25 October - Angela Balcita
Creative Nonfiction writer
Creative nonfiction writer Angela Balcita will be on the Chester College of New England campus workshopping and talking with students. Her public reading will be Thursday, October 25 from 6 PM to 8 PM in Powers 29.
Angela Balcita's essays have recently appeared in The New York Times, The Utne Reader, The Wilson Quarterly, The Iowa Review, and Geez Magazine and have been included in anthologies such as Waking Up American: Coming of Age Biculturally and The Fourth Genre: Contemporary Writers of/on Creative Nonfiction. She has received awards from Associated Writers and Writing Programs, Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center, Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, and the University of Iowa. Her memoir, Moonface, will be published in 2009. She lives in Baltimore.
Compass Rose interviews Angela Balcita
Compass Rose: What do you do when you are creatively stuck?
Angela Balcita: You mean other than re-check my email, clean my house, do a crossword, and take a nap? Well, first, I try to relax. I get nothing done when I'm too stressed out. Then, I go read something I've never read before, like the fiction in this week's New Yorker or whatever is new in some of my favorite literary magazines. I look for something new that I like, and I try to copy what the author is doing. Usually when I'm stealing other authors' work, I get a surge of ideas, and something will come out of it.
CR: Is there a particular place or pen that you use when you write?
Balcita: Because I'm a writer with a day job, I write wherever and whenever I get a chance. Right now, I really like working in coffee shops and libraries. When there are other people working around me, that usually keeps me focused. (more)
23 October - Liz Chalfin
Printmaker
On October 23 at 2:30 pm, printmaker Liz Chalfin will give a public lecture in the conference room of Chester College of New England's Wadleigh Library. Chalfin is a visiting artist, part of the college's Visiting Artist Lecture Series.
Professionally, Liz Chalfin is visual artist and art educator. She is founder and director and resident artist of Zea Mays Printmaking in Florence, Massachusetts. Zea Mays Printmaking is a studio/workshop dedicated to research, education and collaborations in safer and non-toxic printmaking. Chalfin teaches workshops at Zea Mays and on the road at colleges and art centers regionally. She is also adjunct faculty in Lesley University’s Creative Arts in Learning graduate program.
Chalfin exhibits her prints, drawings and artist’s books nationally in solo and group exhibitions. Her work is in the permanent collections of the Smith College Museum of Art, and Mortimer Rare Book Room as well as the Portland Museum of Art, the De Cordova Museum and Sculpture Park and the Boston Public Library. She exhibited at the 2005 Boston Printmakers Biennial Exhibition, was included in the Boston Drawing Project at the Bernard Toale Gallery and her print “Men Making Decisions” was featured on the cover of the autumn 2005 edition of the international magazine Printmaking Today.
Chalfin works in etching, monotype, photopolymer, collograph and mixed media printmaking. She creates prints artist’s books. Her imagery explores social, spiritual and psychological issues through the use of symbolism, figuration and abstraction.
Chalfin is a member of the Boston Printmakers, the Monotype Guild of New England and the Southern Graphics Council. She is represented by Susan Maasch Fine Arts, Portland, ME.
Compass Rose interviews Liz Chalfin
Compass Rose: In viewing some of your work I noticed a lot of natural elements such as plants and animals. What influences you to use such subjects and why?
Liz Chalfin: One of the overarching themes I explore through my artwork is the
interconnectedness of life - humans, plants, animals, minerals. Images of these elements occur, usually out of their natural context and integrated or juxtaposed in a new context.
CR: I found the reason behind naming your studio Zea Mays interesting in how you compare the purifying benefits of the sweet corn to the use of non-toxic printmaking methods. What was your drive in creating this non-toxic printmaking studio as opposed to creating a studio for traditional printmaking practices?
Chalfin: First, I am wary of the term "non-toxic". I believe it is often mis-used. I believe that toxicity is a spectrum, and we try to practice printmaking methods that fall on the less toxic end of the spectrum, but there are still so many unknowns about the toxicity of certain materials, and each persons' level of tolerance for certain substances is different, so toxicity is a relative term. ... (more)
In The Margins
On October 27, 9 PM to Midnight, Chester College of New England will be hosting In The Margins, an experimental art event with the intention of bringing together students and professionals of all mediums. The event will feature artists working live, live models, readings, and music.
In The Margins will be held at the Chester Recreation Center, next to the Chester police station adjacent to the college. The event runs from 9 PM to 12 AM.
Call for Visual Art
Compass Rose, a journal of art and literature, seeks visual art submissions for its 2008 issue. While we consider all mediums, we can only print black and white images. Please send 1 to 3 high resolution images on a CD as well as a short bio to:
Chester College of New England
40 Chester Street, Chester NH 03036
We cannot accept submissions as email attachments.
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