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."