By Cathy Miller

The scene itself was one out of a painting when M Galleries in Washington teamed with Pohatcong Native Arboretum to hold a plein air day, titling it “Save Daylight,” on Nov. 3. Plein air, French for “outdoors,” is an art technique in which painters, sketchers, and other artists, create using only the natural light of the sun. The artists gathered between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. at Pohatcong Native Arboretum (54 Mine Hill Road, Washington). The public was welcomed to watch the artists at work on the grounds of the Arboretum. Participating artists were Martha Wirkijowski, Simon Keller, James Post, David LaMorte, Tristan Laferriere, Camran Bastien, Cara London, Terri Fraser, Jim Irvine, Spencer Soletto, and Frank May.

The artworks created that day are currently on exhibit Saturdays and Sundays through December 31, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. at the new M Galleries PNA at the Pohatcong Native Arboretum, curated by Frank May, owner of M Galleries. An Opening Reception was held on Nov. 15.

A GLIMPSE OF A FEW OF THE ARTISTS:

CAMRAN BASTIEN, Washington
Born in New Jersey and raised in New Haven, Connecticut, Camran moved back to his home stat in December 2018. He’s been a writer since he was able to write but began taking it seriously in seventh grade. He’s 18 now and says, “It’s just part of who I am.” Camran, a poet and a comedian, has three poems in Save Daylight — a sonnet, a haiku, and a free-verse poem — all written at the Arboretum after walking the grounds and settling at a bridge. He stood there for a half hour before the words came to him. All three compositions were almost entirely composed onsite, only two changes were made afterwards. He said, “Part of being a writer is the ‘want’ to be published,” to which end he enters a lot of writing competitions. He also performs comedy, hosting M Performance Night in M Galleries’ Washington location, which is “a child of mine,” he said. The night can include anything creative, Camran explained, whatever the performers do “it should push the boundaries – singing, comedy, acting, performance.” He added, “Feel free to come down.”

SPENCER SOLETTO, Somerville
A painter, digital artist and sculptor, Spencer described “Traced Wanderings,” his plein air creation, as “a drawing, of sort, in multimedia.” It was created with ink, sharpie, wires, and found foliage on three corrugated plastic panels. In creating the art, Spencer noted he “had a hand-to-life audience, people came to watch the artists work.” He began a career in engineering, then took a turn into the creative fields, noting responses to his art have been good. He said he’d like to see more communication about the artwork, and less about the artist as he described “Traced Wanderings,” which illustrates observations at the Arboretum: “hearing people talking, writing what the signs say, tracings of tree shadows and shapes of trees, part of a map … kind of like a recording.” Frank May, owner of M Galleries, first brought Spencer in to the gallery as a sculptor, and as such, his use of wires and leaves adds a sculptural form to “Traced Wanderings.” Currently he has a show at M Galleries entitled “Pipes” and will host a gallery talk about his exhibit on Nov. 23 from 5-7 p.m. The show at M Galleries runs through November 30.

JAMES POST, Bernardsville
James brought with him a canvas with a van Gogh-reminiscent painting, which he then painted over on plein air day and titled it “Warm Lit Woods.” The oil on canvas captures the warmth of the sunlight: the lower portion of the painting is fairly warm, cooler greens appear in the shadows. He said, “It was cool to finish it out here and bring it directly to the Gallery to dry. It was like a study, to do it in one day.” James has painted all his life and has multiple degrees in fine art. Besides canvas, he also works on skin — he’s a tattoo artist and Brazen Electric is his mobile shop, currently without a permanent space. He noted the process of tattooing is akin to drawing or coloring with watercolor or marker with a black outline. When asked if there’s anything else he’d like to add, he simply said “Give peace a chance.”

TRISTAN LAFERRIERE, South Bound Brook
Tristan grew up in Washington, moving away three years ago. Now that he’s involved with M Galleries, he’s happy to have a reason to come back to town. He quipped, “I moved away for work and keep coming back for fun!” Regarding Save Daylight, the creative community session at PNA, he said, “It was a wonderful day, beautiful, so much land for inspiration!” He has two works in the exhibit at M Galleries PNA, “Drowning Bridge,” an acrylic/wood on canvas, and “Untitled,” an acrylic on canvas. The green color appearing in both pieces is one of his favorite colors. Of “Drowning Bridge,” Tristan explained it’s “like looking down from the bridge into the water” Polaroid photos in three corners were included to look like they’d been tossed into the creek and the bridge was created using branches from the arboretum. The event was a new experience for him; he’d never done plein air painting or landscapes before. He’s been dabbling in painting for about five years, experimenting in abstracts and collage. Additionally, he’s a writer, having just completed his first novel entitled, “Black Haired Boy,” which was 11 years in the making, beginning in elementary school, and growing more serious about it upon entering high school. A realistic portrayal of being gay in high school, Tristan categorizes it as “new adult fiction.” Even though it’s through the eyes of a young person, he hopes to help and inspire the folks who read it. He shares his novel during readings at M Galleries’ Poetry Nights. He also leads a novel-writing workshop, the next one being Nov. 21 from 6-8 p.m.

CARA LONDON, Readington Township
Cara has two pieces on display at the “Save Daylight” show, “NJ Yellow Birch #1” and “NJ Yellow Birch #2,” both acrylic on canvas. She also works in oils but felt acrylics for plein air day would be easier to transport to the gallery than oil paintings, which take much longer to dry. She said, “It ended up being a beautiful day – and seeing all these people do all kinds of work – it was like a community.” Cara has been painting most of her adult life, but she also does printmaking. She started as a sculptor because she likes to draw and paint from form. She loves to create art – the color, texture, brush stroke – and she appreciates “the materiality of the visual world.” Cara and her husband Eric Sirota are renovating the Park Theater, a 1400 seat theatre built circa 1931 in Union City (Hudson County), to be used as a performance space and gallery.

FRANK MAY, Washington
Frank, the founder/owner/curator of M Galleries and M Galleries PNA has two installations on display from the plein air experience: “loam,” made with found material from the Arboretum, and “save daylight,” a piece of greenware.

He works for Peter Callas, a sculptor from Belvidere, and also teaches color theory and sculpture at duCret School of Art in Plainfield. Frank is a sculptor, but decided early on, while studying at Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University, that he wanted to open a gallery. Frank opened M Galleries in May 2016. He’s very particular about space as an artist, and from the first time he saw the space on Washington Avenue, he knew that was where he wanted to be, he’d utilize this space for both viewing and making. His first year was very limited, in both shows and hours, but this past year he’s added many more special events.

Frank became involved with the Pohatcong Native Arboretum in Washington Township through a series of introductions and face-to-face meetings. Anthony Pasquini, who has been central to developing the arboretum space since 2002, came to M Galleries and pitched Frank a space, perfect for an art gallery. Frank presented a proposal for the building to Washington Township Parks and Recreation Committee in September 2018, explaining it was always meant to be a gallery. Parks and Recreation loved the idea! When they asked what he needed, Frank replied, “A key.” After some minor maintenance, the space was christened M Galleries PNA.

What would be a good first show? Frank realized daylight saving time was approaching, likening it to painting where the artist collects the light. He decided to hold a plein air event, by invitation only (to be revisited for the next one), calling it “Save Daylight.” In addition to expanding M Galleries PNA, Frank plans to add a sculpture garden to the 90 acres of grounds, akin to Grounds For Sculpture in Hamilton. He works with Meryland Cuevas at the Pohatcong Native Arboretum, the project coordinator for the entire Arboretum, overseeing everything that happens there, while Frank specifically handles the gallery and exhibitions aspect.

Frank understands contemporary art is not an easy thing to comprehend. He enjoys the challenge of bringing people into the world of art and with M Galleries, he’s taken the best parts of places he’s enjoyed and applied them to his gallery. He firmly believes, “If you build it, they will come” and emphatically states, “The past three years have been very fulfilling.” His ultimate goal is to have a building which covers all bases, perhaps even residencies – work, live, show – studio, apartment, gallery – and he’d like it to be headquartered right here in Washington.

Frank currently has an exhibit called “remnant” at Warren County Community College, which can be viewed through November 30.

SUPPORT LOCAL ARTISTS AND THE ARTS!
PARTICIPATE IN M GALLERIES’ UPCOMING EVENTS AND EXHIBITS:

“remnant” on display at Warren County Community College through November 30
The exhibit by Frank May, founder/owner/curator of M Galleries, features “abstract sculptural works made from found residual composite metal. The components are the ‘waste’ material of another process.” Frank’s focus is on the “overlooked” and “ignored.”

M Performance Night
Friday, Nov. 22, 7-9 p.m. at M Galleries
Hosted by Camran Bastien, this event is all about showmanship. Scripted performance? Check. Comedy? Check. Improv? Double check! Come push the boundaries at M Performance Night!

“Pipes” Gallery Talk with Spencer Soletto
Saturday, Nov. 23, 5-7 p.m. at M Galleries
Spencer said, “Pipes is about having a functional relationship with nature, an exhibition is of transition.” He has an interest in both natural and industrial/man-made ecosystems. The “Pipes” exhibit runs through the end of the month.

M Realities
Sunday, Nov. 24, 5-7 p.m.
Experience virtual reality through the lens of fine art. Paint in three dimensions. Stroll through virtual reality museums and galleries. Try out cutting edge art-making programs.

Art of Progress
Saturday, Nov. 30, 6-8 p.m.
Matt Polsky lectures on the “Art of Progress.” He explains, “The similarities between pursuing a Ph.D. and creating art are connected, both tongue-in-cheek (we both love getting asked: “How’s your Ph.D./painting going?”) and seriously along the way both to looking at, and trying to understand, big societal changes.” Tickets sold on galleries.org

M Poetry Night
Sunday, Dec. 1, 5-7 p.m.
All poets and poetry fans are welcome. This is a casual, walk-in, “word art” night using words in a creative way and thinking about art through words. Support the arts and have fun reading and/or listening to local poets.

A Novel Idea Workshop
Thursdays, Nov. 21 and Dec. 5, 6-8 p.m.
Join Tristan Laferriere, who discusses writing a novel, and his experiences with the process.

ADDRESSES:

M Galleries
67 E. Washington Avenue, Washington, NJ 07882
Email: martgalleries@gmail.com / Website: mgalleries.org
Gallery hours are Wednesday through Sunday 2:00-10:00pm
908-689-3414

M Galleries PNA
Pohatcong Native Arboretum – Washington Township
54 Mine Hill Road, Washington, NJ 07882
Gallery hours are Saturdays and Sundays 9 a.m.-1 p.m.

If you would like to suggest someone for the Person of the Week, please reach out to Cathy at info@insidewarren.com.

Edited 11/21/19 to include further information about PNA