Princeton Arts Society

Past Events (check the Calendar for future PAS events)

May 2009 "Happy Birthday Princeton" Members Art Show

February 2009 Portrait Group Show at Gale Free Library

The Princeton Arts Society Portrait Group enjoyed a wonderful showing at the Holden Gale Free Library during the month of February. The portrait group is always looking for people to sit for portraits. They meet on Tuesday mornings at the Princeton Center Building in the PAS room from 9 am until 12 noon. Please contact Janice at 508-791-6034.

photos gallery coming soon

November 8, 2008 Digital Camera Workshop

Gail Hansche Godin of Hubbardston, with her husband Dave, taught this workshop to 8 willing but less-than-expert owners of digital cameras on a chilly, gray Saturday at the Princeton Center. After a beautiful presentation of Gail’s own photographic work, she went over the basics of camera operation, answered tons of specific questions about each of our cameras, and then sent us out into the hallways and portico of the Center to apply what we’d learned. And we all learned plenty, at last! Many of us finally know what some of those buttons do, and the rest of us have enough confidence to try the buttons even if we can’t predict the results. Thanks, Gail—it was a great afternoon!

November 1, 2008 Samhain Celebration

There were lots of costumes, great decorations, and good fellowship to be enjoyed at the PAS celebration of Samhain, a Celtic harvest ritual revived this year in Princeton. Young Frankenstein was screened, and a genuine witch appeared, looking for tender, succulent children to harvest. Shall we make it an annual event?

October 25, 2008 Henna Body Art Workshop for Teens

On October 25, 2008 Heather Caunt-Nulton, a certified henna instructor, taught 12 young women the art of henna body painting in a 3-hour workshop at the Princeton Arts Society. Caunt-Nulton explained and demonstrated the process of mixing the henna “paint” from powdered henna, lemon juice, and cajeput aromatic oil. She then allowed participants to practice painting on paper before they applied henna paint to each other or themselves. Caunt-Nulton demonstrated techniques for making many of the traditional henna body art forms, such as paisley, leaf, and wave, and shared her books of henna photographs and templates.

As henna dries, it stains the skin. The dried paint flakes off, and the orange stain beneath gradually darkens to a deep, rich brown. Everyone enjoyed watching their designs emerge, dry, and develop. Many were quite intricate, and all were beautiful.

October 18, 2008 Portrait Marathon

The Princeton Arts Society held the 3rd Portrait Marathon at the Princeton Center on Saturday, Oct 18. Children from Thomas Prince School sat in half hour time slots between 9 and 2 pm for a portrait sketch done by 4 artists from the Portrait Group of the Society. All of the children were 8 years and older. This is at the request of the artists who need a child able to sit still for the half hour time period. There were 2 sets of siblings who were having separate portraits done and 1 set of siblings who were doing their 2nd Portrait Marathon. Some of the children were dressed in their soccer uniforms while others were wearing their favorite outfits.

The Portraits are usually done on a paper of the artist's choice in a drawing medium of the artist's choice. They may have a limited amount of color due to the shortness of the sitting. All are considered sketches and not finished drawings.

At the end of all the sittings, parents viewed 4 sketches of their child and purchased 1 or more of them. Since portrait sketches, once framed, can be a good gift item, parents often buy more than 1 portrait. A discount is applied if the parent buys more than 1 portrait of the same child. The purchase price was split by the artist and the Princeton Arts Society.

Artists who participated were: Sharon Bahosh of Lancaster, Jean Murphy of Southbridge, Sid Solomon of Worcester and Lynn Wrona of Holland. Information about the next Portrait Marathon can be had by calling Naoko Gomi at 978- 464- 0532 or e-mailing to Naokojee@hotmail.com Six Children are needed to schedule a Portrait Marathon.

October 11, 2008 Wind Harp Performance

On Saturday, October 11, 2008, PAS members were presented with an informative and interesting history on wind harps by Ken Turkington of Walden Winds, Brookline, New Hampshire. Ken, both a harp historian and crafter, filled Jen Caswell's lovely country windows with his harps, hoping for breezes to set their soothing tones through the air. As he spoke, he played recordings of the instrument should nature not cooperate. He showed photos and actual harps, answered questions, and set up a wind tunnel outdoors to let us witness how the harps respond to air currents. These electrically created currents allowed Ken to demonstrate not only the pure tones generated by the vibrating strings, but also the associated harmonics.

The photos you see here, generously provided by Naoko Gomi, are of a nine string harp originally owned by former Harvard professor John White Webster, from around 1850, and Sam Elliot's Ivory Rose harp, circa 1810. Additional photos show Ken at work on his presentation in Jen's dining room, and later outdoor photos of the wind tunnel set-up and demonstration. Thanks to Jen Caswell for hosting the occasion, Naoko, Susan, Ken and all the others who helped make the afternoon memorable . --Marianne Allan