Hi there. After a blogging-free summer, I’m back. This week I wandered around my art studio building to see what some of the other artists were up to. I figured that, like me, most would be preparing for the South End Open Studios, an annual weekend-long event that starts tomorrow in our neighborhood. Here’s what I found here at 450 Harrison Avenue in Boston.
Steve Silver in Studio 211 was donning his purple painting gloves to work on his newest piece. Steve is an abstract painter whose love of nature & landscape influences his work. 
Painter Anne Harney had just carried a heavy ladder down the hall to Studio 228. She had moved into this space in the summer, and was about to hang her painted canvases. 
Weaver Mary Mandarino was perfecting displays of her beautifully colored, super-soft looking woven wraparound shawls in Studio 306.
Photographer Sharon Schindler was hanging a camera-shaped neon light on her wall in Studio 412B, where she showcases her vibrant Boston images printed on wood and stone.
Photographer Mark Peterson was trimming new studio signage in Studio 229, where he’s showing his series of images taken in Arizona, New Mexico, and the Texas panhandle.
Sandy Belock-Phippen put finishing touch-ups on one of her landscape paintings in Studio 412A, while her husband measured the wall for an art hanging system.
Charyl Weissbach was working on some smaller blocks of art when I visited her in her well-organized space. Charyl’s ethereal, abstracted encaustic paintings are in Studio 413.
Marcia Crumley was moving into Studio 225 from a studio on another floor, and she had a lot to do over the next few days! Marcia paints colorful, textured landscapes.
Jewelry designer Deborah Macfail was setting up displays of some gorgeous, well-constructed pieces in Studio 306. She shares the space with weaver Mary Mandarino. 
Modern abstract painter Heather Buechler was adding a layer of varnish to a vivid blue-toned painting. I thought her glossy floor-to-ceiling wall of paintings was breathtaking.
Patricia Busso had just returned to Boston from her current life in Italy, to be here for the South End Open Studios. She’ll show her landscape and still life paintings in Studio 325.
Yours truly, bleary-eyed and ready to plotz in Studio 203 after taking inventory, having prints made, rearranging, making labels, and just generally checking off things my list.
In between the studios: I never tire of photographing the stairwells in this old warehouse building. Same with the odd little corners and their window views.
Thanks for exploring the 450 Harrison Avenue artist studio building with me. If you’re in Boston this weekend, put the South End Open Studios on your calendar! It goes from 11 am-6 pm both Saturday and Sunday, September 16 & 17. There are more than 80 artists in this building alone, and more than 200 in the neighborhood.
For 31 years now, the South End Open Studios has given visitors a chance to discover the creative environments of one of Boston’s most exciting community of working artists.
Here is more detailed info about the event.
I hope to see you this weekend,
Paula
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