Make your own Hat! with Agneta Persson

Saturday, June 12, 10-4 pm

During this one-day course in millinery, you will learn the foundations of traditional hat making and create your own, beautiful, personally designed hat, from start to finish. You will learn how to block straws, mix materials, use millinery stitches, ways to pinch, pleat and otherwise manipulate the straw into exiting shapes that will fit your personal style and liking.

We will use the finest parisisal straw capelines, panama and paper straws. You will finish your hat by using feathers, flowers, beads, pearls and ribbons for decoration. Agneta Persson Hauser has had her millinery company in New York City, since 1998.

Her hats and accessories have been featured at Bergdorf Goodman and other upscale boutiques in USA and Europe. The use of unusual shapes and sense of whimsy distinguish her designs.

Students should bring a notebook, pencil, hand towel, hair dryer and any objects of desire to embellish their design, for this class. Fee: $120 + material costs ($5-$15)

Payment due by June 10. Call the gallery to sign up: 860.693.4454 or email piasjolin@gmail.com

Paintings by Joan Coderre

Artists' Reception Friday, June 4, 6-9 pm

Join us for the opening of Joan Coderre's paintings. Refreshments will be served. The evening will also feature music by DJ Jon Eastman. This event is free and open to the public.
Exhibition dates: June 4 to July 5

Joan Coderre is well known for her exuberant and near panoramic views of city life. Coderre's bright gouache and watercolor paintings are most often informed by her childhood in Hartford. She invites the viewer to take a second look at familiar scenes in and around the city. With an eye for detail, high color, and a strong sense of place, Coderre transforms the commonplace and draws the viewer into her lively and familiar view of city life.

By the Beautiful Sea

scenes of the Rhode Island shore
by 9 Litchfield County artists


Opening Reception: Sunday, May 23, 4-6 pm

Visitors to the Pia Sjölin Design gallery can take a quick trip to the beach by way of landscapes and seascapes painted of scenes in Little Compton, Rhode Island, on exhibit from May 23 to July 5. The exhibit opens with a free reception for the artists, Sunday, May 23, 4-6 pm, a chance to enjoy the work in a festive event that brings together the artists and the community. Join us to celebrate the exhibit and have a little taste of summer to whet your appetite for the coming season. Bring your friends, and maybe a sand pail and beach towel.

The Connecticut artists of By the Beautiful Sea

Ira Barkoff, Cornwall
Souby Boski, New Milford
Joanne Conant, Newtown
Claire Fish, Avon
Charlotte Honda, New Fairfield
Kathy L’Hommedieu, New Milford
Elizabeth MacDonald, Bridgewater
Kathleen Mooney, Cornwall Bridge
Karen Simmons, Woodbury

Little Compton Rocks

by Ira Barkoff

Marsh, Little Compton, Rhode Island

by Charlotte Honda

A little background about the exhibit

Thanks to a floating artists' colony sponsored by the Washington Art Association on a farm in Little Compton, nine seasoned artists have rendered compelling visions of shore, marsh, fields, and woods around the Rhode Island village.

Each year the artist's group, based in Washington Depot in Litchfield County, offers a one-week sojourn at summer's end to a handful of its members, for the purpose of renewing their vision with fresh landscape and of experimenting with technique. The custom recalls the tradition of New England shoreline artists' colonies that dates back to the 19th century.

The By the Beautiful Sea exhibit presents the work of nine artists who have each interpreted the landscape according to their personal response to place, weather conditions, light, and the medium. Most of them painted their works in oil on canvas, although an acrylic work or two is in the mix, and Elizabeth MacDonald painted one striking image on fired clay, her customary surface for many years.

Painter, instructor, and gallery owner Ira Barkoff, who has led the band of artists for the past three years, says "When we go to Little Compton it's a big change from the landscape of Litchfield County, and people are really inspired by that." The result, he says, is some exciting paintings. Why Little Compton, of all the shoreline options in New England? It was, Barkoff says, a fortuitous choice: "At the time we started the program, we had an education chairman who had grown up in Little Compton on a farm that had been there since the 1600s. That first year was so rewarding that we've been using the farm as our September base ever since."

CONCERT

Dana Pomfret

Stefani Langol

Jerry Martinez



Sunday, May 16, 4-7 pm

Please join us for a Sunday afternoon Music Fest on May 16, from 4-7 pm to listen to the talented musicians, Dana Pomfret, Stefani Langol and Jerry Martinez. Jerry is an awesome vocalist and guitarist from the Boston area. Those of you who got to enjoy his wonderful playing at the last gig will be happy to see him performing with us again! Stefani Langol is the wizard of keys and harmonies.

Please bring what you'd like to drink, and a folding chair. We'll keep the ticket price low and fill the air with tunes! ($10 suggested donation).



For info on Dana Pomfret visit: http://www.danapomfret.com

Spotlight Gallery: Deborah Velasquez

Exhibit April 30 to May 30

Art designer, Deborah Velasquez, will be showing her new collection of bold colored, graphic designs. The show will include notebooks, prints, cards, hand-painted ceramics, pillows, and other household items, which bring light, color, and happiness, into the home. Showing currently until May 30.