With Somerville Open Studios coming up, it seems to be a good time for press. Check out:

Mello finds art in urban landscape, on boston.com, a nice biopic piece about me in the S'ville arts community.

Somerville Open Studios, on the Weekly Dig website, featuring an image of my piece A Supposedly Good Idea—further study in the on-line edition, and a handful of other SOS artists' work as well in the print-edition.

There's also another nice piece on boston.com just about SOS, Somerville artists open their doors.

Purportedly, SOS will be in print in the 'G' section of the Globe... I'll let you know when I see it.

Well, hey, that's fun!

A few of my pieces were hung over in City Hall for the Inauguration Night events in Mayor Curtatone's office.

Mayor Curtatone has been a big supporter of arts in Somerville; I hope he enjoys the pieces while they're there on loan.

This one for the New Yorkers out there. Drop in and see two of my wood-block print collages. Upcoming at climate/gallery,:

Prolific Impressions: Printmaking Now.
Opening Reception: Saturday, May 8, 6pm – 9pm

Chances are good I'll jump on a Bolt Bus and head down for the opening, so maybe I'll see you there?

One of my larger cut-silhouette pieces, Girl on a Street Corner has been juried into a group show at Gallery 1581 in Brookline, MA.

Gallery 1581 is the art gallery of the Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis, which regularly features themed shows on topics relating to the focus of the school. This month About Face explores self-representation—while a not-uncommon topic in fine art, the context of the school of psychoanalysis adds an intriguing twist.

Opening Reception: Friday, April 30th 6:30 – 8:30pm.

Aaaaand... it's Somerville Open Studios time again! Didn't I *just* sweep and mop my floor, just last year?

This year Mad Oyster Studios will be hosting The Haitian Projects Sewing Cooperative in addition to our own sixteen painters, printmakers, photographers, sculptors, and weavers who work in the studio year round. Davis Sholl's jazz band will be playing in a temporary Jazz-Grotto Bistro, featuring snacks and treats sold to benefit Pets In Need Animal Adoption Shelter.

Phew! That's a whole lot going on under out roof!

Preview the work you'll see at our studio this weekend, at www.MadOysterStudios.org. Or just come by and say Hi!

I am delighted to announce that I have been selected as a Massachusetts Cultural Council 2010 Artist Fellowship finalist in Painting!

In addition to the cash award, I and my work will be included in MCC publicity and shows, including one scheduled for July on Cape Cod Details to follow, closer to the date.

I'm quite honored and delighted by this award.

You can view an on-line gallery of all of thiss year's Fellows and Finalists at www.massculturalcouncil.org/gallery.asp

On view now through Thursday, March 4, 2010, at The Center for Arts in Natick, the largest display to date of my current series of Sihouette-Shadow pieces, all together in one large Solo Show.

TCAN features concerts, theater, and events throughout the week bringing thousands of people in to see great performances. My work is featured in the main lobby and the performance hall, setting the tone for the months of January and February.

This show features over fourty pieces, nearly the complete body of the current series, with cut-surface oil-paintings and the companion relief-prints and collaged prints. The performance hall at TCAN offered a particularly interesting venue for my work, as many of the walls are aged red-brick, which, of course, shows through the openings in the paintings, and sets a particular feel for the prints. I'm quite interested in the look this space created.

I hope you'll have a chance to go and see for yourself. Visit www.natickarts.org for a listing of concerts and shows, for directions to the center, and for the hours of the Center.

The last show my work will be in for 2009!

I was flattered and delighted when Annie Newbold of Gallery 263 in Cambridge, MA wrote and asked me to participate in their holiday show. And when I brought in my pieces, my pleasure was multiplied. What a great set of work to be included amongst!

Each of 15 artists were invited to put together work for a 4' x 6' panel, and somehow this all comes together into a cohesive collection of work. I'm proud to be hung in such company.

Please join us if you can, Saturday, December 5 for the Opening Reception, from 4pm to 6pm.

All the works are for sale and almost all are priced at under $400 (many under $100) to make the show as accessible as possible to new art-buyers or to people shopping for gifts.

Please join me Saturday, August 1 from 2pm to 4pm for the opening reception for the largest show of my work to date, with more of my pieces together in one place than even I've ever seen! A three-person invitational, with interesting connections between our diverse work.

Intuition, Discovery, and Design
Lynn Arts
25 Exchange Street, Lynn, MA
lynnarts.org for directions.

Three distinct artists, all with ties to the urban streets, approach their work with varying degrees of intuition, discovery in the materials, and carefully chosen design choices. The results offer a diverse interpretation of our contemporary life as influenced by urban streets and the automobile.

Daniel Arcand takes his inspiration from graffiti and street-art, creating haunting, ethereal pieces which blur the boundaries between drawing and painting.

Jeff Mann's deep concern about the environmental impact of automobiles has lead him to discover the beauty and complexity in car parts that he scavenges from scrap yards.

Rachel Mello explores the intersections of built and natural environments, composing images which superimpose the two into complex plays of positive and negative space, color and form.

Their combined work creates a captivating breadth of contemporary artistic media with unexpected connections amongst their work.

Show runs from Monday, July 27 to Friday, August 21
Gallery hours, M, Tu, W, F : 10am - 4pm; Th: 10am - 7pm
RECEPTION: Saturday, August 1, 2pm - 4pm

Somerville's fantastic annual arts festival in Davis Square is coming this weekend!

I'll be sharing a booth there with April Clay—the first time I've ever had a booth at ArtBeat. In addition to my paintings and wood-black prints, I'll also have some really fun postcards I've just made up:

If you're in the area, don't miss the festival. And if you're at the festival, do come see us! We'll be near the corner of Chester Street, right in front of the Dunkies, near Diva.

Saturday, July 18 (rain date Sun., July 19)
11am to 6pm
For a full schedule of music, dance, special events, kids activities, and other events, visit:
http://www.somervilleartscouncil.org/programs/artbeat/2009/