Ten of my favorite things
Judith Brust
Artist and owner of the new Gallery Blue
This week, artist Judith Brust opens the doors to her Gallery Blue for the first time in the former location of Mary Beth Splaine's "Old South Gallery," with its perennial favorite wine and cheese receptions.

Artist Judith Brust, owner of Gallery Blue, and one of her oil monoprint works, "Spirit Guide."

Brust retired to Nantucket last February with her husband, Robert.

The Brusts are moving down from Rochester, N.Y., where Brust operated the first incarnation of Gallery Blue and her husband worked with Kodak.

"We're just getting settled in. I still have dishes in the boxes," said Brust.

Once a watercolorist, Brust exhibited her earlier works on island in the eighties. At 50, she returned to graduate school

"I spent seven years working very hard to come where I am right now. And I feel very satisfied from the experience," said Brust, who works in oil-based monoprint and describes her work as expressionistic, generally geometric and imbued with mythological and archetypal symbolism.

Last year, Brust assumed Barbara van Winkelen's space mid-summer, when van Winkelen fell ill.

Her opening this weekend on Old South Wharf will mark the beginning of her first full summer on island.

"I'm very excited to be in my new space," said Brust, "because my work is so large. It will be nice to be able to show it."

But will she keep up the high expectations for savory noshes and wine at 20 and 21 Old South?

"I'm gonna try," Brust said. "But Mary Beth is such a fabulous hostess. It will be a very hard shoe to fill. I totally admire what she's done."

TEN OF JUDITH'S FAVORITE THINGS:

1. I love being in my studio surrounded by my materials and all of the quirky things I collect to use in my work. The time melts away - it's so satisfying.

2. Traveling is such an adventure and I have seen so many wonderful places and met so many interesting people. I carry each place in my memory.

3. I thrive in nature and feel so at home when I am outside. It can be a beach, a forest or a wonderful garden. I love beauty and feeling free in the outdoors. My favorite time is early morning. I love to start the day on our porch with a cup of coffee. It is meditation for me.

4. Fresh flowers are a passion. I enjoy looking at them, growing them, arranging them and giving them to favorite people in my life. They nourish me.

5. I enjoy people. A stimulating conversation is so much fun. I especially enjoy older people, I love their stories.

6. Time spent with my family are my most special times. Family has always been my priority. I think it is something passed on from my grandparents. I have great memories of time spent with them and all the extended family when I was growing up.

7. Grandchildren are my gifts. I have seven, ages 2 to 10 years old, two girls and five boys. What fun we have on Nantucket. It's pretty crazy but always a great time.

8. I love to dance. I also enjoy watching people who know how to dance well. There is a dance troupe in Rochester, N.Y. called Garth Fagan Dance, that my husband and I always enjoyed while we lived there.

9. I love to visit New York City. There's nothing like the museums, great galleries, Broadway, and the energy that is there.

10. Last but not least time spent with Bob my husband, especially morning coffee on the porch in

Nantucket. I