Berkshire Botanical series embraces power of nature

Berkshire Botanical series embraces power of nature

Peter Gerakaris

Provided

For the last three years, in an old Cornwall farmhouse, Peter Gerakaris has been developing “Microcosms,” his show dedicated to endangered species and their habitats. His kaleidoscopic icons and mosaics, psychedelic “tondos” (paintings in the round), and vivid origami sculptures—“I love color,” he says, and you can tell—are on view at the Berkshire Botanical Society’s Leonhardt Galleries in Sheffield, Mass. through August 4.

It is the icons that are, perhaps, the most arresting. Traditional icons are venerated Christian images, typically paintings of Christ or the Madonna, that serve worshippers as an opening into the realm of the sacred unseen. Gerakaris began making icons of endangered species shortly after a 2017 trip to Rome delivered him to a Byzantine basilica in Trastevere, where he was struck by the power of the form.

A piece on display in Gerakaris' new exhibit.Provided

As an art student in Rome, he had learned the traditional technique, using egg tempera and gold leaf to paint a Madonna and Child icon, which his Greek grandmother later had consecrated. In 2017, he had recently begun to work with depictions of endangered species, he said, “and I thought of this crazy parallel—these ancient art forms of iconography are almost as endangered as these animals. What better way to reinforce the contemporary scarcity of these creatures than by using this very rare, sacred, time-honored but kind of endangered process?” The resulting paintings reframe these animals and their endangered habitats as windows into the sacred, and demand that we look these rare beings in the eyes.

“There’s a pygmy owl painting in the show. Pygmy owls are endangered and threatened in American southwest because their habitats are being destroyed, due to many reasons but mostly because of brush fires. The figure of the owl is a static silhouette, but in patterning the internal plumage, I allow myself to just kind of cut loose. I found myself painting—and this just kind of came out—if you were to crop that and forget about the rest of the painting, it could be an abstraction of fire and smoke,” Gerakaris said. “I’m deeply humbled by the natural world. For me personally, walking in the forest is my own version of going to a cathedral. I experience a sense of wonder that makes me realize there is some power out there far greater and transcendent than us mere mortals. For me painting is a matter of evoking that feeling.”

Latest News

Books and bites beckon at the upcoming Sharon Summer Book Signing

Author and cartoonist Peter Steiner signed books at Sharon Summer Book Signing last summer.

Photo by Stephanie Stanton

The 27th annual Sharon Summer Book Signing at the Hotchkiss Library of Sharon will be held Friday, Aug. 1, from 4:45 to 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, Aug. 2, from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; and Sunday, Aug. 3, at noon.

Friday’s festivities will honor libraries and the power of the written word. In attendance will be 29 locally and nationally recognized authors whose books will be for sale. With a wide array of genres including historical fiction, satire, thrillers, young adult and non-fiction, there will be something for every reader.

Keep ReadingShow less
Voices from Ukraine to America come to Stissing Center July 27

Ukraine Emergency Fundraiser at The Stissing Center in 2022 raised over $120,000 for Sunflower of Peace.

Photo by Michael Churton

The spirit of Ukraine will be on display at the Stissing Center in Pine Plains on Sunday, July 27. Beginning at 5 p.m., the “Words to America from Ukraine” fundraiser is set to showcase the simultaneous beauty of Ukrainian culture and the war-time turmoil it faces, all the while fundraising in support of Ukrainian freedom.

“Words to America from Ukraine” aims to remind and spread awareness for the suffering that often gets forgotten by those who live in comfortable worlds, explained Leevi Ernits, an organizer for the event. “We are trying to make an attempt to remind people that we are human, and we are connected with human values,” she said. “With very few words, poetry can express very deep values.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Grumbling Gryphons’ set to celebrate 45th anniversary with gala and summer theater camp

Celebrating its 45th year, the Grumbling Gryphons will perform at HVRHS Friday, Aug. 1, at 7 p.m.

Photo provided

The Grumbling Gryphons Traveling Children’s Theater is preparing to celebrate its 45th year — not with fanfare, but with feathers, fabric, myth, chant, and a gala finale bursting with young performers and seasoned artists alike.

The Gryphons’ 2025 Summer Theater Arts Camp begins July 28 and culminates in a one-night-only performance gala at Housatonic Valley Regional High School on Friday, Aug. 1 at 7 p.m. Founder, playwright, and artistic director, Leslie Elias has been weaving together the worlds of myth, movement and theater for decades.

Keep ReadingShow less
Learning calligraphy by hand

Attendees practive brushstrokes led by calligraphy teacher Debby Reelitz.

Photo by Patrick L. Sullivan

Calligrapher Debby Reelitz came to the David M. Hunt Library to give a group of adults and children an introduction to modern calligraphy Thursday, July 17.

Reelitz said she was introduced to calligraphy as a youngster and has been a professional calligrapher and teacher for more than 25 years.

Keep ReadingShow less