Category: Uncategorized

My newest painting for the Art in Giving charitable foundation! This painting is titled Free Birds. It is 36″ x 48″ and is done in acrylic paint. The technique includes many layers of translucent metallic paints and glazes in golds, bronzes, and coppers. The finished effect is one that seems to change color according to the light and where the viewer stands, so it is a new painting from different angles in the room.

The inspiration for this painting was my kids’ leaving the nest as they journeyed out into the world. Married in 1974, first baby in 1975. Second and third babies in 1978 and 1980. Parenthood was a full time commitment! Disco? What was that? Extended maternity leave? Yes, please! Life was hectic and warm and wonderful. And exhausting. The kitchen calendar was packed with doctor’s appointments, PTA, youth sports, on and on. As time went by, the calendar was still full, but with college visits and college application deadlines.

Then, suddenly, quiet. The last little bird had flown away. I did cry all the way home from dropping her off at college. But the next day, my husband and I looked at each other and realized we had all day, all week, all month to fill in the calendar with plans just for us. The kids were still there, but not here!

For more information about Art in Giving, and to visit my Gallery Page there, please check their website, www.artingiving.com

Galleries at Lynn Arts (GALA) will be offering art workshops for kids during the April vacation 2023. My workshop is called Creating Op Art and will be held on April 20, from 2:00 to 4:30 p.m.

Kids from 8-13 will be able to try their hands at Op Art, an eye-popping style that uses optical illusions to make a two dimensional painting appear almost 3-D. During the 2-1/2 hour workshop kids will learn some tricks to get them started with this busy, dizzy type of art. Each participant will go home with their own matted Op Art creation.

For more information, please check www.galleriesatlynnarts.org/workshop.

An eclectic mix of subjects, mediums, sizes, and styles has resulted in an amazing alchemy of sixty paintings — all painted predominantly in the color green! The Slow River Gallery presents Green Gallery for the Green Belt which will benefit The Essex County Greenbelt, and I am excited that my painting Summer Afternoon has been juried into the show.

Summer Afternoon is a 12″ x 36″ acrylic painting on stretched canvas which I painted en plein air at the lovely Forest River Park in Salem, MA. On summer afternoons as the sun sinks below the tree crowns, long shadows stretch over the velvety green hills and slopes. It is a colorful and peaceful time to enjoy the beauty of this sea side park.

The gallery opening will be a community event with art, music, and light refreshments; it will be held on Saturday, March 4 from 4:00 till 7:00 p.m. The Greenbelt will make remarks about their organization at 5:00 p.m.

Slow River Studio is located at 17 Main Street, Topsfield, MA 01983. The gallery is open when studio classes are in session, generally Tuesday through Thursday from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. and Friday and Saturday mornings from 9:00 a.m. till 2:00 p.m. They will also open the gallery for viewing the Green exhibit from 10:00 a.m. till 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, March 11 and Sunday, March 25.

www.slowriverstudio.com

@slowriverstudio

#slowriverstudio

GALA, the Galleries at Lynn Arts, www.galleriesatlynnarts.org, has selected the paintings for their Small Works Exhibit and 2 of mine will be included! The show will run from February 3 until March 16, 2023 at their beautiful galleries, 25 Exchange Street, Lynn, MA 01901. The opening reception happens on Friday, February 3 from 5:30 till 7:30. The event is free and open to the public and donations are gratefully accepted to help support the organization.

One of my paintings is Writer’s Block, acrylic, 6″ x 6″ x 1.5″. This one was inspired by painter’s block! I was thinking about “What to Paint?” and was doodling on a piece of paper, using the Op Art style I love. The wavy lines and pools of ink reminded me of penmanship lessons when I was in grade 4.

If you can believe it, we actually used old fashioned writing pens with nibs which we dipped in an inkwell built into the top of our school desks. The biggest, strongest eighth grade boys (never girls — it was back in the bad old days— got to walk up and down the aisles with glass gallon jugs of ink; then they would pour that blue-black ink into those tiny inkwells. No wonder we had dark tiled floors and very ink-stained desks. The cool hues in my painting were inspired by those blue stains.

The size of Writers’ Block makes it a fun addition to any decor; it is wired to hang, and the depth of the canvas allows it to stand unsupported on a shelf — or on your writing desk.

The second painting in the show is Snow Penguins, acrylic, 8″ x 10″. It was inspired by an animal documentary I watched on Netflix. I guess that elevates “Netflix and Chill” to kind of a nerdy yet creative place. 

Looking at all those penguins standing around with absolutely nothing but snow and ice as far as their bright little shoe-button eyes could see, all cooperating with each other to stay warm and mind their babies ……. I started to think about them having a little non-Netflix fun and working together to build snowmen. No! Snow Penguins! I know, I have to get out more.

As a former kindergarten teacher and the illustrator of a few children’s books, I love to paint in a fun, happy, colorful style. Snow Penguins would be fun in any child’s room. Or let it warm up your winter decor. I hope that my little painting warms your heart!

Please visit my website for a peek at some of my other creations.

www.SheilaBillings.com

Facebook — @ Sheila Farren Billings: Artist

Instagram — @ Sheila F Billings

www.galleriesatlynnarts.org

Looking for something a little different for your holiday gift shopping? Try visiting the gift shop at Galleries at Lynn Arts (GALA)! Local artists from Lynn and surrounding communities have stocked the shelves with their unique creations. You will find jewelry, paintings, prints, sculptures, cards, ceramics, textiles, and so much more.

My offerings at the GALA Shop include my mini paintings with easels and matted prints of my artwork. The work I am showing during November and December is all in a winter and Holiday theme. The mini paintings are 3″ x 3″ and are each tiny, originals done in acrylic paint on wee wooden easels. They are perfect to tuck into a stocking or gift box and add Holiday flair to any corner of your home or office.

The GALA Shop is located inside the gallery at 25 Exchange Street, Lynn. You can check the GALA website for hours and special events. www.galleriesatlynnarts.org

The Galleries At LynnArts (GALA) is an arts based collaborative, artist run community art gallery and a 501 (c) (3) tax deductible private foundation.  It is lead by a group of local artists and art organizers who have designed two galleries and a gallery shop.  These spaces are used to exhibit group and solo shows as well as house a gallery shop filled with arts and crafts produced by North Shore artists and makers.  We work with artists and makers at every stage of their career.  Emerging artists are given support in developing their work, preparing work for professional presentation and exhibition, and access to the local gallery system.  GALA is a community where the gallery spaces and outside events are used to promote and sell artwork from artists who traditionally have had access to galleries as well as those makers who might not have had access into the space and to honor their products and objects equally.  We create community through exhibit receptions, artists’ sales and fairs, and by using the gallery spaces for public and private events.  It is our intention to support the whole artist by creating programming to promote skills growth, wellbeing, and foster a healthy art community.

The Galleries at Lynn Arts (GALA) are exhibiting the autumn Member Showcase! Come and enjoy the many styles of the local artists who are taking part in the show. Members’ artwork will hang from November 11 until December 16, 2022 at GALA’s beautiful showrooms at 25 Exchange Street, Lynn, MA. You can also view the paintings in the exhibit from the comfort of your home by going to their website www.galleriesatlynnarts.org

I am happy to have two paintings in the exhibit: Snow Cardinal, acrylic, 8″ x 10″, $250 and Snowy Gables, original screen print A.P., 11″ x 14″ framed, $200. Snow Cardinal was inspired by a cheerful cardinal that visits my yard all year. Most of the year, he lifts my spirits with his beautiful songs; but in the winter, he also looks stunning against the snow and bare tree branches. Snowy Gables is an original screen print done in blue and black ink on 100% rag paper. It had a small run of only about 8, and this one is an Artist’s Pull. It was inspired by the way that the old houses’ steep roofs look in the snow when the moonlight shines on them.

The opening reception on Nov. 11 is open to the public and donations are welcome! Please call GALA for more information. http://www.galleriesatlynnarts.org

“The Galleries At LynnArts (GALA) is an arts based collaborative, artist run community art gallery and a 501 (c) (3) tax deductible private foundation.  It is lead by a group of local artists and art organizers who have designed two galleries and a gallery shop.  These spaces are used to exhibit group and solo shows as well as house a gallery shop filled with arts and crafts produced by North Shore artists and makers.  We work with artists and makers at every stage of their career.  Emerging artists are given support in developing their work, preparing work for professional presentation and exhibition, and access to the local gallery system.  GALA is a community where the gallery spaces and outside events are used to promote and sell artwork from artists who traditionally have had access to galleries as well as those makers who might not have had access into the space and to honor their products and objects equally.  We create community through exhibit receptions, artists’ sales and fairs, and by using the gallery spaces for public and private events.  It is our intention to support the whole artist by creating programming to promote skills growth, wellbeing, and foster a healthy art community.”

I’m so excited to have three of my murals featured on the walls of the new North Shore Children’s Museum! The museum is the culmination of the successful pop-up CuriousCity Children’s Museum which was so successful in 2019. The Peabody Main Street mural has been saved from CuriousCity and enjoys its new home at the NSCM, and I have also painted the murals for the Outer Space exhibit and the Construction Corner room. My work at the NSCM has given me the opportunity to use my career experience as a teacher for 24 years and express it with my art.

Here’s what they say on their website! “The North Shore Children’s Museum believes an accessible and inclusive museum must address each visitor’s experience. The museum features hands-on exhibits designed to provide a fun and enriching learning experience for children ages 2-10. Located at 10 Main Street in downtown Peabody, the museum is in the heart of the North Shore, serving children from Northeast Massachusetts and beyond.

Each hands-on experience in the North Shore Children’s Museum explores different themes to tap into a child’s imagination. From building and designing to investigating new materials to reading and engaging in dramatic play, learning has never been so fun! Unique workshops and classes will also be offered.”

Art in Giving raises funds for childhood cancer research through the sale of fine arts.

Talented artists exhibit their work with Art in Giving and fifty percent of the purchase price of their artwork sold goes directly to talented cancer researchers working on breakthrough ideas to identify causes of and cures for brain tumors and gliomas. 

 To date, Art in Giving has granted $1.4 million in seed funding to researchers at Stanford University Medical School, Yale University School of Medicine, Barrow Neurological Institute, University of Pennsylvania, The Broad Institute, Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins University, Mass General Hospital, and Dana Farber Cancer Institute.

Our business model increases the amount of money targeted for pediatric cancer research, a severely underfunded area.

• People buy from us rather than a commercial gallery, and still make donations to their favorite charities
• Interior designers purchase art for their clients while supporting innovative research
• Companies purchase art using facility management and gift, not philanthropy, budgets

 With Art in Giving, children with cancer and their families, pediatric cancer researchers, artists, art enthusiasts, and corporations all benefit.  

The newest painting I have created for Art in Giving is Copley Skyline. It is done in acrylic paint on wooden board, 43″ x 30″ framed. This painting was inspired by a photograph that I took while strolling through Copley Square this summer with a group of friends. It was a beautiful day, and I was struck by the interesting shapes and contrasts of the rooftops in Copley Square. I also loved the reflections of older buildings in the sleep modern mirrors of the John Hancock Tower. I hope you will visit www.artingiving to check out the wonderful art. And best of all, a full 50% of the price of the art goes straight to researching the fight against childhood cancer.

Galleries at Lynn Arts has a new exhibit! Landscapes/ Oceanscapes/ Cityscapes. I am delighted that 3 of my paintings have been juried into the show.

My seascape is Peaceful Cove (Shown), 11″ x 14″ acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas was done en plein air by the ocean behind the busy street of restaurants and arcades at Salem Willows in Salem, MA. It was a perfect summer day and I was painting with a group of friends. I turned to a little rowboat moored among the waving sea grass with a view of the boat yard at Winter Island in the distance. Pure peace! It was fun to see the other artists’ various choices of subject.

The landscape painting in this show is Frosty Morn, 12″ x 24″, acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas. Frosty Morn was painted from my kitchen window; I was inspired by the beauty of my neighbor’s evergreen trees with coats of newly fallen snow and by the lovely early morning sky and a pair of noisy blue jays. The fun of painting is that I had the choice (and took it!) to omit everyone’s trash barrels and cars parked helter skelter along the street. I left out all the houses and added a beautiful frozen lake.

My third painting in this exhibit is Boston Skyline, 11″ x 14″, acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas. One day I was stuck in bumper to bumper traffic on Route 1 South, going into Boston and took a picture of the breathtaking view of Boston’s skyscrapers lined up against a soft blue sky. I loved the strong shadows and the contrast of hard edges against the organic clouds. I have since painted this study of Boston in a large format, in slightly different colors, which can be seen on my gallery page at Art In Giving, www.artingiving.com which is a wonderful charitable foundation.

Galleries at Lynn Arts (GALA) is located at 25 Exchange Street, Lynn, MA 01901. The show runs from the opening reception on Friday, August 5 from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. until the closing on September 15, 2022. The reception is open to the public and will include music and refreshments as well as a LOT if wonderful art from talented local artists. A donation of $5 is requested to help GALA in its mission to support local artists.

The Marblehead Arts Association will be presenting a wide variety of their members’ artwork in the Summer Member Exhibit which will run at the same time as the Marblehead Festival of Arts. I was glad to learn that my painting has been chosen to be part of the show.

My painting for the Summer Members’ Exhibit is Marblehead Harbor Panorama, acrylic on canvas, 12″ x 36″. It was painted in 2019 as part of the MF0A Paint the Town Exhibit, a plein air event; and it was chosen for the People’s Choice Award at that time. It is the painting that inspired my 2022 Cod for the MFoA Cod Auction benefit.

The day of the 2019 plein air event, I drove to Devereux Beach in Marblehead hoping to make a painting of the colorful beach umbrellas in the sand. However, when I arrived, the sky had darkened and it had grown cool. Instead of painting the deserted beach, I turned and decided to paint the dramatic view of Marblehead Harbor. The sea was a luminous light green due to the sun just beginning to break through the dark clouds. The white boat masts of the many crafts docked because of the bad weather shone against the glowering sky.

The exhibit will be on display June 25 to August 7, 2022 at Marblehead Art Association, 8 Hooper St., Marblehead, Massachusetts. Call 781-631-2608 for gallery hours.