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ALLZAH: Art

Heather is a self-taught artist as well as Co-creator and Editor of Allzah.com.

She also has an online art gallery Allzah Art Studio and an online photo gallery she shares with Allzah writer Bill Hardy at Allzah Photography.

The images in the article below all link to the Allzah Photography site.

She can be reached at editor@allzah.com

 

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What a great way to start off my Fall/Winter update to my section! I visited the Main Street Gallery in Prince Frederick - particularly to see an exhibit by artist Julia Musengo - but I also got to see work by many area artists. Enjoy!

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Nancy Collery sits in her Main Street Gallery.

Main Street Gallery ~ Prince Frederick
For Goddess and Mortal Alike

by Heather Bartlett
Photos by Bill Hardy

November 2004

Main Street Gallery in Prince Frederick is an unassuming two story home from the road, with a small sign announcing what lies down the narrow driveway. Please drive around to the back, park, and come around to the front of the house to enter a wonderful home-grown art gallery full of whimsy, color, texture and good energy.

If you have an ounce of goddess, sprite, fairy or elf in you, this is a must-visit location any time of year. Even if you don’t feel like a particularly magical person this is a good place to inspire it in you! Here you will find work from area artists in many forms: beautiful paintings, glass bobbles, clocks, cards, scarves, self-published books, barrettes, handmade jewelry, altars and more. I weaved my way through the rooms over and over for almost two hours and still felt I had not seen all that there was to see. Each time I revisited a spot I’d been standing in several times already, I would notice something new that I’d missed. For instance, I’d gazed at some beautiful glass objects hanging from the ceiling three times before realizing that they were hanging from an art-ified CRUTCH! This tickled me and also made me think about how wonderful it was that this item, used for something unpleasant and not especially beautiful itself, was turned into something attractive in a quirky sort of way.

In the yard at Main Street Gallery. Many areas are adorned by tiles, like the soleil tile above, created by Nancy's artist daughter Parran Collery.

The gallery is perfect for gift shopping. With holidays and birthdays looming, I couldn’t resist buying a couple of gifts while I was there. Happy birthday Jackie! Happy holidays Jess!

Items on display start at just over ten dollars and go way up from there. If you have always wanted to collect art or bring pieces into your home that positively glow with good energy, you will find something here. It also feels great to support

local artists. I so wanted to buy myself an Yvonne Creighton mosaic mirror! They each have great affirmations of self-worth set into the beautiful tile work of the frame. At about $150 to $200 dollars, they were out of my budget for this trip, but I will hint at the husband what a great birthday gift one would make for me next year.

Main Street Gallery is lovingly tended to by Nancy Collery and Jeff Klapper in their home. Nancy explained how she’d always collected art and that her friends encouraged her to open up a gallery to show off all of her wonderful things, so she did. The most challenging part about running the gallery, she says, is finding private time and space—not easy when your house has a public face, but she loves it. Behind the house at the end of the tiny parking lot is a purple out-building. This is where Nancy’s daughter, artist Parran Collery, creates her richly imaginative ceramic tiles. The purple building wasn’t the only purple on the gallery grounds; it was used in much of the décor. I mentioned that somebody obviously loves purple. Nancy smiled and pointed at herself and said, “Purple is a neutral here at Main Street!”

I was pointed out some of my favorite items in the store; I noted the clever clocks made from recycled CDs, signed " Nancy and Jeff." I was admiring one adorned with Klimt’s “The Kiss” out loud to Nancy when she informed that she and Jeff did them. Ok, so that one slipped by me. Of course I forgave myself because the place is full of great stuff by many artists.

Glass art hanging in the windows.

Could Calvert be the cultural center of Southern Maryland? I don’t know, but I’m certainly glad that Main Street Gallery is here to provide a place for what I feel is an under-represented segment of artists in Southern Maryland. If you have a landscape, or birdie or dog painting, you have many venues that Southern Maryland arts alliances could help you out with, but if you have something controversial to say with your art or a naked breast shows up— muses help you —you might have trouble finding a place to display that work. (See this article about censorship closing down the Wylde Women Gallery.)

I think that Calvert seems a bit off of the beaten path for some folks (I was one of them), I assure you your visit to the Main Street Gallery will be well worth it. Not to mention that it only took me about 33 minutes driving from Waldorf in non-rush-hour traffic. And on the sunny day we went it made a positively beautiful drive.

As a side note, we stopped to eat at "Mom’s in the Kitchen," a place Nancy recommended, right next to the McDonalds in a little shopping strip right off of the big Rt. 4 stoplight. We ate the special for the day—a chicken on Kaiser, fries and a beverage for $8.95 and worth every penny.

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The Main Street Gallery Hours & Events

January – October
Wednesday – Friday 11-5 & Saturday 11-4
November & December
Wednesday – Friday 11-5
Saturday & Sunday 11-4
Closed Mid Feb-April 1

Address:
486 Main Street
Prince Frederick, MD 20678
Phone: 410-535-3334

Accept cash, check, Visa, MasterCard and Discover. They do not have a website.

 

Moonlight on Main Street
Opening November 20 th at 5-8pm
This is a group show on exhibit through December with an Open House December 4 th from 11am to 4pm.

Indulgence Day
January 8 th 11am to 4pm
Nancy described this to me as a day to indulge in chocolate and art and good company.

Heart’s Desire – Valentines Show
Opening February 5 th at 1-4pm
More information will become available at a later date for this show.

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Featured Artist Julia Musengo

Dreama the Untangler of Chains.

“The Goddess Game”

Maryland Artist Julia Musengo's Never-Ending Imagination

Meditate, Cultivate and Inspire Your Inner Goddess

by Heather Bartlett
Photos by Bill Hardy

November 2004 - Exhibit at Main Street Gallery in Prince Frederick, MD.

I was immediately struck by the color, flowing lines and strong feminine imagery of this imaginative exhibit of artist Julia Musengo’s work. As I looked among her work I became increasingly aware of this woman’s multiple talents. Her paintings of course are fantastic, but I was most intrigued by her altars that were on display.

Julia’s husband, Fred, explained how interactive the altars are and showed me the way a couple of them worked. Every piece, every ritual of using the altars is fraught with meaning. To use one of Julia’s altars is to immerse yourself in useful energy. The paintings all had corresponding altars, for instance Star Ting’s Book Box Altar is portable and a sword can be kept in the book’s spine when not in use. You can place pertinent information and keepsakes such as photos or tickets in the “Heart Pocket” before your private ceremony or meditation. The altars have “keywords” that the artist has assigned to them, in this case “inspiration” is the word. Each also has an element assigned to them. Star Ting’s element is fire. These altars are wonderfully thought out and make the perfect place to meditate. To sort of match them up to your astrological sign or favorite element seems natural, but you could also use more them one to cover many meditative or ceremonial aspects. They are quite affordable too, most of them starting at around $75.

"The Goddess Game" invented by artist Julia Musengo.

Her paintings were full of the same mystical energy as her altars. I observed the ebb and flow of her lines, long purposeful strokes, the vibrant colors and the internal light of the goddess images. One entitled “The Fair Princess of Air” is described on the back of one of the cards provided to me as “The Fair – Love and marriage, positive thinking with affirmations for all who need them…” and is a depiction of Libra-Venus.

Julia Musego’s inspiration for her work comes from her long love of astrology. She has seamlessly melded together these goddess images with astrological meaning and undercurrents in a wonderful array of creativity.

Also available at the gallery is a game that the artist has created, “The Goddess Game: 12 New Faces of Astrology.” Hence, the title of the exhibit. The game has a board, hand painted and assembled by Julia herself as well as cards and pieces that complete the set. The more I learned about Julia Musengo the more I realized what many talents she possesses. There seemed to be no end to her imagination.

It was also explained to me that Fred writes music to accompany some of the work that Julia creates. I missed the artist’s opening, so I did not get to enjoy Fred’s music. He also has recorded a jazz cd, which is also available at the gallery. I got to hear a couple of the toe tapping tunes with the female vocals as I perused work by other artists on display.

Great Guarda Altar - Taurus - for coins, incense and good luck trinkets.

I’m afraid the exhibit ended on November 6 th for Julia’s work. I didn’t find out about the exhibit until a couple of days before it was scheduled to conclude.

You can contact the artist through the Main Street Gallery for the next few weeks. You can also purchase Fred Musengo’s cd through the gallery. As soon as her next exhibit is scheduled I will be certain to post it.

If you are an artist or own a gallery and would like Allzah.com to stop by, contact Heather at editor@allzah.com - we're all about the artists and those who support art!

We are also looking for volunteer writers in the Washington DC and Baltimore area. Please send submission inquiries to the same email address with "WRITER" in caps in the subject line.

Have a wonderful art-filled life!