Bittersweet Sensations

Human emotions can be complex. As we grow and change, we feel exhilaration and fulfillment, but at the same time there are inevitable feelings of sadness. We can enjoy fond memories of childhood or romantic love, but also feel a tinge of melancholy: whenever we move forward in our lives we can lose something, or someone, in the process. As we remember a perfect summer holiday, or Thanksgiving dinner at grandma’s, we delight in these remembrances, but these can give way to nostalgia. A child we love and have nurtured has grown. Examining a fading photograph from the past invokes a bittersweet response to fading youth. There is beauty in this narrative, as in all human emotions, as these feelings mostly emerge from love.

The pieces in this collection reflect these kinds of bittersweet sensations and ideas. The work of the following artists are included in this collection: John Baker, Nan Hass Feldman, Jill Pottle, Alexandra Rozenman, Rebecca Skinner, Marcia R Wise and Leslie Zelamsky.

The Curator

Catherine Picard-Gibbs is an established oil painter. She describes herself as a textural expressionist. Her evocative and vibrant work has been shown extensively in venues in Western Massachusetts, as well as nationally, including Boston, New York, in the South, and Midwest. Along with her painting career, she is a curator, art educator, and graphic arts designer.