April 1 will have come and gone by the time you are reading this week’s column. In earlier years, it was the day John Early would first have appeared wearing shorts, his preferred dress throughout the summer, until he gave in to chilling temperatures on Nov. 1. It was also the day that plastic daffodils were planted across the front garden at Howes House, George Manter’s annual April Fool’s Day joke.
Linda Hearn and I went to Vineyard Haven last week to see the Tom Maley exhibition at the Martha’s Vineyard Museum. It is in a small side room at the museum, not the large multi-space presentation I had expected. Still, it is one perfect gem after another, showcasing more of the breadth of Tom’s work than many people may be familiar with.
The first thing you will see is a Chinese red-painted pillar on which is hung a self-portrait of Tom, beautifully rendered in brushy blocks of colors. The painting is studied, thoughtful, as is the artist shown studying himself. Every drawing, every painting, every sculpture invites careful viewing. Many are enhanced by commentaries from other artists, his daughter Sandra, and his son and daughter-in-law, Tim and Eileen Maley.
Another of my favorite pieces is a paper collage, cut, and arranged by Tom from his bed, near the end of his life. It reminded me of one of my favorite photographs, of Henri Matisse lying in bed with his cat, cutting up pieces of colored paper for the glorious collages he designed and directed when he was no longer able to go to his studio. Tom’s collage has much of the same energy and playfulness. It is humbling to see how an artist continues to create, to accommodate that spark by exploring a new medium.
It is a mistake we frequently make, to think we know an artist by what is familiar. I mentioned to Linda the surprising conversations I have had with artist friends about the artists who influenced them, the artists whose work they studied, and admired. We are, none of us, defined by one image, or one period of our work.
Tom’s dancing sculptures are wild, joyous, stylized, and wonderful, but that is not the entirety of his art. He was a gifted draftsman and painter, a student of myth and history, an observer of many things. It is a gift to see the familiar and the unexpected combined in this beautifully staged exhibition.
Speaking of art, there will be a reception for Nancy Cramer in the Community Room at the West Tisbury library this Friday, April 3, from 3:30 to 4:30 pm. Nancy is exhibiting her constructions of monotype and collage through the month of April.
My longtime colleague at The Times, Kay Mayhew, has announced her retirement from the weekly Tisbury column she has written for more years than I can remember. She was already well-established when I took over writing the West Tisbury column from Mary Jo Joiner in 2004. Buzzy Gardener wrote the Edgartown column back then, Megan Alley covered Oak Bluffs, Jackie Sexton was the Chilmark columnist, and June Manning wrote the Aquinnah column. All were examples of fine writers who told the stories of each town and its residents, the dailyness, and the extraordinary.
But none of the others gave us weekly tidbits titled “Heard on Main Street.” That was her trademark sign-on and sign-off. They were the first things I read as soon as the paper arrived on Thursday afternoons.
Thanks for making me laugh, for making me weep, for sharing your stories, especially your knowledge of town and Island history, and for always being the sensible voice in the room.