These four artists originally met in an abstract painting class called The Thinking Hand at The DeCordova Museum School in Lincoln.  They were all “driven to abstraction” for different reasons but color is an inspiration for all of them. They started meeting outside of class to paint and critique each other’s work. Although each artist has a distinctive style, in working together they discovered that their paintings play off each other. They are showing their work together as a group for the first time at Emerson Hospital to exhibit their collaboration.

 

 

Clockwise from top left: Bredt Handy, Julie Laukkanen, Rena Shear, and Kathy DeFelice-Secor learn from each other, inspire one other, and have a great time together especially because they share the same passion—painting. 

 

"Making art has always been part of who I am,” said Kathy DeFelice-Secor, of Bedford.   “For me the creative process is an involuntary act. It sustains and liberates. My images are a visual diary. There is no greater feeling than working through an idea to the other side. It is in the doing, and the process that unfolds to shape the image." 

 

Wayland’s Bredt Handy has always made art, but only in the last few years has she worked abstractly. “When painting, I begin with a visual memory of a landscape or natural element. I work intuitively in an effort to discover the emotion I associate with that particular image.  My current work is referential rather than representational.” 

 
Julie Laukkanen, a lifelong photographer and Lexington resident, began painting about five years ago to have a greater sense of freedom than a camera allows.  She quickly became enamored with the media and the ability to explore color and mark making. “Painting is a much more meditative process than photography, and it enables me to communicate on a much more emotional level,” said Laukkanen.

 

Framingham’s Rena Shear infuses her work with texture, gesture, and color.  “I try to capture the energy and spirit that have touched me so deeply,” explains Shear.   “My preference for abstraction stems from the desire to let go of a recognizable image in return for a sensory or emotional experience where the viewer can personalize it by imagining further.”