Stumps of New England (and special guests)

New paintings and sculptures by Suzanne Pugh

Inspired by the simplicity, the order, and the prescription of gouache illustrations and paint by number landscapes from the 60s and 70s, I set out to replicate the feel of these types of paintings using stumps as my subject. Stumps have played a significant role in my work for the past 10 years; they can be metaphor, they can be literal, they are often overlooked, and almost always have a personality. Finding familiar stumps from my daily hikes in the woods of Wendell, Massachusetts, I looked for color, for age, for wit, for character.

With my phone, I took images of each stump. Using a photo editing app, I manually blacked out the details surrounding the stumps, and uploaded the new image to the cloud. After a few days of research and failed layouts, I found a more direct approach—a company could print the pre-numbered canvases for me. I headed over to the printer’s website, downloaded the images, selected sizes and orientation, and purchased the printed canvases. After a few weeks, the canvases arrived. A particular challenge I gave myself, a metalsmith, was to mix the colors as accurately as possible using the guide provided by the printing company. While only I know whether I succeeded or not, I promise you I did. The painting process was meditative, time consuming, boring, exciting, instructional, confusing, aggravating, satisfying, endless. These stumps have had a transformative journey, from physical object, to digital representation, back to physical object, and ultimately to physical representation. Thank you for taking the time to visit these portraits in person.

Suzanne Pugh

Stumps of New England Artist’s Statement

 About the Gallery at 249 A

Gallery At 249 A features rotating art exhibitions and special arts events. The space is an evolving project of the 249 A Street Cooperative, one of Massachusetts’s first limited-equity live/work cooperative for artists. The building, which is home to more than 45 artists and their families, has served as a model for artists’ housing nationwide and was key in the growth of the Fort Point Arts Community (FPAC). The 249 A Street Cooperative celebrated its 30th anniversary with the opening of this gallery space in September 2014.

The Gallery at 249 A is partly supported by a South Boston Community Development Foundation grant.

Open by appointment. To schedule an appointment email: 249Agallery@gmail.com

Upcoming Gallery Shows

Nov. 25 to Jan 4, 2025 — Annual Paper Clip  All Holiday Show

Jan 9 to Feb 22, 2025 Dorothy Hebden Heath  —  a survey exhibition of work in various media

Feb 27 to April 12, 2025  Lenore Tenenblatt  — Light-Hearted — art with amusing or unusual materials