowdon that appeared in Vogue Magazine in 1965. I love her interpretation of the photograph—the delicate balance of the swans and the startling orange of their beaks against the white, gray and blue and the fact that she created it in such a difficult medium. We treasure this piece.
Seaside Rock
Artist: David Fullam
Oil
Collection: Ellen Touart-Grob & Larry Grob
Somewhere in Maine? We’ve searched high and low, and almost found the place—by a remote beach on Swan’s Island. But we’re not sure. Regardless, we love this piece. It’s a fairly large painting by New England-based artist David Fullam. We acquired it quite by coincidence, strolling one September morning through the Golden Ball Tavern grounds. I peaked over a dealer’s shoulder and there, in the panel truck behind him, stood a painting that was clearly contemporary, and a bit out of place in a fine antiques show. I casually asked if he’d sell it, and he nodded. So, for an ‘I don’t really want to drive this piece home again in my truck’ kind of price, we became owners of this treasured work that depicts the coast we so love. Wherever it actually was painted.