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.

Concert: Dana Pomfret with Stefani Langol & Tim McDonald

Saturday, April 17, 7-10 pm

Singer-songwriter Dana Pomfret returns to the showroom to cook up some hot music for a spring evening with Stefani Langol and Tim McDonald.

If you enjoyed the September performance by Dana Pomfret and friends, you'll want to return for what Dana's calling a Spring Music Fest: a two set session of original tunes and what Dana calls her group's "unrecognizable covers." Dana Pomfret made her mark on the music scene in New York with club dates and a series of recordings. Now based in Connecticut, she continues to perform and record to critical acclaim. In a review of Dana's third album, Jeff Gemmill
wrote of her vocal mastery: "she could sing the telephone directory and I'd be thrilled."

This evening catch some new tunes from the CD, Float, that's now in the works and due for release this summer.
$10 suggested donation, at the door. Bring your own chair and beverage of choice.

Spotlight Gallery: Peter Greenwood & Christine Chaise Greenwood

Artists Reception: Friday, April 9, 6pm-9pm

Devany Chaise Greenwood (daughter of Peter & Christine), will be performing original acoustic guitar music, in her own interpretation of indie tunes.

The spotlight Gallery is showing Peter Greenwood's glassworks, along side of
Christine Chaise Greenwood's paintings and photography from April 9 to April 25.

Peter Greenwood, a well-known glass artist with nationwide critical acclaim, blends traditional methods of glasswork with his own creative imagination to produce unique sculptures, lamps, and furniture. Christine Chaise Greenwood explores art created with paint program software to develop bright, playful, abstract images.

Artists Inspired by the Farmington River

Join us on the evening of Friday, April 2, for the opening 6-9 pm.

Stop by and see paintings and works on paper by 18 outstanding artists who have all been inspired by the Farmington River and the majestic landscape that drains into the river and its tributary brooks. Running April 2 to May 16.

Artists in this show:
Annette Baser
Joanne Vallee Brunelle
Julie Caprera
Carole Day
Laura J. Eden
Terry Donsen Feder
Claire E. Fish
John Ford
Walter Hampton
Tom Kutz
Victor Leger
Sally Sargent Markey
William Simpson
Pia Sjölin
Kathy Wadsworth
Sarah Wadsworth

William Simpson


Annette Baser