Meet the Artists: Beth Williams, Melody Phaneuf, David Calvo
December 27, 2018 / Good to Know, Things to Do & SeeBeth Williams is a studio jeweler and glass beadmaker whose original focus in metals shifted to incorporate the kaleidoscope of colors and textures that glass now contributes to her work. Combining glass, gold, and silver, Beth creates contemporary elegant jewelry that is colorful, playful and sculptural. From her earliest beginnings in stained (“flat”) glass, Beth’s designs included jewelry as well as windows, functional pieces and sculpture. The transition to metalworking allowed her to focus more on smaller scale work and specifically jewelry. In 1994 Beth set up a lampworking studio and gallery and now works full time creating beads and finished jewelry, specializing in custom work.
Melody Phaneuf is an oil painter who works in the Boston School Tradition, a blend of French Academy Realism and Impressionism. She paints her subjects as they appear, influenced by the particular light and atmosphere that envelopes them. Gloucester’s lovely coastal scenery, charming little houses, and quaint old boats have all been subjects for Phaneuf’s paintings. Each picture chronicles a mood and experience, along with some of the movement and energy the artist has absorbed from living by the sea. Along with her landscape painting pursuits, Phaneuf is an accomplished still life and portrait painter. When not painting en plein-air, you’ll find her in her marvelous north light studio, working on a still life or portrait commission.
David Calvo had the good fortune to be trained by woodcarvers and sculptors who came from the European apprenticeship traditions. After graduating with a degree in philosophy, David decided to pursue his passion and has been professionally carving and sculpting for 38 years. He moved to Gloucester in 1990 to work on a commission for a designer and fell in love with both the area and the community. David has been a guest presenter at many international woodworking conferences and has written articles on wood carving technique for magazines. He has also been a guest on national PBS TV shows and runs a school to teach woodcarving and other crafts. David runs Calvo Wood Carving School offering a variety of classes for all levels of experience to learn the craft of woodcarving. Visit the school’s website for its current class schedule.