Here are the winning artists from our 2025 Blackstone Valley Art Association Series Show! The judge for this show was Ella Delyanis. Each series was judged ‘as a unit’ and the prize is given to the entire series. A ribbon just happens to be on one piece of those three. Click on any image to see it full sized.
First Place / Tory Kohn / sketch and oil paintings Judge: beautiful attentive drawing of the figures, wonderful sense of movement, great light, unified color palette.
Second Place / Ellen Gould / oil paintings Judge: beautifully drawn and painted, great light, lovely harmony of color.
Third Place / Leslie Breault / acrylic paintings Judge: very interesting, original, highly skilled technique. Works well as a triptych.
Honorable Mention / Mike Blake / photography Judge: great design and color choices.
Lisa’s notes: Mike didn’t color these, he took a dozen photos over the hour of the sunset and then selected his favorites. He used vertical slices to create a triptych.
Honorable Mention / Michele St. Pierre / gouache, colored pencil, and collage. Judge: interesting use of media, original, great sense of movement.
Honorable Mention / James Hunt / photography Judge: beautiful value range, fascinating observation.
Honorable Mention / Bev Tinklenberg / oil painting Judge: beautifully loose painting style with a unified design.
Congratulations to everyone who participated in our series show!
Want to learn more about taking interesting photos with your camera or cellphone? Join us on June 27th 2025 from 2-4pm for our photography workshop at Worcester Common next to Worcester City Hall! All levels of photographers warmly encouraged to participate. This event is open to the public.
The cost of the photography workshop is $5 each.
We will meet at the Worcester Common, by the turtle fountain at 2pm. Photographer Lisa Shea will provide a brief introductory discussion of ideas for taking photos of textures and patterns. Then we will explore the Worcester downtown from 2-4pm. You can roam on your own, stay with the group, and ask questions whenever you wish. Feel free to come early or stay late!
Event is RAIN OR SHINE. If it’s rainy we’ll go into the Worcester City Hall which is right up against the common.
Location: Worcester Common / Worcester City Hall 455 Main Street Worcester, MA (lots of parking at the Worcester Public Library, kitty-corner to the common)
Date and Time: Friday June 27, 2025 2-4pm
Please be sure to RSVP to join the group. Let Lisa know what type of cellphone or camera you plan on bringing. Lisa can then send you a PDF of ideas to get you started. If you don’t have access to any cellphone or camera, we have a few we would be able to lend for the afternoon.
Please consider then sending in a few of your texture or pattern photos to participate in the ValleyCAST virtual art show. This show has a deadline of Sunday, June 29th, 2025!
Come join us in Whitinsville, Massachusetts on Saturday, June 21st, 2025 from 11am to 3pm! RAIN OR SHINE! All are welcome as we set up on site and paint a painting of a mill building – what’s known as a plein air painting. The Whitin Mill complex was built back in 1826 and at one point was the world’s largest maker of machinery for textile mills! Now it is home to Alternatives and the Singh Theater.
There is a large free parking lot both adjacent to the mill and also immediately across the street. You can bring your own cameras, sketchbooks, and painting supplies if you wish. For those who don’t have supplies, we’ll have loaner sketching supplies, painting supplies, and cameras on hand for those who want to participate hands on.
You’re also welcome to simply pop in and watch for a while!
This event is fully open to ALL people of all levels, ages, and abilities. We encourage community members to stop in and learn more about creating art!
Our featured artist is the talented Dianne Panarelli Miller:
The morning workshop from 11-noon is FREE and is open to the community! Then, if you’d like to stay for the afternoon and get hands-on mentoring from Dianne, that is available for a $25 donation. You’re of course welcome to stay as long as you’d like to paint, sketch, photograph, and enjoy the environment.
Location: Alternatives Mill Complex 50 Douglas Road Whitinsville MA
If it rains on June 21st, WE WILL STILL CREATE ART. We will set up a base inside the Singh theater in the room with a glass wall of windows overlooking the river and opposite-bank mill building. We will paint, sketch, and photograph from inside! Dianne will lead us through the project.
If you specifically would like to try your hand at painting on location – known as plein air – here’s a workshop Dianne did for us in April, giving ideas how to prepare for plein air painting. Take a look!
Here’s a written list of items to bring with you when you do your own plein air painting. Note that at the Whitin Mill we’ll have supplies on hand for this community event, if you’d like to borrow ours to give this a try. So you don’t need to bring supplies to the Whitin Mill. Still, if you’d like to build up your own travel bag of items, this page will get you started.
Here’s some photos taken by Carol Frieswick to show a few of the scenes you might choose to paint, sketch, or photograph around the Whitin Mill complex. Click on any to get a fuller view of it.
This gorgeous painting by Brandi Van Roo won third place in our “Local Beauty” art show, and showcases this very mill. Brandi did this scene in watercolors.
Brandi previously had won third place in our Worcester Center for Crafts art show with a different watercolor of the mill complex! This shows the building ‘across the river’.
So you can celebrate this location in photography, in sketches, in watercolors, acrylics, oils, pastels – whatever appeals to you.
Ask with any questions!
This event is supported by a grant from the Northbridge Cultural Council, which is part of the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Also, thank you to ValleyCAST and Open Sky for usage of the space!
Long-time BVAA member Al Weems, a stunningly amazing photographer, is downsizing his photography gear. He has a number of extra bags, lens covers, and other items that he’s making available for BVAA members to have. Thank you so much, Al, for your support of our group!
For all of these items, email us if you’re interested in something. If you need more information about something, just let us know. Lisa should have all of them with her each Saturday for you to look at in person, but check with Lisa first to verify that.
Click on any image to see a larger version of it.
Bags / padded Lens carriers
Lens caps / tripod mounts / etc.
Miscellaneous firewire / card reader / other items
Al also very kindly donated three small cameras to the Blackstone Valley Art Association. These will be part of our camera lending library, so that when we hold photography workshops at places like the New England Botanic Gardens at Tower Hill we can let participants practice with a few different camera types. Thank you, Al!!
To learn more about Al Weems and his photography please visit his website:
Want to learn more about taking lovely photos of flowers? Join us on May 23rd 2025 from 2-4pm for our photography workshop at the New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill! All levels of photographers warmly encouraged to participate. This event is open to the public.
The cost of the photography workshop is $5 each.
Note that because we are holding this month’s workshop at the New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill, YOU MUST SEPARATELY PAY AN ENTRANCE FEE TO TOWER HILL. That entrance fee is $20. You can find discount or free tickets at many local libraries. Check with your libraries to find an inexpensive way to get into the gardens. If you are a individual served by Open Sky, talk with Open Sky about being sponsored for this event. You pay that entry fee directly to Tower Hill when you arrive.
We will meet at the New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill, past the entry gates, by the turtle fountain at 2pm. Photographer Lisa Shea will provide a brief introductory discussion of ideas for taking photos of flowers. Then we will explore the gardens from 2-4pm. You can roam on your own, stay with the group, and ask questions whenever you wish. Feel free to come early or stay late!
Location: New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill 11 French Drive Boylston, MA https://nebg.org/
Date and Time: Friday May 23, 2025 2-4pm
Please be sure to RSVP to join the group. Let Lisa know what type of cellphone or camera you plan on bringing. Lisa can then send you a PDF of ideas to get you started. If you don’t have access to any cellphone or camera, we have a few we would be able to lend for the afternoon.
Let us know if you have any questions! And please make sure you research your New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill tickets beforehand. That way you can get discount tickets from your local library or from Open Sky (if applicable) to save on your entrance fee.
Please consider then sending in a few of your flower photos to participate in the ValleyCAST flower virtual art show. This show has a deadline of Sunday, May 25th, 2025!
Great news! For the month of May 2025, the Blackstone Valley Art Association is the recipient of the donations from the Shaws supermarket Give Back Bag program. For every $3 shopping bag you purchase at the Shaws supermarket, the BVAA will receive a $1 donation.
Please consider shopping at Shaws and buying a few bags from them!
We have a private room reserved for our group. We will have several round tables, to encourage mingling and conversation.
Each person can order whatever they want and will get their own bill, so it is wholly up to you what you want to eat or drink from that menu. There are no up-front payments.
The May meeting is when we vote on officers and board members for the upcoming 2025-2026 BVAA year. The current people on the slate are:
Lisa Shea, president Bob Evans, vice president Carol Frieswick, treasurer Brent DeWitt, secretary Michelle Benjamin, social networking Laura Cenedella, board member Cathy Willey Douty, board member
Please let us know if you are thinking about coming, so we have a rough headcount for the restaurant. You’re welcome to bring one person with you if you wish. To RSVP, contact Bob Evans at bob9750@gmail.com – if you accidentally email to info@bvaa.org that’s fine too, he gets those email messages too (along with Lisa and Carol).
We would love to see you on May 20th, 2025!
There will NOT be any event in the Uxbridge gallery on Tue May 20th. We will only be at the Grill 122.
Ask if you have any questions, and have a great weekend!
For our 2025 BVAA Art & Poetry Show pairing, one pairing was with artist Katie Williams and poet Lisa Shea!
Here are the works they created!
Katie Williams provided this artwork to Lisa Shea.
In response, Lisa Shea wrote the following poem:
The second half of this pairing involved Lisa Shea giving Katie Williams a poem as a starting point. Lisa Shea provided this poem:
In response, Katie created this artwork:
To meet the artists and poets, be sure to come to our art-poetry reception at the Blackstone Public Library in Blackstone, Massachusetts on Thursday, April 17th from 6-8pm!
For our 2025 BVAA Art & Poetry Show pairing, one pairing was with artist Sue Dion and poet Laura DiCaronimo!
Here are the works they created!
Sue Dion provided this artwork to Laura DiCaronimo.
In response, Laura DiCaronimo wrote the following poem:
The second half of this pairing involved Laura DiCaronimo giving Sue Dion a poem as a starting point. Laura DiCaronimo provided this poem:
In response, Sue created this artwork:
To meet the artists and poets, be sure to come to our art-poetry reception at the Blackstone Public Library in Blackstone, Massachusetts on Thursday, April 17th from 6-8pm!
To learn more about Laura DiCaronimo’s writings visit:
For our 2025 BVAA Art & Poetry Show pairing, one pairing was with artist Judi Potter and poet Irena Kaçi!
Here are the works they created!
Judi Potter provided this artwork to Irena Kaçi.
In response, Irena Kaçi wrote the following poem:
The second half of this pairing involved Irena Kaçi giving Judi Potter a poem as a starting point. Irena Kaçi provided this poem:
In response, Judi created this artwork:
To meet the artists and poets, be sure to come to our art-poetry reception at the Blackstone Public Library in Blackstone, Massachusetts on Thursday, April 17th from 6-8pm!
