Art in the Café: Edges

Our November Art in the Café gallery in Northampton
is "Edges" by Frances Kidder!

The edge of the woods, the edge of land, the edge of a cove – where water meets stone, where roots meet rock – edges that mark a subtle shift, or a sudden drop-off.

In past summers, I had the chance to observe a drama enacted by the rocks, water and trees of a saltwater cove in Maine. Places where the water meets the shore are constantly changing with the tides. Waves erode the earthen banks. Trees become contorted, their roots appear, twisting around rocks. Boulders crack, slip and tumble when we’re not looking, leaving strange architectures full of secrets.

In painting, and in woodcuts, there is drama in the edges: hard and soft – light and dark – warm and cool, in the rhythms they generate, and the transitions they create between what is seen above and what lies below the surface.

The edge of realism - the edge of abstraction.

The edge of disaster - the edge of hope!