INTRODUCTION
Welcome to VSA Massachusetts' Open Door Gallery, presently featuring the artwork of Lauren Geraghty and Emily Malin, in an exhibit titled "Brush Works".
The exhibit is comprised of 30 pieces in the Open Door Gallery. The Open Door Gallery will be defined by 9 areas, identified moving left to right as you enter through the double glass doors from the lobby. Upon entering, immediately to the left is WALL 1. To the right of that, you face the main wall directly opposite the glass doors. This is identified as WALL 2. To the right, beyond the end of that wall, WALL 3 goes straight back. The right end of WALL 3 comes to a corner, meeting a wall which goes to the right. The length of this wall is broken into two sections. The first section, designated as WALL 4 runs for 15 feet. The second section of the same wall is recessed by about 6 inches and continues on another 12 feet. This is identified as WALL 5.
To the right of that, the wall at the far end of the room is comprised of large floor to ceiling windows overlooking South Street. This will be defined as the WINDOW area, with 2 pieces there, one to the left and one to the right. To the right of the WINDOW area is WALL 6, which is 4 feet in length and has two pieces. WALL 6 leads to the office area, which has an 8-foot long glass wall with a sliding glass door. The office area has two walls. The main wall in the office, which we will call OFFICE WALL 1 has 5 pieces over the director's desk. Immediately to the left of the glass doors is a small wall which is perpendicular to the windows leading to the street. This will be OFFICE WALL 2, and has one piece. Continuing along the glass wall of the office is WALL 7, with one piece. Past WALL 7 you will find yourself back at the main doors of the Open Door Gallery.
We will move through the exhibit gallery from left to right.
Some background on the artists:
Lauren Geraghty is a resident of Arlington, Massachusetts. She is an active member/artist of Arlington Center of the Arts, since 2002 to 2014, where she has had several solo exhibitions in the Tuft's Street Gallery as well as participated in Arlington Open Studios for years. Lauren is a freelance consultant who has worked for numerous non-profits on art related projects. She is also a member of VSA MA where she sits on the Open Door Gallery Committee.
In this series you will see Lauren's work for the past 5 and half years. Lauren has always loved the flow and movement of line. This is the most important aspect of Sumi-e. Sumi-e means: Ink Painting. Subtle shades of black ink on white paper, simple, elegant and serene. Simplicity is the most outstanding characteristic of Sumi-e. An economy of brush strokes are used to communicate the essence of the subject. The lines should have movement but be executed with grace. Painting is like watching lines flow on the surface of water. People rarely take time to observe the simple movements of other creatures living out their natural existence. Simple movement becomes beautiful. Lauren captures that elegance with lines. In Sumi-e Lauren captures the tranquility – serenity of the moment.
Emily Malin is a watercolor artist working in Arlington, Massachusetts. Through her watercolors, Emily provides insight into the lives of fruit, flowers, trees and animals that most of us cannot imagine. Emily's artwork is more remarkable still given that she produces it despite a severe neurological impairment. Unable to speak, and with little control over the right side of her body, Emily has sought out her passion and early on found that she had a talent that manifested itself when she picked up a brush.
For more than 20 years, Emily has been painting. Her work has hung in coffee houses, in galleries and at exhibits. She founded Emily Enterprises in 1998. Emily Enterprises produces, markets and sells her artwork in the form of Iris prints and notecards.
All of Lauren Geraghty's pieces are ink on rice paper, framed in a black frame with a black matte, and are 16" x 20", sold for $125. All of Emily Malin's pieces are watercolor on paper. Prices and dimensions vary and are included in each description.
EXHIBIT LAYOUT
WALL 1
There are three paintings in a triangle.
On top is "Red Rose" by Emily Malin
11" by 14"
$200
Round, red petals circle out from the middle in layers, getting bigger and bigger and flattening against the edge of the painting. In the center is a yellow dot. The background is a light pinkish-purple. The artist's initials are written on the bottom right of the painting.
On the bottom left is "Kiwis Three" by Emily Malin
8" by 10"
$250
Three kiwi slices lie in equal distances vertically down the painting. The kiwis are a lime yellow, with tiny black dots scattered around on it. Underneath is a medium size light brown line, the rind. On the sides of the painting are several leaves sponge-painted in lime green. The background is a very light beige, almost white. The artist's signature is written below the third kiwi slice.
On the bottom right is "Watermelon Slice" by Emily Malin
10" by 8"
This painting is not for sale.
In the center of the painting is a watermelon slice. The fruit is a watery, light pink, and the top looks like it's been bitten off, with the pink paint fading into the yellow. Thick black dabs of paint (seeds) are scattered around. A thin strip of light green goes around the bottom, with a darker shade under to suggest depth. The background is a buttery yellow. The artist's signature is written on the bottom right of the painting.
WALL 2 - This is the main wall of the gallery and can be seen through the glass doors as you enter. Above the paintings the title of the exhibit, "Brush Works" is printed in green letters. Paintings by both artists hang on wall 2, we will start the description in the top left and continue clockwise.
"Flowers II" by Lauren Geraghty
Two stalks of flowers painted in black ink are in high contrast against the white background. The small stalk to the left is cut off by the side of the piece. The stalk has four flowers, growing directly underneath one another. The flowers get smaller as they ascend. The stalk on the right of the painting is bigger than the one on the left. It has five flowers, in various stages of bloom. Lauren's signature is written in Japanese characters, painted in sumi-e style in black, in the bottom left corner of the piece.
"Gerbera Daisy" by Emily Malin
11" by 14"
$200
A large orange flower fills the left side of this painting. Long, thin orange petals fan out from the center of the flower which is scattered with dots of yellow. Three large, green petals, almost as big as the flower itself, layer over the right side of the flower. The leaves are almost transparent, two of them point to the top right, and one on the bottom of the flower point down. The artist's initials are written on the bottom right of the painting.
"Man Fishing" by Lauren Geraghty
A man sits under a tree on the bank of a body of water with his back to us, holding a fishing pole. The tree has two large branches, each with smaller branches attached. Some of these smaller branches are painted in a light grey. The left branch extends over the man's head. The man wears a large round hat, and a large, loose shirt or cloak. The end of his long fishing pole is in the water. On the ground next to him is a small, peanut shaped object, perhaps a carrying pouch. In the sky, to the man's left, a small, dark cloud can be seen through the tree branches. Lauren's signature is written in Japanese characters, painted in sumi-e style, in the top, right corner, in black and red.
"Rusty Mums" by Emily Malin
11" by 14"
$200
An explosion of green paint in the center of the painting is overlapped by three thin flowers. On each one, the left half of the flower is dark red and the right half is yellow. The bottom of the flowers drip down until the line of paint is cut off by the bottom of the painting. In the center of each flower is a black dot. The background is a very light yellow. The artist's initials are written on the bottom right of the painting.
"Flowers"
Lauren Geraghty
The piece is a black and white painting of three flowers growing horizontally. The flowers are small and grey. They grow among several thin, weedy stalks painted in darker grey. These stalks grow horizontally, except for one on the far right side of the paper, which grows straight up and down. The flower closest to the top of the painting is connected by a very thin stalk to a long, skinny leaf. The other two flowers are below among the weedy stalks. Lauren's signature is written in Japanese characters, painted in sumi-e style, in black and red, in the lower, right corner.
"Delicious Dahlias" by Emily Malin
11" by 14"
$250
In the middle right of the painting is a large, dark purple flower. The background is a minty, pastel green, on a white mat. Coming out, all around the flower are many petals. Layered over the flower are thin strokes of lighter and lighter purple following the shape of the flower. Three green leaves, about the size of the flower itself, are behind the flower in a windmill shape. A small dahlia is painted above with a big green leaf, tilting to the left. The left side of the flower is cut off. Below that, in the bottom right of the painting, mostly cut off, is another leaf, and below that a flower. We can only see the top half of the flower with purple, spiky petals. The artist's initials are written on the bottom right of the painting.
WALL 3 - Two paintings by Emily Malin.
To the left is "Sunflower"
12" by 15"
$350
A thick green stalk reaches up to a large flower with many small yellow petals, filling up the whole painting. Some of the petals are cut off by the edges. In the center of the petals is a very large, light brown circle, and to the left, behind the flower, reaching toward the bottom corner, is a medium sized green leaf. Everything is outlined in thin black, in a crayon texture. The background is very light beige. The artist's initials are written on the bottom right of the painting.
To the right is "Rosehips"
12" by 15"
$275
On the bottom of the painting is a turquoise vase, with the bottom cut off by the bottom of the painting. Thin lines, the stems, reach up from the vase. On the tops and sides of the stems are leaves, some lighter shades of green than others. The leaves are outlined by a thin black line, like the stems. On the top of the painting, in the midst of the green, are two red flowers, in the same shape as the leaves. The background is a greenish-yellow, you can see that the paint has dried darker in some places than others. The artist's initials are written in large letters on the bottom right of the painting.
WALL 4 - Four paintings by Lauren Geraghty, we will describe the paintings from left to right.
"Fish"
A long, thin fish with two small fins, mostly filled in black, is painted vertically with its head pointed toward the bottom of the painting. The tail is long and curved to the left of the painting. Three long, thin weeds with a cluster of small, pointed red flowers attached the bottoms, frame the fish on the right. Lauren's signature is written in Japanese characters, painted in sumi-e style in the top right corner.
"Waterlilies and Fish"
The painting is a black and white depiction of two lily pads and a koi fish. The koi swims below the lily pads. The one on the left has a large, white flower with about a dozen long, thin petals. It overlaps, and slightly covers the one on the right, which extends to the right edge of the piece. In the bottom, right corner of the piece a koi pokes its head up onto the page. Most of its body is cut off by the bottom, right corner of the piece. The koi is visible from the small fins to its head. Lauren's signature is written in Japanese characters, painted in sumi-e style, in black and red, in the top, right corner.
"Ox and Man"
In this black and white piece, a man sits under a tree, while his ox dozes on the ground in front of him. The man is painted in grey. He sits with his knees folded up to his chest, and his arms around them, and his head down. A large, round, straw hat rests on the ground beside him. The leftmost of the branches of the tree curves over his head. Coming out of all three tree branches are lightly painted, grey curved lines, perhaps vines or smaller branches. In the middle of the painting, an ox lies on the ground, eyes closed, its back to the man. It has long horns and a long tail, which rests on the ground. A rope stretches from around its neck, to a peg hammered into the ground. Lauren's signature is written in Japanese characters, painted in sumi-e style, in the top left corner of the painting, in red and black.
"Geese Family"
This piece depicts a family of geese swimming in a body of water. A small bunch of weeds pokes out of the water at the top right corner. An adult goose and three baby geese swim in the middle of the painting. The adult goose's stares out to the left. The three babies float below. Lauren's signature is written in Japanese characters, painted in sumi-e style, in black, in the upper right corner of the painting, below the weeds.
WALL 5 - Four paintings by Lauren Geraghty, which continues in a straight line from wall 4. We will describe the paintings from left to right.
"Bird & Flowers"
In the top left corner of the picture, a small, feathery, black and white bird dives toward three small, circular flowers, tail up and head down. To the right of the bird are two large red and yellow flowers below a smaller black and white flower on one branch. To the right of these flowers is another black and white flower. Below them, are several black and white flowers and a rounded 5 pointed shape. Lauren's signature in Japanese characters, painted in sumi-e style is to the right of the flowering branch.
"Three Brown Birds"
Three brown birds stand in a row. The birds are small and round, with long black beaks. Their heads are all yellow and white, except for sharp black eyes that all look to the left. The feathers on the birds' backs are brown, with a few black feathers here and there with long rounded black tails. The birds feet are standing on the white ground below. The upper left area of the piece is framed by abstract gray and black shapes, that may be interpreted as leaves.
"Dog and Bone"
A small black and white dog crouches on its belly with its back legs folded underneath. The dog's head is in the foreground and its back, legs, and tail extend to the top of the painting. A bone lies in front of the dog's paws. The dog's face is covered in long fur and it has pointed ears and a short, feathery tail. A small, thin branch hangs bent, with its leaves above the dog's back and slightly to its left. On the left side of the painting and slightly above the dog's head, about halfway up the painting, Lauren's signature is written in Japanese characters, painted in sumi-e style.
"Tiger"
A large tiger lies on its belly against a white background, its legs resting on several black and gray shapes that look like stones. The tigers head is turned to its right side as
it faces the viewer. The tiger is light orange with black stripes on its sides and legs. Its head is a darker orange with black stripes, its eyes yellow with black pupils. It has a long, flat nose and long whiskers. Its mouth is a bright pink and slightly open, showing the tiger's sharp fangs. The tiger's belly is white with gray stripes. Lauren's signature is written in Japanese characters, painted in sumi-e style in black, in the lower, right corner of the piece.
WINDOW area - Two of Emily Malin's paintings hang in this area
To the left is "Red Tulips"
14" by 18"
$300
Watery blues, greens, and reds blend together at the bottom of the painting, reaching up to medium size, red tulips with the bottoms blending into the other colors. The background is is white. The artist's signature is written on the bottom right of the painting.
To the right of the window area is ' "Beet"ing the Blues '
14" by 18"
$275
Four beets sit on a wash of bright blue. The four beets stand side by side. Coming from the top of each beet are thin, bright green stalks arching to the weight of large bright green leaves. The bottom of the each beet trails off in a curvy line. The artist's signature is written on the bottom right of the painting.
WALL 6 - Two of Emily Malin's paintings hang above each other.
On top is "Three Pretty Persimmons"
12" by 12"
$250
Floating in the center of the piece are three bright orange persimmons, each of them a rough-edged circle. They vary in shades of orange - in a sunset hue, from yellow to a more bold red. On two of them, you can see a thin green line, the stems. On the third, which is below the others, and smaller, we see a stem mostly covering the persimmon - assumedly from a bird's eye view. The background is a light beige. The words "Three Pretty Persimmons" are scrawled around the painting, in thin uppercase handwritten letters. The artist's initials are written on the bottom left of the painting.
On the bottom is "Hot Red Tomatoes"
12" by 9"
This painting is not for sale.
The painting is on a red mat. A thick white frame goes around it. A background of light orange is covered by big, bright red tomatoes overlapping in several places. The tomatoes are in a slightly stretched shape, some in ovals and some in circles. Each of the tomatoes has a small white streak, showing the light on the fruit. The artist's signature is written on the bottom right of the painting.
OFFICE area
On OFFICE WALL 1, which is above the Executive Director's desk, directly in front of the glass doors, Emily and Lauren's work is combined. We will describe the pieces starting on the left and go to the right.
On the left is "Spring Hyacinth" by Emily Malin
12" by 16"
$200
Reaching up from the bottom of the painting are light green, watery stalks, two of them merged into each other. The stalks lead up to light pink half-moon shapes clustered together. The background is light beige, on a brown mat. The artist's initials are written on the bottom right of the painting.
In the center is "Flock of Birds" by Lauren Geraghty
In a black and white painting, five small birds fly through trees and vines. The birds are short and round, they fly from the right side of the painting towards the left. On the right side of the painting, the branches of a tree curve up and vines drop down from the top of the painting behind the birds. Lauren's signature is written in Japanese characters, painted in sumi-e style in the bottom right corner, behind the bird farthest to the right.
On the right are three paintings by Emily Malin, all floating in grass frames with silver borders, one on top of the other.
On top is "Orange Flowers"
11" by 14"
$200
The background is a watery peach color, on a white mat with the edges jagged. The mat lies on a clear frame. Thin, dark green stalks reach up from the bottom of the painting, bending to the right as if in a breeze, with a single leaf on the right of each one.
On the top of each stalk are different sizes of light orange circles with red lines in a zig-zag, curving around the shape of the flower to suggest depth into the flower. The artist's signature is written on the bottom right of the painting.
In the middle is "Blue Plate Special, (cabbage)"
14" by 11"
$250
The painting is in a clear frame. In the middle is a dark green cabbage, which is large and oval. Layered over it is a layer of dark green sponge painting green, and on the bottom, spreading towards the top of the cabbage, are lines in a lighter shade of green. The cabbage lies on a thick, dark blue line. The line, which is a plate for the cabbage, is on a brown line that extends past the bottom of the painting in smooth horizontal strokes. The background is made up of short, thick yellow lines in half moon shapes, curving and connecting, making a white half-moon in the center of each one. The artist's signature is written on the bottom left of the painting.
On the bottom is "Red Poinsettias"
14" by 11"
$225
The background is a very light, pastel green, on a white mat. There are two red poinsettias, both of them thin, with the petals in a diamond shape. The one on the right is bigger than the one on the left. Going around each flower are three big, dark green leaves, each one outlined in an even darker green. Some of the leaves are layered over the flowers. The artist's initials are written on the bottom right of the painting.
OFFICE WALL 2 - This wall is directly to the left of the glass doors and has one painting by Emily Malin.
"Orange Green Abstract"
16" by 12"
$200
The background is a very light green, in watercolor, on a dark grey mat in a thin black frame. The green gets lighter as it reaches the top of the piece. Blurry orange flowers are scattered around, blending in with the green in some places. In the middle of each flower are three oval black seeds. The artist's signature is written on the bottom left of the painting.
WALL 7 - As we exit the office area, we reach WALL 7, which has one piece by Emily Malin.
"Mini Daffodils"
12" by 16"
$200
Coming from the bottom center of the painting are many long, thin green stalks that reach almost to the top, clustered together. On the top of the stalks are yellow flowers. Each flower has many petals, spindly and stuck out in all directions. In the center of each flower is a small dot of orange. The background is a very light, washed out blue, on a white mat. The artist's initials are written on the bottom right of the painting.
Conclusion
This concludes our audio described tour of "Brush Works" by Emily Malin and Lauren Geraghty, presented by VSA Massachusetts. To contact VSA Massachusetts please email . We would like to express our gratitude to Nesya Sloane and Leia Resnick of the Binah School, who generously audio described this exhibit; and to their teacher Rina Hoffman for her support and guidance. We hope this audio tour was helpful and we look forward to your feedback.