At home in the studio with artist Mary Sipp Green

Print Story | Email Story
“I’d rather you didn’t take any photos of me, just of my work,” said artist Mary Sipp-Green within moments of my arriving at her Housatonic studio. Understandably, Sipp-Green preferred that her paintings, not herself, be the focus of our interview. But how can one meet with an artist and not want to focus on her, the hand that guides the brush? How can a person ignore the desire to share the time spent speaking with an artist, just as she would want to share a time spent contemplating a sunlit shore? Mary Sipp-Green has been painting for more than 20 years. Over the past decade, this Berkshire-based artist has had numerous solo exhibitions throughout Massachusetts and has attracted a loyal group of collectors. She achieved recognition through a juried exhibition at the National Academy Museum in New York City, which awarded her the Adoph and Clara Obrig Award in 1992. Her work was chosen to appear on the cover of the 1996 Dave Brubeck album Nightshift. Noted art critic Sister Wendy Beckett commends Sipp-Green’s ability to evoke “the buried emotions of our dream-life” in her book, The Mystical Now: Art and the Sacred. Sipp-Green credits much of her talent to “a good gene pool.” Her parents, Herbert and Anne Sipp, are artists in their own right who passed their creative souls on to their children: Mary is one of four siblings all of whom pursue their art through either personal projects or as a career. Sipp-Green attributes her continued growth as an artist to invaluable lessons learned from her mentor, Leo Garel, who directed her to look inside herself and listen to her own voice. Having viewed Sipp-Green’s work, it is obvious that she has taken Garel’s direction to heart. The Berkshire County countryside, land and seascapes of Martha’s Vineyard, and salt marshes of Cumberland Island, Georgia, have strongly influenced Sipp-Green. Her landscapes convey balance through a tension between cool serenity and warm emotions. Luminous skies and soft, muted edges are offset by strong lines of vertical movement and bold color. Sipp-Green’s use of opposites in her work — light and shadow, surface and depth, translucence and opacity — increase the intensity of her scenes. It has been said that to witness Sipp-Green’s work is to understand what Gaston Bachelard meant by his notion of “intimate immensity.” Her canvases seem to capture moments in time and space, suspended between the barely perceptible turn of a season, before a vast sky and grounding earth. Hesitant to label her artistic style, Sipp-Green described her work as a bit of Romanticism, because it is of a moment, Impressionism (“what isn’t?” she asked with a laugh), and only slightly abstract. She stated that she hopes that her paintings “speak for themselves. I want to pass along my experiences. Watching a sunset or a sunrise is very profound and I want people to see that in my work.” While her preferred medium is oil on linen, Sipp-Green’s methods, techniques, and aesthetic aims have changed over the years. As a young painter she learned her craft in the studio, painting still-lifes and portraits as well as landscapes drawn directly from nature. Over time she became increasingly engaged with the more abstract and spiritual aspects of landscapes and began to pursue a less representational and more interpretive style. When she first approaches a canvas she usually has some sense of the color scheme and overall composition of the painting. Each painting begins with preliminary sketches and color notes recorded on site, but the work itself takes shape in the studio where she allows memory and emotion to guide her. “My work is fueled by an inner need to express. Not my need, but what the painting needs [to express]. The search is what keeps me interested, the search for what a painting will become in the end.” In her opinion, this extraordinary way in which the visible world can articulate something meaningful through the medium of paint is the fundamental appeal of a life in painting. Sipp-Green expressed that she is “really grateful that I can do this. For me, this is not a career so much as it is a way of life.” Mary Sipp-Green’s next gallery show will open Sunday, Aug. 5 at The Granary Gallery on Martha’s Vineyard, Old County Road, West Tisbury; there will be an artist’s reception that day from 5 to 7 p.m. This show will display the artist's Berkshire County and Martha’s Vineyard landscapes. For further information on this exhibit, call (508) 693-0455 or 1-800-GRANARY, or visit the gallery online at www.granarygallery.com. Sipp-Green’s next solo gallery show will open at Multiple Impressions in SoHo, 128 Spring Street, New York, N.Y. This exhibit will feature scenes of Berkshire County and Cumberland Island. For more information on this show, contact the gallery at (212) 925-1313 or through their web site at www.multipleimpressions.com.
Share
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Bristol Blues Edge SteepleCats

iBerkshires.com Sports
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. -- Three Bristol, Conn., pitchers combined to strike out 15 SteepleCats in a 2-0 win for the Blues in New England Collegiate Baseball League action on Friday at Joe Wolfe Field.
 
Ty Davis struck out eight and allowed two hits in five innings of work to earn the win on the mound.
 
Evan Meier and Jake Butler each had a hit for North Adams.
 
Garrett Gates was the hard-luck loser on the mound, allowing both runs but just one earned runs in 4 and a third innings of work.
 
North Adams (1-11) hosts Keene, N.H., on Saturday at 6:30 p.m.
View Full Story

More North Adams Stories

Schools
image description

MCLA President Feted With Humor & Praise on Retirement

Schools
Schools
image description

Foundation Work Nearly Complete for North Adams' Greylock School

Schools
Community News
image description

North Adams Finance Recommends Public Safety, Administration...

Community News
A & E
image description

Weekend Outlook: Summer Pride

A & E
Community News
image description

Armed North Adams Man Arrested Following Domestic Standoff

Community News
Business
image description

North Adams' Zio Roberto Fare Steeped in Italian Tradition

Business
Latest Stories
Previous Next

What's Trending?