Portraits in Charcoal with Sam D’Ambruoso
Join Sam D’Ambruoso as he demonstrates the tools and techniques for creating “Charcoal Portraits” on Thursday October 17 from 6:30 – 8:30 pm at Schultz Hall, First Church of Christ, 2183 Main Street in Glastonbury, Connecticut.
Sam D’Ambruoso, Kaleigh, charcoal
Capturing the essence of mood and maintaining a good likeness of the subject are Sam’s objectives as he develops a portrait in charcoal. “I’m continually searching for the play of darks against lights, the light becomes the drama, the feeling, the truth, which moves the viewer.”
Sam has more than 20 years of experience teaching workshops in the United States and Italy and enjoys the process of revealing how to produce a successful piece of art, whether it is a portrait, landscape, or still life. Sam’s workshops in Tuscany, Amalfi, and Sicily as well as in the USA have been widely acclaimed by past participants. A graduate of Providence College, he studied with the internationally renowned landscape painter, Thomas Beuchner of Elmira, New York, advanced landscape painting with Skip Whitcomb of Fort Collins, Colorado, portraiture with the late Joseph Funaro at Paier College of Art, Peter Cox of the Art Students League, and with Laurel Stern Boecke at the Katona Art Center in New York.
Sam is a member of Connecticut Plein Air Painters Society, the Lyme Art Association and is an Elected Artist at the Kent Art Association. He has been in regional as well as national landscape and figure shows. Sam is listed as an official United States Coast Guard Artist. Current projects include original paintings of the New England, Tuscany, Amalfi, and Capri Italy as well as selected portrait commissions. He was elected a landscape-painting instructor at the Arts and Materials Show, sponsored by American Artist Magazine, in Pasadena, CA. Many of his paintings are in public and private collections worldwide. His most recent landscape of the Connecticut River area was installed at the State of Connecticut Governor’s residence and now is included in the State’s Permanent Art Collection.
Fiber Arts with Katherine McClelland
The artwork of Katherine McClelland demonstrates remarkable range, astonishing in its beauty and complexity. Join us as McClelland demonstrates “Fiber Arts Portraits and Figures” on Thursday May 1st from 6:30 – 8:30 pm at South Congregational Church, 949 Main Street, South Glastonbury, CT.
Katherine McClelland, “Tag”, fiber art
Felting is one of the oldest fiber crafts, but Katherine has found a way to make pieces that are unique in style, vibrancy and impact. She uses both wet and needle felting techniques to produce richly layered figurative images. Her innovative combination of felting techniques yields art of lavish imagery bursting with color, detail and texture. Katherine’s pieces demonstrate remarkable range, a perfect mix of painterly expression and physical process.
“When I create, I consider three main areas: process, content and aesthetics. I love digging into various methods and pushing the materials to create something new. I also want to create images that engage you visually and mentally. This is why felting appeals to me so much.”
Katherine received a BFA at The Maryland Institute, College of Art, where she majored in ceramics. She earned a Master of Education at UMass Amherst and is currently an art teacher for the MA Department of Youth Services, where she works in eight programs for adjudicated youth. Her spare time is spent in her studio, working on the fiber art that she finds rewarding and fulfilling, as she uses textile art to convey social commentary.
My Adventures with Abstraction
Barbara Jenkins will present “My Adventures with Abstraction” on Tuesday, April 16 from 6:30 to 8:30 pm in the Friends Room at the Welles Turner Memorial Library. Learn about process and composition, important factors in the creation of her compelling abstracts.
Barbara Jenkins, Forever, mixed media
Barbara is a versatile, award-winning painter who is well known for her realistic works in pastel, many done “en plein air.” More recently, her abstract pieces have become her principal focus as she experiments with materials such as oil sticks, silver leaf, powdered carbon, cold wax, and collage. Her abstract work reflects inspiration from American abstract artists such as Morris Louis, Mark Rothko, and Emily Mason but she always stays true to the development of her artwork, to the expression of her own artistic voice. “Each painting is a purposeful combination of shapes, colors, and linear designs. While the art pieces do not reflect recognizable images”, she says, “they are intended to convey emotive concepts”
After earning her Master’s degree in Art, Barbara taught at Central Connecticut State University and worked as Assistant Curator at the Lo Jolla Art Center, and then as a staff member at the New Britain Museum of American Art. While she is devoted to the creation of her own art, she is also an enthusiastic mentor for emerging artists and enjoys facilitating others in their appreciation of art.
Marlene Rye – Bold & Contemporary Pastels
The March 21 presentation by Marlene Rye on “Bold & Contemporary Pastels has been POSTPONED DUE TO ILLNESS.” The presentation has been RESCHEDULED FOR THURSDAY JUNE 6 from 6:30–8:30 pm in the Schultz Hall, First Church of Christ, 2183 Main Street, in Glastonbury, CT. Explore how the artist captures the essence of a subject with bold color and explosive pattern.
Marlene Rye, Walk in the Woods, Pastel
“My work explores a deep relationship with place, specifically the woods where I live in Western, MA,” says Marlene Rye. “Often, the visual connection to my original source material becomes lost in the translation, the painting departs from the visual and delves into all of the senses. I am not interested in conveying a specific moment in time or place, but rather the essence of what makes that place magical to me. And in the searching, trees become metaphors for relationships, the joy of living, conflicts and the beauty of friendships, a reflection of my life and of the lives of others that I encounter.”
Marlene Rye has an A.B. from Smith College and an M.F.A. from the University of Pennsylvania. She has studied under Andrew Forge, Barbara Grossman, John Moore, and Martha Armstrong. Her work has been shown nationally and has been accepted into juried shows with distinguished curators from the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Guggenheim. She is currently represented by Gross McCleaf Gallery in Philadelphia, The Oxbow Gallery in Northampton, MA and VT Artisans in Brattleboro, VT. She has had 17 solo shows since 1994.
William Simpson – Aerial Perspectives in Oil
Glastonbury Arts cordially invites you to attend the final GOT ART program for 2018, “Aerial Perspectives in Oil” with award-winning Connecticut painter William Simpson. The presentation will be held on Tuesday, November 13th at 6:30pm at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 915 Main Street, in South Glastonbury, CT.
William Simpson, West of the City, oil
A professional painter and teacher, William will provide insights into how he works as he creates his unique and compelling cityscapes. You will have the opportunity to hear firsthand how he finds inspiration for his pieces, and how he then focuses and refines the composition, color and drawing to get the most from the image he chooses. The evening will provide an opportunity to learn more about the creative process from an accomplished painter and is sure to be informative and enjoyable for both artists and non-artists alike.
William earned his B.F.A. from the University of Connecticut and his M.F.A. from Bowling Green State University. He shows his work in numerous juried exhibitions and has won awards at shows throughout New England. He is currently represented by Gallery Antonia in Chatham MA, R. Michelson Gallery in Northampton MA, and JSO Art Associates in Westport CT.
You can preview William’s bold and striking style by visiting his website, www.wmsimpson.com.
Diana Rogers – Pastel Impressions
All artists and art lovers are cordially invited to attend “Pastel Impressions” featuring award-winning Connecticut artist Diana Rogers. This is the latest event in the popular GOT ART series, offered free of charge by Glastonbury Arts. This year’s GOT ART programs have all gotten great reviews and Diana’s presentation will surely be no exception. The program will take place on Thursday, October 11th at 6:30 pm at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 915 Main Street, in South Glastonbury, CT.
The focus of Diana’s paintings is color and nature. She works on location to create her landscape and seascape paintings, using a bold color palette to capture “the gifts nature offers us” in the most direct and immediate way. Plein air painting allows her to document what she sees and experiences in the moment. Diana believes that pastels enable her to best capture the essence of nature during all seasons, because of the pure, intense pigment. Diana lives in Connecticut and is passionate about embracing all that New England landscapes have to offer.
Diana’s work has been shown at many juried exhibitions and museums in Connecticut and throughout New England, and has also been included in national and international juried shows. Recent awards include those from Mystic Museum of Art, Connecticut Pastel Society, Pastel Painters Society of Cape Cod, and awards from the Art Societies of Madison, Clinton, Essex and Lyme. Diana has paintings in private and public collections, including Yale Smilow Cancer Center and Yale Art Space, New Haven.
You can get an idea of the beauty of Diana’s work by visiting her website, DianaRogersFineArt.com.
Jerry Caron – 1 Artist, 2 Media
Jerry Caron, All the Queen’s Men, oil
JERRY CARON, accomplished artist, teacher, and magazine illustrator, is equally skilled in oil and watercolor. On Thursday, May 10, 2018 at 6:30 pm, he will show you how he does it. The program will be presented in the Friends Room at Welles-Turner Memorial Library, 2407 Main Street in Glastonbury.
Jerry graduated in 1963 from the Vesper George School of Art in Boston and worked in the publishing industry until 1976, when he decided to pursue a full-time fine art career. He studied at the Art Students League in New York with the artists Harvey Dinnerstein, Aaron Shikler, Burt Silverman, and Morton Kaisch. Jerry was a member of the faculty of the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts for seventeen years where he taught Drawing, Perspective, Composition and Design, Color Theory, and Landscape painting in Watercolor and Oil. His work was featured on the cover of Yankee Magazine, and was published in Backpacker Magazine and a children’s encyclopedia published by McGraw-Hill.
In the 1980’s, Jerry created and appeared in a series of television programs (Storer Television) featuring watercolor demonstrations. For four years, Jerry taught on-site painting workshops in Booth Bay Harbor, Maine, and has taught and lectured throughout New England. Jerry has been an artist member of the Salmagundi Club, NY, the New England Watercolor Society, MA, the Providence Watercolor Society, RI, The Copley Society, Boston, MA, and The Hudson Valley Art Association, NY.
New York City Bus Trip, 24 April 2018
New York City Bus Trip sponsored by Manchester Art Association to view Two Amazing Exhibits. In the morning, view Public Parks, Private Gardens: Paris to Provence, a special exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In the afternoon, view the American Watercolor Society Annual Show at the Salmagundi Club.
Public Parks, Private Gardens: Paris to Provence will feature some 150 works by more than 70 artists, spanning the late eighteenth through early twentieth century. The important role of parks and gardens in French life is richly illustrated by paintings, drawings, photographs, prints, illustrated books, and objects in The Met collection by artists extending from Camille Corot to Henri Matisse, many of whom were gardeners themselves.
In its 151st year, The American Watercolor Society Exhibition is arguably the world’s premier watercolor exhibit. More than 1,200 artists from throughout the United States and 27 foreign countries submit their work to a panel of jurors chosen from Signature Members of the AWS. From these submissions (one per artist), the exhibition paintings are selected.
For more details to sign up for this bus trip, click HERE.
Surface Complex with Ellen Grossman
Let’s go abstract! The award-winning New York City-based artist ELLEN GROSSMAN will present her work, which includes her signature drawings, made up of hundreds of metallic lines, done on Cromatico paper and Tyvek material. The event will take place on Tuesday, April 17th, 2018 at 6:30pm at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 915 Main Street, in South Glastonbury, CT. This program is free and open to the public.
Ellen Grossman, Mixed Media Drawing
Participants at this program will be able to free draw on Tyvek, and explore some of the techniques that Grossman will demonstrate. Grossman considers her drawing process to be meditative in nature, and she encourages participants to “slow down and to pay attention to the space between what is already drawn and where a new line is going.”
Grossman primarily creates drawings and sculptures that evoke tactile sensation and fluidity. According to Grossman’s artist statement, “The flows, folds, ripples and crosscurrents build up, suggesting what is common to water currents, geologic change, biological development and the wind made visible.” Grossman grew up on Long Island, New York, and the theme of water’s edge finds its way into much of her work and creative process. In an article from The Village Voice from June 6, 2017, the author interviews Grossman about her life and “15 minutes of fame” in 2012 when she met the rapper Jay-Z on a New York subway, resulting in a viral YouTube video.
Grossman has exhibited in galleries both nationally and internationally, most recently at Westbeth Gallery (New York, NY), Brooklyn Workshop Gallery (Brooklyn, NY), Art Salon (Long Island City, NY), and Salon Zurcher (Paris, France).
Learn more about Ellen at www.EllenGrossman.com.
Printmaking to Collage with Penny Feder
Penny Feder, Pears in Teal Bowl, mixed media
Penny Feder will be featured in our March Got Art program. Her program, Printmaking to Collage, will cover the multitude of media and techniques that she uses in her award-winning work. The event takes place on Tuesday, March 20, 2018, 6:30-8:30 pm in the Friends Room of the Welles Turner Library, 2407 Main Street in Glastonbury.
For this program, Penny will bring samples of her mixed media collage pieces, wood blocks and proofs, etching plates and prints, and monotypes. For each she will explain the process used to create the work, describe her techniques, and then “see where the questions lead me.” This will be a wonderful opportunity to hear from and speak with a renowned artist about the fascinating processes of fine art printmaking and collage.
Penny is listed in Who’s Who in American Art, has won awards in national and international competitions, and has exhibited all over the world. She is an extremely versatile artist, working in a variety of media including printmaking, mixed media collage, oils, and pastels. Penny is known for her unique use of colors, shapes, forms, and textures in creating pieces that draw the viewer into her vision of the subject, maximizing the elements of design, color, and light to evoke movement and colors that “dance.”
Penny has a BA in art education and an MA in printmaking. Her work can be found in many private, public, and corporate collections, including the US State Department, the National Museum of American Art at the Smithsonian Institute, the Brooklyn Museum of Art and the Museum Duren in Germany.
