The time has come for the shop master
to have a day in the sun and some wares in the window.
The work of Berwick artist and Ben
Franklin Crafts frame shop manager Ross Bachelder is being
featured this month in a show at the Franklin Gallery, "On
the Wall, Off the Wall: Works By Ross Bachelder."
The most striking thing about this show
is the variety of genres in which Bachelder is comfortable
working, and, in fact, excels. He brings an original flair
and talent to traditional and abstract paintings,
assemblage, drawings, and photography. At first glance,
the show looks more like the work of 10 artists than one.
"The creative world is, I think,
populated by two somewhat distinct camps of people: the
specialists and the generalists," Bachelder said. "Both
camps make absolutely essential contributions to the arts.
By temperament and inclination, I’m a confirmed
generalist. I go where the spirit moves me, exploring
similarities between artistic genres, searching for
connections between theater, writing, music and the visual
arts, relishing the way one creative project leads
serendipitously to another."
Bachelder’s involvement in the visual
arts is a somewhat new development, although he has always
loved museums and galleries. He holds degrees in music and
English literature, and has worked extensively both those
fields for years. Still, Bachelder felt a pull towards the
visual arts he couldn’t deny.
"Six years ago, as I took stock of my
work as a writer, musician and theater professional, I
realized I’d not made a concerted effort in the visual
arts," he said. "I had only a scattering of original
drawings in my files, some pretty good, others not good at
all. So I decided to get focused and begin to produce.
"Since then I’ve shown my work in more
than a dozen exhibits, growing from a sort of terror that
what I was doing had no merit to a realization that many
people have expressed interest in my art," he said.
"Together, their continued interest and my own burning
ambition to produce and grow as a visual artist are what
keep me in the studio."
Working at the Franklin Gallery has
given him a unique window through which to see the arts,
Bachelder said.
"I genuinely love my work as manager of
Ben Franklin Crafts frame shop and the Franklin Gallery,"
he said. "Each day, we framers see a fascinating mixture
of works — both humble and magnificent — cross our service
counter. Some people see only weak and uninspired art;
others work in galleries and museums where they see only
the works of professionally trained artists who are
immersed in the high-pressure world of gallery exhibiting.
As a retail framer I see everything imaginable."
That perspective has deepened his love
for local arts communities everywhere, and deepened his
resolve to help expose this work to as many people as
possible.
"It helps me appreciate the enormous
range of creative activity in every community, and it
tempers that very human tendency to look only for what is
bad in a work of art," he said. "With a little effort and
a generous heart, one can nearly always find something
good in a specific work."
Bachelder has founded Artful Endeavors,
a marketing and career development service dedicated to
helping people attempting to make a go of it in the world
of the fine and performing arts.
As far as the future goes, much like
his latest show, Bachelder is going to let his muse lead
him where it may, in the arts, writing, music, and life.
"It’s likely I’ll never find a home in
the conventional gallery world," he said. "Nor am I
looking for one. I’m too much a maverick, too much a
generalist in a world of specialists. All of that suits me
fine. I’ve made creativity an indispensable part of my
daily living."
