Featured artist in Concord
New Hampshire Art Association fine art photographer Nicki French will have her work displayed in an exhibit titled, “A Few of My Favorite Things,” at the Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce Visitors Center from Oct. 26 to through Dec. 23.
Each image in French’s exhibit begins with the photographing of one of her favorite things combined with locally grown garden flowers and wildflowers; and sometimes, a unique flower found at the local flower shop will be added to throw in a twist to the still life shot. With her photograph functioning as the base of her art, French then makes use of various digital tools and techniques to create her final artwork.
“Using a few of my favorite things to create this exhibit conjures a spark deep down in my soul,” French said. “The vintage camera depicts my love of photography and how far it has developed over the years . . . from the vintage camera in the image to the digital tools and techniques to create my artwork. As for the flowers, it’s a reminder of the special times spent with my grandmother collecting wildflowers to include in bouquets combined with her beautiful garden flowers.”
French’s exhibit will run at the Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce Visitors Center, located at 49 South Main Street, Suite 104, in Concord. The gallery hours are Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Check the Chamber’s website at concordnhchamber.com for hours before visiting as they may vary.
All work is for sale by contacting the N.H. Art Association at 603-431-4230.
The Book of Maps
Ernest Thompson (On Golden Pond) visits Gibson’s Bookstore on Thursday, Oct. 27 at 6:30 p.m. to share his debut novel, The Book of Maps. Thompson will be in conversation with his friend, New York Times bestselling author Cheryl Richardson.
In the summer of 2002, Brendan Tibbet, a filmmaker whose luck has run low, takes his ten-year-old son Brenlyn on a raucous road trip across America. Following a 1930s travel guide Brendan purchased at a yard sale, the two-week trek from LA to New Hampshire covers 16 states, hitting the iconic stops along the way, Yosemite, the Great Salt Lake, Yellowstone and Mt. Rushmore and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, replete with wild exploits both hilarious and perilous, but it’s the interior journey that is enlightening, deeply poignant and life-changing.
New England’s history with witchcraft
On first impression, the witchcraft trials of the Colonial era may seem to have been nothing but a free-for-all, fraught with hysterics. Margo Burns explores an array of prosecutions in seventeenth-century New Eng
land, using facsimiles of primary source manuscripts, from first formal complaints to arrest warrants, indictments of formal charges to death warrants, and the reversals of attainder and rescinding of excommunications years after the fact; demonstrating how methodically and logically the Salem Court worked.
The Capital Crime of Witchcraft: What the Primary Sources Tell Us focuses on the Salem witchcraft trials of 1692 and 1693, when nineteen people were hanged and one crushed to death, but also examines a variety of other cases against women in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut.
Hosted by the New Hampshire Historical Society in Concord, the program will be held on Saturday, Oct. 29 at 2 p.m.
Fantasy authors featured
Fantasy authors Freya Marske and Everina Maxwell will host a virtual author event on Tuesday, Nov. 1 at 6 p.m. Gibson’s Bookstore will celebrate two book launches in one this evening as two of our booksellers’ favorite fantasy authors release their highly anticipated sequels on the same day! Freya Marske (A Marvellous Light) delights us with A Restless Truth, and Everina Maxwell (Winter’s Orbit) enchants us with Ocean’s Echo. Register for free online at gibsonsbookstore.com/event/Marske-Maxwell.
Traditional nested dolls
Traditional Matryoshka Nested Doll Making: From Russia to New Hampshire, presented by Marina Forbes, will be at the Pembroke Town Library on Wednesday, Nov. 2 at 5:30 p.m.
This beautifully illustrated, interactive presentation by Marina Forbes will feature the history of Matryoshka nested doll making in Russia. Using a fully illustrated show and numerous exhibits, including examples of her own work and from her extensive collection, Forbes will examine the rich folk tradition, the symbolism of the doll’s appearance, and the interesting link between doll making and other traditional Russian art forms. There will be a quick stop at the 1900 World Fair in Paris that made Russian nested dolls and Faberg eggs famous, followed by an exciting illustrated tour of a working doll-making factory in rural Russia, depicting the various stages in the doll making process.
Motherhood and the brain
Chelsea Conaboy, a Concord Monitor alum and health and science journalist, returns to Concord and Gibson’s Bookstore on Wednesday, Nov. 2 at 6:30 p.m. to present her book about the changes motherhood makes on the brain. With Mother Brain: How Neuroscience is Rewriting the Story of Parenthood, exploding the concept of “maternal instinct” and telling a new story about what it means to become a parent. Conaboy will be in conversation with Lisa Wangsness, a longtime Monitor reporter and now a longtime Boston Globe reporter and editor.No registration required, books are available for purchase.
Frenemies and the Wyeths
On Wednesday, Nov. 2, at 7:30 p.m., the Walker Lecture Series presents Frenemies: The Art World’s Greatest Rivalries and The Wyeths: An American Artistic Dynasty.
Jane Oneail will examine the ways some of the world’s greatest artists challenged and competed for commissions, sales, and status. Learn about rivalries between da Vinci and Michelangelo, Constable and Turner and Matisse and Picasso. And decide who history has treated most kindly.
The Wyeth family of artists is known for their somber realism and subtle storytelling. In this program, Jane Oneail will explore the style of painting and illustration established by N.C. Wyeth in the early 1900s and passed on and re-interpreted by his children, primarily Andrew Wyeth, and his grandson Jamie Wyeth. Learn more about their favorite subjects, their influences, and their enduring impact in the art world.
This event is free. Doors open at 7 p.m. at the Concord City Auditorium. For information, call 603-333-0035 or walkerlecture.org.
All about aging
Dementia – Normal Aging VS. Non-Normal Aging is hosted by Hillsbrook Village and presented by Deborah Penttila on Thursday, Nov. 3 at 5 p.m. at the Grappone Conference Center in Concord. Deborah holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Family Relations and was trained through Teepa Snow’s Positive Approach to Care.
Dinner will be served and topics will include understanding the changing brain, handling vision changes and space awareness, dealing with challenging behaviors, promoting mobility, and assisting with activities of daily life.
The event is free, but space is limited. Reservation is required. Visit hillsbrookvillagenh.com for more information.
