PikNik: Are You Ready for the City?
— By Amanda Williams, August 14, 2009.
Courtesy of the Vineyard Gazette, Inc., copyright 2009.

Saturday night at PikNik and beats are spinning from a deejay’s turntables, blaring outside the bounds of the gallery’s backlot. A crowd in their taste-maker threads, eating from the retro the ArtCliff Diner truck, is gathered in small town Oak Bluffs to see cityscapes. The scene at PikNik’s Urban Show demonstrated the transience of the urban mindset, its ability to be transplanted even to a mostly rural Island.
It’s the second year for PikNik’s urban show. The roster of a dozen artists includes eight Vineyarders, gallery owner Michael Hunter is proud to say: Traeger diPietro, Paul Norwood, Ellen Liman, Sherry Blalock, Gregory Coutinho, Max Decker, Adam Thompson, Anne McGhee, Tom Stephens, Alison Light, Gaston Valin and Nicholas DiFonzo. The intention, Mr. Hunter says, is to allow these artists, many of whom show primarily landscapes, to explore new subjects.

Michael Hunter hangs the Urban Show “like in a salon,” he says. With a sense of humor, practicality and respect for the art of hanging art, he weaves outdoor and indoor elements. The palate of the art, canvas size, and other elements inform his placements. There’s the green of a tree on which he consistently hangs diPietro’s work, the cream background against which the primary colors of McGhee’s Fenway series pop, the reflective surface behind Light’s abstract cityscapes bursting with rich turquoise and tomatoes, the charcoal grey against which one of Thompson’s crisp New York scenes hangs, and the white which features Valin’s Matisse pastoral-inspired cityscapes.

The newly added annex section of the gallery displays work by Sherry Blalock. The playful works challenge viewers to see small snippets of city life. One shows a destroyed New York city poster board, with several layers of grimy, water-damaged paper and the familiar NYC subway font. Hung just above the subway piece is a popular piece: a glimpse of good luck charm animals in a Chinatown store window.
Only feet away is Blalock’s depiction of three wrapped plants in the light of a nearby street lamp. “Who would’ve thought that . . . would be the subject of such a hauntingly beautiful oil painting?” wonders Mr. Hunter.

Gregory Couhtino’s milky realist depictions of New York city display a palate rich in city grayness. Hunter praised Couhtino, a native Vineyarder, for his acute eye.

Outside, a massive diPietro piece is propped against the gallery building, a Tom Stephens abstract cityscape is placed on an easel, and Valin’s earthy cityscapes line the billboard.

In the middle of the gallery is a wrenching triptych by Nicholas DiFonzo, a tribute to musician Elliot Smith, who died in 2003 from a drug overdose. Mr. Hunter now displays the work on tracks, the three canvases supporting one another as a pyramid. “It was an eleventh hour decision on my part,” Hunter said, of his move to bring the piece out of his gallery’s storage.

Three standout small India ink etchings by Max Decker are actually billed as the 11th Hour Cityscapes, as they were completed with only hours to spare before the show was hung.

Mr. Hunter hopes to encourage the artist to do more of the ink etchings for Decker’s solo show, which opens August 29 and will wrap up the summer season at PikNik (PikNikMV.com).

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Galleries: Abstract & Urban at PIKNIK
— By Karla Araujo, July 23, 2009. Courtesy of The Martha's Vineyard Times

Island artist Michele Ratté uses glass beads, Turkish bells, beach rocks, and other objects to create these fabric assemblages.

Michael Hunter, owner of PIKNIK Art & Apparel in the Oak Bluffs Arts District, insists he didn't set out to shake up the Vineyard. "My shows are self-indulgent," he says, almost apologetically. "They're just an extension of me.

I have a passion for the abstract and non-representational world." This summer, others who share Mr. Hunter's taste for the untraditional should make a concerted effort to stop by the smorgasbord of a fine art gallery, clothing, and accessories boutique he has created at 99 Dukes County Avenue in Oak Bluffs. For the past 14 years, he has lured customers with his extraordinary sense of whimsy, nostalgia, and cutting edge style. Last summer, demonstrating his ability to push the envelope in the Vineyard art scene, Mr. Hunter launched two new themed shows: The Abstract Event and The Urban Show. Both were resounding successes, he says.

From now through August 5, abstract art enthusiasts will find an arresting and varied mix of work from nine accomplished artists during the gallery's second annual event. And, from August 8 through 26, the gallery will host the second annual Urban Show, featuring nine artists' nods to metropolitan living and cityscape.

Gallery goers mingled at the group show of abstract works at PIKNIK Art & Apparel during Saturday's Arts District Stroll. Photo by Lynn Christoffers

This past Friday, the evening before the opening of the abstract show, Mr. Hunter surveyed the partially transformed gallery walls, running his fingers through abundant silver hair and scratching his beard thoughtfully. "The works speak to one another," he explained. "I start out with a blueprint of how I think the exhibit will hang and then it takes on a life of its own." Less than 24 hours before guests were scheduled to arrive, he planned to refresh the paint on exhibition panels and the gallery floor, hang the remaining pieces, and create a method to suspend Michele Ratté's luminous fabric sculptures.

Deejay Di, one of the Island's sought-after disc jockeys, had received her play list for the following evening, works from contemporary classical composer Philip Glass and experimental musician Laurie Anderson, chosen specifically by Mr. Hunter to complement the evening's theme. Calla lilies from a farm in Western Massachusetts were handpicked and hand-delivered by the grower. "Don't worry," Mr. Hunter assured me with a blend of confidence and resignation at the long night ahead, "It'll all come together."

Mixed media works on paper by Mercedes Nuñez. Photo courtesy of PIKNIK

By 5:15 pm on Saturday, July 18, the Arts District was alive with pedestrians popping in and out of neighborhood galleries. Women in flowing skirts and men in linen shirts sipped chardonnay as they absorbed the work and the energy of the opening. A crowd estimated "in the hundreds," according to a pleased Mr. Hunter, milled around PIKNIK's grounds, gallery, and boutique, sipping wine and exclaiming over Michele Ratté's fabric constructions that hung from the rafters and Barbara DuRant's moody, earth-toned oil paintings. Characterized by Mr. Hunter as a gathering of "more serious collectors," couples strolled, jotted down notes, and compared reactions to the array of carefully selected works. Mr. Hunter held court, warmly greeting friends, newcomers, and repeat customers, ushering them toward the sky-lit gallery that sits behind the property's main building.

Russell Sharon's vivid, large-scale landscape stands as a striking, iconic welcome near the gallery's entrance. Inside, Tom Stephens's heavily layered and complex oil and acrylic works are fascinating, vibrant and memorable - a testament, according to Mr. Hunter, to the unique talent and technique required to create a successful abstract work. Mercedes Nuñez displays an intensely personal point of view with mixed media collage on paper - works that invite the eye with a strong graphic presence and challenge the viewer to interpret.

Barbara DuRant's earth-toned oil paintings. Photo courtesy of PIKNIK

Vineyard representational landscape painter Marjorie Mason "takes a refreshing vacation," says Mr. Hunter, in creating her soothing Tea Lane and Chilmark series of geometric abstracts, a surprise to many Vineyard art patrons who are unaware of her highly refined abstract work.

In contrast, Barbara DuRant's oils in warm browns, golds, greys, and reds are arresting and dramatic, often conveying a sense of urgency and conflict. Abraham Brewster's contortions of the human form are surreal, somewhat disturbing, yet compelling. In counterpoint are the shimmering gold-laced fabric constructions by Island artist Michele Ratté, which employ glass beads, Turkish bells, beach rocks and other objects. Children and adults stand together in quiet awe of the three-dimensional assemblages Mr. Hunter aptly describes as "defying description."

Beatricia Sagar's mixed media collages on canvas are provocative yet peaceful, marrying strips of color, texture, and typography to create 14- by 60-inch totems, pieces that can stand alone or hang as a triptych.

Finally, Max Decker, the Island's wunderkind who has found a home at PIKNIK and a nurturing mentor in Mr. Hunter, contributed a sculpture - a plaster casting - that reflects his process toward creating a larger, more finished work.

The upcoming Urban Show, featuring artists Paul Norwood, Tom Stephens, Max Decker, Gaston Valin, Gregory Coutinhno, Anne McGhee, Traeger DiPietro, Adam Thompson, and Sherry Blalock promises to provide a dynamic, near-end-of-summer bridge back to the real world for Vineyard visitors and residents alike.

PIKNIK Art & Apparel: Abstract Event through August 5. Urban Show, August 8-26 in conjunction with Arts District Stroll.

Karla Araujo is a regular contributor to The Times.

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Michael Hunter Brings His Eclectic Style Sense to PIKNIK
From Fine Art to Fine Pickles, and Everything in Between
Scene & Seen (An eclectic Mix of Vineyard People and Happenings)
Vineyard Style, Summer 2009

Michael Hunter Brings His Eclectic Style Sense to PIKNIK
From Fine Art to Fine Pickles, and Everything in Between

Even before reaching the entrance of the converted old house where the shop makes its home, visitors to PIKNIK Art & Apparel on Dukes County Avenue in the Oak Bluffs Arts District, know they are about to discover the unusual. For 13 years, New York City stylist Michael Hunter has operated his eclectic art, jewelry and clothing boutique at the end of a driveway that currently displays old stoves from the 1930s boiling over with flowers, vintage ice chests, and a spouting water fountain that was once a Maytag washing machine.

Once inside, the visitor is drawn in multiple directions toward a varied array of merchandise that includes art, clothing, jewelry, accessories, and pickles.

Pickles?

"I sell two varieties of pickles, regular and spicy." Michael said. "But the pickles I found at Murray's in New York, packed in beautiful graphic jar and with a delightful taste are particularly popular. I sell four cases of pickles a week."

With Michael at the helm, PIKNIK has had a series of incarnations, beginning as an antique store whose focus evolved into art. Within a few years, Michael added clothing, jewelry, glassware and pottery to his inventory.

Among this season's must have items, Michael counts pieces from the current line of Vivienne Westwood apparel, a unique porkpie hat for men from Tracy Watts, and statement pieces from a collection of Miriam Haskell jewelry called "Sea Gypsies." The shop boasts a selection from the final line of leather goods from Morgan's Gray's, an order made available when Henry Bendel cancelled their purchase when Morgan Gray's succumbed to the recession. And, when Michael was recovering from a foot injury, he sued his post-surgicl period to discover a line of translucent canes in four colors (his was yellow) that are now part of his inventory.

Michael, an accomplished New York City fashion stylist who splits his time between SoHo and Oak Bluffs, is the force that drives PIKNIK. His fashion sense ensures that PIKNIK features clothing and accessories that are timeless items that can be used forever. As curator, purchaser and proprietor of PIKNIK, it is his job as well as his joy to buy and sell the ecletic array of treasures that fill his shop.

"Only about six percent of what I sell is vintage," he said. "The products I seek tend to be new creations with a vintage charm."

If you visit PIKNIK and feel it's one of the coolest places to shop on the Vineyard, you're in good company. Yankee Magazine recently gave PIKNIK its prestigious Editors' Choice award for the best mix of fashion, art, and function in its 2009 Yankee Travel Guide.

Recently PIKNIK has created a website (www.piknikmv.com) where purchases can also be made, although the key goal of the website is to highlight the work of the artists whose work is featured there.

The Art Shows
Outside, a pathway leads to the Studio Annex, a remodeled barn, where Michael features the work of new artists and presents seasonal art shows with an island focus as well as urban chic!

Upcoming shows for the Summer 2009 season includes a solo show featuring the work of Max Decker from June 20–July 15; an Abstract Show, July 18–August 5, featuring the work of Beatricia Sagar, Mercedes Nuñez, Barbara DuRant, Marjorie Mason, Tom Stephens, Max Decker, Russell Sharon, Abraham Brewster, and Michele Ratté; the Urban Show from August 8– August 26, featuring Paul Norwood, Tom Stephens, Max Decker, Gaston Valin, Gregory Coutinho, Anne McGhee, Sherry Blalock, Adam Thompson, Traeger DiPietro, Nicholas DiFonzo and Alison Light; and Max Decker's "Fusion Show", beginning August 29 which is open ended, lasting late into the season. All shows begin on Saturdays with an opening reception from 4–7 pm.

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Max Decker – Dividing his time
Profile by Julia Rappaport – Vineyard Style, Summer 2009

6x9" Oil on Board.

On the surface, Island painter Max Decker appears to be living the dream.

He splits his time between New York in winter and West Tisbury during the long summers that stretch into the golden days of September. His sweeping Vineyard Landscapes and daring abstract paintings have developed a loyal following. At only 26, he's nailed a steady gig at Michael Hunter's PIKNIK gallery and boutique in Oak Bluffs that pushes the boundaries of what Vineyard art can be. His paintings bring in enough money so Decker can live off his art alone. Sounds dreamy and downright difficult in these times.

But Decker doesn't quite see things that way. "I'm just plodding along," he said recently from his Brooklyn apartment. "It's just that there's nothing else I'd rather be doing."

Max Decker grew up off New Lane in West Tisbury, in a house built by his parents, Chris who owns The Tisbury Printer in Vineyard Haven, and Nelia, a librarian at the West Tisbury Library. Decker attended the West Tisbury elementary school and the charter school before enrolling at the Putney School in Vermont in the tenth grade. "I was needing to get off the Vineyard," Decker said. "Putney is a kind of artist oriented place, and they hand responsibility to kids in a way that you don't get in public school. It was something like, 'There's a tree that's fallen down. Here's a chainsaw. Go cut it up.' So it becomes, a question of how I'm going to figure how to do this on my own."

It was at Putney that Decker first threw himself into the word of art, taking classes in painting, sculpture and stone carving. After graduating in 2002, Decker attended the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston where he was free to fully indulge his artistic side. He plunged into painting, with a little help from longtime Island artist and Museum School professor, Don Sibley.

"I used to do a lot of what you would call 'narrative paintings." Decker said. "There were a lot of scenes, a lot of interiors and people. There'd always be some sort of story playing out." In class one day, Sibley came behind him. "He looked over my shoulder and said. 'Ok, here's your scene. Now I want you to a paint what's going on over here.' And he pointed to the air next to the canvas. It was really simple, but I think a profound way to say, work on what's going on between the lines a little bit."

Sibley was not the only Vineyard artist to influence Decker. Look at any of the young artist's landscape paintings. In the calm colors, the expansive views and the ominous clouds are hints of West Tisbury painter Allen Whiting. "Growing up and seeing the other guys who were doing it, and getting encouragement from other painters like Allen down the street from us, really had an impact. I was always going to openings," Decker said. "You just do a bit every day and keep working at it. That's one of the main things I got from him."

In college, Decker began developing two very distinct painting styles: a Vineyard style, and what he now refers to as a New York style. "It's a bipolar, kind of dual-sided thing," he said. The Vineyard style is all landscapes – beautiful, serene, and recognizable to Island residents and tourists alike. "Sepiessa Point is just right down the street from my house, and it's one of my favorite places to paint," Decker said. "I'll be doing something in the studio, and if the light looks nice, I can just drive down there and be there in five minutes."

The New York style is frenetic, large scale and abstract – multimedia pieces that include the artist's own sculpture and photography. "The Vineyard work is less stressful," Decker said. "Just applying paint to the surface is very therapeutic. My focus tends to be on the process and not necessarily the final result. With the New York work, the process is just awful. It's agonizing sometimes," he continued. "It's more of a roller coaster. You're not sure if it's good or it's bad. But I like the work in the end, usually."

While still in college, Decker decided to try his hand as a professional artist. He got a booth at the Artisan's Fair in West Tisbury, stocked it with a bunch of small paintings and hoped someone might take notice. "I kind of threw myself into it not knowing what would happen," Decker said. "And people just bought them out. I would sell something like 15 or 20 paintings in an afternoon and get all psyched, but then I'd realize I'd have to go do the same thing the next week, and I'd have to finish another 20 paintings."

One of the people who noticed was Michael Hunter. "Max and I first met at the Artisan's Fair, and I bought five of his paintings on the spot," said Hunter, a former New York City fashion stylist who opened PIKNIK 13 years ago. "I loved his work from the get-go. He had his own voice and was obviously inspired." At the time Hunter was looking to bring more art into his Arts District boutique and offered Decker a chance to show his work.

48x72" Oil on Canvas.

In the beginning, Decker only showed his landscapes. But last summer, in a multiple artist show, Decker showed one of his New York pieces – a huge, stark and stunning painting of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway's underbelly. "A lot of Michael's clients are from New York, and he's always into pushing the idea of getting a little edgy with the stuff I enjoy doing here and bridging that gap," Decker Said. The piece which Hunter posted on PIKNIK's website in advance, sold before the show opened. At $12,000, it was Decker's highest sell yet. "It was kind of a watershed," said Hunter. Besides selling at a hefty price, it proved to both of us that we don't have to limit ourselves to what kind of works."

This year, Decker will show more of his abstract work at PIKNIK, first at a multiple artist Abstract Show on July 18 through August 5, and then at an Urban Show on August 8 through August 26. His landscapes will be on display June 20 through July 15 in a solo show, and on August 29 both of his styles will be on view in a solo fusion show.

With four upcoming shows, Decker needs to hit the canvas. This winter, he took a break from painting. He played keyboard, bass and cello in a duo and started making musical instruments.

"The nature of painting for me is such an up-and-down thing that any success is almost instantly tempered by a disastrous moment," he said. "It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that you wake up and think you never want to paint again. But then there's something just good enough that makes you come back and beat yourself up all over again."

With the break behind him, Decker is ready to get back to that good stuff. "I've got to dive right back into landscape," he said. "When I get to the Vineyard, it's pretty much just nonstop painting. But that's kind of the way I like it."

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Yankee Magazine
BEST MIX OF FASHION, ART, AND FUNCTION:
PIKNIK ART & APPAREL, Oak Bluffs
Editors' Choice – Yankee Travel Guide (2009)

Edgy European clothing for men and women is juxtaposed with home goods here on Martha's Vineyard: Think festively colored modern Bauer stoneware and radical reinterpretations of iconic English china patterns, plus contemporary paintings and sculpture. A selective collection of vintage housewares occupies the breezeway behind the house; the barn hosts rotating art shows with an island focus.

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Galleries: The Business of Art
— By Karla Araujo, October 23, 2008. Courtesy of The Martha's Vineyard Times.
Photo by CK Wolfson

Emerging artist Max Decker of West Tisbury and New York has found this balance in his relationship with Michael Hunter, owner of PIKNIK Art & Apparel in the Arts District of Oak Bluffs. At 26, Mr. Decker is a Vineyard native and a graduate of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. He is one of Martha's Vineyard's younger artists, but one who has attracted a great deal of buzz.

Michael Hunter, owner of PIKNIK Art & Apparel in Oak Bluffs, makes a point of displaying the work of emerging artists.

Mr. Hunter, the enthusiastic force behind PIKNIK, a boutique and gallery featuring an eclectic and high-end array of contemporary art, decorative accessories, jewelry and clothing, spotted Mr. Decker's exhibit at the Vineyard Artisans Festival several years ago and recruited him. "I enjoy showing the work of younger or emerging artists," he says. He is unmistakably proud of Mr. Decker's work and clearly an aggressive advocate of his talent.

Mr. Decker credits Mr. Hunter with enabling him to paint fewer but higher quality works. "I used to generate a ton of paintings to keep up with demand at the Artisans Festival," he says. "Now I can paint more carefully. Michael has helped me figure out a direction without imposing."

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UNIQUE BOUTIQUES – Cape Cod Life
— By C.K. Wolfson, August 2008

It's getting harder and harder these days to find shops that set themselves apart from the run-of-the-mall selection.

Even before reaching the entrance of the converted old house, visitors to Pik-Nik on Dukes County Avenue in the Oak Bluffs Arts District, know they are about to discover the unusual. There are clues all along the short driveway leading to the shop's parking lot: a pedestal sink that growns marigolds, the antique popcorn machine filled with crockery, a spouting water fountain that was once an old Maytag. THe pathway to the back entrance is embedded with bits and pieces of ceramics and bordered with spray-painted tricycles and sculpture.

"Expect anything," Michael Hunter says of his eclectic shop.

"Expect anything," owner Michael Hunter tosses out, as he lounges on a chair in front of a display of McClure's pickels in glass jars, next to striking, framed black and white photographs, behind Javier Marin's enormous bronze bust. Pony-tailed, barefoot, managing to make scruffy look handsome, HUnter, who earned a bachelor of fine arts degree from Ithaca College, spends the off-season as a New Your City-based fashion stylist who creates "aesthetic details" or settings for print ads, dispalys, and photo shoots. A former New York actor and occasional model, who as a teenager was hired to answer film start Claire Trevor's fan mail, he once worked as the assistant manager of Kenneth Cole's anchor store along wiht actress Mary Louise arker ("We used to crank up the music and dance in the windows," he recalls). He describes his boutique gallery as "fine art apparel, fine collectibles, and oddities."

Bryan Ferry's Roxy music plays in the background as visitors go treasure hunting among the artful kitsch: Wedgewood china, Pendleton blankets, jewelry designed by Penelope from found objects, antiques, handbags, retro looking china decorated with urban graphics, and imported eyewear. Walking through what once was the first floor of a modest house, one hardly knows where to look first. It is a banquet for the eyes. Forms are dressed with Vivienne Westwood's meticulously designed clothing. ("I love seeing women in their 60s come in and rediscover ther waists," Hunter quips.) There is a glass case filled with jeweler Miriam Haskell's extravagant clusters of beaded, asymmetrclal necklaces.

"I got in a rut a few summers ago—trapped in my own creation," Hunter says, smiling. "People keep telling me what they expect of me in no uncertain terms. But it's givining yourself permission, and letting go, that is the essence of creative energy."

A couple of years ago, Hunter opened the Studio Annex, a remodeled garage behind the shop, where in seaon he presents art shows and features the work of new artists. "I've done very well selling dead artists' work, he says. "The big challenge was discovering living artists. It's a wonderful pursuit of the art I connect with personally."

And his eye is unerring. Prominently featured are popular paintings by
Max Decker, a young artist who grew up on the island and who, with Hunter's mentoring, now earns his living as an artist in New York City.

Hunter has additional plans to expand. He talks about using the courtyard and gardens as a forum for live entertainment.

"I want people to come in, walk around and," he pauses, "laugh—find something they can connect to, and enrich their lives whether it's with a painting, a hat, or a jar of amazing pickles."

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Hob Knob-ing around Martha's Vineyard, Exploring the Island www.edgeboston.com
— By Jason Salzenstein

I was introduced to PIK-NIK, a seasonal ’I want everything in it’ boutique, and have officially dubbed it the best shop for EDGE readers on the island. The owner is a well-known stylist and brilliant buyer, who also happens to be quite easy on the eyes. He’s assembled a well-edited collection of this season’s must-haves, alongside vintage pieces and various other items you won’t be able to live without. I found everything from denim that’s only available in one other location, to fabulous retro-inspired vases, to a yak-yarn cap that’s apparently everything in LA, to the best pickles I’ve had in my life. (Yes, pickles!)

This store should definitely top your list of stops- just be sure to call ahead to make sure that they’re open. PIK-NIK :: 99 Dukes County Ave, Oak Bluffs ::
508-693-1366

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Strolling Down the Island’s Arty Avenues
— By Julia Rappaport (excerpted), Tuesday, August 5, 2008.
Courtesy of the Vineyard Gazette, Inc., copyright 2008

The Vineyard in August: ample time to amble, more than enough moments to mosey, and reasons aplenty to roam and rove. But when it comes to art, there is only one way to take it in and that is to stroll. “It’s like an arts block party with people just mingling in the warmest, friendliest way you could imagine,” said Judy Hartford, owner of the Red Mannequin, a boutique clothing store on Dukes County avenue, smack in the center of the Oak Bluffs arts district.

This week, art lovers, families and Vineyard visitors looking for an introduction to the summer social scene will have two opportunities to stroll the Island’s visual art offerings. First on Thursday, Edgartown galleries will open their doors from 6 to 8 p.m. There will be live music, fantastic art and wine to wash it all down. Then on Saturday, the Oak Bluffs arts district — a neighborhood of clothing boutiques, quirky stores and unique art galleries with photographs, paintings and artistic jewelry — will welcome the crowds from 4 to 7 p.m. As in Edgartown, there will be music, beverages and food both sweet and savory.

Over in Oak Bluffs, the stroll is truly a pedestrian fiesta. Cars struggle to make it down the short few blocks between Tony’s Market and the beginning of the Camp Grounds. Women flounce down the street in skirts and sun dresses and it’s jackets, though rarely a tie, for the men. Wine — or plastic champagne flutes filled with bubbly Prosecco and limoncello — flows like water and live jazz spills out onto the streets. It is one giant cocktail party.

The Oak Bluffs strolls began last year, after the district formed a formal organization to promote their area. “We are all very independent, but we are all there with art in mind,” said Holly Alaimo, owner of the Dragonfly Gallery on the corner of Dukes County and Vineyard avenues. Mrs. Alaimo, who has openings every two weeks all summer long and has been in business for 14 years, was a driving force behind starting the strolls.

She said the strolls have been particularly important this summer. “It’s important that businesses, in this difficult economic time, have an extra incentive to bring people to the store,” she said. “And I think the stores are just doing fine. We’re all feeling good about the summer and we think the strolls are a big part of the reason why.” In turn, Mrs. Alaimo thinks the galleries and the strolls are giving an extra little boost to the rest of Oak Bluffs. “It’s like having a little event for our town. People come to the stroll, because it starts at four, then they go out to dinner in our town, they go to the movie theatre in our town, they go out on Circuit avenue and get an ice cream in our town. Our little area has provided a lot of business for the town.”

The stroll also provides gallery owners with an excuse to go above and beyond the routine art opening. “We have openings, as does the Dragonfly, every two weeks, but for us, the stroll just ramps it up a lot,” said Sue Dawson, owner of the Alison Shaw Gallery. “It gives us an opportunity to really put a lot of effort into the opening and put a splash in it.” This summer, the gallery, which features the photographs of Alison Shaw, has hosted color-themed exhibits. Two weeks ago was the Black and White Show; this week highlights the color blue. The photography features the themed color, and the back wall is painted that shade. Refreshments also are color-coordinated. “We are coming up with blue-themed drinks and food,” said Ms. Dawson, who laid out Oreos for the last opening.

At the end of the street, Michael Hunter, owner of PIKNIK, is getting ready for the show he spent the past year planning: the Urban Show. The exhibit will feature seven Island artists and their renderings of New York and Boston and deejay Di will be spinning 1950s vintage vanguard jazz. “Oh, it’s going to be a great night,” Mr. Hunter said. “We kind of pull out the stops with these strolls, realizing we do two per summer, one in July and one in August, and realizing we’re attracting a different crowd. It is one of our high holy days,” he laughed.

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Galleries: Gallery Owner Mentors Vineyard Artist
— By Samantha McCoy, July 10, 2008. Courtesy of The Martha's Vineyard Times

Michael Hunter has a gift for artfully combining paintings, designer hats, Oregon wool blankets, jewelry, pickles, and vintage china into one small space, as demonstrated in his unique Oak Bluffs art gallery and boutique, PIKNIK Art and Apparel.

"Everything I have is the best example of what I can pull together," Mr. Hunter states simply.

Max Decker at work in his West Tisbury studio. Photo by Jon Ollwerther

He met 26-year-old West Tisbury native Max Decker four years ago at an artisans fair. Impressed with the young painter's conspicuous talent, he immediately purchased five of Mr. Decker's paintings for himself.

In PIKNIK's main gallery, Mr. Decker's paintings hang on a wall adjacent to a display of candles and across from an ornate jewelry case. "In here, I like to mix the art with objects," Mr. Hunter explains. "It's a reminder that art interacts with your environment."

"Fire Lane, State Forest," oil on canvas. Photo courtesy of Max Decker.

This Saturday, PIKNIK will open a two-week show in the gallery's studio featuring the paintings of Max Decker.

The artist gained attention over the past few years for his richly layered and evocative Vineyard landscapes. While predominately modest in scale, they boast vast appeal: realist principles combined with impressionist characteristics that enhance the raw beauty of the subjects.

Despite his accomplishments and the almost instant recognition given his paintings, Mr. Decker remains determinedly modest. He began, he says, "barely scratching out landscape paintings," after converting a small barn behind the home of his parents, Chris and Nelia Decker, into a studio.

The young artist's work has maintained a presence in the space of PIKNIK gallery for the past two seasons. Mr. Hunter says that he is honored to represent the artist. "He could have shown anywhere on the Island," he says.

Outside, a pathway leads to the fine arts studio that will cater exclusively to Mr. Decker's landscapes beginning July 10. Mr. Hunter explains the smaller gallery is a "cleaner space to view the art, intended to highlight art for art's sake."

Mr. Decker paints in his Brooklyn apartment, where he moved two years ago after graduating from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. There, he explores a completely different style of work from his popular Vineyard landscapes: large murals approach abstraction as they explore the juxtaposition of humans and industry in a means that suggests collage.

He admits it's hard to get back into painting landscapes when he returns to West Tisbury for the summer. "I'm scrambling trying to figure out how to do it again," he says. The wall of his studio suggests differently: More than a dozen small landscape paintings hang in an array of subtle atmospheric colors.

It is easy to associate with paintings that speak so vividly of an Island locale while boasting coral skies and light green clouds.

"His work gets more finely tuned each season," Mr. Hunter observes, "I attribute it to him letting himself work in other realms [of painting] and then bringing back new facets to his landscapes."
Fire Lane, State Forest

Mr. Decker admits that despite its difficulties, he enjoys the "schizophrenic lifestyle" of switching back and forth between painting genres and adds, "The paintings influence each other more and more as I get better jumping between the two. It's interesting putting it all together."

He continues, "I have to have some connection to the places that catch my eye." Once inspired, he returns and sketches shapes, filling them in with paint. He tries to avoid adhering to a predetermined vision, instead allowing the painting to reveal itself. After returning to his studio, the artist touches up the paintings, occasionally introducing a completely new palette to them in order to keep himself intrigued.

Though Decker finds his paintings are, he says, "never as good as you want them to be," his audience seems to believe differently. Mr. Hunter has already scheduled a second Max Decker show for August 23, because he usually sells out of everything from the first show: an impressive accomplishment for an artist who has just begun to make his mark on the art world.

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Working the great outdoors
— By Brooks Robards (excerpted), September 20, 2007.
Courtesy of The Martha's Vineyard Times.

Browsers at Pik-Nik saw their reflections and artwork on the mirrored wall. Photo by Ralph Stewart.

Eighteen artists have brought their work together for a plein-air exhibit at three galleries in Oak Bluffs. The show runs through Friday, Sept. 21, at Dragonfly Gallery, Periwinkle Studio, and Pik-Nik Gallery.

Each gallery features work from one location that the participating artists were asked to paint. At Dragonfly, the subject is the Edgartown lighthouse, while at Periwinkle, it is Menemsha Harbor, and at Pik-Nik, the Tisbury Waterworks. None of the paintings could be larger than 12 by 16 inches in order to accommodate the available gallery space.

In addition, each artist could submit one larger painting, up to 24 by 30 inches, done at Philbin Beach, Owen Park, Lucy Vincent Beach or a location chosen by the artist. All the work had to be started after Sept. 1.

Popularized in the 19th century by the Barbizon School and Impressionist painters like Monet and Renoir, plein-air painting means working outdoors in available light rather than in a studio or from photographs. Plein-air painting continues to have a strong following, but organizing it as a planned activity culminating in a show is unusual.

At Michael Hunter's Pik-Nik Gallery, the subject is the Tisbury Waterworks, which overlooks Lake Tashmoo. Many of the artists steered away from depicting the building itself, concentrating on the water and foliage instead. Ms. Mason chose a palette of autumn colors for her rendition, where the water, full of reflections, stretches out as smooth as a pond. Ms. Mercier uses pinks and blues to compose a similar, reflection-bound scene that is strikingly different in mood.

Brooks Robards is a contributing writer to The Times.

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