Greater Guide’s ‘Artsy Women’—
Gretchen Berry, Hazel Larson, and
Sharon Mott

Gretchen “Cricket” Berry
The way Gretchen “Cricket” Berry tells it, she got her nickname working at her old sales job. “A cricket crawled across my desk between typewriter and fax machine. And the name stuck.” “Cricket” fits her “hop-to-it” personality and “out of the way” looks. Short spiky brown hair tipped with gold-blond, brassy boots, gaucho pants, and jeans jacket. It’s a wonderful off-beat look that is both appealing and expressive. “I like dressing funky,” she announces. “I love bright bold colors. And having lots of energy.” That energy spills onto tableaus in acrylic medium shaping her “spirited art.” When told her works are Picasso-like, she’s quick to say, “I love that comparison. My works are all over the place. Bits and pieces integrated on canvas.” Besides ten years as an artist, Berry is a consultant for Feng Shui, the Chinese art of interior design based on the idea that your space is an outward representation of your life. “Look at your space,” she insists. “Is it cluttered? Stagnant? Knowing helps make changes.” Add to the mix the universal Law of Attraction made popular by a recent Oprah show. Say you want to meet someone special. Berry suggests placing a fountain, a painting of a man and woman, and two candles in a special space. “You physically set it up and…” She hesitates as if an answer hangs in mid-air. “Send that intention into the universe. You’ll have a relationship.” It seems to work. Though born and raised in South Bend, Berry has plans to move to Benton Harbor. “I’m water, a Cancer,” she says, referring to the zodiac. “Lake Michigan’s close by. There’s something energetic happening there.” She pauses, adding, “A cricket is a symbol of good luck in Chinese. And a good artist name. Gretchen “Cricket” Berry
574-288-4410
www.spiritedart.net

Hazel Larson
Hazel Larson is not one you’d expect to paint with bold brush onto blank canvas. With shy English accent, you feel she’d be more comfortable serving you a spot of tea. But witness the scene when music blared in the heart of Benton Harbor on New Year’s Eve. That night Larson slowly gyrated to the rock n’ roll beat. This uninhibited side slips easily into her work. Larson’s medium is “gouache” (pronounced gwash); its opaque and refl ective qualities ideal for lively folk art. One piece boasts two brown-skinned women, bright-blue fl owered sarongs hanging from hips, arms gracefully extended. They’re fl anking a beige-skinned woman wearing red sarong, all performing a jovial jig. Another piece, gleaming gold, fl aunts four women in ritual-like reel under a blaring sun. It’s aptly titled “Dance of Surrender.”

Born in England, Hazel graduated from a provincial art college in London. She talks about her commission to do the mezzanine wall for Trafalgar Square Bank “It was a sand-blast glass design about the Battle of Trafalgar,” she offers, “featuring Galleons which are large vessels used for commercial trad and as warships). I put patterns in the mast and riggings and added guns.” Following her husband, Larson moved to Seattle where she found a new confi dence which eventually transferred to the palette. “Feminine energy,” she calls it. Most of my paintings are from a female viewpoint.” She admits what makes her work “spiritual but fun,” was years of inner searching, a search that eventually brought her to Michigan in the summer of 2005. After displaying some items at the Box Factory in St. Joseph, she moved to Benton Harbor. Now she can’t help but declare her love for the new Arts District. “I’ve been accepted here. As an artist, I like the freedom.”
Hazel Larson
269-982-4057

Sharon “Sherry” Mott
Swirling sweeping strokes are signatures of artist Sherry Mott. Curves and circles dominate the canvas. Colors coil gently into corners. Though she dabbles in acrylic and watercolor, her favorite medium is oil. “Oil represents the old masters and how they work. Colors are more vibrant. I can move paint around, let it fl ow into itself.” When asked why she chooses round patterns, Mott answers, “O is my favorite shape. It’s like life. A never-ending circle. No beginning. No end.” With such deep insight, it’s hard to believe Mott’s talent once hibernated -- producing a blank canvas. She swears she had nothing to paint then. Call it artist’s block. That dry period lasted six years. “It happened when we moved to Ludington to be near family, “ she says. Mott slowly returned to art classes to jump-start her career. She accepted a teaching stint at a home for alcoholic women. More self-assured, she began applying backbone to brush and eventually opened the Majestic Art Gallery. As her life fi lled up, so did her paintings. Most tell stories – some realistic, others more dreamlike. “I like details, yet I’m a dreamer,” she says. She favors rich tones of black, blue, teal, navy and pastel pink to create feeling. You can see the dreams in her paintings. From fantasy-like fi refl ies to a realistic old woman’s fact. Her painting “Dancing thru Life” is like reading a chapter about a developing relationship. A man and woman tang, arms wrapped around each other. He’s dressed in blue: she’s in bright red. Clothing lines drape at their feet, then sweep up to form a heart. Mott grew up in the Benton Harbor area. When a gallery owner inquired about her work, she has returned, along with her art work to her new Majestic Art Gallery at 90 West Main St., Benton Harbor. It seems she has come full circle.
Sharon “Sherry” Mott
269-927-2717
www.MajesticArtGallery.com

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