Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.
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flooring back to its natural hardwood color. The overall effect is calm and serene, but nev- er boring. Cape Ann art shines from the walls. "I have been collecting local paintings for a while," Hamilos says. "These days, I'm becom- ing more interested in abstract pieces." From the paintings to the mural to the way the house grows out of solid rock, art is every- where. Hamilos wouldn't have it any other way. MASTER CREATOR Left: Hamilos collects Cape Ann art, which could not look more at home than on the walls of a quintessential Cape Ann home. Opposite: Knowles's dining room mural transformed a lovely room into a breathtaking repository of Cape Ann art on a large scale. Below left: The artist sits at the dining table surrounded by his creation, the Twin Lights on Thatcher's Island and Gloucester fishing schooners in view behind him. STROKES OF GENIUS Inside Kathy Hamilos's already-spectacular Gloucester home, a mural by Rockport artist KEN KNOWLES nearly steals the spotlight. When Kathy and Chris Hamilos moved to the North Shore, they made Pathways for Children, the largest provider of services for families and children on Cape Ann, their philanthropy of choice. The organization holds an annual fundraiser, which in 2006 consisted of the auction of Adirondack chairs decorated by local artists. The one that captured the couple's attention depicted Gloucester fishing schooners painted by Ken Knowles. Knowles renders highly collectible New England scenes in a contemporary form of American Impression- ism. His canvases, which are on view in galleries along the East Coast, are especially fine in their depiction of light. His contribution to the auction appealed to several attendees; to the delight of Pathways and Knowles alike, a bidding war ensued between Chris and another art lover and, while other chairs sold for $3,000 to $4,000, Knowles's chair fetched over $11,400. The Hamiloses liked their new piece of art so much that they visited the artist in his studio and soon became friends. When Chris and Kathy announced their plan to remarry, Knowles of- fered to embellish the home Kathy loved with a mural. Rather than fresco, which applies pigment to fresh, still-wet plaster, or a true mural, which is painted onto a dry architectural surface, Knowles did what he does best and painted the evocative, beautifully lit Cape Ann scenes onto canvas in his Rockport studio. He then ap- plied the large canvas sheets to the dining room walls in the manner of wallpaper. "A mural is not a large painting," says Knowles. "It's flat; a decoration more than a painting. If the scene were a painting, it would be far more intense." Now, the home's dining room is the beautifully rendered backdrop to many dinner parties. "The room is atmospheric and beautiful and always promotes great conversation," Hamilos says. —R.C. 155