A Cabin in the Woods by Helen Frank.

Main Street Artists Gallery holds opening reception for new show on Aug. 4

July 28, 2023 Editor

The Woods are Alive, is a beautiful show opening Friday, Aug. 4, at Main Street Artists Gallery. This show features the works of artist Helen Frank and wood worker Bruce Powell. Together, they make the woods come alive through thoughtful paintings and masterful wood treasures. Enjoy an evening with wine and appetizers as you meet the creators of these fine works of art.

Meet Helen Frank, a quiet woman who paints with a desire to share a moment of beauty, and a peaceful place within the woods she loves so much. She has lived in big cities; she now lives in Quincy. In a world of headline chaos and fury, she presents a space she values, where there is beauty, a spot to rest and to feel the constant grace of nature.

Helen grew up in the San Fernando Valley. Her works result from the first time she saw the greatness of Yosemite as a youth. Since that experience, she has strived to bring that feeling of connectedness to nature into her life over and over again with each stroke of her brush. The viewer shares this first-love experience with her, through her art.

Her painting style is inspired from classical forms such as the Impressionists and the Hudson River School of Art where light and nature create a setting for the soul to coexist. Her aim seems simple; to create beauty, happiness, a sense of order. In a world that can often be cruel and ugly. She wants a space where beauty and joyfulness is a priority.

This is her first formal showing. Her mission is in her own words, “to make something beautiful that one would like to see upon waking, something that makes a person happy, and brings joy.” She is self-taught and has been painting for about 8 years, and has been working to get closer to that place where she can share that moment when she first saw the woods come alive.

Bruce Powell is the other side of this show full of beauty. His woodworks have been admired and sold in this gallery for quite some time. Always popular are his cutting boards which artfully combine geometry and rare woods with practicality in fine cooking. The smooth hand of the surfaces along with the alternating patterns of fine wood grains make it a sin to take a knife to them. But they live for the cutting edge!

His creations are made of the most exotic and rare woods on earth. Bruce maintains a “Library” of wood where he selects from some of the most expensive and sought after specimens. The works on display will feature such beauties as Claro Walnut, African Bubinga, Honduran Mahogany and the rare Spalted Elm; whose grain comes from the happy marriage of wood and fungus! The arrested process of spalting results in a natural work of art made of inky black spots and swirls. His palette of colors come from Bubinga which brings a purple color and Honduran Mahogany for its orange-red tight grain.

Another hallmark and creation of Bruce Powell’s is the Wine Table. Bruce designed these tables of a size and elegant shape to set a wine glass gracefully close at hand. The triangular shape along with the curvature of slender legs make this an elegant addition to any space.

His tables and treasure boxes are further adorned with Marquetry, the ancient art of wood embellishment made of intricate layers of perfectly cut and joined wood. His Marquetry Oriental Koi float upon the surface. Calla lilies evoke the serenity of wine and become a summer dream. All these elements in concert make these Wine Tables and Treasure Boxes cherished works of art.

Helen Frank and Bruce Powell along with Main Street Gallery Artist Members look forward to meeting the community on Friday, Aug. 4, from 5-7 p.m. Enjoy a glass of wine and revel in the “woods” at Main Street Artists Gallery at 436 Main Street in Quincy. (530) 283-1909 Open Wednesday – Friday 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. and Saturday 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.