Camilo Almarales
Three Peaks
Inspired by: Joyce Tenneson, Fork Shaped Tree
spray paint on canvas
11” x 14”
2024
Joyce Tenneson’s Fork Shaped Tree drew me in with the with the bold foreground showcasing the trees that are in our reach. Then the fading of the background caught my eye. I couldn’t help but wonder what lied beyond the tree. My painting is to project the idea and in a way, solve what could be beyond the forked shaped tree.
@colombian_cowboy_studio, /Colombian Cowboy Studio
Keri Anderson
The Absence of Thought
Inspired by: Kenro Izu, Blue #1010B Joyce Tenneson, Fork Shaped Tree
oil on wood
24″ x 36″
2025
The absence of thought is a state of mental stillness that can lead to inner peace and self-awareness. This view was photographed 1 mile from my house and is a place that I can clear my head and communicate with nature and all it can give me in return. The inspiration of Picasso’s Blue Period painting set the mood for the this piece. My body casts a shadow on the painting which reminds me that I am present, alone with my thoughts in my subconscious mind, as well as physical state of being.
@kerianderson68
Taylor Apostol
Right Around There
Inspired by: Howard John Besnia, Persis
direct carved marble, pigment, ink, wax, flock
16″ x 16″ x 16″
2017
My marble sculpture, Right Around There, captures a fleeting memory of the garden surrounding my childhood home in Manila. Connecting to the Monochrome theme, my predominantly purple sculpture recalls the large bougainvillea hedges all around the yard. In the monotype, Persis by Howard John Besnia, I was drawn to the saturated colors, the layered textural shapes, and the use of abstraction to commemorate a place and its inhabitants over time.
@taylorapostol
Clare Asch
Convergence 24
Inspired by: Harold Edgerton, Milkdrop Coronet
watercolor on paper
24″ x 24″
2023
In his photograph, “Milkdrop Coronet,” Harold Edgerton is focused on depicting a fleeting moment in time. Through high-speed photography he brilliantly captures the impact of a drop of milk falling in a red bowl. I’m also interested in capturing the momentary. In “Convergence 24,” I capture a moment in time through the poured white paint in the center. As the paint falls on the paper, its imprint remains, depicting the moment of impact. Both artworks are monochromes. His photograph is a monochrome in red, my watercolor is red modified by white which is the definition of pink.
@aschclare
Boden Azora-Minda
Leafy Sea Dragon
Inspired by: Howard John Besnia, Persis Kenro Izu, Blue #1010B Unknown Yoruba Artist, Plaque
acrylic paint and acrylic paint pens on canvas
20″ x 20″
2025
Working with one color was a new concept to me. It is something I never considered doing before. The inspiration for “Leafy Sea Dragon” came from three of the museum pieces. Firstly, drawn to the subtlety and mood of “Blue #1010B”, then by the symbolism in the Yoruba plaque and lastly by use of a bold color in “Persis”. The “Leafy Sea Dragon” incorporates the bright and strong color of orange as well as the symbolism of dots and the use of camouflage that the sea dragon uses to hide from predators.
Veronica Bailey
The Survivor
Inspired by: Joyce Tenneson, Fork Shaped Tree
watercolor on paper
14.5″ x 18″
2025
Rather than giving me a feeling of the divine, the golden hue in Joyce Tenneson’s “Fork Shaped Tree” made me think of a poisonous fog. I have, therefore, re-imagined the landscape of this photograph into a post-apocalyptic setting. The trees can no longer survive, and a sole survivor stands cloaked and masked against the mist, which clings to their protective clothing and swirls at their feet. I’ve used a limited palette of only two colors to achieve the effect of a smothered world.
@empheliath.bsky.social
Ann Barrett
Unity
Inspired by: Unknown Artist, Vase Joyce Tenneson, Fork Shaped Tree
oil on ceramic
8 1/2″ x 3 1/2″ x 3 1/2″
2025
Joyce Tenneson uses golden yellow to signify a divine atmosphere. The substance of the Vase is the Earth itself. A tree joins the Heavens with the Earth, and nourishes each.
@annbarrett430
Heather Barros
My Favorite Color is Grey
Inspired by: Joyce Tenneson, Fork Shaped Tree
graphite and oil
16″ x 20″
2025
Shortly after the call for this show, I was walking in Bowers Springs nature preserve and photographed these forked trees in the fog. Back in my studio, I mixed a few dozen shades of gray and used them all to make this painting.
www.heatherbarros.com
Ricardo Barros
Blue Planet
Inspired by: Harold Edgerton, Milkdrop Coronet
360-degree panoramic photograph
28″ x 28″
2021
Harold Edgerton used high-speed strobes to freeze time. His photograph of a milk drop was made in an instant. “Blue Planet” required many minutes to complete and depicts the thawing of frozen space. We both photographed something familiar: he milk, me a basketball court. He chose a red palette, warming his composition; I chose the blue coolness of a winter sky. He could not see WHAT his camera saw, and I could not see HOW my camera saw. We discovered what we had well after we had photographed. And we both marveled at the imperfect, concentric symmetry of our subjects.
www.ricardobarros.com
Lisa Barthelson
geometry of blue 1
Inspired by: Kenro Izu, Blue #1010B Kenji Nakahashi, A Cut in the Sky
monoprint with printed collage and thread on cradled panel
14″ x 14″ x 1.5″
2025
Blue, my color, encompasses a world of emotion, from joy to sadness, action to rest. I feel the black and blue in Kenji Nakahashi and Kenro Izu’s work, it resonates. And I’ve let it loose to lyrically dance across the paper, blue.
@lisa_barthelson, @lisabarthelson.bsky.social
Anne Beinecke
Night Garden
Inspired by: Howard John Besnia, Persis Kenji Nakahashi, A Cut in the Sky Kenro Izu, Blue #1010B
acrylic and pencil on watercolor paper
14″ x 20″
2024
The billowing pulses of magenta and violet, and energetic mark making in Night Garden flow from an automatic process where ambiguous forms emerge and float together on the page as if in communion. There, connected by the sinewy stems and roots that ground them, they inhabit a moody, monochromatic world suggestive of the night.
@annebeinecke.bsky.social, @anne_beinecke
Ray Bernoff
Community Trash #11 (Debutante)
Inspired by: Constance Bigelow, 1945 Debutante (Miss Meriwether Lewis Cowgill)
mixed media art waste (paint, ribbon, plastic, jewelry, paper) on plywood
3″ x 8”
2025
The Community Trash series is made from unwanted materials from friends, family, and community members: offcuts and scraps, contaminated paint, canvases lumpy with failed attempts, boxes laden with the dust and guilt of abandoned hobbies. Repurposing this creative trash reduces both my effect on the climate and the clutter in my friends’ homes. I took inspiration from Constance Bigelow’s “1945 Debutante”, choosing trash that mirrors Miss Cowgill’s elegant dress. Unlike the traditional materials and apparent purity of Bigelow’s portrait, my piece is made with objects that have been cast aside – the most impure thing of all, trash.
@rmhbernoff
Susan Black
Dream State
Inspired by: Shelley Reed, Predator/Prey (after Oudry) Joyce Tenneson, Fork Shaped Tree
mixed media: acrylic on canvas with wood, thread, ribbon, and paper collage
31″ x 28″ x 2.5″
2025
FAM’s loans “Fork Shaped Tree” and “Predator/Prey” inspired this piece. The animals call up travel experiences; vague, underlying elements create mystery; and dissimilar objects connected only by color add surprise and humor. It’s a combination similar to the seemingly random nature seen in dreams.
Carol Bloomfield
Ice Moon
Inspired by: Joyce Tenneson, Fork Shaped Tree
digital imagery
9″ x 12″ (unframed), 13″ x 17″ (framed)
2024
$132 (sold)
www.carollynn12951.myportfolio.com
Thierry Borcy
…and there was peace
Selected by FAM curators
Inspired by: Joyce Tenneson, Fork Shaped Tree
toned photography
14″ x 16″
2022
The pictorialism genre is very inspirational to me. Nature is my backyard, the place where I thrive. I was immediately attracted to Fork Shaped Tree by Joyce Tenneson because of its monochrome color and theme. Beauty emanates from the picture as well as a sense of mystery. The natural world is complex and its interactions with us are fraught with misunderstandings. The Fork Shaped Tree reminds us that peace is what humanity needs the most. I work at achieving this feeling in my work.
@borcy.art.photo
Michael Bourque
Gray Planes
Inspired by: Harold Edgerton, Milkdrop Coronet Kenji Nakahashi, A Cut in the Sky
acrylic on canvas
30″ x 24″
2025
My “mark-making paintings” are abstract and often geometric. GRAY PLANES is a representation of brush strokes both pulling apart and fading at the same time. It exposes the canvas below as well as splatters of white on gray. It relates to “A Cut in the Sky” in its angularity and contrast. It relates to “Milkdrop Coronet” in that it captures a snapshot of movement.
@michaelhbourque
Chelsea Bradway
Runner-Up
Inspired by: Constance Bigelow, 1945 Debutante (Miss Meriwether Lewis Cowgill)
black and white photograph
26″ x 32″
2024
Getting the best out of yourself is never being the runner-up. Women are taught to sit, look pretty, don’t have an opinion, and certainly not state it! With a mischievous grin, we, as young women, do not need to say anything. We will concur it all even if we are the runner-up.
@official-all-things-sparkley, All things Sparkley Photography
Leslie Breault
Des Cendres 2
Selected by FAM curators
Inspired by: Unknown Yoruba Artist, Plaque
acrylic on canvas
12″ x 36″
2024
I am intrigued by the interplay of monochromatic hues in many of my paintings. This is the second in my current series exploring how subtle changes using the same nine hues affect the overall perception of the piece. The triangular pattern connects with Plaque by Unknown Yoruba Artist.
@lbreault
Aaron Brodeur
Masquerading as Prey
Inspired by: Harold Edgerton, Milkdrop Coronet Phyllis Galembo, Atam Masquerader Shelley Reed, Predator/Prey (after Oudry)
pine, wire, wood, spray paint, acrylic and cotton batting on shaped panel
18″ x 15″ x 9″
2025
Masquerading as Prey reflects themes of deception, vulnerability, and survival. The cage suggests both a trap and a refuge, while the objects within hint at the tension between concealment and exposure. This work continues my exploration of fear, and the blurred boundaries between safety and captivity.
@aaron.brodeur_studio
Mary Calkins
Oak Woods
Inspired by: Joyce Tenneson, Fork Shaped Tree
monoprint on paper
28″ x 28″
2015
I chose my monoprint, “Oak Woods”, for its commonality in terms of palette and subject to Joyce Tenneson’s piece, “Fork Shaped Tree.” My work is composed of four quadrants using a lithographic technique conducive to the monoprinting process to depict photographic images of trees against the sky. “Oak Woods” is a more graphic stylized interpretation of the subject, opposed to Tenneson’s softer more atmospheric treatment. Both works share an ethereal glowing light created through use of a warm golden palette which contrasts with darker subdued colors in the silhouetted trees. The atmosphere of both evokes feelings of peace and serenity.
Shawn Carlin
Golden Sunrise
Inspired by: Joyce Tenneson, Fork Shaped Tree
mixed medium diorama
16″ x 12″ x 17″
2025
I was really inspired by the photography of Joyce Tenneson and the magical golden qualities of her work. Since I work in 3 dimensions I wanted to explore the notion of walking into the photograph to explore the world beyond the trees and see what lies on the other side of that golden veil. I created an exact replica of the photograph and the fun is standing in the perfect location and eye line to see the full effect! It was also crucial to match Joyce’s beautiful golden palette as well! Enjoy!
@oakhill_studios
Aldona Casey
Against the Shoal
Inspired by: Shelley Reed, Predator/Prey (after Oudry)
linocut on cardstock
20” x 16”
2025
Bluefin tuna shoal as a way to protect themselves from predators. I was inspired by the display of animal instinct in Reed’s “Predator/Prey (after Oudry).” I also left some mystery about the actions of my animals. The monochromatic palette unifies the school of fish, making them look like one mass, and the blue references the sky, ocean, and the blue fins of the tuna.
Victoria Chapman
Fragility
Inspired by: Joyce Tenneson, Fork Shaped Tree
watercolor
6″ x 8” (unframed), 9.5″ x 11” (framed)
2025
I was initially moved by the description of Tenneson’s spiritual connection with trees. I, too, feel a deep connection with trees and nature. I love the way the silhouettes of trees appear in the faint blue light of the very earliest hours. I chose an eastern white pine as the centerpiece, which is the tallest species of tree in Massachusetts. I reflected on how despite its height, the white pine can also be susceptible to falling without stable ground and roots of surrounding trees to hold it up. Fragile—like our own lives and society without proper support from each other.
www.weyakindesigns.com, @weyakindesigns, /weyakindesigns
Evan Charney
Menorah
Inspired by: Kenji Nakahashi, A Cut in the Sky
wood engraving/woodcut
4″ x 5″
2023
‘Menorah’ is a wood engraving over a woodcut. It is similar in color and composition to ‘A Cut in the Sky’. While that strong image emphasizes the blue negative space between the black silhouettes, in ‘Menorah’ the lit candelabra is central, the blue and black woodcut the background. I’d like to think they could talk to each other.
www.evansart.smugmug.com
Jonathan Chidekel
Green Thumb
Inspired by: Unknown Artist, Vase Phyllis Galembo, Atam Masquerader
dyed wood and plastic plant
11 1/2″ x 4 1/2″
2025
The green of the Fitchburg Art Museum’s Vase is tempered with black, creating depth. The piece uses wood grain to mimic this, with long flowing lines from the Douglas fir, short abrupt lines from the red oak, and and a very fine, shaded texture from the poplar. The fake plant provides a counterpoint to the natural materials and adds further interest. This piece is made from three kinds of wood glued together and hand turned on a lathe. Cracks in the piece have been filled with copper resin, a subtle homage to the copper bands on the Vase.
Karin Cloutier
City View
Inspired by: Harold Edgerton, Milkdrop Coronet Kenji Nakahashi, A Cut in the Sky
acrylic on canva-paper
8″ x 10″
2024
City Life explores the relationship between structure and openness, isolation and connection in urban life. The monochrome brick-like red palette pulses with the energy of the city, while black lines suggest walls and divisions—some complete, others left open to possibility. The unseen inhabitants, echo Kenji Nakahashi’s “A Cut in the Sky,” where deep blues transform buildings into negative space. Like Harold Edgerton’s “Milkdrop Coronet,” where red enhances contrast, this piece uses a singular hue to expose hidden forces—whether the movement within walls or the reshaped reality of familiar spaces. In monochrome, simplicity reveals what is often unseen.
@karin.vanart
Darcy Cloutman
Off Pine Island, Lake Winnipesaukee
Inspired by: Kenro Izu, Blue #1010B
acrylic paint on canvas
12″ x 36″
2024
Blue is the color that dominates nature, from the endless sky to vast expanses of water; and for the artist who seeks vistas where sky and water compete for dominance, often all that separates one from the other is a brief slash of horizon. Izu’s Blue #1010B inspired my work – the model’s organic fluidity is the foreground wave, and her skin is sky – perfect in its cool incandescence.
@d.clementine.cloutman
Julia Covelle
Music to Mom’s Ears
Inspired by: Shelley Reed, Predator/Prey (after Oudry), Constance Bigelow, 1945 Debutante (Miss Meriwether Lewis Cowgill)
oil on canvas
18″ x 24″
2021
“Music to Mom’s Ears” captures a fleeting moment of connection between a mother and son on public transportation, abstractly rendered in pink and purple hues with touches of complementary yellow. The limited palette enhances the emotional atmosphere, emphasizing tenderness amidst the mundane. Like Shelley Reed’s “Predator/Prey,” the absence of detailed context invites curiosity, encouraging viewers to consider the unseen narratives of everyday life. Similarly, Constance Bigelow’s portrait of Ms.Cowgill elevates a singular moment with a muted background to highlight the hands and face, illuminating presence, identity and humanity. Through color and abstracted form, my work reflects the quiet intimacy of shared moments in public spaces—stories often overlooked but deeply human.
@jcove.art
Christine Croteau
The Inner Workings of a Debutante
Inspired by: Constance Bigelow, 1945 Debutante (Miss Meriwether Lewis Cowgill)
collage
11″ x 14″
2025
This piece is in response to Constance Bigelow’s painting, “Debutante.” It is what I imagined lies beneath the surface of another “pretty face”. A very complex and nuanced woman, trying to make sense of her lot in life. The pigeon in the middle represents the “Debutante.”
@croteauchristine
Kim Cutler
Three Ladies in Yellow
Inspired by: Joyce Tenneson, Fork Shaped Tree
white stoneware and wood
13″ x 16″ x 6″
2025
I just love this color yellow and wanted to create a yellow piece that had the warmth and quiet serenity of the work by Joyce Tenneson. One yellow vessel was not enough. It had to have companions to convey the comfort of being together.
@kimcutler.ceramics
Jennifer Davis Carey
Mood Indigo
Inspired by: Kenro Izu, Blue #1010B
vitreous enamel on copper, paper, fabric,thread
14″ x 11″ x 1.5″
2025
“Mood Indigo” takes its inspiration from two sources, the Kenro Izu piece, Blue #1010B and the indigo workers across the world who have mastered this method of dyeing.
Trish Dehls
Entwined
Inspired by: Joyce Tenneson, Fork Shaped Tree
felted alpaca tapestry
22” x 34”
2025
This work is a personal reflection of individual and interpersonal responsibilities layered with the complexity of diverse perspectives. When the response of ‘I didn’t know’ is not enough, there is knowledge amongst the trees.
@dehlstrish
Kristi DiSalle
Transformation in Red
Inspired by: Harold Edgerton, Milkdrop Coronet Kenro Izu, Blue #1010B
acrylic on canvas
32″ x 32″
2025
$475 (sold)
My piece depicts a close-up of myself curled in the fetal position, a pose that symbolizes both vulnerability and deep, internal transformation. The rich, saturated red is a visceral representation of the intense, often overwhelming emotions I experience as I navigate perimenopause, a time when my body is in a constant state of flux. The curves and folds of my form, painted in bold, monochromatic color, reflect the tension between discomfort and growth—a visual metaphor for the unsettling yet inevitable changes my body is undergoing. Red becomes a color of both danger and vitality, capturing the rawness of transformation itself.
@kristileighcreations, /wonderandwhimsy
Carson Dobos
Now, Voyager: Bette Davis
Inspired by: Constance Bigelow, 1945 Debutante (Miss Meriwether Lewis Cowgill), Howard John Besnia, Persis
aquatint etched copper plate print
12.5″ x 15.5″
2024
Bette Davis from Now, Voyager. Her seminal 1942 role earned her a nomination for best actress. Printed in bold color.
@carsondobos
Kate Egnaczak
Elm Park 12.4.24
Inspired by: Kenji Nakahashi, A Cut in the Sky Unknown Artist, Vase Joyce Tenneson, Fork Shaped Tree
watercolor on watercolor paper
3″ x 4.5″ x .75″ (closed), 6″ x 4.5″ x 3″ (open)
2025
On this silvery-skied December day, a cold calm settled over Elm Park. The peaceful and palled blue aura of quiet contrasts with the sights of the urban environment. The mood of this book, created after my site walk, captures a sense of place by highlighting the muted colors of the atmosphere. Subtle tonal shifts in the near-winter palette suggest the recession of the water line that exposes the islands’ rocky contours. At the same time, leafless trees, evergreens, and light posts add abstracted verticality to the landscape. Different from color-saturated Summer days, the park exudes a familiar sense of solitude.
@train_by_living
Madge Evers
Cosmos
Inspired by: Joyce Tenneson, Fork Shaped Tree
mushroom spores on paper
14″ x 20″ (unframed)”, 22″ x 28″ (framed)
2023
This image depicts flowers from my garden, a place of reverence for me, with its ecstatic growth and transformative dormancy and decay. I rendered the Cosmos in mushroom spores, a substance that originates in the gills of mushrooms and, like gold, evokes cosmic stardust.
@_sporeplay
Andrew Ferrari
The Ghost of Samuel Appears to Saul
Inspired by: Kenji Nakahashi, A Cut in the Sky
acrylic paint, latex paint, magazine, and gum on canvas
12″ x 12″
2025
@peanut5483
Nathan Fiske
Motion
Selected by FAM curators
Inspired by: Harold Edgerton, Milkdrop Coronet Kenro Izu, Blue #1010B
metallic inkjet print
11″ x 17″
2025
When I looked at the FAM loan it inspired me to create motion and movement.
@nathanfiskephotography, /nathanfiskephoto
Melody Fortier
February
Inspired by: Constance Bigelow, 1945 Debutante (Miss Meriwether Lewis Cowgill) Kenro Izu, Blue #1010B
assemblage with birch bark, sycamore branches, paper clay casts from ornamental details, pleated gold foil, on wood cradle board
13″ x 11″ x 7″
2025
February, the light of day grows longer with each passing of the moon. Beneath the snow, the promise of Spring dreams and waits. I was inspired by Kenro Izu’s Blue for both its subject as well as the coloring. The blue monochrome creates a feeling of the dream world for me. Nested in darkness and bathed in cool light the curled figure lends a look of hibernation. In her painting 1945 Debutante, Constance Bigelow defined the gown’s undulating folds and texture much like snow in winter defines the contours of earth and the forms of stone and tree.
www.melodyfortier.crevado.com
Liz Foss
Pur-plexed
Inspired by: Howard John Besnia, Persis
quilting
19″ x 32″
2025
I was immediately drawn to the monotype by Howard John Besnia, Persis. I envisioned a purple orb, but in the process the piece took on a life of its own, and demanded that some bright colors be added in. Hence the title, “Pur-plexed.”
@lizfossquilts, /quiltsbylizfoss
Wayne Franklin
ADAM/HUMANITY
Inspired by: Joyce Tenneson, Fork Shaped Tree
acrylic on canvas
18″ x 24″ x 1.5″
2024
The description of Joyce Teneson’s “Fork Shaped Tree” said that “Gold has been used throughout art history…as a means to communicate with and honor the divine.” I use gold to suggest the expanse of God’s world, with humanity as a small part of it. To represent humanity, I use the Paleo-Hebrew letters Alef, Dalet and Mem, to form the word ADAM (HUMANITY), reading right to left, as Hebrew is written. The colors spelling the word ADAM represent a variety of human skin tones, while internally, our blood and essence are the same. All are equal in God’s eyes.
Sharon Freed
Never Meant
Inspired by: Harold Edgerton, Milkdrop Coronet Unknown Yoruba Artist, Plaque
digital photography
16″ x 20″
2022
Suzanne Gainer
Wake
Selected by FAM curators
Inspired by: Kenro Izu, Blue #1010B Kenji Nakahashi, A Cut in the Sky
Fujiflex print on aluminum composite
20″ x 8.75″
2023
Wake is a response to both the subject matter and formal approach of Kenro Izo’s ‘Blue 1010B’, and Kenji Nakahashi’s ‘A Cut in the Sky’. In ‘Blue 1010B’ the nude is reduced to line and shape, allowing the viewer to gaze upon the the woman’s body, but not engage with her identity. In ‘A Cut in the Sky’, Nakahashi turns his gaze upward to frame a confined expanse. In contrast, the body in my photographic diptych is my own, creating a complicated narrative. The opposite panel connects the form with a fleeting contrail line ‘cut in the sky.’
@suzannegainerstudio
Lynne Galluzzo
Puma
Inspired by: Constance Bigelow, 1945 Debutante (Miss Meriwether Lewis Cowgill) Joyce Tenneson, Fork Shaped Tree Kenji Nakahashi, A Cut in the Sky
collage
11.5” x 14.5”
2025
The power of attitude. Three simple images combine to make a whole much greater than its parts. I do not work on a computer because the challenge, the frustration and the joy is finding the exact right images that fit together perfectly.
Timothy Gannon
Edith
Selected by FAM curators
Inspired by: Constance Bigelow, 1945 Debutante (Miss Meriwether Lewis Cowgill)
acrylic on canvas
36″ x 30″
2024
Alana Garrigues
Tangled Up in Blues
Inspired by: Kenji Nakahashi, A Cut in the Sky
mixed media: acrylic ink and stitching on teabags and cheesecloth, sewn onto fir branches and basil roots
24″ x 11″
2025
Inspired by the emotional blues of A Cut in the Sky and wanting to explore the subtleties of the color, I dyed tea bags in Payne’s Gray acrylic ink. Initially thinking I would patch them together into a quilt of imperfect rectangles, the color and texture instead brought to mind “Tangled Up in Blue,” the title of one of the earliest artworks I displayed publicly (named for the song). So I reached for the tangles, in the midst of the chaos and sorrow and grief of this moment, and arrived at this response of bluesy emotion.
@alanaofloveandlight
John Garton
Table for Two in Grey
Inspired by: Howard John Besnia, Persis Constance Bigelow, 1945 Debutante (Miss Meriwether Lewis Cowgill)
oil on canvas
12″ x 16″
2024
I liked the palette of Howard John Besnia’s Persis, but found myself thinking also about the loneliness I perceived in Constance Bigelow’s Debutante. The martini glasses and gray color convey a similar narrative openness/emptiness.
David Gates
Scituate Rectangle
Inspired by: Kenji Nakahashi, A Cut in the Sky
silver gelatin print on pastel tone baryta base paper
14″ x 11″ (unframed), 21.25″ x 17.25″ inches (framed)
2024
“Scituate Rectangle”, a piece which abstracts the natural view of a seascape in Massachusetts, responds to Kenji Nakahashi’s “A Cut in the Sky”, placing our view of the natural world in a concrete encasement. In doing so, it raises questions about our relationship to the natural world, our modern structures and confined vantage points. At times lonely? At times inviting?
Francine Gintoff
Archivum
Inspired by: Constance Bigelow, 1945 Debutante (Miss Meriwether Lewis Cowgill) Kenro Izu, Blue #1010B Shelley Reed, Predator/Prey (after Oudry)
printed collaged images on sculptural vintage plaster mannequin
19″ x 13″ x 6″
2025
I was first drawn to Constance Bigelow’s “Debutante (1945)” because one of the images on my sculpture is a similar portrait from a 1945 photo, after WWII. The stance, dresses, flowers, expression are alike. The 2nd work referenced is Kenro Izu’s Blue #1010B which mimics my use of variations of indigo and also echoes the use of the female figure. The third reference is Shelley Reed’s Predator/Prey, which uses only circles to convey the subject matter. There are some circle cutout shapes, on mine, that depict a zebra, an orchid, etc. and they all have to do with animals/nature.
John Gintoff
blue dude
Inspired by: Kenro Izu, Blue #1010B
sculpture created from photographs
25″ x 16″ x 12″
2021
I have chosen BLUE #1010B (BLUE NUDE) by Kenro Izu. He cites as inspiration Picasso’s Blue Period and the novels of Jun’ichiro Tanizaki. Ironically, my sculpture is entitled BLUE DUDE. Its coloration is cyan blue. It is based on the human figure. And its main support is a book! The book is colored blue and is THE TEMPEST by Shakespeare. My sculpture is comprised of crushed blue photographs, packing tape and copper tubing. And a “blue nude” is one of the myriad of photos comprising this piece. It is visible in one of the submitted images.
Christina Giza
Waiting to Dance
Inspired by: Constance Bigelow, 1945 Debutante (Miss Meriwether Lewis Cowgill)
watercolor
14” x 12”
2020
While watching a dance show I was taken by this image and it evolved and is my interpretation of the movement, the model’s dress and the emotions felt.
/Christinasuccess, @gizaart
Henry Glennon
Yellow Wasteland
Inspired by: Joyce Tenneson, Fork Shaped Tree
oil paint on canvas, unvarnished
24″ x 18″
2025
www.artstation.com/hglennon
Elizabeth Glixman
Shape Shifting
Inspired by: Joyce Tenneson, Fork Shaped Tree Kenro Izu, Blue #1010B
digital image made from 3D paper construction
11″ x 9″
2019
This work is a digitalized image of a 3D large folded triangular shape. I wanted to manipulate (flatten) a 3D paper construction with a digital program. Out of one piece came another. Shapes transform everywhere in life in our inner and outer landscapes. In this case, the flattening and the color made it unrecognizable with the 3D shape. It was like the process of birth in nature where change takes place constantly.
Gloria Goguen
Joan of Arc in Flames: The 1429 Debutante
Inspired by: Constance Bigelow, 1945 Debutante (Miss Meriwether Lewis Cowgill) Joyce Tenneson, Fork Shaped Tree
mixed media
24″ x 36″
2024
$850 (sold)
This piece uses the golden hue of Joyce Tenneson’s work, Forked Shaped Tree, to symbolize the divine classic religious iconography of Joan of Arc. Constance Bigelow’s 1945 Debutante palette of white purity and innocence, where Joan is seen as saintly gold down to the flames of her eventual martyrdom in 1431. Her hands like Debutante distinct from all else showing sword and halo highlighting her fight for France and God. The Joan of Arc sculpture at Notre Dame Cathedral survived the 2019 fire. Joan was an early feminist, and a symbol of freedom and independence. Quite an introduction for France’s nineteen-year-old debutante.
@gloriajgoguen_art, /Gloria J Goguen Art
Mars Goodwin
Inside
Inspired by: Kenro Izu, Blue #1010B
digital photography
11″ x 14″
2025
This photo is one of a series in which dream theory is investigated. Inspired by the emotion (and color) in Kenro Izu’s Blue #1010B, the photo presents a depiction of the human body as an emotional vessel.
@mycatismac
Yasmin Goris
Morado
Inspired by: Howard John Besnia, Persis
heavy body and fluid acrylic on canvas
24″ x 18″
2025
Morado explores texture, movement, and harmony within a monochrome purple palette. Using heavy body, fluid acrylics and mediums, I created acrylic skins individually, then carefully transferred them onto the canvas to form a cohesive composition. These layers interact, balancing fluidity and structure. Inspired by Persis, a piece defined by its rich purple tones and fragmented abstract forms, I wanted to explore how separate elements can unite. Like Persis, Morado embraces deconstruction and reconstruction, allowing each piece to find its place. The result is an immersive experience that reveals depth, texture, and emotion within a single color.
@GuzangiARTSTUDIOS
Robert Grady
Saturday Evening Girl with Black Putti
Inspired by: Kenji Nakahashi, A Cut in the Sky
oil on linen
24″ x 24″
2025
I was immediately taken by the color relationship in “A Cut In The Sky”. The blue and black really feels like the limited palette I used in my painting. Especially the blue-violet reflected on the left side of the black vase while the rest of the painting is essentially black and white.
www.rjgrady.com/
Deborah Griffin
Drip Drop Blue
Inspired by: Harold Edgerton, Milkdrop Coronet Kenro Izu, Blue #1010B
acrylic paint on paper
11″ x 15″
2025
Upon viewing the works from the Fitchburg Art Museum, I was immediately drawn to several of them. The more I looked at the collection, the more Milkdrop Coronet and Blue #1010B stood out to me. As I do in my painting series, I have taken an identifying feature of each to create something new.
@iamDGcreates
Garry Harley
Silk Roses: A Sunset of Memories No. 1
Inspired by: Harold Edgerton, Milkdrop Coronet
digital print with hand-punched holes on paper
36″ x 36″
2024
A recent publication by Circle Foundation for the Arts-Lyon, France, described this series as work with a gentle geometrical precision and sophisticated Op Art influence. This series was inspired by the pandemic, a time when families turned to artificial flowers (silk roses) for funerals since many flower shops were closed. The total pandemic related death toll is estimated to be about 1 million, compared to about 58,000 military deaths in the Vietnam War. The color field and hand pinched holes in my paper work recall the Milkdrop Coronet but also Luclo Fontana’s use of holes (buchi) in his work- Fondazione.
@garryharley
Anne Harris
Uncle Fester
Inspired by: Shelley Reed, Predator/Prey (after Oudry)
oil on canvas
35” x 24″
2025
Uncle Fester, named after the resident Black Vulture at the Trailside Museum in Milton, Massachusetts, is a silver gray oil painting on a black canvas. Inspired by Shelley Reed’s Predator/Prey (after Oudry) paintings, Reed brings the animals’ emotions to life with light and shadow. Isolating them onto separate canvases, a contrast is created between predator and prey. Who is who? This contrast exists in Uncle Fester. The black vulture, interpreted as predator, lives at the museum because someone misunderstood him. Vulnerable and unable to fly after being shot, the black vulture is the prey, leaving humans as the predator.
@anne_b_harris
Lisa Hayden
I Got Here by Ferry
Inspired by: Kenji Nakahashi, A Cut in the Sky
acrylic on canvas
16” x 20”
2025
I was inspired by the idea of an abstract blue landscape, and my favorite source of blue is always the ocean. With color, texture, and mark making the painting captures the intersection of the ocean with a busy harbor. Where will a ferry take you?
@meltedtheory
Judith Hayes
Moss Man
Inspired by: Unknown Artist, Vase
acrylic paint on canvas board
12″ x 12″
2023
Moss Man was painted during a virtual painting class with Jill Pottle. We were given a picture of a man to paint using a limited palate. I used a pointillist approach to complete the painting. Jill had shown us examples of paintings painted with elements of nature. I had different types of moss and lichen in mind.
Allie Heimos
Seventeen
Inspired by: Constance Bigelow, 1945 Debutante (Miss Meriwether Lewis Cowgill)
lipstick on paper
12″ x 15″
2025
Richard Hoyer
Night Sky
Inspired by: Kenro Izu, Blue #1010B Kenji Nakahashi, A Cut in the Sky
digital photograph
8″ x 10″ (unframed), 16″ x 20″ (framed)
2025
The digital photograph, Night Sky, I created for this exhibit is inspired by the dark blue color of the sky and the shapes in “A Cut in the Sky” by Kenji Nakahashi. I was also inspired by the cyanotype blue color in Blue #1010B by Kenro Izu. My creative thoughts were to work with the blue monochrome color used by both artists in their photographs and add a simple strong minimalist shape to the composition to create the final photograph.
James Hunt
Awakening
Inspired by: Joyce Tenneson, Fork Shaped Tree
infrared digital photography
20″ x 24″
2018
Awakening was taken in Acadia National Park in the fall of 2018, during the “blue hour,” just before dawn. During the blue hour, the scattering of light rays yields a deep cool blue to the eye. Much like the fog in Joyce Tenneson’s “Fork Shaped Tree,” the atmosphere creates a mood on its own. Awakening was created with color infrared photography. Normally, color infrared results in a very dominant red tone. When the blue and red color channels are switched in post-production, a potent blue results, mystical and otherworldly, closer to the “blue hour” one can see and feel.
www.jameshuntphotography.com/
Bonnie Iannotta
Violet Forest Floor
Inspired by: Howard John Besnia, Persis
acrylic and paper on birch panel
18″ by 18″
2025
The forest floor is a subject that I frequently paint. The mono-printing and layering in Howard John Besnia’s print Persis was similar to layering and glazing I do in my paintings. He inspired me to try a different palette.
@bonnieiannotta
Adam Johnson
The Dark Paths
Inspired by: Joyce Tenneson, Fork Shaped Tree
oil and acrylic on canvas board
18.5″ x 16.5″
2023
Disclaimer: Every shade of black invented or discovered was used in the production of this art. Gold has been used throughout art history as a means to communicate with and honor the divine. Black has been used both antithetically and complimentary to this human experience.
@NeroAndNew
Elijah Johnson
Blue Nude after Pablo Picasso
Inspired by: Kenro Izu, Blue #1010B
acrylic on teabag
5” x 6 1/2”
2020
Pablo Picasso’s 1902 Blue Nude from his notorious Blue Period is a powerful work of art and emotion with simplicity. This period of Picasso’s life mirrors the Japanese concept of shibui with “simple, subtle and unobtrusive beauty.” Just like the sublime work of Japanese photographer Kenro Izu and his work Blue #1010B from his astounding publication of Blue.
Lynne Johnson
Contrasting Surfaces
Inspired by: Unknown Yoruba Artist, Plaque Joyce Tenneson, Fork Shaped Tree
cast paper, acrylic paint
26″ x 9″ x 5″
2022
Since this ventures into 3 dimensional space but is not really sculpture, it strongly relates to “Plaque” while staying within the color range of blue. Also being from a tree surfaces, it also relates to the tree subject of “Forked Shaped Tree”. Having a fascination with the variety of bark and wood surfaces of trees, I began casting them and combining them. The casting was in Po-Yo Putty, creating a negative of the surface, then that cast into paper.
Timothy Johnson
Clematis
Inspired by: Harold Edgerton, Milkdrop Coronet, Phyllis Galembo, Atam Masquerader
photograph (archival inkjet print)
14″ x 14″ (unframed), 20″ x 20″ (framed)
2020
Matthew Kamholtz
Carnival, Provincetown, MA, 2016
Inspired by: Constance Bigelow, 1945 Debutante (Miss Meriwether Lewis Cowgill)
digital photograph, archival inkjet print
20″ x 26″
2016
Similarly dressed in white, these Queens of the Provincetown Carnival Parade represent a coming out of a different sort.
@mkamholtz
Jack Keough
American Oligarchy, Then & Now
Inspired by: Kenro Izu, Blue #1010B Unknown Artist, Vase
oil paint
12″ x 19 3/4″
2025
As soon as I saw the contorted nude Blue #1010B by Kenro Izu, it made me think of the slaves, naked in wells of the ships, treated worse than cargo. This was human grease enabling the building of an oligarchy class during the earliest days of our nation. It suppressed the workers economically, and every way, for the enrichment of a special level of society. Now in 2025 that suppression has come into the daylight again with the same tools of control, again over all aspects of our daily life and laws. Soon, “we won’t have a pot to piss in.”
@Artist_Jack_Keough
Christopher King
Linear Spiral
Inspired by: Kenji Nakahashi, A Cut in the Sky
watercolor on paper
12” x 16”
2025
For this painting, I used a limited pallet of ultramarine and phthalocyanine blues as background colors arranged in quadrants with different saturations. These colors are blended with quinacridone rose, burnt umber, and bismuth vanadate yellow to produce the color, shading, and dimensionality of the spiral components. The painting can be viewed in any orientation. I chose to present this painting vertically to convey an ascending and positive tone to the observer.
@kingchrisg
Patricia King
Green Vase
Inspired by: Unknown Artist, Vase
recycled, folded book with watercolor and acrylic paint
6″ x 6″ x 6″
2025
The gritty blackness of the print on the book pages contrasts with the green watercolor paint along the edges of the pages. Dots of bronze acrylic paint encircle the vase.
Bretton Knapik
Lift the Veil
Inspired by: Shelley Reed, Predator/Prey (after Oudry)
photography
24″ x 17″
2023
Lift the Veil was taken at the Seaside Sanatorium in Waterford, CT. Originally established to treat children with tuberculosis, eventually the sanatorium served handicapped adults and the elderly. Due to mistreatment of patients, it was closed in 1996. Shelly Reid’s Predator/Prey spoke to me on two levels. She used black and white for intensity. In my first photo, the building is shown only in silhouette, hiding in the truth and in the second one, it’s only after the light is shown, that we see what it really is. I also see the sanatorium as the predator and the patients their prey.
Nilima Kolli
Driftwood
Selected by FAM curators
Inspired by: Shelley Reed, Predator/Prey (after Oudry) Joyce Tenneson, Fork Shaped Tree
hand-cut paper
11″ x 14″
2024
$450 (sold)
This is a hand-cut paper of a sandhill crane on driftwood. Patterns are everywhere in nature, sometimes very conspicuous and at other times not, and I use positive and negative space compositions to portray these intriguing patterns on display in nature. As with the silhouette of the branches in Fork Shaped Tree by Joyce Tenneson, driftwood encourages one to contemplate on patterns in the striations carved out by water currents in the driftwood. Fascinatingly, the grayscale silhouette of the crane presents a calmer composure, in contrast to the effects brought out by the use of grayscale in Shelly Reed’s Predator/Prey.
@mypalette, /nilima.kolli
Teresa Lamacchia
Floating Shape with Border
Inspired by: Howard John Besnia, Persis
collage, block printing, and paint on Arches paper
22″ x 30″
Completed 2025
I chose Howard John Besnia’s piece Persis as my inspiration because printmaking and collage imagery has been a staple in my work for decades. In Floating Shape with Border, there are layers of color and pattern unified by a final coat of metallic red/orange paint. A block-printed border loosely prevents the central amorphous shape from floating away. Layers of texture and a variety of materials add depth and complexity.
Jacqueline Lecuyer
The Beeten Woman
Selected by FAM curators
Inspired by: Howard John Besnia, Persis
wool fiber, beet juice, metal wire
21″ x 9″ x 4″
2025
As she was stabbed, poked and prodded, the more she bled and worn down she got. And in the end, she was stronger and left it to faith. This piece was created with a blend of dark and light wool fiber (donated). Hand needle felted are herself and the beet she sits upon. A coat hanger wire is the core of her aura. Spun yarn from a wheel created the roots which the beet juice was absorbed to color the piece, and also was used to create the hands that kept her tied.
@the_fiber_corner
Michele LeMaitre
No Beginning, No End
Inspired by: Kenro Izu, Blue #1010B
mixed media
12″ x 12″ x 1.5″
2024
Michele LeMaitre, (American, b. 1963), a multi-disciplinary artist, is known for her groundbreaking process/style of 2D Interactive Sculptural Mixed Media, which represent chunks of water that have seemingly been scooped out of the Ocean, pools or lakes and splashed onto the walls, in a controlled but fluid form. The surface colors change with the movement of the viewer’s body. Michele invites the viewer to “swim” around the artwork, as if being immersed in water, while observing their visceral/emotional thoughts or memories and to take those sensory observations into their surroundings, while being in, on, around, under and by the water.
@thewaterartist, /TheWaterArtist
Marybeth Lensel
Green Tiles
Inspired by: Shelley Reed, Predator/Prey (after Oudry) Kenji Nakahashi, A Cut in the Sky Phyllis Galembo, Atam Masquerader
digital photography
11″ x 14″
2025
The tiled photographs are suggesting a space the viewer can only move through with their eyes. I am interested in the space we inhabit. Things that we must move around as well as the things we may move ourselves. What has been placed with thought as opposed to what has been plopped and forgotten.
@mlsomewhere
Xiang Li
Eternal Glow Over Silent Peaks
Inspired by: Phyllis Galembo, Atam Masquerader Joyce Tenneson, Fork Shaped Tree
watercolor
19.5″ x 22″
2020
Eternal Glow Over Silent Peaks responds to themes of unity, spirituality, and the power of a singular color palette seen in the works from the Fitchburg Art Museum loan. Inspired by the ethereal golds of Fork Shaped Tree and the harmonious blending of human and nature in Atam Masquerader, this piece explores the relationship between humanity and the natural world. The glowing sky symbolizes eternal energy and hope, while the dark, silent peaks ground us in reverence. Through the interplay of light, shadow, and a restrained palette, this work reflects the sublime balance of existence—distinct yet inseparable.
@xiangliart
Edward Lilley
Blue Penumbra
Inspired by: Kenro Izu, Blue #1010B Kenji Nakahashi, A Cut in the Sky Joyce Tenneson, Fork Shaped Tree
deformed Canson paper, spray-painted at an acute angle.
27″ x 22″ x 3″
2019
Washes of uniform color bring the eye to the surface — but what if that surface is rugged and irregular? It creates a rhythmic landscape of shadows. My work “Blue Penumbra” resonates with the shadowy contours of “Blue #1010B” and the crepuscular shade of “A Cut in the Sky.” In both FAM images I find there is a sense of mystery, which I ascribe to my own painting. Blue is my most used color. In this work, I use a technique of deforming paper and then spray painting at an acute angle. It allows me to bring depth to the monochrome.
https://tedlilleystudio.com
Madeleine Lord
Pedestrian Crossing
Inspired by: Phyllis Galembo, Atam Masquerader
painted welded steel
66″ x 36″ x 12″
2024
The Pedestrian Crossing figure on highway/road signs stands for all humans and is typically safety yellow. Like the spiritual Masquerader it stands for all humans – when we cross the street we are all equal, as we are before and after we cross. We are all one.
@madeleinelordmadimetal
B. Lynch
Red Queen
Inspired by: Harold Edgerton, Milkdrop Coronet
lino-block print: red ink on pink toned paper
6″ x 4″
2021
The coronet is a metonymy for a Royal Person. The “Red Queen” is printed with red ink on pink toned paper enhancing her redness which the red bowl and reflections do to the milk droplet in Edgerton’s photo. The “Red Queen” also calls to mind the character in Lewis Carroll’s “Through the Looking Glass”. That queen is irascible, forceful and capricious. The milk-drop’s forceful splash echoes that feeling.
@blynchstudioart, https://www.blynchart.com/
Ashley MacLure
The Suicide
Inspired by: Kenro Izu, Blue #1010B
liquid acrylic on paper
9″ x 12″
2020
We found my mother on a Saturday morning in April 2012, the sun casting a soft glow over the musty living room, couch, body. I was twenty-four with a complicated mother. I graduated art school, got a good job, fell in love. I wanted to be unremarkable, normal. My mother gave me a big hug one day and said, “I love you, baby” and took handfuls of pills the next night. She left no reassurances, or real goodbyes. I spread her ashes, wrote a eulogy. I remember the day in shades of blue.
@ashley.maclure
K.C. MacPhail
Dracula’s Daughter
Inspired by: Shelley Reed, Predator/Prey (after Oudry)
acrylic on canvas
8″x10″
2025
A homage to the lady vampire, from Carmilla to Claudia.
Caterina Maina
Vertigo (edition 2/8)
Inspired by: Joyce Tenneson, Fork Shaped Tree Phyllis Galembo, Atam Masquerader
archival inkjet print from large format color negative
16″ x 20″ (unframed), 20″ x 24″ (framed)
2019
“Vertigo,” from Caterina Maina’s project “Who Will Be Left When the Forests Burn and Fields Flood,” represents the tension and uneasiness surrounding the climate crisis. Through abstraction and surreal landscapes, Caterina creates discomforting images to portray this crisis’s mental impact on her generation and future generations. By moving her camera during the long exposure, the image depicts the unbalance we feel in our environment and our lack of control while trying to find stability in a world that continues to put our future at risk.
www.linkedin.com/in/caterina-maina/
Jillian Masi
Winter Nocturne
Inspired by: Joyce Tenneson, Fork Shaped Tree Kenro Izu, Blue #1010B
oil on canvas
16″ x 20″
2025
A quiet moonlit winter landscape, drawing on the haunting, intense blues of Kenro Izu’s piece and inspired by the stillness represented in Joyce Tenneson’s landscape.
@jmasi_art
Vernon McClish
Stormy Berlin Afternoon
Inspired by: Joyce Tenneson, Fork Shaped Tree
archival inkjet print
22″ x 26″
2024
When I gaze at Joyce Tenneson’s image, I can almost feel the fog and mist wrapping around me, creating a serene yet empty sanctuary. The interplay of warm light and cool air crafts a hauntingly beautiful scene that feels both ethereal and inviting. It’s reminiscent of a “Stormy Berlin Afternoon”, where the contrast between the fleeting figure in the damp, dark mist and the cold, desolate urban landscape is striking. Despite this urban emptiness, nature’s subtle beauty seems to ebb and flow, superimposed on the urban harshness with its quiet presence.
Katherine McGaughey
Other Kingdoms
Inspired by: Shelley Reed, Predator/Prey (after Oudry)
lino print
17″ x 21″ (framed)
2018
There is a moment between predators and their prey in which both animals appear to lock eyes and have a conversation, a moment that feels visibly decisive. Like Shelley Reed’s piece “Predator/Prey”, I am interested in this moment that only happens between a predator and its major prey species. In this linoprint of a stag and pack of wolves, the prey moves towards the predator, its brisk movement flushing nearby birds. A decision has been made between the animals, an exchange that feels ceremonial. In this interpretation both animals, not the predator alone,choose for the encounter to end with death.
Rebecca McGee Tuck
Tethered Sympathy
Inspired by: Harold Edgerton, Milkdrop Coronet
wire, sea bricks, single use plastic
70” x 6” x 6”
2022
Tethered Sympathy captures the tension between beauty and destruction, much like Edgerton’s high-speed photography reveals the unseen forces shaping a fleeting moment. Sea-worn bricks, sculpted by time and the tides, are surrounded by delicate wire-knit cages that are preserving their beauty. Instead of organic seaweed, plastic debris and fishing line entangles the piece—symbols of human impact on our oceans. Edgerton’s meticulous process has uncovered hidden beauty in a drop of milk, my work transforms marine waste into art, urging reflection on the fragility of our environment and inspiring action and awareness for what some may not see.
@rebeccabombshellart
Anne McNevin
Choices
Inspired by: Kenro Izu, Blue #1010B Constance Bigelow, 1945 Debutante (Miss Meriwether Lewis Cowgill)
photomontage
21″ x 28″
2025
Thinking about a woman’s right to choose and how it affected my life, I pondered the power and necessity of that responsibility. Inspired by the pictures of the two young women, I wondered why they presented themselves the way they did. What were they thinking, feeling? Many choices, regardless of difficulty, yield opportunities for learning and growth. With this photomontage I visualized the internal process of an experienced woman, like myself, though looking like Jill Watts, being both stymied and engaged by life’s choices. This image is a composite of photos taken of Jill inside Higgins Armory empty display cases.
Nina Medard
Planes of Light
Inspired by: Howard John Besnia, Persis Constance Bigelow, 1945 Debutante (Miss Meriwether Lewis Cowgill) Kenro Izu, Blue #1010B
gouache and pencil on wood
13″ x 13″x 0.5″
2025
“Planes of Light” captures my husband as midday reflections carve across his face, throwing highlights and shadows in unexpected directions. A colorful grid nods to the photo that started it all, while gold halo rays lift him beyond the physical. Persis drew me in with its folding colors and hidden planes, reminding me that even in monochrome, depth and movement thrive. 1945 Debutante offered a grounding in classical portraiture, while Blue #1010B inspired the soft edges where form melts into space. Layers of gouache and pencil mirror light’s shifting nature—both tangible and metaphysical, a theme I return to often.
@ninamedard
Meena Mehta
Powerful Serenity
Inspired by: Howard John Besnia, Persis
acrylic paint on paper
11″ x 14′
2025
@twomsdesign
Abigail Moon
Night Milk
Inspired by: Harold Edgerton, Milkdrop Coronet
oil on canvas
20″ x 16″
2025
I painted a portrait of myself drinking milk from the carton. My cat Roscoe is sitting on the shelf above the fridge. I was inspired by Harold Edgerton’s Milk Drop Coronet. I appreciated that Edgerton’s photograph captured a moment of both tension and peace. There is balance and simplicity in the composition, but we know the subject is a fleeting moment in time. Lately I have been noticing little moments in my daily routine that bring me pleasure and snap me into the present. I love to drink milk from the carton! I hope my house guests don’t read this.
Karla Moore
Blending In
Inspired by: Phyllis Galembo, Atam Masquerader
acrylic paint on canvas
14″ x 11″
2025
Inspired by Phyllis Galembo’s Atam Masquerader featuring a Nigerian villager dressed to blend in with the forest, this piece is a lighthearted juxtaposition of with tree in high fashion to blend in with an urban environment in shades of green.
Alan Morin
Earthquake in Death Valley
Selected by FAM curators
Inspired by: Joyce Tenneson, Fork Shaped Tree Harold Edgerton, Milkdrop Coronet
acrylic on board
24″ x 24″
2024
This piece was inspired during a journey to the desert of the American southwest. The ominous pervasiveness of nature is intensified in remote locations far from civilization. This intensity is enhanced when one’s focus is aimed at nature’s power of movement. Earthquake in Death Valley connects to the theme/FAM loan as its depiction of nature is related to Fork Shaped Tree and its prominent use of red gives a sense of drama as shown in Milkdrop Coronet.
Diane Mulligan
Eve
Inspired by: Constance Bigelow, 1945 Debutante (Miss Meriwether Lewis Cowgill) Kenro Izu, Blue #1010B
watercolor on paper
6″ x 7.5″ (unframed), 9″ x 10.5″ (framed)
2024
A debutante is a woman who embodies both purity and temptation. In this sense, one could say that Eve is the original debutante. Here, I have depicted Eve in a pose inspired by Edward Hodges Baily’s statue Eve Listening to the Voice of Adam. She is shown either emerging from or disappearing into the shadows, an homage to Blue #1010B. The layers of watercolor, rendered in a muted gray, were created by combining three pigments: buff titanium, raw umber, and cerulean blue. This combination produces a shifting gray reminiscent of stone—both cool and warm—adding to the duality to the image.
@dianepaintsflowers
Lynn Nafey
A Midnight Dream
Inspired by: Phyllis Galembo, Atam Masquerader
ink, acrylic, spunbond polyester, silk thread on wood panel
15″ x 12″
2024
The human desire for meaningful connection is universal, expressed through ceremony, meditation, prayer, or the subconscious in art and dreams. While some see dreams as random, I view them as reservoirs of symbolic guidance. A Midnight Dream explores this mysterious, transformative state. A search for connection also appears in Galembo’s Atam Masquerader, where ceremonial garb signifies a bond with the spirit world. Both works use monochromatic tones to merge figure and background, suggesting the self’s subduing to reach a higher state. In contrast, color and adornment emphasize the extraordinary nature of this connection, bridging the mundane and the transcendent.
/LynnNafeyArt
Dawn Naylor
sacred vessel
Selected by FAM curators
Inspired by: Unknown Artist, Vase Constance Bigelow, 1945 Debutante (Miss Meriwether Lewis Cowgill)
watercolor, Derwent Inktense pencils, gold ink
9”x12” (unframed), 11″ x 14″ (framed)
2025
As an artist and a woman I have always asked the question, how did women become second class citizens? None of the woman in my daily life were ever weak or hesitate to speak their minds. So my question gets answered by my art in goddesses. This ‘she’ was inspired by a vessel by an unknown artist. The shape conveyed woman to me, grace, strength and the ability to hold a great deal of love, faith, hope and potential.
Scott Niemi
Night Fishing
Inspired by: Kenji Nakahashi, A Cut in the Sky Kenro Izu, Blue #1010B
acrylic on gallery-wrapped canvas
36″ x 36″ x 2″
2025
Black and blue. Those two words resonate as I view the two works, “Blue #1010B” and “A Cut in the Sky”. The limited blue/black palettes of both works make me also think of Picasso’s famous painting, “Night Fishing at Antibes”. I remember the time I fished with my step-grandfather in Florida-the magic of lights sparkling on the water, wondering what mysteries lay beneath the dark rippling water. I decided to do a dreamlike version of night fishing. Something not meant to be realistic, but still that one can connect with and imagine. The mysterious harmony of humankind and nature.
@scottniemiart, /Scott Niemi Art
Carrie Nixon
Green Chiara
Inspired by: Phyllis Galembo, Atam Masquerader Howard John Besnia, Persis
oil on mylar
24″ x 36″
2025
“Green Chiara” belongs to an ongoing series pairing objective drawing and value with “unnatural” color. My intent is to upend society’s categorization and stereotyping of people based on color. My method was to mix a couple dozen versions of green on my palette and intuitively delineate the model. As far as including the hints of “non-green,” I was inspired by FAM’s image, “Persis,” in which the red-violet family dominates but there are small amounts of green and blue. Lastly, the concept of plant and human interaction was in part inspired by FAM’s photo, “Atam Masquerader.”
@carrienixonart
Luca Nova Webb
Cheetah/Leopard (after Logsdon)
Inspired by: Shelley Reed, Predator/Prey (after Oudry)
mixed media collage on plastic mount
8″ x 25″
2025
My mixed media collage responds to Predator/Prey (after Oudry) by Shelley Reed, exploring power, survival, and the tension between hunter and hunted. Incorporating images of a cheetah and a leopard by Dennis James Logsdon, I layer recycled materials to create a dynamic interplay of movement and contrast. A close-up of the animals’ eyes becomes a focal point, drawing attention to the intensity of their gaze—both watchful and commanding. The monochrome palette echoes Reed’s dramatic contrasts, emphasizing presence and absence. My work questions the boundaries between dominance and vulnerability in nature and society through fragmentation and reassembly.
Lee O.
Pearls of Wisdom
Inspired by: Constance Bigelow, 1945 Debutante (Miss Meriwether Lewis Cowgill)
clay and acrylic paint on wood
7” x 9.75”
2025
Pearls of Wisdom is delicately sculpted to reflect the innocence and purity of The Debutante. The smooth, sensuous quality of the clay beckons the viewer to come closer and hear the whispers of possibilities yet to be revealed.
@Leeo.fineart
Kat O’Connor
May the Water Wash Me Down and Bring Me Up
Inspired by: Kenro Izu, Blue #1010B
watercolor
30″ x 22″
2024
The figure in this painting is accepting. Color has been removed to portray possibility. It is a starting point. Not sad, not down, but a beginning. A cleansing and a renewal. I was inspired to submit this piece by Kenro Izu’s Blue #1010B.
@katopaints
Andrea Olmstead
Bound
Inspired by: Constance Bigelow, 1945 Debutante (Miss Meriwether Lewis Cowgill)
Ceramic
21″ x 20″ x 13″
2024
Miss Meriwether Lewis Cowgill, bound by her dress at waist and shoulders, was also bound by social norms as a debutante. Influenced by Baroque sculpture, this portrait of an athlete is no less bound by his environment and expectations of what it means to be masculine in today’s society. But young people are also bound to break free from these ideals, and bound forward. I chose this clay for its vitrified color and its monochrome chalky natural surface. Both the sculpture and painting are minimal in color which allows one to focus on the details of the portraits.
@andreascofieldolmstead
Melissa Parent
Golden Hour
Inspired by: Joyce Tenneson, Fork Shaped Tree
mixed media, acrylic, watercolor, gold leaf and print collage on wood panel
24″ x 36″
2025
Golden Hour relates to the emotional connection we might feel when experiencing an ethereal moment in nature. Nostalgia about past times or lives ground us and bind us to our surroundings, allowing us to drown in the moment.
@mparent_art
Stephen Paulson
Frozen Forest
Inspired by: Joyce Tenneson, Fork Shaped Tree
photograph, inkjet print
15” x 20”
2023
I enjoy photographing natures abstractions and I was attracted to the photo titled “Fork Shaped Tree” which to me is real and abstract at the same time. I think my photo captures the monochrome environment of winter.
@stephenpaulson48
Jackie Penny
Ps 23
Inspired by: Joyce Tenneson, Fork Shaped Tree Shelley Reed, Predator/Prey (after Oudry)
watercolor
8″ x 6.25″
2025
In the fall of 2024 I studied the habits and patterns of sheep at a local farm to complete work on a capstone project for a course on our basic, core needs as humans. I started a series of pictures which will be used to illustrate this project. In late 2024, stalled with the project, I explored the pieces in the call for monochrome and found the needed “words” in the assemblage. A single color, a way something is hidden/not hiding, and a peace in the freedom to work.
Anju Pillai
Look Into My Eyes
Inspired by: Shelley Reed, Predator/Prey (after Oudry)
Micron pens on 300gm cold press paper
13″ x 16″
2022
My artwork explores the intricate relationship between predator and prey through stippling. My inspiration, the evocative work of Shelley Reed, portraying intricate dynamics of predator and prey. Through my stippling, I explore the delicate equilibrium that defines the natural world where a couple of dots can transform the tiger cub harmless to one of impending power. I aim to capture the essence of precarious balance through thousands of deliberate dots inviting viewers to contemplate the fine threshold that distinguishes hunter from hunted. “Look Into My Eyes” is an exploration of interconnection of the vulnerability and power within the tiger cub.
@artaesthetics_by_anju_pillai
Alison Plump
Inversion
Inspired by: Joyce Tenneson, Fork Shaped Tree
mixed media on sewn paper
17″ x 22″ (unframed), 20″ x 26″ (framed)
2025
Inversion is inspired by Fork Shaped Tree by Joyce Tenneson. I was struck by the ochre color and the way the silhouetted trees both emerged from and were subsumed by the ghostly atmosphere. For my piece, I imagined the world as it might be beneath the surface of this place…what lightness or darkness might exist, what life and what decay, what gloom or hope. What might connect these things to one another and, perhaps, to us.
@alisonm.plump
Leah Prouty-Muller
Boteh
Inspired by: Howard John Besnia, Persis
acrylic monoprint
5″ x 7″
2025
It was the plum color of Besnia’s Persis that first drew me in, but upon studying the shapes within the composition I noticed a blue ‘paisley’ shape in the upper left corner. I made the connection between Persia and the teardrop-shaped motif – often called a paisley. I decided to center my composition around this shape, but titled by their word for it: Boteh. The color palette was inspired by the brilliant blue of a Peacock, as hinted to by the feather impressions to the plate. This monoprint was created by layering acrylic paints and pastels onto a gelatin plate.
John Redick
Quiet Morning
Inspired by: Joyce Tenneson, Fork Shaped Tree Kenro Izu, Blue #1010B Harold Edgerton, Milkdrop Coronet
acrylic on birch panel
30″ x 30″
2018
I feel that my work relates to the FAM loan works that have the color blue and ethereal mists in common. Fork Shaped Tree and A Cut in the Sky.
Karen Reid
Guitarra Azul
Inspired by: Kenro Izu, Blue #1010B
oil on canvas
11″ x 14″
2025
The use of soft edges and value changes in Blue #1010B creates a glowing, almost ethereal effect, where the figure seems to slowly emerge and interact with its surroundings. The understated nature allows the viewer to focus on the mood and emotional pull of the piece without being overwhelmed by sharp contrasts. That delicate balance between form and space can evoke a sense of quiet contemplation. This inspired me to paint with that similar idea in mind.
@karenreid4012, www.klreidart.com/
R. Douglass Rice
A Cut in The Sky, 2024
Inspired by: Kenji Nakahashi, A Cut in the Sky
collage
13″ x 19″
2024
I’ve been making collages for over thirty five years. Nakahashi’s print inspired me to experiment with removing paper to create images as opposed to adding layer on top of layer as I usually do when making collages.
@r_d_rice, /R. Douglass Rice, www.rdrart.com
Ann Rosebrooks
Road to Maine House
Inspired by: Joyce Tenneson, Fork Shaped Tree
acrylic on canvas
16″ x 20″
2024
I painted this before I knew about the call and response. It is an actual place I travel every year with the tree inspiring me.
Paula Rosenblum
Untitled (Window with Shadows)
Inspired by: Joyce Tenneson, Fork Shaped Tree
photograph
12″ x 16″
2024
The work from the Fitchburg Art Museum that I’ve submitted this piece in response to is Joyce Tenneson’s Fork Shaped Tree from a series entitled The Alchemy of Light. I love the otherworldliness of it, and the fact that she made this series of images within ten miles of her home in Maine. There are endless visually interesting moments wherever we go, if we allow ourselves to be open to them. My image of the arched window, with its play of light and shadow, and similarly limited color palette, seemed to my eye to pair nicely with Tenneson’s work.
Brittany Salmon
Exhaust
Inspired by: Kenro Izu, Blue #1010B
portrait photography
26″ x 32″
2023
Inspired by Blue #1010B, model Lora was exhausted by life’s trials when this photograph was taken and encapsulates what it truly means to be “blue.”
@brittanybellephotos, /brittanybellephotos
Moushumi Samant
sunday blues
Inspired by: Kenro Izu, Blue #1010B
watercolor pencil
28″ x 36″
2024
As a 15-year-old artist, I’m passionate about capturing the unique qualities of individuals through portrait drawing. With a keen eye for detail, I use pencils and watercolor pencils to bring faces to life. Alongside my artistic pursuits, I’m a member of my school’s chamber choir and an AP student. My future aspirations lie in reconstructive surgery, but for now, art remains a vital outlet for my creativity and curiosity about human expression.
@moushumisings
Mari Saxon
Constellation of Moles
Inspired by: Kenro Izu, Blue #1010B
photography, digital collage, archival pigment print
16″ x 24″
2024
As a photographer focusing on human diversity and individuality, I explore unconventional beauty, celebrating humanity’s uniqueness through conceptual and surreal portraits. Moles on the skin are unique, not inherited, and individual to each person. There is no person without at least one mole. In my work, I compare the constellation of moles on the naked body to a universe scattered with stars.
@marisaxon.art
Leslie Schomp
This We Have Now
Inspired by: Joyce Tenneson, Fork Shaped Tree Shelley Reed, Predator/Prey (after Oudry)
wire and stitched cloth soft sculpture
8″ x 24″ x 24″
2024
This stitched sculpture is inspired by the Exquisite Corpse Surrealist drawing game. I am fascinated by creating actual and implied texture and making work that plays both as surface and form. I find that cloth “acts” like the body. It bundles, stretches and gathers t create a wide range of textures. My stitched sculptures combine human and animal bodies, skins and gestures to communicate ideas about various states of human psychology. Many of them are inspired by my research of historical and scientific botanical illustration as well as children’s fables and the variety of symbolic readings of animals in culture.
@leslieschomp
Melissa Shaak
Undercover
Inspired by: Phyllis Galembo, Atam Masquerader
video (click here to watch)
0:03:22
2023
Phyllis Galembo’s “Atam Masquerader” is a highly evocative and inspiring image, with an elaborately costumed figure shown in relation to a natural environment. In the video “Undercover,” the figure is also costumed, but in a minimal way, and set in a natural but more elaborately sculpted environment. In each piece there is a sense of ritual, and a tool or stake related to that purpose. One is a still image and the other moving, but both visually convey elements of mystery, magic, and the potential for transformation.
@melissajshaak, /melissajshaak
Lila Shields
Midnight Muse
Inspired by: Shelley Reed, Predator/Prey (after Oudry) Kenro Izu, Blue #1010B
oil on stretched circular canvas
11″ x 11″
2025
In “Midnight Muse”, I worked with oil paint to explore the underlying beauty in disturbing topics. My goal was to highlight what we put our head in the sand to, revealing the complexity and hidden layers within these themes. Through monochrome, I aim to capture both the discomfort and the allure evoked. I invite the audience to closely examine what is often considered too dark or unsettling to explore, all through the unwavering gaze of the hyena. I have always felt an unconventional pull towards disquieting topics and aim to visualize that through art.
@lila.shields
Joseph Sikes
Brown Flower Power
Inspired by: Constance Bigelow, 1945 Debutante (Miss Meriwether Lewis Cowgill) Phyllis Galembo, Atam Masquerader Unknown Yoruba Artist, Plaque
acrylic on canvas
36″ x 36″
2022
Nikki Skinner
Now You See Me
Inspired by: Kenro Izu, Blue #1010B
acrylic paint on canvas
30″ x 24″
2025
Stripping away the layers of external validation, my portraits attempt to reveal the raw essence of my being. My pieces capture the vulnerability and strength required to reclaim one’s identity and self-worth. Through the raw portrayal of my form, I confront the scars left by emotional wounds and celebrate the resilience that emerges from such deep personal growth with exaggerated color. My portraits stand as a testament to the power of self-love and the beauty of rising above the shadows of past trauma and the unrealistic ideals of modern society.
@alchemybymoonlight
Edwin Smith
Costa Rican Moonrise
Inspired by: Kenji Nakahashi, A Cut in the Sky
cyanotype, split toned on Marseilles WC Paper from cell phone capture
14″ x 18″
2025
Moonrise at sunset on the beach, my first night last year in Costa Rica.
www.esphotodesign.myportfolio.com
George Smith
Hillside Drive, Summer Night
Inspired by: Unknown Artist, Vase
acrylic on canvas with black gesso
8″ x 10″
2025
I often find that nonrepresentational, decorative artworks evoke a sense of illustration in the way that their minimalist colors resemble nature. In looking at the Vase from the Fitchburg collection, I interpret the green glaze on black, combined with white specks, as a painterly representation of a starry sky. The 3D shape of the vase enhances this feeling by allowing the color to go on endlessly. In my painting, I tried to adapt this quality of light to a nocturnal landscape which, like the rounded vase, avoids both hard edges and obvious interpretations.
@georgehsmithart
Jeanette Staley
Pig-tailed Baboon, Endangered
Inspired by: Constance Bigelow, 1945 Debutante (Miss Meriwether Lewis Cowgill) Shelley Reed, Predator/Prey (after Oudry) Kenro Izu, Blue #1010B
collaged bible pages, acrylic, chalk and charcoal
36″ x 30″
2024
In the 19th c. the Pig-Tailed Baboon or Macaque began its decline in population due the loss of its habitats in Sundaland, southern Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Its equatorial tropical rainforests began to be replaced by single crop farming due to the discovery of palm oil which only grows in this narrow climate. This image of the Pig-Tailed Baboon was originally an illustration by the 19th c. artist George Shaw and the background is taken from an illustration of a 19th c. palm oil plantation, artist unknown.
Jill Strait
Diversions
Inspired by: Harold Edgerton, Milkdrop Coronet
mixed media, watercolor, oil pastel, glue, and acrylic paint
34” x 26.5”
2016
Diversions is part of a series of work exploring line drawing with a glue/acrylic paint mixture. This was an experiment in letting the line lead the image, filling in spaces using watercolor and oil pastels, and leaving white spaces. I chose to connect this piece with Harold Edgerton’s “Milkdrop Coronet” because of the various shades of dark red to pink, as well as the rounded shape of the splash that is similar to the circular shapes in my painting.
@jilldaisybanjo
Lawrence Strauss
Green Vase
Inspired by: Unknown Artist, Vase
oil on canvas
14.5″ x 18″
2025
Two colorful horses, based on ancient Syrian Jewish art, surround the green vase, like the lions that protect the ten commandments in synagogue imagery. Below, fish, like congregants, honor the large, empty vessel — looking for connection to the divine in something so earthy. The small painting holds reverberations of the past considered through a contemporary lens, seeking to understand through turning things over, observing and contemplating.
/lawrencestrausspainter
Suzanne Stumpf
Apparition
Inspired by: Constance Bigelow, 1945 Debutante (Miss Meriwether Lewis Cowgill)
porcelain sculpture
12.5″ x 16″ x .75″
2024
Apparition is a porcelain wall sculpture constructed with hundreds of hand-carved porcelain shards, delicately arranged and subtly spray-glazed to evoke trails/motion/spirits. This meditative monochromatic work echoes the hues, delicacy, and purity of Bigelow’s painting as well as the rhythms of the billowing satin layers of the subject’s dress.
@suzannestumpf
Anne Swinton
Daydreaming
Inspired by: Kenro Izu, Blue #1010B
wood-fired ceramic with shino glaze
13″ x 12″ x 12″
2024
“Daydreaming” captures the calm excitement one feels when dreaming about good things to come. Originally created as a small maquette, this larger figure was made with sculptural stoneware and fired in a wood train kiln over several days. As with Kenro Izu’s work, the piece contains simple lines and minimal features. Additional details and colors would only serve to detract from the emotional impact of each of these works.
@anneswintonpottery
Pamela Taylor
Stripped
Inspired by: Constance Bigelow, 1945 Debutante (Miss Meriwether Lewis Cowgill)
watercolor and goauche on Arches Cold press paper
9″ x 12″
2025
The ideal woman has been a motif for as long as art has been made. The debutante in Bigelow’s 1945 portrait shows the young woman dressed to impress and presented for acceptance into society. The portrait I created shows a confident woman, stripped of clothing and ornamentation, so comfortable in her own skin that acceptance by outsiders in unnecessary.
Sarah Thompson
Swoop
Inspired by: Shelley Reed, Predator/Prey (after Oudry) Kenji Nakahashi, A Cut in the Sky
acrylic and mixed media on canvas
16″ x 20″
2025
“Swoop” depicts a barred owl on a sudden, swift descent from its perch, passing directly in front of me while I was walking at dusk. A massive patterned wing filled my line of vision and abruptly stopped me in my tracks. Swoop is inspired by “Predator/Prey (after Oudry)” by Shelley Reed, and “A Cut in the Sky” by Kenji Nakahashi. The owl’s swift, commanding presence echoes the imposing feel of the predators depicted in Shelley’s piece. The blue of the dusky sky and the dark shapes of the surrounding trees mirror the sky and city buildings in Nakahashi’s piece.
@sarah.thompson.artwork
Winifred Tickner
Odyssey in Blue
Inspired by: Kenji Nakahashi, A Cut in the Sky
acrylic on canvas
16″ x 20″
2025
Ben Tobin
beginning
Inspired by: Harold Edgerton, Milkdrop Coronet Kenro Izu, Blue #1010B Joyce Tenneson, Fork Shaped Tree
11″ x 14″
2024
My aim with this piece of art was to examine an element with a limited palette and unique composition, that we see in our day-to-day life.
@tobin.ben92
Terrasa Ulm
Between
Inspired by: Shelley Reed, Predator/Prey (after Oudry)
graphite, acrylic, wool on paper
36″ x 12″
2025
As Shelly Reed’s “Predator/Prey (after Oudry)” plays with the spaces left only imagined surrounding each striking head, “Between” reveals mischievous, almost human faces and the space between them that must exist in order to connect them. Further, working in a limited palette with mixed media, “Between” flirts with the language of material rather than that of color, questioning which features various materials in the tangible, familiar world may symbolize the unseen, mysteries qualities of the Others.
Amber Vaillancourt
Period
Inspired by: Constance Bigelow, 1945 Debutante (Miss Meriwether Lewis Cowgill) Harold Edgerton, Milkdrop Coronet
acrylic paint on canvas
12″ x 36″
2025
Imagine a society where the culture was not to shame people for having their periods but rather to support them? The idea of wearing an outfit like the one in “1945 Debutante” when you have your period can cause anxiety, fear and often times passing on participation completely. Periods are typical part of many peoples’ lives and they can impact how we live uniquely. Have you ever seen a menstrual cup before? There are many conditions which can make a period a painful and terrifying experience. It’s time to demystify and normalize period talk.
@ambervaillancourtart
Lynn Viamari
Sleeping Giant (Under Moonlight)
Inspired by: Unknown Artist, Vase Joyce Tenneson, Fork Shaped Tree
oil, cold wax, and alabaster dust on canvas
10″ x 8″
2025
Two works from the FAM inspired this work: Joyce Tenneson’s Fork Shaped Tree and Vase circa 1910, unknown artist. I like the mystical quality of Tenneson’s work. The green vase appealed to my love of materiality and earthiness. I used cold wax and alabaster dust mixed in with some handmade earth pigments to build up the surface a bit. The juxtaposition of the weighty earthiness of the landscape and the ethereal lightness of the sky are meant as a metaphor for the human condition.
@lynnzvia
Steve Wage
Monochrome Milkdrop Deconstruction
Inspired by: Harold Edgerton, Milkdrop Coronet
acrylic on canvas
30″ x 40″
2025
I approached the Newtonian extremely short time-locked physical photograph of a milk drop creating waves in three dimensions by “Doc” Harold Edgerton, a MIT professor and consummate electrical engineer and scientist- as a deconstructed non-temporally-locked Quantum waveform impression with overlay elements of the original inspiration.
Mary Pat Wager
INFLUENCERS
Inspired by: Unknown Yoruba Artist, Plaque Shelley Reed, Predator/Prey (after Oudry)
vintage TV tubes, vintage light bulb, wood, steel, avocado skins
18 1/4″ x 12″ x 4″
2024-5
The carving, “Plaque,” by an unknown Yoruba artist, and Shelly Reed’s “Predator/Prey inspired my assemblage wall relief, “Influencers.” The monochromatic material used in “Plaque” create depth, negative space and reflect light. “Influencers” materials of vintage TV tubes, avocado skins, wood, and steel also display depth, negative space and reflect light. I was particularly inspired by the isolation of animals in Reed’s work. This isolation/ confinement intensifies the image. The shininess of vintage TV tubes and light bulbs contrasts dramatically with the biomorphic forms of dried avocado skins, echoing the predator-prey relationship My piece addresses the contemporary issue of TV’s influence.
@mpatwager
Paul Walcott
Black n Blue
Inspired by: Kenro Izu, Blue #1010B
mixed media on wood panels
36″ x 36″
2025
Kenro Izu’s photograph, “Blue #1010B” seems particularly poignant in the current state of the world, with so much violence and oppression both on a large scale and also personal. The awkwardly crouched, cold blue figure seemingly frozen in time, seeking refuge, inspired the creation of my own version in which the figure is further isolated, and cut up into separate boxes. One part might feel heavy, or darker than another more diaphanous. Divisions dictating experience. Blue, black, and bruised.
@paul_walcott_artist
Francis Warner
Into the Mist (Study)
Inspired by: Joyce Tenneson, Fork Shaped Tree
oil on panel
9.75″ x 15.75″
2025
$350 (sold)
Gray values are inherent in nature, especially when light is diminished. Color becomes secondary and our eyes are slow to adjust to low light areas. It is here that I often perceive a dim intimation into the mystery of God. All grays in this work were generated through a mixture of white and the three primary colors.
Jill Watts
Horse Running
Inspired by: Howard John Besnia, Persis Kenji Nakahashi, A Cut in the Sky Kenro Izu, Blue #1010B
monoprint from linoleum block, water base printer’s ink on acid free paper
11 1/2″ x 9 1/2″
2024
Many years ago when I was a student at the Worcester Art Museum School in the early ’60’s we went on a field trip to Howard John Besnia’s studio. I decided to honor his generosity by submitting a monoprint. The use of blue relates to both “Blue # 1010B” and “A Cut in the Sky.”
jillwattsart.wordpress.com/Horse
Cathy Weaver Taylor
It’s Elemental: Climate Change:Fire
Inspired by: Harold Edgerton, Milkdrop Coronet Joyce Tenneson, Fork Shaped Tree
photograph, ink jet print
12″ x 12″
2024
I was captivated by scientist Edgerton’s milk crown photo; the red milk drops and their reflection had me thinking of a flame shape. The laws of physics determine the drops and crown effect; similarly, the laws of physics show us that wildfires are increasing exponentially. The photograph, The Forked Shape Tree’ (although taken at a benign moment in time) reminded me of the sky during the Canadian wildfires: Ominous. The LA fires were a real wakeup call that none of us are immune to climate change
@cathy_weaver_taylor, /Cathy Taylor
Cathy Webster
Manhattan
Inspired by: Howard John Besnia, Persis
watercolor, acrylic, and spray paint on paper
16″ x 20″
2025
Like Besnia’s Persis, this piece uses a variety of mediums to express a travel experience. “Manhattan “reflects a trip with friends to New York City to experience the art, theatre, and culture of the city. It is painted with a bird’s eye view in watercolor, acrylic, and spray paint with forms indicative of rooftops, busy streets, and bright lights. The dominant blue hue implies a night sky, with the majority of shapes in blue, blue-purple, and blue-green. The gold and black sprays of paint represent the action and mystique of a city that never sleeps.
@cathyewebster
Bruno Wernli
Dreams in Freefall
Inspired by: Harold Edgerton, Milkdrop Coronet
acrylic on canvas
23″ x 21″ x 2″
2024
Bruno Wernli, born in Zürich, Switzerland, is a contemporary expressionist artist currently based in Natick, MA. Specializing in acrylics on canvas, Wernli is renowned for his large-scale abstractions characterized by luminous, intense colors, crafted through a multi-layer technique. He is best known for his adept manipulation of color and form, which results in captivating works that engage viewers with their visual depth and textural complexity.
@bruno.wernli
David Wesley White
Fernando in Chrome
Inspired by: Kenro Izu, Blue #1010B Shelley Reed, Predator/Prey (after Oudry)
chrome plated bronze pool light face ring, glass flushmount LED light, inkjet print on holographic chrome paper
10″ x 10″ x 2″
2025
Like Kenro Izu, this piece explores the abstracted and aestheticized body. Fernando is seen hovering just below the surface of the water in a pose that seems both relaxed and dangerous. The obstructed face suggests introspection or transcendence, while the sculpted legs in the forefront ground him in reality. Exploring chrome as a color—the holographic print is framed by sparkly glass and steel, appearing both monochromatic and full of color depending on light and setting. The piece also relates to the work of Shelley Reed, whose circular and grayscale compositions feature light, texture, and dramatic subjects.
@davidweswhite
Neil Wilkins
laminae/Re:36
Inspired by: Howard John Besnia, Persis Harold Edgerton, Milkdrop Coronet
encaustic with mixed media on birch panel
36″ x 12″
2022
This work speaks to the tonal qualities, color palette, circular forms and ephemeral nature in Harold Edgerton’s “Milkdrop Coronet” and also shares a kinship with the nature of pattern and material texture emphasized in “Persis” by Howard John Besnia. My encaustic paintings explore the nature of boundaries and time. I study relationships between shapes and patterns being altered by relative proximity as they flow across a picture plane. The works present impermanent elusive qualities that symbolize passing moments and act as physical representations of transition.
@neil_wilkins_art, /neil wilkins art
Mark Zieff
Blue Moon
Inspired by: Kenro Izu, Blue #1010B Joyce Tenneson, Fork Shaped Tree
pastel and colored pencil on watercolor wash
22″ x 15″
2023
The color blue generally symbolizes calmness, serenity, peace, trust, stability, and reliability, however, it can also represent sadness or melancholy. As an artist, I have always been fascinated with older, well-worn man made objects and use my artwork to explore the physical and emotional relationship we have with inanimate objects. In “Blue Moon” I use the color blue to deepen the emotional tie with clothing, where our relationship is among the most intimate, complex and unique of all man made objects.
@markzieffart
