A Contemporary
Co-operative Gallery
in Boston's SoWa
Art & Design District

Youngsheen A. Jhe

Flowing: The Flow of Love

Marian Dioguardi

Still Refections

NAWA Massachusetts

Playing With Fire

GALLERY HOURS: Mar-Oct, Thu-Sun, 12-5pm, Nov-Feb, Thu-Sun 12-4pm and by appointment

Christina Beecher

Christina Beecher

Christina Beecher

Artist Statement:
So deep is Nature’s effect on me, that I am always profoundly aware of the ever-changing light, tones and values of my surroundings.  I see the way the trees may look in the summer, full of life and color, and later, as the seasons change. I can study the complex structures of these same trees while marveling at their grace and simplicity.

​Artist Bio:

Christina holds a BFA from the Cleveland Institute of Art.  After spending nearly twenty years in the design world, Christina changed artistic direction and began to paint. Awestruck by the landscape, she has come to study its ever-changing qualities that make it so unique.  “I paint solely from memory, creating paintings that bring peace and a special quietude.  This frees me up to paint not only what I may have seen but also, more importantly, what I feel.”  Christina works in oils and often demonstrates her “wiping off” tonal technique to groups and workshops. This approach lends a special softness and ethereal quality to her work. This tonal is often left as is, with no added color, though she feels some of her work needs and deserves the “luxury of some color”. 

​Beecher’s work has been widely exhibited and has won many awards.  She shows in the local New England art scene and teaches private lessons out of her studio. 

460B Harrison Ave. #B-6 | Boston, MA 02118

617-542-1500 | director@galateafineart.com

GALLERY HOURS: Thu-Sun, Mar-Oct, 12-5pm; Nov-Feb, 12-4pm, and by appointment

Hannah Goodwin

Hannah Goodwin

Hannah Goodwin

Artist Statement: 
I have been making art for as long as I can remember, working with a variety of materials, but with drawing a constant.  The pieces I am currently immersed in are ink on mulberry paper, drawn with bamboo pens. The papers are usually handmade, with uneven edges, bits of fiber and a level of absorbency that, combined with the bamboo pens, helps me to slow down, to engage all of myself in the process.  The ideas that spark the artworks come as images, phrases, or both, but are never so specific there isn’t room for change. For me, every drawing is a journey with only the roughest of maps. I love this. 
Hopefully the work arrives at a place that invites someone to spend time with them, finding their own way in, through and around.
Artist Bio:
I was fortunate to grow up in a family of makers, where creativity was a normal part of problem-solving for everyday needs and also for personal expression. Most of my jobs, starting when I was a teenager, have involved working with my hands or related to the arts in some way. For the past three decades or so I have been working at the intersection of accessibility and the arts, an area that is deeply important to me. I have a BFA from the Museum School/Tufts University, and a MFA from Mass College of Art and have exhibited in a variety of places and spaces.  My website is currently in development, but until it is launched, please feel free to contact me at hrgoodwin@comcast.net with any questions.  

460B Harrison Ave. #B-6 | Boston, MA 02118

617-542-1500 | director@galateafineart.com

GALLERY HOURS: Thu-Sun, Mar-Oct, 12-5pm; Nov-Feb, 12-4pm, and by appointment

Carolyn Letvin

Carolyn Letvin

Carolyn Letvin

Artist Statement:
Why Sheep?
I’ve been painting Jacob sheep for 16 years. When I began, I had no idea that they would engage me as a visual subject for such a long time! As when I started painting them, I still get a charge from the results of the combination of my hand, the medium and the subject. One of the things that has evolved through the making of them is that I’ve pretty much eliminated any identifiable background. I think the flat color background accentuates the negative space of the composition. To me, composition is the most important element in any painting. No matter how well the picture is painted, if the composition is lacking, the piece will not be successful.
 
Sheep are often one of the first images we see in our lives. Think of all the nursery rhymes and children’s stories that involve or are about sheep. In my case, one of my very first memories is of painted wooden cut-outs of Little Bo Peep and her sheep that my mother had hanging above my crib. I can envision that room and how the “art” was hung to this day. Maybe you, too, have some kind of formative visual in your mind about sheep. Or maybe you connect with them for other reasons. Either way, I hope you will enjoy my sheep images!

Why Plein Air Painting?
Painting outside, plein air, rather than from a photograph, is a huge challenge. I’ve been doing it since the early 90s and am still not comfortable with the experience. There are so many variables, most of all the fast-changing light, that what I create seems to be out of my control. I think that’s why I keep doing it – because when it does turn out, it’s somewhat of an out-of-body experience. Interiors, though not done outdoors, have many of the same challenges. I just don’t have to deal with Mother Nature so much, which I consider a good thing!

Artist Bio: 
Carolyn Letvin is a resident of Marlborough, Massachusetts. She has exhibited in the New England area since 1990. She is an accomplished landscape painter and also creates stylized feline and farm animal imagery. She works on-site, from photographs and memory.
 
She has won many awards through the years, including the Top Award at the 18th Annual Faber Birren National Color Award Show, an Honorary Mention/Sakura Award from the United Pastelists of America/Oil Pastel Association and a second place in the 2014 Blanche Ames National Juried Exhibition. One of her recent awards is from Concord Art’s Members Juried 2 Exhibition where she received the prestigious Nancy T. Baldwin Drawing Award. Currently, her work can be seen at Galatea Fine Art in Boston, MA, Lauren Clark Fine Art in Great Barrington, MA, Hudson Art & Framing in Hudson, MA. She is on the boards of Galatea Fine Art, Boston, MA, the Monotype Guild of New England and the New England Book Artists.

460B Harrison Ave. #B-6 | Boston, MA 02118

617-542-1500 | director@galateafineart.com

GALLERY HOURS: Thu-Sun, Mar-Oct, 12-5pm; Nov-Feb, 12-4pm, and by appointment

Matthew Simons

Matthew Simons

Matthew Simons

Artist Statement: 
Matthew Simons is a visual artist based in Easthampton, Massachusetts, who seeks out visual conversations that are ­dynamic, unorthodox, and experimental. He is driven by the ­excitement of transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary.

Influenced by many years as a graphic designer, Simons’s work often reflects a flat, mechanical aesthetic that blends ­precision with spontaneity. His practice draws inspiration from pop ­culture, graffiti, texture, and line—elements that merge to ­create a distinctive visual language.

Primarily working with ink on paper, Simons uses printmaking techniques as a foundation, occasionally integrating ­collage, drawing, and painting to deepen both texture and ­meaning. Through this process, he strives to balance control with ­experimentation, creating works that invite reflection, curiosity, and dialogue.

460B Harrison Ave. #B-6 | Boston, MA 02118

617-542-1500 | director@galateafineart.com

GALLERY HOURS: Thu-Sun, Mar-Oct, 12-5pm; Nov-Feb, 12-4pm, and by appointment

James Varnum

James Varnum

James Varnum

Artist Statement:
I am an experimental painter. My paintings are combinations of layered colors, movements and various textures on traditional watercolor papers and on substrates such as Yupo and Terra-Skin. Watercolor pigments, liquid graphite and alcohol inks are my paints. I use a variety of materials to create texture: plastic wrap, waxed paper, masking fluid, salt, and spray bottles with water or alcohol.  I move the pigments with various tools including brushes, combs, squeegees, and palette knives. Finally, I add lines and marks with ink or graphite. Occasionally I cut up my work and weave two paintings together to produce a new creation.
 
By adding wax paper or plastic wrap to the pigments as they dry, various textures evolve. When I start my drawings, I follow these contours to produce interesting lines, shapes and maps upon the dried image.
The method creates a “give-and-take relationship” that emerges and guides my work during the process.  I start with ideas about color, texture, line, and composition with a limited palette. I realize that when I create lines and marks on my work, I engage in a deliberate process of emphasizing the topography of the painting while using inks or graphite. Often this revelation in structure becomes a meta-cognitive and unifying experience. It is an absorbing and meditative process.
 
In my work I have always been conscious of creating a dichotomy: soft edge/hard edge; light touch/pressured touch; straight mark/curved mark; warm tones/cool tones while using color and line.
The artwork is the result of my interpretation of the communication that happens during the process of painting. For me, there is a story that is woven into the creation of my paintings. In the end these patterns, symbols and maps will be discovered by the viewer.  My intent is for viewers to create an association, or an interpretation of the painting that triggers their own narrative.

Artist Bio:
I was a creative child who liked to sit at the dining room table and draw. I took art classes at the local library during the summer in the small, rural village where I grew up, in Southern New Hampshire.  After high school I studied art in Boston and San Francisco, where I earned a B.F.A. from the San Francisco Art Institute.
 
I soon learned that I could not support myself and a new family as a fine artist, so I went into education, earned a M.Ed. and became a classroom teacher. After nine years, I wanted to specialize my work with children. I earned a M.S. in communication disorders and worked as a Speech Language Pathologist before retiring in 2011. During those thirty-plus years, I kept in touch with my creative side by taking art classes through various continuing education organizations.
 
Upon retiring, I promised myself that I would pursue art once again.  I kept that promise and am an active artist in the Boston area. I belong to several other art associations and actively exhibit my paintings.  I classify myself as an experimental watercolor painter.

460B Harrison Ave. #B-6 | Boston, MA 02118

617-542-1500 | director@galateafineart.com

GALLERY HOURS: Thu-Sun, Mar-Oct, 12-5pm; Nov-Feb, 12-4pm, and by appointment

Don Warner

Don Warner

Don Warner

Artist Statement:
After a hiatus of over 40 years, I started painting again in 2020.  I primarily do portraits, and figurative drawings and paintings.  My work is not intended to record life like a photograph, but to express a sitter’s thoughts as I see them.  
I paint in an expressionistic style, that gives me the freedom to not copy nature, but instead to use it as a starting point to convey my vision, that can sometimes be at odds with natural appearances. My tendency is to work fast that can lead to "mistakes", but also to new discoveries. 

The artists that have influenced me the most are Van Gogh for his revolutionary use of color, and ability to reflect mood and emotion; Modigliani for his simplification of shapes, removal of extraneous details, and uneven application of paint; and Schiele for his boldness, and expressive lines and marks. 

460B Harrison Ave. #B-6 | Boston, MA 02118

617-542-1500 | director@galateafineart.com

GALLERY HOURS: Thu-Sun, Mar-Oct, 12-5pm; Nov-Feb, 12-4pm, and by appointment

Mark Zieff

Mark Zieff

Mark Zieff

Artist Statement:
I create artistically realistic, still life drawings composed of commonplace man-made objects arranged to form a narrative.
 
Most recently I began to focus on clothing - it is a central theme of this body of work. I enjoy the unique challenges of rendering fabric and our relationship with clothing is among the most intimate, complex and unique of all man-made objects. Many of the clothes in these drawings are my own and I use my artwork as a way to explore my own connections with the past. 
 
I enjoy working with charcoal and colored pencil on toned paper. The combination allows me to achieve great detail and subtle but deep tonal transitions. This approach, along with the individual paper colors, also helps to set the emotional tone and impact of each drawing.

Artist Bio:
Mark Zieff holds a degree in Industrial Design from Syracuse University and has practiced as an industrial designer, product innovator and consumer products marketer. 

As a designer and artist, Mark has always been fascinated with man-made objects and uses his artwork to explore the relationships between object and user; both the physical and emotional connection we have with inanimate objects.

His drawings are characterized by a high level of detail, soft tonal transitions and dramatically lit compositions. His work has been selected by juries for regional and national competitions and is regularly seen in museums, universities and galleries. 

 markzieff.com
Instagram: @markzieffart

460B Harrison Ave. #B-6 | Boston, MA 02118

617-542-1500 | director@galateafineart.com

GALLERY HOURS: Thu-Sun, Mar-Oct, 12-5pm; Nov-Feb, 12-4pm, and by appointment