For nearly three decades, painters with the Old Deerfield Painting Group have been meeting weekly to hone their craft and create community — something members say can be challenging to find, given that painting is often a solitary art form.
Now, in anticipation of their upcoming 30th anniversary in 2019, the 15 members, who come from across the Pioneer Valley, have come together to present a group exhibit at Hosmer Gallery at Forbes Library in Northampton. The show, “Thirty Years in Old Deerfield,” runs through Dec. 29.
The group was started in Historic Deerfield in 1989 by artist Elice Davis Pieropan and is now under the direction of local artist David Sund. Members meet weekly at the White Church Community Center in Old Deerfield to paint or for a group critique, with each artist bringing his or her style to the table, from watercolor paintings, to oil and pastel pieces.
Members come from different walks of life — some are retired and took up painting as a way to explore the visual arts, while some are professional full-time painters.
“We don’t paint together, we paint close to each other,” Sund, a full-time artist, said with a laugh. “But the group is very useful in that some of us need the discipline of saying, ‘OK, I have to be there every Tuesday and I have to be in the head space to paint.’”
On a recent Saturday morning at Forbes Library, artists were preparing to hang their work in the gallery. Local ukulele group AEIOUkes was rehearsing a cover of “Nowhere Man” by The Beatles in a room next door while the painters adjusted frames and chose some of their best work for display.
Sund said the exhibit features work that is partially inspired by the group’s weekly meetings. There are many still life paintings on display, but the exhibit also features architecturally inspired pieces, paintings of animals, and en plein air depictions of local towns.
Valerie Bassett of Florence, as one example, offered a still-life tableau of pumpkins, eggplants and other seasonal vegetables arranged together with expressive colors; the vibrant orange and yellow pumpkins contrast with the deep purple of the eggplant, all of which is seen through a reflection on the dark background. Another one of her paintings focuses on a picturesque New England barn, with rolling white clouds and a light blue sky overhead.
Bassett, who’s been part of the Old Deerfield Painting Group for seven years, said painting is her means for relaxing from her stressful job. In addition to having a masters of fine arts, she’s a registered nurse.
“The stillness of painting, it focuses you,” she said. “It’s a health-promoting practice.”
Harry Ruddock III, a resident of South Deerfield, has been with the group for two and a half years. He became a member because it gives him the opportunity to paint with other artists.
“You pick up a few pointers here and there, and it’s just a good group to paint with,” he said. “There’s all kinds of different styles and mediums, and I don’t get that by myself in my studio.”
Ruddock said he works primarily with watercolors, which he’s been involved with for the past 30 years. He’s also a member of the New England Watercolor Society based in Duxbury, which he joined this year.
One of his pieces, “Paul’s Barn,” depicts a barn in winter, a scene inspired by a particular farm in South Deerfield.
“I’ve seen this barn numerous times and just happened to catch it in a light,” he said. “I was out on a walk actually. I always knew there was a painting somewhere in this barn. I took a snapshot and I did a studio piece based on that.”
John Tomasetti of Shutesbury has been part of the painting group for the past seven years. His works at Hosmer Gallery include New England landscapes, watercolors and paintings of flora.
A former first-grade teacher from Erving — he taught for 34 years — Tomasetti said he had to wait to join the group after he retired in 2004 because so many people want to be part of it.
“I just enjoy being around other artists,” he said. “I live alone and it gives me a chance to talk with other artists.”
Helen Hodges of Ashfield has been with the Old Deerfield Painting Group for almost 20 years. Her work is impressionist and colorist, a style in which she uses vivid colors in her watercolor paintings. One of her muses is her hometown of Ashfield. She’s painted at least 20 pieces inspired by locales in the bucolic hilltown.
She said she most enjoys the weekly Tuesday meetings and getting to know other local artists.
“It’s just a comfortable warm feeling to be there,” she said.
“Thirty Years in Old Deerfield” will be on display at Hosmer Gallery at Forbes Library, 20 West St. in Northampton, through Dec. 29. Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday and Wednesday; 1 to 5 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday; and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
For more information about the Deerfield Painting Group, visit olddeerfieldpainting.wixsite.com/arts.