Luke Cavagnac likes ice cream.

There are many famous and immensely talented artists that live and work in Easthampton. It's just one of the things that makes it such a cool place to live. Not sure if it's the laid back atmosphere, lower cost of living, beautiful landscape, plethora of colleges, or the many converted old mills that make ideal and affordable studio spaces that draws (and holds) artists here. Perhaps it's a combination of all those things and more. It may be a little bit of a chicken or the egg kind of thing, but this area is just overflowing with good creative energy. There are many hip galleries here in western Mass, from MassMoca in North Adams to the Hosmer gallery in Forbes Library in Northampton. We even have a nice little gallery in our building, the Nashawannuck Gallery.

And until recently, one of the few times we regular folk have had easy access to the art scene here in Eashampton has been during open studios weekends, held just twice a year.

That's just one of the things that make Artwalk Easthampton so cool. Every second Saturday you can catch a bunch of shows featuring all the local artists you love. What's not to like about that? Can't afford it? Can you afford free? There's even a free shuttle bus.

Next artwalk is tomorrow night (Saturday). 5-8pm. And here at Mt. Tom's you can check out a fun little show by nearly a household name around here, Luke Cavagnac. When I asked him to do it, he said sure. If you've ever been to his studio/gallery in EastWorks, you know he has literally thousands of paintings on his walls. They're all unique, in themselves and to his style, and extremely affordable. I figured he'd just grab 15-20 paintings off the wall, throw them in his mini-van, and fill my walls with color.

Little did I know, he'd create a whole show of ice cream paintings. Leave it to Luke.

The weather looks good. The lineup looks great. And the walls here will be covered with ice cream. What more could you ask for in a free night out?

Hope to see you there.