Local Artists Create Postcards for Donors
The Northampton Survival Center recently collaborated with 15 local artists to create a set of postcards designed exclusively for the Center.
The postcards were sent to members of the Bread & Butter Club, a group of supporters who make automatic, recurring gifts to the Center on a monthly (or weekly) basis. The Bread & Butter Club provides a steady, reliable source of funding ensuring that the Center can fulfil its mission of providing food and other resources to low-income individuals and families throughout Hampshire County.
The postcards were developed as a way to say thank you to the Center’s recurring donors. Most Bread & Butter donors give monthly, presenting the Center with 12 opportunities each year to reflect on their generosity. The hope is that donors will then send these postcards to people they’re grateful for, giving them an opportunity to honor people in their own circles every month.
An introductory set of 3 postcards were sent as a preview last fall, with 12 more sent this month. All postcards were created by local artists, following the theme of “produce” (fruits and vegetables). The artists—all of whom are listed below—include Center clients, former volunteers, students, full-time artists, and hobbyists. Each artist was given an honorarium for their work, generously donated by the Mo and Cher Willems Foundation. (Mo also contributed a postcard featuring his beloved characters Elephant and Piggie!)
The Center plans to create a new set of postcards to be sent to Bread & Butter donors each January. If you’d like your own set of postcards next year, you can join the Bread & Butter Club today by visiting northamptonsurvival.org/breadandbutter. If you’re a local artist interested in participating in next year’s postcard project, email the Center for more information.
Aaron Wood
Website: www.etsy.com/shop/justonescarf
Instagram: @balancingactgames
Facebook: facebook.com/AaronWoodDesigns
Aaron Wood is an illustrator/graphic designer from Western Massachusetts. Working digitally, he aims to create art with a retro feel to it and draws inspiration from art deco, old travel posters, and pulp novel covers. Aaron is open to new clients and commissions, creating everything from business logos to commissioned portraits. When he’s not working on a project, Aaron enjoys playing and collecting board games.
Jeanette Wintjen
Jeanette Wintjen is a multidisciplinary artist currently residing in Western Massachusetts. (Full bio to come.)
Becky Jones
Becky Jones is a photographer currently residing in Western Massachusetts. (Full bio to come.)
Mo Willems
Website: mowillems.com
Instagram: @mo.willems.studio
Mo Willems is a local writer, animator, voice actor, and children’s book author. (Full bio to come.)
Marc Lapierre
Website: linktr.ee/marctoons
Instagram: @marctoons
Marc Lapierre is an illustrator, music lover, proud dad, and life-long geek. (Full bio to come.)
Denise Connolly
Denise Connolly is a client of the Northampton Survival Center and a self-taught artist. She has been drawing birds for 50 years and appreciates the calmness that creating art can bring. Denise starts with pencil sketches, adds black ink, and finishes with Prismacolor pencils to give life to her drawings. Denise says that the Center is a “godsend” and was happy to offer this drawing for our postcard collection because she knows how important the pantry is to so many people in the community.
Søren Mason Temple
Instagram: @siren74
Facebook: facebook.com/sorenmasontemple
Søren Mason Temple is a mixed media artist from Western Mass who has been called “a Tim Burton version of a Beatrix Potter book.” She creates objects to make a world she wants to live in because the one we have doesn’t meet her standards.
Søren is a former Survival Center volunteer.
Emmett Dube
Instagram: @emmettdube
Email: emmettdube@icloud.com
Emmett Dube is an 11-year-old artist living in Easthampton, Massachusetts. He is currently a sixth grader at Hilltown Cooperative Charter Public School.
His artwork is primarily illustrations, both traditional and digital. His hobbies include Dungeons & Dragons and other role playing games, soccer, and skiing.
Emmett has created several commissioned works to date, and is always open to new projects.
Bob Young
Website: bobyoung.photography
Email: bobyoungphotography@gmail.com
Bob Young is a photographer born and raised in Springfield who still resides in Western Mass. He uses high resolution digital photography to create his images which are then printed on various papers and metals. He is primarily self-taught and has also gained knowledge and experience from several photographers that he has been fortunate to know over the years.
Bob’s love of nature and the outdoors has allowed him to see and explore different landscapes. Traveling has allowed him to explore other corners of the world and bring home the flavor of those venues in his photographs. His photographs are available for purchase via his website or email.
Sabrina Dorsainvil
Website: sabrinadorsainvil.com
Instagram: @oh_sabeedee
Sabrina Dorsainvil is a public artist, illustrator, and civic designer whose work ranges from playful drawings to strategic design projects. Sabrina’s civic practice centers on navigating the human experience and uses creative approaches to address issues around public health, civic participation, care infrastructure, and the built environment. Fascinated by people and the way we interact with each other and everyday spaces, Sabrina’s artwork focuses on storytelling and finding simple ways of celebrating people and their humanity.
Dave Rothstein
Website: daverothstein.com
Instagram: @snowsculpt
Dave Rothstein is a sculptor, photographer, printmaker and illustrator. His snow sculptures are larger-than-life and ephemeral. But his photography is quite the opposite, focusing on the smallest of details. The rest of his work falls in between. But no matter the medium, Dave courts a relatable whimsy – a playfulness that draws upon both the natural world and word play.
Chris Gentes
Website: chrisgentes.com
Chris Gentes is an artist living in Northampton, Mass. His primary medium is acrylic paint, but he has worked with most mediums, including watercolors, spray paint, and video, to name just a few. Chris is also a musician (sax & piano) and a composer. He performs piano music on Saturdays (11 a.m. to 2 p.m.) at the Wild Chestnut Café in Florence.
Chris is currently working on an on-going series of artworks of and inspired by the Woodstar Café in Northampton. The artworks are currently on display at the café, and the exhibition will evolve as new artworks are added. Chris will be donating 10% of all sales from this series of work to the Northampton Survival Center, where there are also prints by Chris decorating the offices.
Azy Cardona
Website: autisticazyshop.com
Instagram: @autistic_azy
The brand Autistic Azy is c
reated by a young agender artist who is deaf and autistic, named Azy (all pronouns)! They make cute educational comics on their Instagram to spread information on autism and deaf struggles, facts, and lifestyles. Sick of being treated “less than” for their disabilities and being turned away from jobs, they took matter into their own hands. Azy is a jack of all trade in multiple mediums such as painting and clay work and sells her own handmade merchandise on their website! Their dream is to support herself and make people happy through her art.
Gabriela Sepulveda
Website: theivorybunny.com
Instagram: @theivorybunny
Facebook: facebook.com/theivorybunny
Gabriela Sepulveda is a painter and illustrator from San Juan, Puerto Rico, who graduated from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and has a Masters from Atlantic University College. She is interested in studying organic subjects in conjunction with mechanical ones and is influenced by Moebius, Camilla d’Errico, Pop Surrealism, science fiction, and comics because of their command of storytelling. Gabriela was a muralism apprentice and currently volunteers with Commonwealth Murals. She has received the Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition and has been chosen as “The People’s Choice” among portraits displayed in The D’amour Museum of Fine Arts Community Gallery. Gabriela works to better her community through her art while continuing to grow her visual language.
Tessa Hoverman
Tessa Hoverman is almost 10 and is a student at Bridge Street School. She loves art, music, animals, gardening, architecture and interior design, cooking (and eating), reading, math and writing. Tessa also studies violin at NCMC, climbs rocks at Central Rock Gym, and climbs most anything else she can find something to climb (trees, poles, etc.).She is so happy to be a part of this project for the Survival Center!
Fun fact: Tessa used broccoli to paint the broccoli in her picture.