Stillness: Sing Hanson and Friends at the Umbrella Arts Center in Concord

By Julie McCay Turner

Bedford’s Sing Hanson is a photographer and digital printmaker whose work has examined the effect of age and the elements on metal; the ledges surrounding Rockport’s quarries; and the peaceful beauty of a Norwegian fjord. Hanson’s work, along with that of three other artists, is on view in Stillness at the Umbrella Community Arts Center, 40 Stow Street in Concord, through August 14. For hours or directions visit www.theumbrellaarts.org, or telephone 978-371-0820.

Stillness is an intensely active word.  It is the birthplace of creativity and when artists practice their art with full presence and concentration and lose themselves in the act of making, the most wondrous, terrifying, and amazing things can happen. (c) Umbrella Arts Center, 2017

Studio-mates Sing Hanson and Max Payne along with their Umbrella Art Center neighbors Lonnie Harvey and Lois Andersen have been friends for many years; over time they have mounted dozens of shows for other artists at the Umbrella. When they sat down to talk about new projects a year or so ago, Payne noted that it’s easiest to accomplish the best work during quiet times. The four considered the effect of stillness on their work, especially in a time increasingly filled with activity that seems to have little meaning. They cogitated, settled in, and their retrospective, Stillness, became real. Stillness includes work by Lois Andersen, an expressionist/realist painter, illustrator and art educator; Lonnie Harvey, who uses a variety of techniques in her one-of-a-kind monoprints; and Max Payne, a sculptor, who uses mixed media and creates floating panels throughout the exhibit.

The [artists] hope that through printmaking, painting, photography, and mixed media they will be able to engage viewers in a visual conversation, and perhaps to create an atmosphere where they can begin to enter into the Stillness that they themselves have come to know as the ultimate gift. (c) TheUmbrella Community Arts Center