Jennifer Hill {Places I Have Never Been}

I can't blog about my east coast visit without mentioning little miss Jen Hill of JHill Design. Jen is yet another fellow Mass Art alum, my old college roommate (God bless her), and one of my most cherished friends. Every time Peter and I go to Boston we stay with Jen and Dave (her fiance whom she affectionately calls "Sasso"). Dave is another long time friend and worthy of an entire year of blog entries.

At their house, I'm always poking around checking out all of their new art on the walls, of coarse previewing Jen's latest prints, and undoubtedly listening to Sasso's new adventures in Rock Band at Harmonix.

Lucky for me I got the new JHill wall calendar for Christmas. Thanks Jen! Check it out below.



This is the pattern that Jen created for my beloved Portland, Oregon. If you'd like to read her blog post about Portland, click here.


Also, check out JHill's new blog Sacrebeu!

Cut Paper Paintings

Kelechi Ekechi is a Boston based artist who's originally from Nigeria. Her cut paper paintings are colorful, organic and captivating. Over the past year she has expanded her work of "African Masks Reinterpreted" and branched out into a series of floral mixed media prints, all of which I love.

I went to visit Kelechi while I was in Boston in December. When I wasn't looking, she slipped these three small prints into my camera bag. She's so sweet! Thanks Kelechi.

If you want to find out more about Kelechi or inquire about her prints, send me a note and I will forward you her can contact info.

Humphrey Street Studios Visit: Part 3

Photo courtesy of PRC Boston's flickr site.

Joe Wheelwright is one of the owners of Humphrey Street Studios. Before Peter started the renovation there he apprenticed for Joe as a sculpture student while still attending Mass Art.

During our visit to Boston we popped in on Joe, working away in his studio. His space looks like a small warehouse with an office and a loft gallery. Everything about the shop is larger than life - gigantic stone carvings, enormous, towering tree men and other oddities. Check out some of his amazing work below.Photo credit: Mark Wilson

Humphrey Street Studios Visit: Part 1

Years ago when I lived in Boston, while attending Mass Art, my boyfriend Peter embarked on a daunting project to turn an old dry cleaning factory into artist studio spaces. This being a dream of his, he leapt at the chance, knowing full well that it would be an immense task to fulfill.

Here is Peter, back in 2001, disassembling the old boiler to make room for more studio space.

This was quite the undertaking.
Here he is, filling in the floor where the same boiler used to stand.

We later moved to a loft in Upham's Corner in Dorchester so that we could be closer to the factory, which by that time also housed Peter's sculpture studio. After years of working late nights and innumerable weekends, Humphrey Street Studios was completed and ready for tenants. Today it still stands tall and remains to be occupied by many of our dearest artist friends. This is Humphrey Street Studios today.

This is the view looking into the courtyard from the back lot.

This is Janet Lomartire's studio, the same space that used to house the old boiler.

J.J., as we call her, is a sign painter and guilder who works with her husband Gneal Widett (one of the owners of Humphrey Street); he designs and carves the signs. Unfortunately we missed both of them during our visit back. I would have loved to show you the real after shot of the interior. Janet did an amazing job decorating the space. It's one of my favorite studios.