A selection of paintings is displayed at Cooper’s Commons as part of the Agawam Community Artists and Artisan’s “Art in Motion” exhibit. Suzanne DiSessa’s “Beached” is in the bottom right.
Reminder Publishing photo by Tyler Lederer
AGAWAM — For Agawam artist Suzanne DiSessa, who has been learning how to paint the past seven years, painting gives her endless problem-solving opportunities.
“What I’ve learned with painting is that if I really can’t solve a problem with a particular painting, I’ll put it aside and I’ll walk by it. Eventually, I’ll develop the skill that I lacked initially and I can go back to that painting and solve the problem,” she said.
DiSessa is one of the over 20 artists featured in the Agawam Community Artists and Artisans’ latest exhibit, “Art in Motion,” which consists of over 50 paintings of a variety of subjects, natural and human-made.
She has two paintings in the exhibit: “Flower Power,” which depicts spring flowers, and “Beached,” a depiction of a shipwrecked tugboat. The flowers came from her own garden; the boat was from a reference photo.
“I generally see something in the landscape or in the garden that inspires me,” she said. “I often paint from life as much as I can.”
DiSessa had wanted to paint since she was a child. She began seven years ago, after retiring from 32 years of teaching in public schools, specifically in Westfield, Longmeadow and in the Gateway Regional School District. She started with still life works, then, after she mastered those, moved on to outdoor, en plein air paintings. The past two years, she has been trying to incorporate wildlife and farm life into her works.
“I think I’m doing what I hoped I would achieve at this point, but there’s always more to learn,” she said.
Asked what she wants people to take away from her paintings, she said wants to evoke emotions or memories.
“If somebody finds themselves coming back for a second look or finds themselves lingering with one of the paintings, then I feel I’ve achieved my purpose, because the whole point of painting is to move someone, to create an emotion. It’s not about duplicating a subject or an object,” she said.
Also featured in “Art in Motion” is Westfield artist Doug Drumm, an artist with a penchant for details. In “European Street,” which depicts an imaginary Estonia-inspired cobblestone street, everything from the brickwork to the cracks in the walls are painted. Little birds are hidden throughout the painting.
“You won’t even know they’re there, but if you look at them, you’ll find them,” he said.
Drumm works with acrylics and oils, which he learned how to use in high school. That and the “Captain Bob” television show were the majority of his art education.
His paintings in the exhibit include “Smokey Mountain,” depicting a sunset over mountains; “Walter,” depicting a trout; “Air Show,” depicting an airplane; and “European Street.”
Asked what he hopes people take away from his paintings, he said he hopes people take away a desire to buy them. That being said, he is passionate enough about painting that he would do it for free.
“If I got enough, I’d probably give him away, but I just love doing it,” he said.
Granville artist Kim Velky, who paints “things that move” or nature scenes, is also in the exhibit. “Sunny Yellow Floral” depicts sunflowers, and “Cardinal Gentleman’s Club” depicts a line of cardinals on a tree branch.
“I was like, ‘what am I gonna call this?’ And the first thing that came to my mind was, ‘All Male Revue,’ but that would be dancers. So I said, ‘Well, I’m not gonna call it that, but I gotta come up with something else,’” she said.
Velky added, “Somebody said, ‘One of these birds should have a cigar in his mouth,’ but I didn’t do that.”
Inspired by Bob Ross, Velky started in the late 1970s with wet-on-wet paintings, took a break to raise her children, then restarted nine years ago at the suggestion of a friend.
She hopes people take away from her art the ability to look at things differently, in regard to details.
“Everything has details, but you don’t have to put every single detail into something to have it turn out as an interesting piece of art,” she said.
Regional talent
Besides Agawam, Westfield and Granville, artists in “Art in Motion” come from Chicopee, Enfield, Springfield, Southwick and West Springfield.
“The talent that we have in our community is outstanding,” said Ceil Rossi, president of the Agawam Community Artists and Artisans. “They teach. They are in galleries. They’re in shows that are juried shows. And they’re professional.”
Most of the exhibit’s art is for sale, with the average price being $125 to $150, said Rossi.
“There are some here that are $300 and $400, but they’re worth it because they’re oil paintings,” she said.
The collection includes watercolors, acrylics, oils, pastels and pen-and-ink works.
“Art in Motion” is on display until January in the first- and second-floor hallways of Cooper’s Commons, 159 Main St., Agawam, during normal business hours.
