Abstract artist brings studio, gallery back to Millerton

MILLERTON —  Formerly an Oddfellows Hall and Masonic Lodge among other incarnations, the building at 5 Main St. in which artist Harper Blanchet has just opened his Twilight Studios and the Blue Star Gallery represents a literal homecoming for Blanchet, as he lived and worked in the very same spot from 2002 to 2008.

Blanchet’s first artistic medium was photography, and he was heavily influenced by his amateur photographer father, whose job as a chemical engineer and subsequent interest in the chemistry aspect of and science behind photographic film development caused Blanchet to pick up his first camera at the age of 7.

He started painting in 1970, though, at the time, he was painting houses. He began to paint on canvas in 1980.

Blanchet’s art and love of nature have taken him to varied locations in the Northeast, with former studios in the Catskills and Northern Vermont as well as the more local environs of Copake and Ancram, and West Cornwall and Falls Village in Connecticut.

“Whatever my space is, [there are] two things I want to do,” said Blanchet. “I want to make it very functional, and I want to make it very visual.” This is evident right away upon walking into his workroom at the entrance to the space: Everything is tidy and neat, with all tools and ephemera laid out in a way that is both eye-catching and organized.

“All my negatives and slides, they’re all catalogued. Everything is ID’d and organized; otherwise, it gets to be chaos.”

He specializes in active abstracts and color field paintings. He has a background in carpentry and makes his own canvas stretchers.

Blanchet described what he does as “building” rather than painting a piece.

“What’s going on in the corners, what’s included on the inside of the edge, what’s negated on the outside of the edge, what’s going on in the interior … it’s very engaging. So I’m building up, and I’m erasing, and the idea is that you’re always trying to make the painting stronger.”

When asked how he decides what to paint, Blanchet answered, “Sometimes I have an idea of what I’m going to do with the paint, other times I just get a lot of paint on the canvas and then I start my adding and subtracting.

“So it just starts. You put the canvas up, it’s a white canvas, and then you start. It’s very creative — I can do anything. Let’s put a yellow ground on it, or maybe I’ll break it up into 10 areas and do 10 different colors, or the middle on both sides will be the same color.”

Blanchet said there is no hidden meaning in any of his paintings. “My paintings don’t represent anything … [they’re] just form, color, edge — things like that. There’s no message … there’s no verbal at all, it’s just totally visual.”

How long does a painting take? “I don’t time it. I’m working on maybe 12 paintings at the same time … It could add up to a week, two weeks. I work on one for a while, put it down, pick up another one.

“I never consider my paintings finished,” said Blanchet. “I could always work on them.”

Blanchet gives his paintings numbers in lieu of titles, and he’s now up to No. 618. When he moved back to 5 Main St. in September 2022, he was at No. 600.

The gallery features only paintings at the moment, though Blanchet remains steadfast in his search for a “dream patron” to offset the monetary expense of film development. “I used to have a darkroom and I was a master printer, but I would just rather take the photographs,” he said.

Twilight Studios and the Blue Star Gallery is open Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 4 p.m. and by appointment. More information is available at www.harperblanchet.com.

Artist Harper Blanchet with his painting No. 407 in his newly opened Twilight Studios and the Blue Star Gallery. Photo by Emily Edelman

A selection of paintings by artist Harper Blanchet in his Twilight Studios and the Blue Star Gallery at 5 Main St. in Millerton. Photo by Emily Edelman

An assortment of Harper Blanchet’s painting supplies sit under a wall of photographs at the Twilight Studios and the Blue Star Gallery. Photo by Emily Edelman

Painting No. 402 by Harper Blanchet. Photo by Emily Edelman

Artist Harper Blanchet with his painting No. 407 in his newly opened Twilight Studios and the Blue Star Gallery. Photo by Emily Edelman