Artist Reception to Celebrate Unveiling of Pamela Schalck’s Holiday Pops Painting & Gallery Exhibit of Her Art at Abbot Library on November 6

This year’s Holiday Pops featured art, “Starry Night – Marblehead,” by Marblehead artist Pamela Schalck, will be unveiled at the special artist reception hosted by the Rotary Club of Marblehead Harbor on Wednesday, November 6, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Virginia Carten Gallery and the meeting room at Abbot Public Library, 235 Pleasant Street in Marblehead.

The reception is free and open to the public. Refreshments prepared by Linda Bassett and Linda Doliber will be served.

In conjunction with the unveiling and the reception, selections of Schalck’s artwork will be on exhibit in the Gallery beginning November 6 through November 30. The collection is titled “Home Base: A Retrospective of Work.”

Schalck’s Holiday Pops art using acrylics and watercolor is a-swirl with vitality and holiday festivity in a joyous exuberance of jewel tones and pastels. The view captures Marblehead Harbor’s lively blue waters reflecting the lights and party atmosphere of The Boston Yacht Club with a profusion of charmingly cheerful houses, trees and streets rising to the heights of historic Abbot Hall atop the hill. The painting exudes a warm, welcoming invitation to take part in the town-wide celebration on a perfect winter evening.

“Painting, for me, is constant discovery – the continuing revelation of the richness of existence. The very act of painting is a sensuous, learning experience – an instant, powerful connection to place and to life,” Schalck explains.

“I enjoy using the medium of watercolor. Its simple elements (pigment and water) allow my paintings to be immediate, spontaneous, and free. Because a tray of watercolors is light and compact, I can easily carry my art supplies ‘into the field’ and directly respond on paper to whatever interests me at the moment – be it the sight of human bones in a Maya cemetery, the Milky Way from a Vermont pasture, or an orange boat crane against an deep blue Marblehead sky,” she says.
 
But she also notes, “In my studio I might use a different, more intellectual, approach to making art; but discovery occurs there, too. While I'm painting on canvas with oils or constructing collages, almost forgotten sensations or events from the past will surface, often surprising me. These flickers of impressions can inspire deeper levels of exploration, sometimes resulting in a series or new direction.”

Schalck’s work includes watercolor, oils and ceramic glazes and has been exhibited from Marblehead and the North Shore and New England to the Mesa Public Library in Los Alamos, New Mexico, at Symphony Hall in Boston and the Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield.

Her art is included in public collections including the Currier Gallery of Art in Manchester, NH; Endicott College in Beverly, and Benneton Biarritz in France. Her murals can be seen at Gerry School and Barnegat Transportation Company. Her watercolor painting was featured on the cover of Marblehead’s 350th Anniversary commemorative book and on concert programs of Calla Lily, a women’s chorus among other publications. She is represented by Arnould Gallery in Marblehead and at Elm Street Pottery where she works with her husband Richard as a glazier.

Schalck graduated from Massachusetts College of Art in Boston with an MA-BFA and did graduate work at Salem State Univeristy. She has traveled throughout Europe, North America and Latin America. For more information about the artist, visit http://www.schalck.com/pam-schalck/artist.html.

Signed and numbered artist giclee prints, notecards and raffle tickets for a chance to win Schalck’s original artwork will all be available for purchase at the reception.

The winning ticket will be drawn following the intermission of The Holiday Pops Concert, Saturday, December 14 beginning with a dessert reception at 7 p.m. and the concert featuring The Hillyer Festival Orchestra will begin at 8 p.m. at historic Abbot Hall. Raffle tickets are $5 for one; $10 for three. The original painting has been framed by Arnould Gallery and Framery.

Concert tickets go on sale November 14. Balcony tickets are $35 each and will be available at Arnould Gallery, Marblehead Bank, National Grand Bank and Spirit of ’76 Bookstore. Floor seats are $50 each and can be purchased exclusively by mail using the order form in the November 14 issue of The Marblehead Reporter or the downloadable order form available beginning November 14 on The Rotary Club of Marblehead Harbor’s website at rcomh.org.

Proceeds will benefit the Rotary Club of Marblehead Harbor’s scholarship fund and its local, national and international charitable and philanthropic projects.

For more information about the Holiday Pops, contact event co-chairs Bill Bartin at wbartin@infinexgroup.com or Elizabeth Lynn at scolizlynn21@yahoo.com.