Music and Rhyme for Children from Birth to 3s! A program for babies and their caretakers that incorporates music, rhythm, stories, and nursery rhymes to spur language development, body awareness, pre-reading skills, self-confidence, and cooperation. Gathering at 10:15 on the green behind the Visitor Center, the program begins at 10:30.
In case of inclement weather or other adverse conditions, this event will move inside to the Junior Room.
Registration appreciated, drop-ins welcome!
Music & Rhyme Outside
Wednesdays at 10:30 AM - Beginning September 3
Perfect for 18 - 36 months, but fun for everyone!
Lots of rhymes, a sprinkling of songs, and one or two shared board books round out this library program that is perfect for little ones who need to get those wiggles out. Stay to PLAY! After the rhymes, stay for some unstructured play time with other kiddos.
Wednesday Rhyme Time & Playgroup
Join us for a delightful afternoon of good food and engaging conversations about local art and history!
Order ahead from Sweet Bella @ The MATT or bring your own lunch to enjoy.
First Wednesday of Every Month | 12–1 PM
Join speaker John J O’Leary IV as he regals attendees in an astounding story of war and mystery. In the summer of 1942, during the height of World War II, an assassination attempt was made on SS-Obergruppenfürher Reinhard Heydrich. As a result, Daimler-Benz was ordered to produce twenty bulletproof sedans (supercharged 540K models) called AKTION P for increased security. Today, the only place the public can view a surviving AKTION P from WWII is the National Technical Museum in Prague, Czech Republic. In 1994, Richard Reuter (O’Leary’s father-in-law) was part of a trio of Connecticut residents that acquired the AKTION P in Tallinn, Estonia, in exchange for an education in the United States for his daughter.
COST
$10.00 per Non- Member
$5.00 per Member
Pre-registration is suggested due to limited spots.
Sponsored by Christine and Eugene Shugrue
Lunch and Learn: AKTION P: Survival of 540K Mercedes-Benz from WWII
DRIFTLINES, a dual exhibition featuring new works by painter Heather Neilson and photographer Babs Perkins, explores the meditative connections between memory, place, premonition, and afterthought. The two artists are local to the Northwest Corner of Connecticut with studios at Whiting Mills in Winsted. DRIFTLINES will be on display through Friday, September 12.
A reception for the artists will take place on Saturday, August 16, 5-7PM and an artist’s talk featuring the two artists in conversation is scheduled for Thursday, September 4 at 5:30PM.
Art Exhibition DRIFTLINES: New Work by Heather Neilson and Babs Perkins
Opening Reception. Friday, July 25 6-8 PM
7 Water ST, Torrington, CT
Five Points 2025 Small Works Juried Exhibition
Presenter Jane O’Neail will present 4 separate lectures:
September 3: From the enigmatic gaze of Rembrandt to the bold brushstrokes of Van Gogh, self-portraits have long captivated both artists and viewers alike. This exhibition traces the evolution of the genre from the Renaissance to the present day, showcasing works by masters such as Frida Kahlo, Egon Schiele, and Cindy Sherman. How did the advent of photography in the 19th century influence the way artists portrayed themselves? Explore the changing notions of identity, self-expression, and artistic technique across five centuries of visual storytelling.
Oct. 1: Impossible Realities: The Art of M.C. Escher
Nov. 12: The Swirling World of Art Nouveau
Dec. 10: Behind the Curtain: Edgar Degas, the Ballet & Beyond
FREE / Donations Welcome
* Pre-registration is advised
Culturally Curious Art Lecture Series: The Art of the Selfie: Artist Reflections from the Renaissance to Today
Join Jeanine Kelly for a fun and social cooking class designed to expand your palette!
* Pre-registration and pre-payment required
Gut Friendly Cooking Class
The final offering of the National Council on Aging's Aging Mastery Program, a 10-week series that focuses on 10 topics such as nutrition, financial fitness, exercise, sleep, healthy relationships, and more. With a different guest speaker each week. Limited to 20. Light supper served.
Meets Wednesdays at 5 p.m. Runs until 6:15-6:30 p.m.
$25 for the series. Payment received confirms RSVP.
For more information, call 860-355-6075.
Senior center is located at 40 Main St.
Aging Mastery Program (AMP) for 60+
Debbi Johnson, Boston University certified Pro-Gen Graduate, will be leading our new Genealogy Club. The Club will meet once a month on the first Wednesday of the month. Debbi will open the Club with some basics, and then she and the group will assist with projects depending on topic and attendance. Registration requested.
Genealogy Club
Greetings!
The following summarizes upcoming offerings: Community Gatherings, Consulting Services/Macrobiotic Services/Special Services, Events, and Resources.
We look forward to your joining us and evolving together!
With love and gratitude for blessed community,
Margaret, David, and Abigail
- Community Dinners (and Take-Out) and holistic presentations - are currently postponed due to our move.
For details on menus, presentations (also on Zoom), and logistics, and/or to join our meet-up group, go to: http://www.meetup.com/Whole-Health-Dinners-Gatherings-and-Presentations
We also invite you to propose a holistic presentation! E-mail Margaret at msarndt@verizon.net. - Go to https://www.meetup.com/conscious-evolution-new-england and www.consciousevolutionboston.org for information on ways to join, be supported by, and co-create with the Conscious Evolution New England Hub. In particular, we welcome you to provide ideas of what could be added to the CEB facebook and Peace Room pages, which identify events and resources that are evolutionary and emergent. Join us too in forming evolutionary hubs!
- David's services:
- Take-Out - Ongoing (Based on minimums)
- Cooking Classes, in the kitchen and on Zoom (Upon request)
- Shiatsu Massage and/or Ginger Compress: Deals with underlying energy imbalances and improves overall vitality. $75 per 1 hour session. $40 per 1/2 hour session. Contact David at (203) 518-1723 or davidsnieckus2@gmail.com for an appointment.
- Go to www.sageconsultingresource.com for Margaret's financial consulting services*.
- Special Events/Offerings/Resources:
a. For details on Maine Summer Retreats, go to:
http://www.davidsnieckus.earth
http://www.davidsnieckus.earth/Retreats.html
b. Check out the Conscious Evolution Boston facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ConsciousEvolutionBoston and Peace Room page at http://www.consciousevolutionboston.org/Peace-Room.html for meaningful events and resources.
c. The following affiliate site offers evolutionary webinar programs and teachings to help evolve ourselves and our world: https://shiftnetwork.infusionsoft.com/go/tsn/msa
Let us know if you have something special to post.
Margaret Arndt co-hosts and facilitates intentional community gatherings, is a holistic financial consultant* and life planner, and is interested in co-creating healthy, vibrant intentional communities and a healthy, peaceful, regenerative, and thriving world. She is a certified "Agent of Conscious Evolution" (ACE) and has been on a spiritual and evolutionary path for several years. Contact information: msarndt@verizon.net; (203) 405-3276 (landline)
David Snieckus empowers individuals to experience optimum health, well-being, and happiness through the understanding and practical application of Macrobiotics, particularly as it applies to the proper selection, cooking, and eating of healthy foods. He offers cooking classes, consultations, community meals, and take-out. His vision is "every kitchen a wellness center" and one peaceful and healthy world. He is a graduate of the world-renowned Kushi Institute and has been practicing Macrobiotics since 1977. For more information, go to: http://www.davidsnieckus.earth. Contact information: davidsnieckus2@gmail.com; (203) 518-1723
*www.sageconsultingresource.com. Disclosure: Registered Representative, Securities offered through Cambridge Investment Research, Inc., a Broker/Dealer, Member FINRA/SIPC. Investment Advisor Representative, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors, Inc., a Registered Investment Advisor. Sage Consulting, Inc. and Cambridge are not affiliated. Branch address: 104 Cowles Road, Woodbury, CT 06798. (203) 405-3276.
Feel free to pass this on to other kindred spirits.
Community Gatherings, Services, and Resources
Global artists have sent in their wildest images, film, music and poems for Personaland's online art show
Personaland is an artist-driven global village transforming the world of art by using technology to bridge time zones and cultural boundaries. Our mission is to promote humanity, creativity, and community through a mix of entertainment, enchantment, and imagination.
Since its 2018 launch, Personaland, in its global reach, has showcased over 800 visual artists, filmmakers, musicians, and poets from 68 countries in 32 group art shows and 55 individual exhibitions, many with videos of artist profiles. https://www.personaland.com
"Wearing Wild" - a wildest of art show
The Judy Black Memorial Park and Gardens is pleased to present an art exhibition, “A Frayed Edge,” featuring the works of Stace Dillard. This show is on view beginning Friday, August 29.
An opening reception will be held at the park on Saturday, August 30 from 3 to 5 p.m. This event is free and open to the public.
Dillard’s collage work is composed of vibrant, abstract mixed-media compositions characterized by geometric structures, overlapping elements, and a layering of colors, patterns, and textures.
This show will remain on view through Sunday, September 21. Check our social media for weekly open hours: @judyblackpark on Instagram and Facebook.
Stace Dillard Art Show
EXHIBIT TO FEATURE THREE LOCAL ARTISTS
(New Preston, Connecticut) – The Smithy Café & Market is pleased to announce an art exhibit to be displayed September 1 to October 31, 2025, titled Perception and Perspective: Three Artists-Becky Butler, Sandra Daignault and Lucy C. Pierpont.
Join us for a collaboration of three women and their varying forms of artwork, style, and perspectives.
The three artists have painted together for several years using a variety of mediums.They have formed friendships and enjoy working together while sharing ideas and support.
Becky Butler founded the not-for-profit, Arts Escape in Southbury in 2012. Arts Escape’s mission was to focus on arts education for adults. After witnessing firsthand how art created camaraderie and joy with those who participated, it was time for Becky to do the same. She retired in 2022 to follow her own art journey. She has been taking painting classes in Abstract, Pastel and Acrylics for the past two years and is excited to keep learning and exploring new mediums. Her pastel, Tethered Beauty, was accepted into a National Pastel show and she also won Best in Show for mixed media in Roxbury’s Art at the Meeting House show in 2024 for Somewhere Out There. Becky lives in Woodbury, Connecticut with her husband Paul.
“I love working in pastels – the colors are limitless and immediate. My pastel paintings are primarily painted realistically. Breaking the barriers of painting realistically has been a challenge. My love for color has recently launched my exploration in creating abstract work. Using color and mark making intuitively is exciting and challenging as well as inspiring. During my exploration I found the medium of oil and cold wax. While having no expectations as to the outcome of my work, my eyes have opened to a whole new world of creativity. I love the freedom of experimentation and the joy of playing. I want my work to reflect my emotional insight into today’s world while uncovering the beauty that still exists,” explains Becky.
Sandra Daignault, a Woodbury resident, was the Fine Arts Director at Arts Escape, Inc in Southbury, CT and teaches classes in acrylic painting. Her artwork has been shown in galleries and organizations across CT (Stamford, Litchfield, Washington, New Milford, Brookfield, Bantam, Ridgefield, West Hartford, Southbury, Rowayton, Newtown), as well as having a permanent piece at the US Headquarters of Jägermeister in Westchester County. In addition, she has published two books of poetry with illustrations and has recently published a climate change fiction novel. Visit her website at sdaignaultfineart.com.
“My painting process is all about creating an open mind and letting go. While I often do not have a predetermined subject I am always influenced by my fascination with our place in the universe. Letting go of preconceived forms allows for the mystery and essence that makes up everything around us. While my influences are abstract artists such as Richard Diebenkorn, contemporary Peter Wileman as well as English romantic artist (JW Turner) I strive to create from the words of favorite poets (Pablo Neruda, Wislawa Szymborska, Mary Oliver). It will please me if viewers respond with wonder and wanting( not knowing what),” states Sandra.
Woodbury resident, Lucy C. Pierpont has worked in the marketing/graphic design field ever since graduating from Hartwick College as an art major. She has created art her whole life and has had her photographs and paintings displayed in exhibits at the Mattatuck Museum, Majors Inn, Hartwick College, Oneonta Art Association, Kent Art Association, Washington Art Association, Burnham Library, Kent Memorial Library Art at the Meetinghouse, Ridgefield Art Walk, Flanders Nature Center and now, The Smithy. She currently works part-time with the Kent Memorial Library and the Washington Depot Office of Klemm Real Estate doing graphic design & public relations. Her artwork can be viewed at lucypierpont.carrd.co. Her graphic designs for the Kent Memorial Library have been the recipient of eight Connecticut Library Association Publicity Awards in recognition of design, marketing, and publicity created to promote a Library service or event.
“From my earliest recollections, art has always been in the forefront. I chose the graphic design route and spent my career in it. Now art embodies my life- through friends, work, play, and travel!” claims Lucy.
Please join us for a reception on Saturday, October 11 from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. For more information, please call the Smithy at (860) 868-9003 or go to their website at thesmithymarket.com.
10 Main Street New Preston CT 06777
# # # #
caption: Heat by Lucy C. Pierpont, Parade by Sandra Daignault, and Opening Night by Becky Butler are a few of many paintings in an exhibit titled Perception and Perspective: Three Artists-Becky Butler, Sandra Daignault and Lucy C. Pierpont. The show will be on display from September 1 to October 31, 2025.
PERCEPTION AND PERSPECTIVE - EXHIBIT TO FEATURE THREE LOCAL ARTISTS
The Gunn Memorial Library is pleased to present the captivating floral photography of Nina McKitty, on view in the Stairwell Gallery from August 9th to October 4th.
Drawing inspiration from nature, travel, and the artistic traditions of both East and West, Nina McKitty brings a joyful and thoughtful lens to her digital photography. Her work explores the delicate beauty of flowers—each image carefully composed, captured, and refined in her studio to evoke both surprise and delight in the viewer.
Originally gifted a digital camera by her husband, McKitty transformed a curiosity into a profound creative journey. Over the past 15 years, she has immersed herself in the art and craft of digital photography, studying under acclaimed artists and continuously evolving her techniques. Her photographs are printed and framed by hand using archival materials, merging technical precision with artistic expression.
A former nurse practitioner and consultant, McKitty turned to photography in retirement, channeling her lifelong passions for nature and visual storytelling into a rich new chapter as a digital artist. Since 2019, her work has been featured in numerous exhibitions, including shows at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Employee Gallery, Kent Art Association, and Washington Art Association.
Gunn Memorial Library Stairwell Gallery: “Floral Portraits“ by Nina McKitty
Get ready to go big! The New Hartford Artisans Guild is thrilled to announce our upcoming Big
Works Art Show, celebrating artwork that makes a bold statement. This is your chance to showcase
your largest, most impactful pieces—the only requirement is that one dimension must be at least
24 inches. Whether it’s towering canvases, sweeping landscapes, or grand sculptural forms, we
want to fill the gallery with work that commands attention. Don’t miss this opportunity to take up
space and let your creativity shine on a larger scale!
The Big Show
DRIFTLINES, a dual exhibition featuring new works by painter Heather Neilson and photographer Babs Perkins, explores the meditative connections between memory, place, premonition, and afterthought. The two artists are local to the Northwest Corner of Connecticut with studios at Whiting Mills in Winsted. DRIFTLINES will be on display through Friday, September 12.
A reception for the artists will take place on Saturday, August 16, 5-7PM and an artist’s talk featuring the two artists in conversation is scheduled for Thursday, September 4 at 5:30PM.
Art Exhibition DRIFTLINES: New Work by Heather Neilson and Babs Perkins
Online exhibition curated by Lani Ming Holloway with artwork by Maya Tihtiyas Attean, Laura Barr, Jordann McKenna, and Benoît Trimborn
exhibition dates: August 1 – September 30, 2025, on www.kbfa.com
Stories told in light and silence
Poetry will make me violent
Violets outside our yard…
Why does the world have to be so hard?
Encompassing the hidden truths
Of things unseen in what we view.
- LMH
Kenise Barnes Fine Art is pleased to present the online exhibition Stories told in light and silence curated by Lani Ming Holloway featuring Maya Tihtiyas Attean, Laura Barr, Jordann McKenna, and Benoît Trimborn.
Maya Tihtiyas Attean is a Wabanaki artist raised on the Penobscot Reservation in Maine. Excerpted from her artist statement: “Through the lens of Wabanaki history and culture, my photographs intertwine forgotten truths within the landscape of what is now called Maine. My work explores the deep, complex relationships between the land, its people, and the lasting impact of colonization. The energy embedded in the landscape reverberates through my creations and reveals the scars left on both the earth and our bodies. My work invites contemplation on occupation and ownership, prompting reflection on who exploits the land and how systems of oppression have disrupted its balance.”
Maya’s work expresses the dichotomy the artist exists within, marrying mediums and different cultural techniques. “Does the Land Remember?” is an ongoing series photographing landscapes that hold the history of devastating events of colonization. The power of that residuum is felt in the images in a supernatural way, as the dualism of her lived experience is pronounced in the contrast of light and dark. Sunlight shimmers through the leaves as bright stars overhead look down upon the land, a fire burns. Maya’s work calls us to remember that nature feels the spirits.
Maya Tihtiyas Attean lives and works in Portland, Maine or Machigonne. She earned a BFA in Photography from Maine College of Art & Design, Portland. Her work is in the permanent collection of the Portland Museum of Art, Portland, ME and the Abbe Museum, Bar Harbor, ME.
Laura Barr’s work explores impermanence through oil paintings and oil pastel drawings on paper capturing passing moments in color, reflection on water, and light. Simplifying forms and illuminating the scale of special glimmers, her work considers the preservation of water and the protection of our environment. In Laura’s paintings in the exhibition, fireflies gleam in a starlit field and remind us that fireflies may not continue to glow on our planet, while a surfer catches the last evening wave the ocean offers, an Aurora Borealis dances in the night sky.
Laura Barr lives by the Thimble Islands in Branford, Connecticut. She earned her BFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA and a BA in Fine Arts from Tufts University in Medford, MA and has studied at Tyler School of Art in Rome, Italy.
From Ithaca, NY, Jordann McKenna paints and photographs the quiet beauty in everyday life in work that contemplates mundanity and the softly fleeting feeling within light and shadows around her. In lushly applied oil paint, flames flicker and shadows play across the scene. Jordann’s work in this exhibition reflects the peaceful, ephemeral moods of interiors and intimate still lifes, either staged or spontaneous. Jordann McKenna works from photographs and from memory to create images that serve to process rather than recreate, expressing not only what is seen but what is felt, and celebrating the beauty in the ordinary.
Jordann McKenna earned a BS in Visual Arts from State University of New York at New Paltz, New Paltz, NY, and an MFA from Maine College of Art & Design in Portland, ME. She lives and works in Portland, ME.
Born in Strasbourg, France, and trained as an architect, Benoît Trimborn describes his work as “contemporary impressionism”. Viewing the world as an architect, Benoît’s large-scale oil paintings evoke what his artist statement calls the “morphology of the landscapes… like an architect, I see in it a breath, a light, a rhythm, which alone can constitute a principle of beauty. The elements represented compose atmospheres of which I try to faithfully convey the impression, as the musician faithfully follows the score. In this process, the contemplative attitude prevails, much more than the adventurous attitude. No message, no story should disturb the projection of the viewer...”
In Benoît’s meticulously painted large-scale landscapes, the absence of the figure instills a quietude in the story while light is the present form in all its magic. Reflections play like a musical score on the surface of the water and golden glimmers illuminate the forest and emanate from a sunset sky.
Benoît Trimborn’s work is in the permanent collection of Galerie Ariel Sibony in Paris, France, Absolute Art Gallery in Bruges, Belgium, and Galerie Bertrand Gillig in Strasbourg, France. He lives and works in Strasbourg, France.
Please contact Lani@kbfa.com, 860 560 3085 with inquiries.
Shipping is available worldwide throughout the exhibition.
Stories told in light and silence
Join us for Story Time on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10:30 for new books, free play, and fun crafts!
Story Time
Thursdays at 10:30 AM - Beginning September 4
Perfect for 3 - 5 year olds, but fun for everyone!
Join Mrs. Tricia for a classic library storytime--books, songs, bubbles, and more! Come for early literacy skills, social connections, and fun! We will focus on one special picture book author each week.
Thursday Preshool Storytime
Enjoy the works of
Photographer Sarah Blodgett & Basket Weaver Tina Puckett
About the Artists
Sarah Blodgett
Sarah Blodgett is a photographer from the Hudson Valley in New York. Born in New York City, daughter of a professional advertising photographer, she bought her first camera at the age of ten and has been shooting ever since. A commercial & portrait photographer professionally since 1993, her passion now lies with creating images of wildlife and natural areas. Her primary focus is on birds as well as landscapes, seascapes, still lives and florals. She also offers speaking programs to accompany her work with a focus on ecology and preservation of the natural world around us.
https://westernconnecticut.blogspot.com/2025/07/art-lovers-covered-bridge-woven-hand_30.html
Tina Puckett
American Master Weaver Tina Puckett is a self-taught Artist. who has been weaving since 1981. For over 40 years the woven arts have been evolving and each one is indescribably dynamic and colorful. The character of each piece is an expression of Tina's imagination and her sense of color that she applies to the weaving and structural form. Throughout Tina’s career she has exhibited her woven arts at museums, art galleries, libraries and art shows. Also, has been featured in magazines, books, newspapers, TV and on different platforms on the web.
Artist Statement
My woven pieces from baskets to wall sculptures, ceiling hangers, to furniture has evolved and is the way I define myself as an artist, and as a woman. I am fulfilling my dreams that started out with my imagination as a set designer. My creative path took a turn. It was not set design—but the woven arts with its many forms and functions where I found the passion for my life’s work.
The natural beauty of Bittersweet always sparks my imagination and is at the heart of the many pieces I weave. My imagination guides all that I do and it has become very attuned to the harmony of shapes, forms, and colors of the vines and reeds. I am also influenced by the beauty of our natural world and wonder how to weave it.
My palette for color is very much influenced by this experience of growing up in South America. I mix my own dyes and enjoy building a palette for the reeds that will shape textures and forms with color into a
one of a kind woven art!
In and with Nature - Mixed Media Exhibit - Sarah Blodgett Photography & Tina Puckett Master Basket Weaver
Bismuth is a Boston-based artist known for her self-portrait photographs. Her work explores and challenges ideas surrounding identity and its fragile nature, politics and trans expression through a satirical and spontaneous approach.
Recently, Bismuth has taken up oil painting as her primary medium, in which she creates numeric and interactive landscapes.
Dismembered, showing at Peggy Mercury, will be her debut solo exhibit and will showcase her self-portrait images alongside painted works. Co-curated with James Boehmer and Gregory Fricke, the show will display Bismuth's current fascination with fragmentation and isolation, and so much more.
Peggy Mercury
Kent Barns
9 Maple Street, Unit 2
Kent, CT 06757
IG @itspeggymercury
For more information email us at hithere@peggymercury.com
DISMEMBERED by Bismuth Arsenide
Kenise Barnes Fine Art is thrilled to announce our midsummer exhibition focused on three artists whose keen observation and connection to the natural world invites us to pause and appreciate.
Margot Glass focuses primarily on drawing, using various traditional methods and materials as a foundation for her work, including traditional silverpoint and 14k goldpoint, homemade organic inks and oil and acrylic painting with mixed mica using fine point crow quill pens in place of brushes.
Glass is inspired by the tradition of idealizing nature in art and design as ornament across cultures while seeking to observe and represent her subjects as accurately as possible in all their irregularity and imperfection.
Central to her work is the exploration of ephemeral, fragile subjects, focusing primarily on weeds or ‘waste plants’, and other plants generally considered to be undesirable, to recognize their beauty in all their imperfection and asymmetry. Her focus on these marginal plants is guided by the question of what we value, what we consider ‘belonging’ to mean, and to highlight the beauty of what is present in the disrupted landscape that we find ourselves in today.
Margot Glass grew up in New York City, and studied art at The Art Students' League, Brown University, Rhode Island School of Design, and Fashion Institute of Technology. Glass’s work has been widely exhibited in the United States and internationally. She is a recipient of a Massachusetts Cultural Council STARS Artist Residency; Lost and Found Lab Artist-in-Residence and an Oak Spring Garden Foundation Interdisciplinary Fellowship. Her work is in private and public collections including the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation at Carnegie Mellon, PA, Weatherspoon Art Museum, NC, Oak Spring Garden Foundation, VA, Fidelity Investments Corporate Art Collection, MA, Hotel Del Coronado Collection, CA, Allentown Art Museum, PA, Midwest Museum of American Art, Elkhart, IN, the Beth Rudin deWoody Collection, among others. She currently lives and works in Western Massachusetts.
Richard Klein has been copper plating organic objects for over three decades utilizing found objects that are intrinsically fragile and impermanent. The process allows Klein to encase natural objects in a thin coating of metallic copper, permanently preserving them. The alchemical transformation being both practical and poetic.
In his most recent work, the artist juxtaposes electroplated natural findings with photo gravures of urban landscapes addressing our relationship with nature simultaneously reminding us that we are nature and that our detachment from nature is the source of much of the destruction to our planet. In particular, the artist’s interest in both fungi and copper hint at the convergence of natural and technological evolution: fungi, through their mycelium, connect virtually all terrestrial plant life, acting as natural communication networks; while copper is the material that the human-made electrical and digital networks depend on.
Richard Klein is the former exhibitions director of The Aldrich of Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, CT. His work has been shown widely in US and is in the public collections of Norton Family Collection, Santa Monica, CA, De Cordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Lincoln, MA, Connecticut Artists Collection, Hartford, CT and has been featured in The New Criterion, Two Coats of Paint, Hyperallergic, Art Forum, The Brooklyn Rail and Art New England to name a few. The artist lives and works in CT.
Francis Sills’s work is grounded in the perceptual-based, realist tradition. The artist works directly from observation in nature. In dealing with the intricacies and challenges of working from observation and the sustained experience of intense, visual scrutiny, the artist comes to understand and know his world. The flora series is an ongoing group of paintings utilizing the flowers and plants from the artist’s home garden. Sills recently been adding various shaped mirrors to the set ups, which both multiply the forms and fracture the space. Sills’ paintings are dense and subtle, revealing specific nuances of color, light, and form. Often, the underlying geometry and architecture of the composition are apparent in the application of paint, the artist’s analytic thinking about structure and his methodology still evident in the finished work.
Sills’s work has been exhibited throughout the United States, has been featured in publications such as Wall Street International Magazine, American Art Collector, The New York Times, I Like Your Work Podcast, and can be found in The Fine Art Program and Collection at Montefiore Einstein, New York, NY. Francis Sills earned his MFA at Parsons School of Design, New York, NY and BFA at Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY. The artist lives and works in South Carolina.
Please contact Lani Holloway, Associate Director, Lani@kbfa.com, 860 560 3085 with inquires or to arrange a preview of the exhibition.
Walking Not Talking (Nature as Muse)
Sewing school is back in session at the Makerspace! Sign up today and learn the basics of machine sewing as you make your own apron in this two part workshop series. Whether you’ve never sewn before or it’s been a while since you last used a sewing machine, this workshop will give you the skills you’ll need to take on future sewing projects with confidence.
In Week 1, you’ll discover how to work with paper patterns and prepare your fabric for sewing. We’ll cover how to select a size, alter the length of the pattern, and cut and mark your fabric accurately. You’ll also practice threading the sewing machine as you embroider a simple design on your apron pocket.
Week 2 will focus on assembling the apron. You’ll learn how to sew with an accurate seam allowance, topstitch a pocket and hem, and finish raw edges with a zig zag stitch.
All supplies, including fabric and sewing machines, will be provided. If you’d like to bring your own fabric, please reach out to the Makerspace Specialist at create@gunnlibrary.org for more information.
Please note that this is a two part workshop. Participants must attend both sessions.
Ages 18+. Registration Required.
https://www.gunnlibrary.org/calendar/gml-thursday-book-club-the-story-of-a-heart-by-dr-rachel-clarke/
Gunn Memorial Library Sewing 101: Make an Apron | Part 1
This solo exhibition marks Brewster’s return to public exhibition after a significant studio hiatus, shaped by the pandemic and the arrival of his two young children.
Spanning two to six feet in width, Brewster’s latest works are immersive and meditative, exploring vast, perhaps virtual, landscapes. These meticulously layered oil paintings hint at human presence through subtle traces—a balanced stone, a resting stick—evoking a haunting stillness. In his signature style, Brewster uses old-master techniques and translucent glazes to explore the tension between presence and absence, clarity and ambiguity. “Some of these paintings verge on the apocalyptic while others suggest eerie calm or quiet hope,” Brewster notes. “They balance loneliness and community, action and avoidance. They are tightly tied to the physicality and geometry of the canvas itself.”
Brewster studied at Yale University and received his MFA from the Hoffberger School of Painting at the Maryland Institute College of Art. He has held solo exhibitions in New York City, North Carolina, and Newfoundland, and has participated in numerous curated group shows including Icons of the 21st Century in New York and Academy 2003 at Conner Contemporary in Washington, D.C. His work has been featured in New American Paintings and reviewed in publications such as ForbesLife and The National Post.
New Paintings by Abraham Brewster
Bring your lunch, listen to stories, and enjoy a fun craft! All are welcome, this program is intended for preschool-aged children. This event will be offered in person in the Junior Room of the Library.
Registration is appreciated but not required.
Lunch Bunch Storytime
Opening Reception. Friday, July 25 6-8 PM
7 Water ST, Torrington, CT
Five Points 2025 Small Works Juried Exhibition
Join NMPL's Amy and Laura as they review new books--hot off the presses!
Coffee Talk
Share in thought-provoking and engaging discussion on the visual arts and the creative journey - join the Five Points Art Book Club.
Topic: Life of the Artist
- Select any book(s) of your choice which are biographical or autobiographical accounts of an artist’s life. All time periods, regions, mediums or levels of renown are welcome.
Thurs. September 4, 2025
2-3 PM
Five Points Arts Center
Free and open to the public
Five Points Art Book Club Meeting: September
Join us in celebrating the incredible talent of photographers from near and far at this year’s EXPOSURES 2025 at Gallery 25 in the Historic Train Station from August 21-Sept 7!
We’re honored to showcase a stunning collection of photographs that capture moments, moods, and stories through the lens of truly gifted artists.
Opening Reception
Saturday, August 23
2–4 PM
Gallery 25 | 11 Railroad Street, Downtown New Milford
Come support local art, meet the photographers, and enjoy an inspiring afternoon surrounded by creativity. All are welcome! Bring your friends and family!
Let’s fill the gallery with community and appreciation for the power of photography. See you there!
EXPOSURES 2025 – Open Juried Photography Show & Opening Reception
Out in the Corner and the David M. Hunt Library are partnering for a LGBTQIA+ game night on the first Thursday of the month, from 5:30-7 pm. Bring your own games, play those provided, or just hang out. Snacks are provided!
LGBTQIA+ Game Night
On Thursday, September 4 at 5:30PM join painter Heather Neilson and photographer Perkins in a conversation discussing their Hunt Library exhibition, DRIFTLINES, which explores the meditative connections between memory, place, premonition, and afterthought. The occasion provides a unique opportunity to learn about the artists’ creative processes, inspirations, and artistic evolutions.
Artist Talk: DRIFTLINES--Heather Neilson & Babs Perkins in Conversation
Come check out the Torrington Recreations 2025 Summer Concert Series at Coe Park! Over the course of 14 weeks, every Thursday, starting June 5th and running through September 4th, we will be hosting 14 different bands who will perform a range of different genres. Concerts will be held on the outside portico at the Coe Memorial Park (101 Litchfield Road) from 6pm-8pm. Bring your blankets, chairs, food and drinks to enjoy our concerts in the park!
The Eddie Foreman Orchestra, is a western MA polka band that has been performing before audiences since 1968. Eddie Foreman started the band while he was still in high school, and has been creating and recreating music ever since. EFO is known for their standard Polkas with Polish lyrics, giving their fans an abundance of music to enjoy!
2025 Summer Concert Series MAYORS POLKA NIGHT: The Eddie Foreman Orchestra
On Thursday, September 4th, at 6:30, 2nd Home is thrilled to have the Pat Marafiote Trio, featuring Theresa Wright and Steve Clarke, back at 2nd Home. This is one fantastic trio - do yourself a favor and come check them out.
Pat's background includes several genres of music as a professional keyboard artist. His musical resume spans decades, including multiple tours with jazz, blues, R&B, and rock acts, including some of the best-known artists of our generation. Bassist Steve Clarke has performed with the two- time Grammy nominated jazz flautist Sherry Winston, Marion Meadows, TomBrown, Victor Fields, and R&B innovators The Coasters, The Drifters, Mary Wells, Sam & Dave, and Ben E. King. Theresa Wright is a wonderful singer with a sweet soulful voice. Look for her CDs, including her new one, and find out for yourself, or be here for their performance.
For reservations (encouraged but not required) call 860-238-4500 or email us at momanddad@2ndhomelounge.com
See our complete event list - https://2ndhomelounge.com/events/
2nd Home Lounge
524 Main Street, Winsted
2ndhomelounge.com
Join our mailing list - https://2ndhomelounge.com/email-sign-up/
Pat Marafiote Trio featuring Theresa Wright and Steve Clarke at 2nd Home Restaurant/Lounge
EXHIBIT TO FEATURE THREE LOCAL ARTISTS
(New Preston, Connecticut) – The Smithy Café & Market is pleased to announce an art exhibit to be displayed September 1 to October 31, 2025, titled Perception and Perspective: Three Artists-Becky Butler, Sandra Daignault and Lucy C. Pierpont.
Join us for a collaboration of three women and their varying forms of artwork, style, and perspectives.
The three artists have painted together for several years using a variety of mediums.They have formed friendships and enjoy working together while sharing ideas and support.
Becky Butler founded the not-for-profit, Arts Escape in Southbury in 2012. Arts Escape’s mission was to focus on arts education for adults. After witnessing firsthand how art created camaraderie and joy with those who participated, it was time for Becky to do the same. She retired in 2022 to follow her own art journey. She has been taking painting classes in Abstract, Pastel and Acrylics for the past two years and is excited to keep learning and exploring new mediums. Her pastel, Tethered Beauty, was accepted into a National Pastel show and she also won Best in Show for mixed media in Roxbury’s Art at the Meeting House show in 2024 for Somewhere Out There. Becky lives in Woodbury, Connecticut with her husband Paul.
“I love working in pastels – the colors are limitless and immediate. My pastel paintings are primarily painted realistically. Breaking the barriers of painting realistically has been a challenge. My love for color has recently launched my exploration in creating abstract work. Using color and mark making intuitively is exciting and challenging as well as inspiring. During my exploration I found the medium of oil and cold wax. While having no expectations as to the outcome of my work, my eyes have opened to a whole new world of creativity. I love the freedom of experimentation and the joy of playing. I want my work to reflect my emotional insight into today’s world while uncovering the beauty that still exists,” explains Becky.
Sandra Daignault, a Woodbury resident, was the Fine Arts Director at Arts Escape, Inc in Southbury, CT and teaches classes in acrylic painting. Her artwork has been shown in galleries and organizations across CT (Stamford, Litchfield, Washington, New Milford, Brookfield, Bantam, Ridgefield, West Hartford, Southbury, Rowayton, Newtown), as well as having a permanent piece at the US Headquarters of Jägermeister in Westchester County. In addition, she has published two books of poetry with illustrations and has recently published a climate change fiction novel. Visit her website at sdaignaultfineart.com.
“My painting process is all about creating an open mind and letting go. While I often do not have a predetermined subject I am always influenced by my fascination with our place in the universe. Letting go of preconceived forms allows for the mystery and essence that makes up everything around us. While my influences are abstract artists such as Richard Diebenkorn, contemporary Peter Wileman as well as English romantic artist (JW Turner) I strive to create from the words of favorite poets (Pablo Neruda, Wislawa Szymborska, Mary Oliver). It will please me if viewers respond with wonder and wanting( not knowing what),” states Sandra.
Woodbury resident, Lucy C. Pierpont has worked in the marketing/graphic design field ever since graduating from Hartwick College as an art major. She has created art her whole life and has had her photographs and paintings displayed in exhibits at the Mattatuck Museum, Majors Inn, Hartwick College, Oneonta Art Association, Kent Art Association, Washington Art Association, Burnham Library, Kent Memorial Library Art at the Meetinghouse, Ridgefield Art Walk, Flanders Nature Center and now, The Smithy. She currently works part-time with the Kent Memorial Library and the Washington Depot Office of Klemm Real Estate doing graphic design & public relations. Her artwork can be viewed at lucypierpont.carrd.co. Her graphic designs for the Kent Memorial Library have been the recipient of eight Connecticut Library Association Publicity Awards in recognition of design, marketing, and publicity created to promote a Library service or event.
“From my earliest recollections, art has always been in the forefront. I chose the graphic design route and spent my career in it. Now art embodies my life- through friends, work, play, and travel!” claims Lucy.
Please join us for a reception on Saturday, October 11 from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. For more information, please call the Smithy at (860) 868-9003 or go to their website at thesmithymarket.com.
10 Main Street New Preston CT 06777
# # # #
caption: Heat by Lucy C. Pierpont, Parade by Sandra Daignault, and Opening Night by Becky Butler are a few of many paintings in an exhibit titled Perception and Perspective: Three Artists-Becky Butler, Sandra Daignault and Lucy C. Pierpont. The show will be on display from September 1 to October 31, 2025.
PERCEPTION AND PERSPECTIVE - EXHIBIT TO FEATURE THREE LOCAL ARTISTS
The Judy Black Memorial Park and Gardens is pleased to present an art exhibition, “A Frayed Edge,” featuring the works of Stace Dillard. This show is on view beginning Friday, August 29.
An opening reception will be held at the park on Saturday, August 30 from 3 to 5 p.m. This event is free and open to the public.
Dillard’s collage work is composed of vibrant, abstract mixed-media compositions characterized by geometric structures, overlapping elements, and a layering of colors, patterns, and textures.
This show will remain on view through Sunday, September 21. Check our social media for weekly open hours: @judyblackpark on Instagram and Facebook.
Stace Dillard Art Show
The Gunn Memorial Library is pleased to present the captivating floral photography of Nina McKitty, on view in the Stairwell Gallery from August 9th to October 4th.
Drawing inspiration from nature, travel, and the artistic traditions of both East and West, Nina McKitty brings a joyful and thoughtful lens to her digital photography. Her work explores the delicate beauty of flowers—each image carefully composed, captured, and refined in her studio to evoke both surprise and delight in the viewer.
Originally gifted a digital camera by her husband, McKitty transformed a curiosity into a profound creative journey. Over the past 15 years, she has immersed herself in the art and craft of digital photography, studying under acclaimed artists and continuously evolving her techniques. Her photographs are printed and framed by hand using archival materials, merging technical precision with artistic expression.
A former nurse practitioner and consultant, McKitty turned to photography in retirement, channeling her lifelong passions for nature and visual storytelling into a rich new chapter as a digital artist. Since 2019, her work has been featured in numerous exhibitions, including shows at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Employee Gallery, Kent Art Association, and Washington Art Association.
Gunn Memorial Library Stairwell Gallery: “Floral Portraits“ by Nina McKitty
Get ready to go big! The New Hartford Artisans Guild is thrilled to announce our upcoming Big
Works Art Show, celebrating artwork that makes a bold statement. This is your chance to showcase
your largest, most impactful pieces—the only requirement is that one dimension must be at least
24 inches. Whether it’s towering canvases, sweeping landscapes, or grand sculptural forms, we
want to fill the gallery with work that commands attention. Don’t miss this opportunity to take up
space and let your creativity shine on a larger scale!
The Big Show
Step into September with our First Friday Hike! While peak foliage is still a few weeks away, the first golden hints of fall are starting to show. It’s the perfect time to get outside and enjoy the quiet beauty of the changing season. Bring a friend, meet fellow nature lovers, and learn more about our environmental projects at the Deer Pond Farm nature preserve. This program meets outside at the flagpole at 57 Wakeman Hill Rd., Sherman, CT 06784
September 5, 10 a.m. to Noon
FREE
To register for the First Friday Hike, visit https://www.ctaudubon.org/2025/07/register-september-first-friday-hike-2/
SEPTEMBER FIRST FRIDAY HIKE @ Deer Pond Farm
Online exhibition curated by Lani Ming Holloway with artwork by Maya Tihtiyas Attean, Laura Barr, Jordann McKenna, and Benoît Trimborn
exhibition dates: August 1 – September 30, 2025, on www.kbfa.com
Stories told in light and silence
Poetry will make me violent
Violets outside our yard…
Why does the world have to be so hard?
Encompassing the hidden truths
Of things unseen in what we view.
- LMH
Kenise Barnes Fine Art is pleased to present the online exhibition Stories told in light and silence curated by Lani Ming Holloway featuring Maya Tihtiyas Attean, Laura Barr, Jordann McKenna, and Benoît Trimborn.
Maya Tihtiyas Attean is a Wabanaki artist raised on the Penobscot Reservation in Maine. Excerpted from her artist statement: “Through the lens of Wabanaki history and culture, my photographs intertwine forgotten truths within the landscape of what is now called Maine. My work explores the deep, complex relationships between the land, its people, and the lasting impact of colonization. The energy embedded in the landscape reverberates through my creations and reveals the scars left on both the earth and our bodies. My work invites contemplation on occupation and ownership, prompting reflection on who exploits the land and how systems of oppression have disrupted its balance.”
Maya’s work expresses the dichotomy the artist exists within, marrying mediums and different cultural techniques. “Does the Land Remember?” is an ongoing series photographing landscapes that hold the history of devastating events of colonization. The power of that residuum is felt in the images in a supernatural way, as the dualism of her lived experience is pronounced in the contrast of light and dark. Sunlight shimmers through the leaves as bright stars overhead look down upon the land, a fire burns. Maya’s work calls us to remember that nature feels the spirits.
Maya Tihtiyas Attean lives and works in Portland, Maine or Machigonne. She earned a BFA in Photography from Maine College of Art & Design, Portland. Her work is in the permanent collection of the Portland Museum of Art, Portland, ME and the Abbe Museum, Bar Harbor, ME.
Laura Barr’s work explores impermanence through oil paintings and oil pastel drawings on paper capturing passing moments in color, reflection on water, and light. Simplifying forms and illuminating the scale of special glimmers, her work considers the preservation of water and the protection of our environment. In Laura’s paintings in the exhibition, fireflies gleam in a starlit field and remind us that fireflies may not continue to glow on our planet, while a surfer catches the last evening wave the ocean offers, an Aurora Borealis dances in the night sky.
Laura Barr lives by the Thimble Islands in Branford, Connecticut. She earned her BFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA and a BA in Fine Arts from Tufts University in Medford, MA and has studied at Tyler School of Art in Rome, Italy.
From Ithaca, NY, Jordann McKenna paints and photographs the quiet beauty in everyday life in work that contemplates mundanity and the softly fleeting feeling within light and shadows around her. In lushly applied oil paint, flames flicker and shadows play across the scene. Jordann’s work in this exhibition reflects the peaceful, ephemeral moods of interiors and intimate still lifes, either staged or spontaneous. Jordann McKenna works from photographs and from memory to create images that serve to process rather than recreate, expressing not only what is seen but what is felt, and celebrating the beauty in the ordinary.
Jordann McKenna earned a BS in Visual Arts from State University of New York at New Paltz, New Paltz, NY, and an MFA from Maine College of Art & Design in Portland, ME. She lives and works in Portland, ME.
Born in Strasbourg, France, and trained as an architect, Benoît Trimborn describes his work as “contemporary impressionism”. Viewing the world as an architect, Benoît’s large-scale oil paintings evoke what his artist statement calls the “morphology of the landscapes… like an architect, I see in it a breath, a light, a rhythm, which alone can constitute a principle of beauty. The elements represented compose atmospheres of which I try to faithfully convey the impression, as the musician faithfully follows the score. In this process, the contemplative attitude prevails, much more than the adventurous attitude. No message, no story should disturb the projection of the viewer...”
In Benoît’s meticulously painted large-scale landscapes, the absence of the figure instills a quietude in the story while light is the present form in all its magic. Reflections play like a musical score on the surface of the water and golden glimmers illuminate the forest and emanate from a sunset sky.
Benoît Trimborn’s work is in the permanent collection of Galerie Ariel Sibony in Paris, France, Absolute Art Gallery in Bruges, Belgium, and Galerie Bertrand Gillig in Strasbourg, France. He lives and works in Strasbourg, France.
Please contact Lani@kbfa.com, 860 560 3085 with inquiries.
Shipping is available worldwide throughout the exhibition.
Stories told in light and silence
This solo exhibition marks Brewster’s return to public exhibition after a significant studio hiatus, shaped by the pandemic and the arrival of his two young children.
Spanning two to six feet in width, Brewster’s latest works are immersive and meditative, exploring vast, perhaps virtual, landscapes. These meticulously layered oil paintings hint at human presence through subtle traces—a balanced stone, a resting stick—evoking a haunting stillness. In his signature style, Brewster uses old-master techniques and translucent glazes to explore the tension between presence and absence, clarity and ambiguity. “Some of these paintings verge on the apocalyptic while others suggest eerie calm or quiet hope,” Brewster notes. “They balance loneliness and community, action and avoidance. They are tightly tied to the physicality and geometry of the canvas itself.”
Brewster studied at Yale University and received his MFA from the Hoffberger School of Painting at the Maryland Institute College of Art. He has held solo exhibitions in New York City, North Carolina, and Newfoundland, and has participated in numerous curated group shows including Icons of the 21st Century in New York and Academy 2003 at Conner Contemporary in Washington, D.C. His work has been featured in New American Paintings and reviewed in publications such as ForbesLife and The National Post.
New Paintings by Abraham Brewster
Enjoy the works of
Photographer Sarah Blodgett & Basket Weaver Tina Puckett
About the Artists
Sarah Blodgett
Sarah Blodgett is a photographer from the Hudson Valley in New York. Born in New York City, daughter of a professional advertising photographer, she bought her first camera at the age of ten and has been shooting ever since. A commercial & portrait photographer professionally since 1993, her passion now lies with creating images of wildlife and natural areas. Her primary focus is on birds as well as landscapes, seascapes, still lives and florals. She also offers speaking programs to accompany her work with a focus on ecology and preservation of the natural world around us.
https://westernconnecticut.blogspot.com/2025/07/art-lovers-covered-bridge-woven-hand_30.html
Tina Puckett
American Master Weaver Tina Puckett is a self-taught Artist. who has been weaving since 1981. For over 40 years the woven arts have been evolving and each one is indescribably dynamic and colorful. The character of each piece is an expression of Tina's imagination and her sense of color that she applies to the weaving and structural form. Throughout Tina’s career she has exhibited her woven arts at museums, art galleries, libraries and art shows. Also, has been featured in magazines, books, newspapers, TV and on different platforms on the web.
Artist Statement
My woven pieces from baskets to wall sculptures, ceiling hangers, to furniture has evolved and is the way I define myself as an artist, and as a woman. I am fulfilling my dreams that started out with my imagination as a set designer. My creative path took a turn. It was not set design—but the woven arts with its many forms and functions where I found the passion for my life’s work.
The natural beauty of Bittersweet always sparks my imagination and is at the heart of the many pieces I weave. My imagination guides all that I do and it has become very attuned to the harmony of shapes, forms, and colors of the vines and reeds. I am also influenced by the beauty of our natural world and wonder how to weave it.
My palette for color is very much influenced by this experience of growing up in South America. I mix my own dyes and enjoy building a palette for the reeds that will shape textures and forms with color into a
one of a kind woven art!
In and with Nature - Mixed Media Exhibit - Sarah Blodgett Photography & Tina Puckett Master Basket Weaver
🎨 Art Show @ White Silo Winery in Sherman, CT
🗓 On view: September 5–28
🥂 Opening Reception: Sunday, September 7 | 2–4 PM
Get ready for a burst of bold color and creative energy in “Pouring with a Purpose”—a showcase of abstract acrylic art and photography by Christy Bonaiuto.
Christy’s work is all about movement, mood, and vibrant spontaneity, using poured acrylics, resin, and layered textures to create immersive, one-of-a-kind pieces that flow with emotion. Her abstract photography adds another dynamic layer to the show—capturing moments that feel both fleeting and timeless.
Stop by White Silo Winery, enjoy a glass of wine, and explore a diverse art show featuring local artist, Christy Bonaiuto. Come for the view—and leave with something beautiful.
✨ Free & open to the public
🛍️ Artwork available for purchase
Come for the pour. Stay for the art.
White Silo Winery
32 Rt. 37 East
Sherman, CT 06784
860.355.0271
Friday 11-6 PM | Saturday 11-6 PM | Sunday 11-6 PM
Pouring with a Purpose: Art Show That Flows From the Heart
Kenise Barnes Fine Art is thrilled to announce our midsummer exhibition focused on three artists whose keen observation and connection to the natural world invites us to pause and appreciate.
Margot Glass focuses primarily on drawing, using various traditional methods and materials as a foundation for her work, including traditional silverpoint and 14k goldpoint, homemade organic inks and oil and acrylic painting with mixed mica using fine point crow quill pens in place of brushes.
Glass is inspired by the tradition of idealizing nature in art and design as ornament across cultures while seeking to observe and represent her subjects as accurately as possible in all their irregularity and imperfection.
Central to her work is the exploration of ephemeral, fragile subjects, focusing primarily on weeds or ‘waste plants’, and other plants generally considered to be undesirable, to recognize their beauty in all their imperfection and asymmetry. Her focus on these marginal plants is guided by the question of what we value, what we consider ‘belonging’ to mean, and to highlight the beauty of what is present in the disrupted landscape that we find ourselves in today.
Margot Glass grew up in New York City, and studied art at The Art Students' League, Brown University, Rhode Island School of Design, and Fashion Institute of Technology. Glass’s work has been widely exhibited in the United States and internationally. She is a recipient of a Massachusetts Cultural Council STARS Artist Residency; Lost and Found Lab Artist-in-Residence and an Oak Spring Garden Foundation Interdisciplinary Fellowship. Her work is in private and public collections including the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation at Carnegie Mellon, PA, Weatherspoon Art Museum, NC, Oak Spring Garden Foundation, VA, Fidelity Investments Corporate Art Collection, MA, Hotel Del Coronado Collection, CA, Allentown Art Museum, PA, Midwest Museum of American Art, Elkhart, IN, the Beth Rudin deWoody Collection, among others. She currently lives and works in Western Massachusetts.
Richard Klein has been copper plating organic objects for over three decades utilizing found objects that are intrinsically fragile and impermanent. The process allows Klein to encase natural objects in a thin coating of metallic copper, permanently preserving them. The alchemical transformation being both practical and poetic.
In his most recent work, the artist juxtaposes electroplated natural findings with photo gravures of urban landscapes addressing our relationship with nature simultaneously reminding us that we are nature and that our detachment from nature is the source of much of the destruction to our planet. In particular, the artist’s interest in both fungi and copper hint at the convergence of natural and technological evolution: fungi, through their mycelium, connect virtually all terrestrial plant life, acting as natural communication networks; while copper is the material that the human-made electrical and digital networks depend on.
Richard Klein is the former exhibitions director of The Aldrich of Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, CT. His work has been shown widely in US and is in the public collections of Norton Family Collection, Santa Monica, CA, De Cordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Lincoln, MA, Connecticut Artists Collection, Hartford, CT and has been featured in The New Criterion, Two Coats of Paint, Hyperallergic, Art Forum, The Brooklyn Rail and Art New England to name a few. The artist lives and works in CT.
Francis Sills’s work is grounded in the perceptual-based, realist tradition. The artist works directly from observation in nature. In dealing with the intricacies and challenges of working from observation and the sustained experience of intense, visual scrutiny, the artist comes to understand and know his world. The flora series is an ongoing group of paintings utilizing the flowers and plants from the artist’s home garden. Sills recently been adding various shaped mirrors to the set ups, which both multiply the forms and fracture the space. Sills’ paintings are dense and subtle, revealing specific nuances of color, light, and form. Often, the underlying geometry and architecture of the composition are apparent in the application of paint, the artist’s analytic thinking about structure and his methodology still evident in the finished work.
Sills’s work has been exhibited throughout the United States, has been featured in publications such as Wall Street International Magazine, American Art Collector, The New York Times, I Like Your Work Podcast, and can be found in The Fine Art Program and Collection at Montefiore Einstein, New York, NY. Francis Sills earned his MFA at Parsons School of Design, New York, NY and BFA at Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY. The artist lives and works in South Carolina.
Please contact Lani Holloway, Associate Director, Lani@kbfa.com, 860 560 3085 with inquires or to arrange a preview of the exhibition.
Walking Not Talking (Nature as Muse)
Bismuth is a Boston-based artist known for her self-portrait photographs. Her work explores and challenges ideas surrounding identity and its fragile nature, politics and trans expression through a satirical and spontaneous approach.
Recently, Bismuth has taken up oil painting as her primary medium, in which she creates numeric and interactive landscapes.
Dismembered, showing at Peggy Mercury, will be her debut solo exhibit and will showcase her self-portrait images alongside painted works. Co-curated with James Boehmer and Gregory Fricke, the show will display Bismuth's current fascination with fragmentation and isolation, and so much more.
Peggy Mercury
Kent Barns
9 Maple Street, Unit 2
Kent, CT 06757
IG @itspeggymercury
For more information email us at hithere@peggymercury.com
DISMEMBERED by Bismuth Arsenide
Fall is the time to preserve your herbs and get ready for cooler weather. What better way to do that then by creating fun wreaths of herbs perfect for flavoring a broth or soup. Learn how to create your own soup wreath to take home and cook with.
* Pre-registration and pre-payment required
Bloom Where Planted: Soup Wreath
Join us in celebrating the incredible talent of photographers from near and far at this year’s EXPOSURES 2025 at Gallery 25 in the Historic Train Station from August 21-Sept 7!
We’re honored to showcase a stunning collection of photographs that capture moments, moods, and stories through the lens of truly gifted artists.
Opening Reception
Saturday, August 23
2–4 PM
Gallery 25 | 11 Railroad Street, Downtown New Milford
Come support local art, meet the photographers, and enjoy an inspiring afternoon surrounded by creativity. All are welcome! Bring your friends and family!
Let’s fill the gallery with community and appreciation for the power of photography. See you there!
EXPOSURES 2025 – Open Juried Photography Show & Opening Reception
DRIFTLINES, a dual exhibition featuring new works by painter Heather Neilson and photographer Babs Perkins, explores the meditative connections between memory, place, premonition, and afterthought. The two artists are local to the Northwest Corner of Connecticut with studios at Whiting Mills in Winsted. DRIFTLINES will be on display through Friday, September 12.
A reception for the artists will take place on Saturday, August 16, 5-7PM and an artist’s talk featuring the two artists in conversation is scheduled for Thursday, September 4 at 5:30PM.
Art Exhibition DRIFTLINES: New Work by Heather Neilson and Babs Perkins
Opening Reception. Friday, July 25 6-8 PM
7 Water ST, Torrington, CT
Five Points 2025 Small Works Juried Exhibition
Fridays from end of May through mid-October. 3:00 TO 6:00 PM Rain* or Shine!
Held at the KENT LAND TRUST FIELD, 37 South Main Street (Route 7 just south of the traffic light) and across the road from Kent Greenhouse & Gardens
Fresh produce, baked goods, homemade preserves, fresh poultry, gourmet mushrooms, herbal teas & products, honey, maple syrup, salsa, guacamole & chips, and more!!
*In case of heavy rains or storms we will be located at CT Antique Machinery Association, 31 Kent Cornwall Rd (Route 7 North) - advance notice will be given.
Kent CT Farmers Market
On Friday, September 5th at 4 pm the David M. Hunt Library and the Falls Village Equity Project will host a Banned Book Club. This month we will be discussing the book "As I Lay Dying" by William Faulkner. Copies of the book are available at the library. This group is open to anyone high school aged and older.
Banned Book Club: As I Lay Dying
You are invited to LIGHT TOUCH, an exhibit of works by Karann Schaller and Dana Rau at The Gallery at Whiting Mills in Winsted.
Two major players are needed to experience a work of art—an artist to create the piece and a visitor to behold it. However, their creations necessitate a third party to be fully experienced. Karann’s art requires light. Illumination alters the way her art is perceived. Dana’s art needs touch. While her art can be enjoyed visually, it also engages other senses to complete its purpose.
Join them for an opening reception on Friday, September 5, from 5 to 7.
The show is on display from September 5 to October 31 at The Gallery at Whiting Mills (next to studio 416), 100 Whiting Street, Winsted, CT.
Light Touch
Please join us for a fun evening at the historic 1843 Merwinsville Hotel. We'll be enjoying an Italian themed potluck - we'll provide the entre, and ask that everyone bring a dish to share. You can sign up at the following link:
https://www.perfectpotluck.com/meals.php?t=MKGZ6452
The evening will begin with appetizers/munchies at 6:00 pm, followed by dinner at 6:30 pm. A quick meeting will take place around 7:15 pm, with our speaker, Deborah Shiflett-Fitton, Executive Director at the Kent Art Association, to follow at around 7:30 pm.
Deborah will share information about the founders of the Kent Art Association (KAA) and the Kent Art Colony which began in the early 1900s. While many of the artists were from Kent, two of them, Francis Luis Mora and Robert Hogg Nisbet, eventually lived in Gaylordsville and New Milford.
Debbie has long roots in the area and she has a deep love of history as well as art. As well as acting Executive Director of the KAA, she is also a member of the Kent Historical Society Board of Trustees, She is excited to share news of the documentary film that is being created by a local filmmaker on how Northwest CT was a magnet for artists in the early 20th century.
Hope you can join us for this informative evening!
Annual Fall Potluck Dinner - Bring a salad, dessert, or side dish to share (see link below)
Featuring Bill Buttner, & Bernie Kaplan with an all-star band including the remarkable David Wonsey on percussion, the acclaimed guitar player Rob Stagno on guitar, the versatile and talented Annie O'Hara on bass and vocals, Sherman's own piano and multi instrumentalist wizard, Christopher Carlone on piano, and a few surprise guests.
The songs for this performance all speak to these most complicated times in which we live and search for the truth and beauty that is hidden beneath the brush, bushes and brambles and sadly seems so difficult to hold onto these days.
Menu:
- Beef stew w/ root vegetables
- Turkey sausage w/ roasted fall veggies
- Brown butter potato pierogi w/ Swiss chard & caramelized onions
- Parmesan roasted broccoli & cauliflower
- Fall harvest salad w/ apples, pecans, craisins & a cider vinaigrette
- Coffee, tea, & dessert
Dinner & Music: "This Time Songs For Our Times"
Friday, September 5th, at 7:00 PM, Bobby Pirotta returns to 2nd Home. Everyone has a great time when Bobby is here, and this time will be no different. Come down and enjoy some great music, food, drinks, and have fun.
For reservations (encouraged but not required) call 860-238-4500 or email us at momanddad@2ndhomelounge.com
See our complete event list - https://2ndhomelounge.com/events/
Google Street View:
https://goo.gl/maps/eC7A4ZDEjenNqzpb6
https://goo.gl/maps/NWGK4NRyk6MNfmWZ6
2nd Home Lounge
524 Main Street, Winsted
2ndhomelounge.com
Join our mailing list - https://2ndhomelounge.com/email-sign-up/
Bobby Pirotta at 2nd Home Restaurant & Lounge
The Colebrook Historical Society will host a “Friday Night Gathering” on September 5th from 7-9 PM. All are most welcome to attend. The evening will begin at the home of the CHS with refreshments and conversation. Circa 7:30 PM the group will move next door to the Town Hall Meeting Room for a special presentation by noted WFSB meteorologist Scot Haney. In “The Life and Times of Scot Haney – What a Ride!” Scot will share his myriad experiences, both on air and off.
One of the highest profile on air personalities in Connecticut, Scot helps thousands of people wake up and start their day with a forecast tailored to their morning commute. He also brings his warmth and lightheartedness to the network’s “Better Connecticut” show.
Scot earned his Bachelor’s Degree at St. John’s University and his Master’s Degree at Syracuse University. He is certified as a meteorologist by the American Meteorology Society.
Scot’s first television job was in Topeka Kansas in 1993. Then he took several side trips to the world of advertising in New York and to Channel 12 in New Jersey and Westchester. He landed at Channel 3 in 1998.
Between his rigorous day job and his jampacked philanthropic calendar Scott is a busy man. He serves on the board of Rebuilding Together, a non-profit dedicated to rebuilding homes and revitalizing communities. He’s received numerous accolades for his community support, including awards from My Sister’s Place, the American Red Cross and Connecticut Food Share. He’s also been inducted into the Connecticut Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame.
After his presentation Scot will take questions from the audience. Then the gathering will return to the CHS for more conversation and more refreshments. The CHS is located at the intersection of Routes 183 and 182A in Colebrook Center. For further information contact Carol Lord at carol.9508@yahoo.com or 860-738-8244.
The Life and Times of Scot Haney - What a Ride!
ACCLAIMED MAGICIAN BELINDA SINCLAIR PERFORMS HER THEATRICAL MAGIC WITH CAPTIVATING SLEIGHT OF HAND, FUSING ALLEGORY WITH HISTORICAL STORIES ABOUT MAGIC IN THE HANDS OF WOMEN, AND HOW THEY CONVINCED US ALL THAT MAGIC WAS REAL AND THAT OUR POTENTIAL IS GREATER THAN WE THINK IT IS
BELINDA SINCLAIR IN "THE LAST ILLUSION"
Come join us for a Saturday on the Arethusa Farm. Enjoy the animals, be creative with a farm related craft/game, and story time with author & illustrator Ms. Parmelee!
Saturday's starting 7/19
9:00 - 11:00 AM
Ages 5 & under
$35 per family
For questions, email: erikae@arethusafarmfoundation.org
To register and pay, please visit: www.arethasatarmcoamdation.org
The Littlest Farmhands - Saturday mornings
EXHIBIT TO FEATURE THREE LOCAL ARTISTS
(New Preston, Connecticut) – The Smithy Café & Market is pleased to announce an art exhibit to be displayed September 1 to October 31, 2025, titled Perception and Perspective: Three Artists-Becky Butler, Sandra Daignault and Lucy C. Pierpont.
Join us for a collaboration of three women and their varying forms of artwork, style, and perspectives.
The three artists have painted together for several years using a variety of mediums.They have formed friendships and enjoy working together while sharing ideas and support.
Becky Butler founded the not-for-profit, Arts Escape in Southbury in 2012. Arts Escape’s mission was to focus on arts education for adults. After witnessing firsthand how art created camaraderie and joy with those who participated, it was time for Becky to do the same. She retired in 2022 to follow her own art journey. She has been taking painting classes in Abstract, Pastel and Acrylics for the past two years and is excited to keep learning and exploring new mediums. Her pastel, Tethered Beauty, was accepted into a National Pastel show and she also won Best in Show for mixed media in Roxbury’s Art at the Meeting House show in 2024 for Somewhere Out There. Becky lives in Woodbury, Connecticut with her husband Paul.
“I love working in pastels – the colors are limitless and immediate. My pastel paintings are primarily painted realistically. Breaking the barriers of painting realistically has been a challenge. My love for color has recently launched my exploration in creating abstract work. Using color and mark making intuitively is exciting and challenging as well as inspiring. During my exploration I found the medium of oil and cold wax. While having no expectations as to the outcome of my work, my eyes have opened to a whole new world of creativity. I love the freedom of experimentation and the joy of playing. I want my work to reflect my emotional insight into today’s world while uncovering the beauty that still exists,” explains Becky.
Sandra Daignault, a Woodbury resident, was the Fine Arts Director at Arts Escape, Inc in Southbury, CT and teaches classes in acrylic painting. Her artwork has been shown in galleries and organizations across CT (Stamford, Litchfield, Washington, New Milford, Brookfield, Bantam, Ridgefield, West Hartford, Southbury, Rowayton, Newtown), as well as having a permanent piece at the US Headquarters of Jägermeister in Westchester County. In addition, she has published two books of poetry with illustrations and has recently published a climate change fiction novel. Visit her website at sdaignaultfineart.com.
“My painting process is all about creating an open mind and letting go. While I often do not have a predetermined subject I am always influenced by my fascination with our place in the universe. Letting go of preconceived forms allows for the mystery and essence that makes up everything around us. While my influences are abstract artists such as Richard Diebenkorn, contemporary Peter Wileman as well as English romantic artist (JW Turner) I strive to create from the words of favorite poets (Pablo Neruda, Wislawa Szymborska, Mary Oliver). It will please me if viewers respond with wonder and wanting( not knowing what),” states Sandra.
Woodbury resident, Lucy C. Pierpont has worked in the marketing/graphic design field ever since graduating from Hartwick College as an art major. She has created art her whole life and has had her photographs and paintings displayed in exhibits at the Mattatuck Museum, Majors Inn, Hartwick College, Oneonta Art Association, Kent Art Association, Washington Art Association, Burnham Library, Kent Memorial Library Art at the Meetinghouse, Ridgefield Art Walk, Flanders Nature Center and now, The Smithy. She currently works part-time with the Kent Memorial Library and the Washington Depot Office of Klemm Real Estate doing graphic design & public relations. Her artwork can be viewed at lucypierpont.carrd.co. Her graphic designs for the Kent Memorial Library have been the recipient of eight Connecticut Library Association Publicity Awards in recognition of design, marketing, and publicity created to promote a Library service or event.
“From my earliest recollections, art has always been in the forefront. I chose the graphic design route and spent my career in it. Now art embodies my life- through friends, work, play, and travel!” claims Lucy.
Please join us for a reception on Saturday, October 11 from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. For more information, please call the Smithy at (860) 868-9003 or go to their website at thesmithymarket.com.
10 Main Street New Preston CT 06777
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caption: Heat by Lucy C. Pierpont, Parade by Sandra Daignault, and Opening Night by Becky Butler are a few of many paintings in an exhibit titled Perception and Perspective: Three Artists-Becky Butler, Sandra Daignault and Lucy C. Pierpont. The show will be on display from September 1 to October 31, 2025.
PERCEPTION AND PERSPECTIVE - EXHIBIT TO FEATURE THREE LOCAL ARTISTS
The Judy Black Memorial Park and Gardens is pleased to present an art exhibition, “A Frayed Edge,” featuring the works of Stace Dillard. This show is on view beginning Friday, August 29.
An opening reception will be held at the park on Saturday, August 30 from 3 to 5 p.m. This event is free and open to the public.
Dillard’s collage work is composed of vibrant, abstract mixed-media compositions characterized by geometric structures, overlapping elements, and a layering of colors, patterns, and textures.
This show will remain on view through Sunday, September 21. Check our social media for weekly open hours: @judyblackpark on Instagram and Facebook.
Stace Dillard Art Show
The Gunn Memorial Library is pleased to present the captivating floral photography of Nina McKitty, on view in the Stairwell Gallery from August 9th to October 4th.
Drawing inspiration from nature, travel, and the artistic traditions of both East and West, Nina McKitty brings a joyful and thoughtful lens to her digital photography. Her work explores the delicate beauty of flowers—each image carefully composed, captured, and refined in her studio to evoke both surprise and delight in the viewer.
Originally gifted a digital camera by her husband, McKitty transformed a curiosity into a profound creative journey. Over the past 15 years, she has immersed herself in the art and craft of digital photography, studying under acclaimed artists and continuously evolving her techniques. Her photographs are printed and framed by hand using archival materials, merging technical precision with artistic expression.
A former nurse practitioner and consultant, McKitty turned to photography in retirement, channeling her lifelong passions for nature and visual storytelling into a rich new chapter as a digital artist. Since 2019, her work has been featured in numerous exhibitions, including shows at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Employee Gallery, Kent Art Association, and Washington Art Association.
Gunn Memorial Library Stairwell Gallery: “Floral Portraits“ by Nina McKitty
Join the Friends of the David M. Hunt Library for their monthly book sale on the first Saturday of every month from 10 am to 1 pm. New, used, cds, dvds, coffee table books, recent fiction and mystery, children's books- there is something for everyone! All proceeds benefit the library.
Monthly Book Sale
This workshop will offer a comprehensive introduction to portraiture, still life and landscape photography. With access to professional lighting equipment, learn to manipulate lighting, shadows and compositional elements to create captivating imagery.
Instructor: Thaddeus Kubis
Saturdays, September 6, 13 & 20, 2025
10:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Ages: 15+
Members: $121.50 / Non-Members: $135
Creative Compositions
The Litchfield Farmers Market is one of the few year-round markets in the Connecticut. The weekly Saturday market offers fresh seasonal produce, fruit, berries, herbs, sustainably sourced fish; artisanal cheeses, breads and baked goods, local honey, maple syrup and gifts - all raised, grown or crafted by 15+ local vendors.
The market occasionally hosts live music and supports non-profits from throughout the Litchfield area.
INDOOR MARKET - November through mid-June (intermittent Saturdays through the winter months -- check the website for dates.) Open Saturdays 10am - 1pm at the Litchfield Community Center located at 421 Litchfield Road, Litchfield, CT.
OUTDOOR MARKET - mid- June through October located at Center School, Litchfield.
Litchfield Hills Farm Fresh Market
Get ready to go big! The New Hartford Artisans Guild is thrilled to announce our upcoming Big
Works Art Show, celebrating artwork that makes a bold statement. This is your chance to showcase
your largest, most impactful pieces—the only requirement is that one dimension must be at least
24 inches. Whether it’s towering canvases, sweeping landscapes, or grand sculptural forms, we
want to fill the gallery with work that commands attention. Don’t miss this opportunity to take up
space and let your creativity shine on a larger scale!
The Big Show
Online exhibition curated by Lani Ming Holloway with artwork by Maya Tihtiyas Attean, Laura Barr, Jordann McKenna, and Benoît Trimborn
exhibition dates: August 1 – September 30, 2025, on www.kbfa.com
Stories told in light and silence
Poetry will make me violent
Violets outside our yard…
Why does the world have to be so hard?
Encompassing the hidden truths
Of things unseen in what we view.
- LMH
Kenise Barnes Fine Art is pleased to present the online exhibition Stories told in light and silence curated by Lani Ming Holloway featuring Maya Tihtiyas Attean, Laura Barr, Jordann McKenna, and Benoît Trimborn.
Maya Tihtiyas Attean is a Wabanaki artist raised on the Penobscot Reservation in Maine. Excerpted from her artist statement: “Through the lens of Wabanaki history and culture, my photographs intertwine forgotten truths within the landscape of what is now called Maine. My work explores the deep, complex relationships between the land, its people, and the lasting impact of colonization. The energy embedded in the landscape reverberates through my creations and reveals the scars left on both the earth and our bodies. My work invites contemplation on occupation and ownership, prompting reflection on who exploits the land and how systems of oppression have disrupted its balance.”
Maya’s work expresses the dichotomy the artist exists within, marrying mediums and different cultural techniques. “Does the Land Remember?” is an ongoing series photographing landscapes that hold the history of devastating events of colonization. The power of that residuum is felt in the images in a supernatural way, as the dualism of her lived experience is pronounced in the contrast of light and dark. Sunlight shimmers through the leaves as bright stars overhead look down upon the land, a fire burns. Maya’s work calls us to remember that nature feels the spirits.
Maya Tihtiyas Attean lives and works in Portland, Maine or Machigonne. She earned a BFA in Photography from Maine College of Art & Design, Portland. Her work is in the permanent collection of the Portland Museum of Art, Portland, ME and the Abbe Museum, Bar Harbor, ME.
Laura Barr’s work explores impermanence through oil paintings and oil pastel drawings on paper capturing passing moments in color, reflection on water, and light. Simplifying forms and illuminating the scale of special glimmers, her work considers the preservation of water and the protection of our environment. In Laura’s paintings in the exhibition, fireflies gleam in a starlit field and remind us that fireflies may not continue to glow on our planet, while a surfer catches the last evening wave the ocean offers, an Aurora Borealis dances in the night sky.
Laura Barr lives by the Thimble Islands in Branford, Connecticut. She earned her BFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA and a BA in Fine Arts from Tufts University in Medford, MA and has studied at Tyler School of Art in Rome, Italy.
From Ithaca, NY, Jordann McKenna paints and photographs the quiet beauty in everyday life in work that contemplates mundanity and the softly fleeting feeling within light and shadows around her. In lushly applied oil paint, flames flicker and shadows play across the scene. Jordann’s work in this exhibition reflects the peaceful, ephemeral moods of interiors and intimate still lifes, either staged or spontaneous. Jordann McKenna works from photographs and from memory to create images that serve to process rather than recreate, expressing not only what is seen but what is felt, and celebrating the beauty in the ordinary.
Jordann McKenna earned a BS in Visual Arts from State University of New York at New Paltz, New Paltz, NY, and an MFA from Maine College of Art & Design in Portland, ME. She lives and works in Portland, ME.
Born in Strasbourg, France, and trained as an architect, Benoît Trimborn describes his work as “contemporary impressionism”. Viewing the world as an architect, Benoît’s large-scale oil paintings evoke what his artist statement calls the “morphology of the landscapes… like an architect, I see in it a breath, a light, a rhythm, which alone can constitute a principle of beauty. The elements represented compose atmospheres of which I try to faithfully convey the impression, as the musician faithfully follows the score. In this process, the contemplative attitude prevails, much more than the adventurous attitude. No message, no story should disturb the projection of the viewer...”
In Benoît’s meticulously painted large-scale landscapes, the absence of the figure instills a quietude in the story while light is the present form in all its magic. Reflections play like a musical score on the surface of the water and golden glimmers illuminate the forest and emanate from a sunset sky.
Benoît Trimborn’s work is in the permanent collection of Galerie Ariel Sibony in Paris, France, Absolute Art Gallery in Bruges, Belgium, and Galerie Bertrand Gillig in Strasbourg, France. He lives and works in Strasbourg, France.
Please contact Lani@kbfa.com, 860 560 3085 with inquiries.
Shipping is available worldwide throughout the exhibition.
Stories told in light and silence
UConn Extension Master Gardener volunteers will be available to answer your home gardening questions. Look for their table inside the library. They will be on site 10am-12pm on May 10, June 7, July 5, August 2, and September 6.
Ask a Master Gardener
This solo exhibition marks Brewster’s return to public exhibition after a significant studio hiatus, shaped by the pandemic and the arrival of his two young children.
Spanning two to six feet in width, Brewster’s latest works are immersive and meditative, exploring vast, perhaps virtual, landscapes. These meticulously layered oil paintings hint at human presence through subtle traces—a balanced stone, a resting stick—evoking a haunting stillness. In his signature style, Brewster uses old-master techniques and translucent glazes to explore the tension between presence and absence, clarity and ambiguity. “Some of these paintings verge on the apocalyptic while others suggest eerie calm or quiet hope,” Brewster notes. “They balance loneliness and community, action and avoidance. They are tightly tied to the physicality and geometry of the canvas itself.”
Brewster studied at Yale University and received his MFA from the Hoffberger School of Painting at the Maryland Institute College of Art. He has held solo exhibitions in New York City, North Carolina, and Newfoundland, and has participated in numerous curated group shows including Icons of the 21st Century in New York and Academy 2003 at Conner Contemporary in Washington, D.C. His work has been featured in New American Paintings and reviewed in publications such as ForbesLife and The National Post.
New Paintings by Abraham Brewster
Join us in celebrating the incredible talent of photographers from near and far at this year’s EXPOSURES 2025 at Gallery 25 in the Historic Train Station from August 21-Sept 7!
We’re honored to showcase a stunning collection of photographs that capture moments, moods, and stories through the lens of truly gifted artists.
Opening Reception
Saturday, August 23
2–4 PM
Gallery 25 | 11 Railroad Street, Downtown New Milford
Come support local art, meet the photographers, and enjoy an inspiring afternoon surrounded by creativity. All are welcome! Bring your friends and family!
Let’s fill the gallery with community and appreciation for the power of photography. See you there!
EXPOSURES 2025 – Open Juried Photography Show & Opening Reception
Saturdays at 10:30 AM - Beginning September 6
Storytime & Stay to Play
All ages welcome!
Come to OWL for an all ages storytime in the children's room every Saturday at 10:30 then stay to play. In addition to our puppet theater, wooden blocks, and train set, we now have a dollhouse! We also have our ongoing Bluey BINGO with a fidget prize for winners. During September our craft table is home to model magic clay, as well as coloring sheets for younger children. And most importantly come in to browse our collection of print books, Nutmeg nominees, and Wonderbooks!
Saturday Family Storytime
Enjoy the works of
Photographer Sarah Blodgett & Basket Weaver Tina Puckett
About the Artists
Sarah Blodgett
Sarah Blodgett is a photographer from the Hudson Valley in New York. Born in New York City, daughter of a professional advertising photographer, she bought her first camera at the age of ten and has been shooting ever since. A commercial & portrait photographer professionally since 1993, her passion now lies with creating images of wildlife and natural areas. Her primary focus is on birds as well as landscapes, seascapes, still lives and florals. She also offers speaking programs to accompany her work with a focus on ecology and preservation of the natural world around us.
https://westernconnecticut.blogspot.com/2025/07/art-lovers-covered-bridge-woven-hand_30.html
Tina Puckett
American Master Weaver Tina Puckett is a self-taught Artist. who has been weaving since 1981. For over 40 years the woven arts have been evolving and each one is indescribably dynamic and colorful. The character of each piece is an expression of Tina's imagination and her sense of color that she applies to the weaving and structural form. Throughout Tina’s career she has exhibited her woven arts at museums, art galleries, libraries and art shows. Also, has been featured in magazines, books, newspapers, TV and on different platforms on the web.
Artist Statement
My woven pieces from baskets to wall sculptures, ceiling hangers, to furniture has evolved and is the way I define myself as an artist, and as a woman. I am fulfilling my dreams that started out with my imagination as a set designer. My creative path took a turn. It was not set design—but the woven arts with its many forms and functions where I found the passion for my life’s work.
The natural beauty of Bittersweet always sparks my imagination and is at the heart of the many pieces I weave. My imagination guides all that I do and it has become very attuned to the harmony of shapes, forms, and colors of the vines and reeds. I am also influenced by the beauty of our natural world and wonder how to weave it.
My palette for color is very much influenced by this experience of growing up in South America. I mix my own dyes and enjoy building a palette for the reeds that will shape textures and forms with color into a
one of a kind woven art!
In and with Nature - Mixed Media Exhibit - Sarah Blodgett Photography & Tina Puckett Master Basket Weaver
Join us for an hour of story time hosted in our Children's Section at Honeybee Books & Tea!
Our story selection is thoughtfully curated including Caldecott Honor books and Newberry Medal winners. Our staff brings excitement to reading through their storytelling, and all books that are read are available for purchase for you to bring the magic home. The readings can be curated by age group, offering an assortment of reading-level material.
For more information, visit our website or speak to an associate in-store.
Honeybee Books & Tea Read-Aloud Hour
Kenise Barnes Fine Art is thrilled to announce our midsummer exhibition focused on three artists whose keen observation and connection to the natural world invites us to pause and appreciate.
Margot Glass focuses primarily on drawing, using various traditional methods and materials as a foundation for her work, including traditional silverpoint and 14k goldpoint, homemade organic inks and oil and acrylic painting with mixed mica using fine point crow quill pens in place of brushes.
Glass is inspired by the tradition of idealizing nature in art and design as ornament across cultures while seeking to observe and represent her subjects as accurately as possible in all their irregularity and imperfection.
Central to her work is the exploration of ephemeral, fragile subjects, focusing primarily on weeds or ‘waste plants’, and other plants generally considered to be undesirable, to recognize their beauty in all their imperfection and asymmetry. Her focus on these marginal plants is guided by the question of what we value, what we consider ‘belonging’ to mean, and to highlight the beauty of what is present in the disrupted landscape that we find ourselves in today.
Margot Glass grew up in New York City, and studied art at The Art Students' League, Brown University, Rhode Island School of Design, and Fashion Institute of Technology. Glass’s work has been widely exhibited in the United States and internationally. She is a recipient of a Massachusetts Cultural Council STARS Artist Residency; Lost and Found Lab Artist-in-Residence and an Oak Spring Garden Foundation Interdisciplinary Fellowship. Her work is in private and public collections including the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation at Carnegie Mellon, PA, Weatherspoon Art Museum, NC, Oak Spring Garden Foundation, VA, Fidelity Investments Corporate Art Collection, MA, Hotel Del Coronado Collection, CA, Allentown Art Museum, PA, Midwest Museum of American Art, Elkhart, IN, the Beth Rudin deWoody Collection, among others. She currently lives and works in Western Massachusetts.
Richard Klein has been copper plating organic objects for over three decades utilizing found objects that are intrinsically fragile and impermanent. The process allows Klein to encase natural objects in a thin coating of metallic copper, permanently preserving them. The alchemical transformation being both practical and poetic.
In his most recent work, the artist juxtaposes electroplated natural findings with photo gravures of urban landscapes addressing our relationship with nature simultaneously reminding us that we are nature and that our detachment from nature is the source of much of the destruction to our planet. In particular, the artist’s interest in both fungi and copper hint at the convergence of natural and technological evolution: fungi, through their mycelium, connect virtually all terrestrial plant life, acting as natural communication networks; while copper is the material that the human-made electrical and digital networks depend on.
Richard Klein is the former exhibitions director of The Aldrich of Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, CT. His work has been shown widely in US and is in the public collections of Norton Family Collection, Santa Monica, CA, De Cordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Lincoln, MA, Connecticut Artists Collection, Hartford, CT and has been featured in The New Criterion, Two Coats of Paint, Hyperallergic, Art Forum, The Brooklyn Rail and Art New England to name a few. The artist lives and works in CT.
Francis Sills’s work is grounded in the perceptual-based, realist tradition. The artist works directly from observation in nature. In dealing with the intricacies and challenges of working from observation and the sustained experience of intense, visual scrutiny, the artist comes to understand and know his world. The flora series is an ongoing group of paintings utilizing the flowers and plants from the artist’s home garden. Sills recently been adding various shaped mirrors to the set ups, which both multiply the forms and fracture the space. Sills’ paintings are dense and subtle, revealing specific nuances of color, light, and form. Often, the underlying geometry and architecture of the composition are apparent in the application of paint, the artist’s analytic thinking about structure and his methodology still evident in the finished work.
Sills’s work has been exhibited throughout the United States, has been featured in publications such as Wall Street International Magazine, American Art Collector, The New York Times, I Like Your Work Podcast, and can be found in The Fine Art Program and Collection at Montefiore Einstein, New York, NY. Francis Sills earned his MFA at Parsons School of Design, New York, NY and BFA at Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY. The artist lives and works in South Carolina.
Please contact Lani Holloway, Associate Director, Lani@kbfa.com, 860 560 3085 with inquires or to arrange a preview of the exhibition.
Walking Not Talking (Nature as Muse)
🎨 Art Show @ White Silo Winery in Sherman, CT
🗓 On view: September 5–28
🥂 Opening Reception: Sunday, September 7 | 2–4 PM
Get ready for a burst of bold color and creative energy in “Pouring with a Purpose”—a showcase of abstract acrylic art and photography by Christy Bonaiuto.
Christy’s work is all about movement, mood, and vibrant spontaneity, using poured acrylics, resin, and layered textures to create immersive, one-of-a-kind pieces that flow with emotion. Her abstract photography adds another dynamic layer to the show—capturing moments that feel both fleeting and timeless.
Stop by White Silo Winery, enjoy a glass of wine, and explore a diverse art show featuring local artist, Christy Bonaiuto. Come for the view—and leave with something beautiful.
✨ Free & open to the public
🛍️ Artwork available for purchase
Come for the pour. Stay for the art.
White Silo Winery
32 Rt. 37 East
Sherman, CT 06784
860.355.0271
Friday 11-6 PM | Saturday 11-6 PM | Sunday 11-6 PM
Pouring with a Purpose: Art Show That Flows From the Heart
Bismuth is a Boston-based artist known for her self-portrait photographs. Her work explores and challenges ideas surrounding identity and its fragile nature, politics and trans expression through a satirical and spontaneous approach.
Recently, Bismuth has taken up oil painting as her primary medium, in which she creates numeric and interactive landscapes.
Dismembered, showing at Peggy Mercury, will be her debut solo exhibit and will showcase her self-portrait images alongside painted works. Co-curated with James Boehmer and Gregory Fricke, the show will display Bismuth's current fascination with fragmentation and isolation, and so much more.
Peggy Mercury
Kent Barns
9 Maple Street, Unit 2
Kent, CT 06757
IG @itspeggymercury
For more information email us at hithere@peggymercury.com
DISMEMBERED by Bismuth Arsenide
Pub food and a glass of wine, who could say no? Get your greasy fix in with JJ Stacks, stacked menu! From loaded fries, to crispy chicken wings, and the juiciest burgers, there’s something for everyone!
JJ Stacks Food Truck
Join Woodbury author David Newell for a book signing at the Woodbury Public Library. He will be sharing his recently published his third book, Meade Hill Road, the sequel to his first novel Sarah Jane. The book series, based on a Vermont farm family, are set in the late 1800’s. He is currently working on the third book in the series. Mr. Newell’s first published work, Petey and Quackers, is an illustrated true story the author wrote for his granddaughter about Petey, a pigeon, and Quackers, a disabled duck, who become inseparable friends for life.
Author David Newell Book Signing
Opening Reception. Friday, July 25 6-8 PM
7 Water ST, Torrington, CT
Five Points 2025 Small Works Juried Exhibition
Presented by Chef Margaret Jacobs
Time to warm up with some great stock we can turn into soup.
We can talk about traditional favorites, hearty chowder, and creamy soups, and protein packed vegetable soups. Many soups can be made in advance and frozen for future use. See you soon!
Cooking Demonstration: Soup, A Meal in a Bowl
Do you have questions about wills, trusts, probate and charitable bequests? Come to the David M. Hunt Library on Saturday September 6th at 2 pm to learn more about estate planning and ways of charitable giving from attorneys Warren Whitaker and Jordan Richards. Hear more about The 1891 Society at the David M. Hunt Library.
Jordan Richards is a trust and estates lawyer in Litchfield County, and serves as the Litchfield Hills Probate Judge. Warren Whitaker is a trust and estates lawyer who recently retired from Day Pitney.
Estate Planning and Charitable Giving Program
"New Paintings", an exhibit of oil paintings by Abraham Brewster at Minor Memorial Library, 23 South Street, Roxbury, CT, will begin with an opening reception on Saturday September 6, 2025 from 3 pm to 5 pm.
Opening Reception for Abraham Brewster
On September 6, at 5 pm, The Cornwall Library presents Nathan Kernan, celebrated author of the new A Day Like Any Other: The Life of James Schuyler, in conversation with Alice Quinn, Columbia professor and past poetry editor at The New Yorker. The talk is followed by a book signing.
Kernan’s is the long-awaited definitive biography of Schuyler, a great American poet (1923-1991) who, along with Frank O’Hara, Barbara Guest, John Ashbery, and Kenneth Koch, was an original member of the so-called New York School of poetry.
The biography traces the tumultuous arc of Schuyler’s life and work. He came to New York City in 1944 but later spent time in Southampton, Long Island, living with Fairfield Porter and his family, and spending summers in Maine. Subsequent years in New York were marked by poverty and mental illness, yet it was during this time that he wrote some of his greatest poems. After moving to the Chelsea Hotel in 1979, his circumstances began to turn around, and when he died, at sixty-seven, his life was stable and fulfilled.
Schuyler’s poetry embodies the quiet beauties of the natural world and the mundane stuff of everyday existence, even as his own life was often messy and troubled. Kernan explores this and other paradoxes of Schuyler’s singular life within the vibrant milieu of mid-century New York’s poets and painters.
Here’s what the critics are saying about "A Day Like Any Other":
- Dan Chiasson in The New Yorker hails Nathan Kernan’s “intrepid” biography, “this filigreed and astute presentation” of a poet “whose reminiscences form the core of several poems that rank among the glories of twentieth-century American literature.“
- Evan Kindley in The Nation calls the book “engrossing” and “invaluable” and the poems of James Schuyler “one of the permanent joys of American literature…..Drawing from dozens of original interviews alongside reams of unpublished archival material, Kernan provides a wealth of detail about a figure who, while hardly unknown, has long retained an air of mystery.”
- Angela Ball at bestamericanpoetry.com says “We have long hoped for a biography of James Schuyler. Now, thanks to Nathan Kernan, who also gave us The Diary of James Schuyler, we have it. Not only is it worth the wait, but also a biography truly worthy of its subject: his humility and pride in accomplishment, his extraordinary ordinary life.”
In 1992, Nathan Kernan collaborated with painter Joan Mitchell on Poems, published by Tyler Graphics. He edited The Diary of James Schuyler, published in 1997, and has written numerous art reviews, catalogue essays and monographs.
Attend in-person only. Registration requested: https://cornwalllibrary.org/events/
Mysterious Poet Revealed
DRIFTLINES, a dual exhibition featuring new works by painter Heather Neilson and photographer Babs Perkins, explores the meditative connections between memory, place, premonition, and afterthought. The two artists are local to the Northwest Corner of Connecticut with studios at Whiting Mills in Winsted. DRIFTLINES will be on display through Friday, September 12.
A reception for the artists will take place on Saturday, August 16, 5-7PM and an artist’s talk featuring the two artists in conversation is scheduled for Thursday, September 4 at 5:30PM.
Art Exhibition DRIFTLINES: New Work by Heather Neilson and Babs Perkins
Whether playing his great grandfather’s harp guitar, his 1930 National Steel, or a standard 6-string, Stephen Bennett is a musician to hear. His playing has won awards and critical praise. In live performance and on record, his diverse musical influences and interests combine with a lifelong love affair with the sound of guitar strings.
12 Moons is a community-organized, grass-roots, not-for-profit, all volunteer event begun in 2012. It brings people together to enjoy live, local music, poetry, and storytelling. 12 Moons gathers once a month on the first Saturday from 6:30 – 9:00. The format for the evening is open mic followed by a featured performer(s) at 8:00. The setting is intimate and casual with light refreshments or BYOB. Patrons are seated at candle-lit tables, conducive to bringing in dinner to enjoy while listening to live music. The coffee house depends entirely on donations at the door. Sign-up for open mic starts at 6:00pm.
12 Moons to Feature Stephen Bennett
Saturday, September 6th, at 7:00 PM, AmyBlu featuring Max Mayer return to 2nd Home. We have many wonderful performers here, and AmyBlu and Max are among the best! Welcome them back, and enjoy a wide array of musical styles including intimate jazz, sensuous torch, soulful rock, R&B, classic country, and so much more.
https://www.maxmayermusic.com/
For reservations (encouraged but not required) call 860-238-4500 or email us at momanddad@2ndhomelounge.com
See our complete event list - https://2ndhomelounge.com/events/
Our Google Street View is online, and it looks amazing:
https://goo.gl/maps/eC7A4ZDEjenNqzpb6
https://goo.gl/maps/NWGK4NRyk6MNfmWZ6
2nd Home Lounge
524 Main Street, Winsted
2ndhomelounge.com
Join our mailing list - https://2ndhomelounge.com/email-sign-up/
AmyBlu featuring Max Mayer at 2nd Home Restaurant/Lounge
F.W. Murnau’s Sunrise (1927), a silent film masterpiece of love, betrayal, and redemption. Enhanced by live music composed and performed by pianist Donald Sosin with singer/percussionist Joanna Seaton, this poetic double-Oscar winner is considered one of the greatest films ever made.
Tickets: $20-65, Under 19 Free
Musicmountain.org or 860-824-7126 for tickets and more information
Music Mountain Summer Festival: DONALD SOSIN & JOANNA SEATON SILENT FILM & LIVE MUSIC
Inspired by the big band swing era, musical theater and early American folk music, with an upright bass, violin, an occasional accordion and any other willing participant recruited along the way, that's the amazing - Caravan of Thieves. This is the night, not to be missed.
Caravan of Thieves
The Judy Black Memorial Park and Gardens is pleased to present an art exhibition, “A Frayed Edge,” featuring the works of Stace Dillard. This show is on view beginning Friday, August 29.
An opening reception will be held at the park on Saturday, August 30 from 3 to 5 p.m. This event is free and open to the public.
Dillard’s collage work is composed of vibrant, abstract mixed-media compositions characterized by geometric structures, overlapping elements, and a layering of colors, patterns, and textures.
This show will remain on view through Sunday, September 21. Check our social media for weekly open hours: @judyblackpark on Instagram and Facebook.
Stace Dillard Art Show
EXHIBIT TO FEATURE THREE LOCAL ARTISTS
(New Preston, Connecticut) – The Smithy Café & Market is pleased to announce an art exhibit to be displayed September 1 to October 31, 2025, titled Perception and Perspective: Three Artists-Becky Butler, Sandra Daignault and Lucy C. Pierpont.
Join us for a collaboration of three women and their varying forms of artwork, style, and perspectives.
The three artists have painted together for several years using a variety of mediums.They have formed friendships and enjoy working together while sharing ideas and support.
Becky Butler founded the not-for-profit, Arts Escape in Southbury in 2012. Arts Escape’s mission was to focus on arts education for adults. After witnessing firsthand how art created camaraderie and joy with those who participated, it was time for Becky to do the same. She retired in 2022 to follow her own art journey. She has been taking painting classes in Abstract, Pastel and Acrylics for the past two years and is excited to keep learning and exploring new mediums. Her pastel, Tethered Beauty, was accepted into a National Pastel show and she also won Best in Show for mixed media in Roxbury’s Art at the Meeting House show in 2024 for Somewhere Out There. Becky lives in Woodbury, Connecticut with her husband Paul.
“I love working in pastels – the colors are limitless and immediate. My pastel paintings are primarily painted realistically. Breaking the barriers of painting realistically has been a challenge. My love for color has recently launched my exploration in creating abstract work. Using color and mark making intuitively is exciting and challenging as well as inspiring. During my exploration I found the medium of oil and cold wax. While having no expectations as to the outcome of my work, my eyes have opened to a whole new world of creativity. I love the freedom of experimentation and the joy of playing. I want my work to reflect my emotional insight into today’s world while uncovering the beauty that still exists,” explains Becky.
Sandra Daignault, a Woodbury resident, was the Fine Arts Director at Arts Escape, Inc in Southbury, CT and teaches classes in acrylic painting. Her artwork has been shown in galleries and organizations across CT (Stamford, Litchfield, Washington, New Milford, Brookfield, Bantam, Ridgefield, West Hartford, Southbury, Rowayton, Newtown), as well as having a permanent piece at the US Headquarters of Jägermeister in Westchester County. In addition, she has published two books of poetry with illustrations and has recently published a climate change fiction novel. Visit her website at sdaignaultfineart.com.
“My painting process is all about creating an open mind and letting go. While I often do not have a predetermined subject I am always influenced by my fascination with our place in the universe. Letting go of preconceived forms allows for the mystery and essence that makes up everything around us. While my influences are abstract artists such as Richard Diebenkorn, contemporary Peter Wileman as well as English romantic artist (JW Turner) I strive to create from the words of favorite poets (Pablo Neruda, Wislawa Szymborska, Mary Oliver). It will please me if viewers respond with wonder and wanting( not knowing what),” states Sandra.
Woodbury resident, Lucy C. Pierpont has worked in the marketing/graphic design field ever since graduating from Hartwick College as an art major. She has created art her whole life and has had her photographs and paintings displayed in exhibits at the Mattatuck Museum, Majors Inn, Hartwick College, Oneonta Art Association, Kent Art Association, Washington Art Association, Burnham Library, Kent Memorial Library Art at the Meetinghouse, Ridgefield Art Walk, Flanders Nature Center and now, The Smithy. She currently works part-time with the Kent Memorial Library and the Washington Depot Office of Klemm Real Estate doing graphic design & public relations. Her artwork can be viewed at lucypierpont.carrd.co. Her graphic designs for the Kent Memorial Library have been the recipient of eight Connecticut Library Association Publicity Awards in recognition of design, marketing, and publicity created to promote a Library service or event.
“From my earliest recollections, art has always been in the forefront. I chose the graphic design route and spent my career in it. Now art embodies my life- through friends, work, play, and travel!” claims Lucy.
Please join us for a reception on Saturday, October 11 from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. For more information, please call the Smithy at (860) 868-9003 or go to their website at thesmithymarket.com.
10 Main Street New Preston CT 06777
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caption: Heat by Lucy C. Pierpont, Parade by Sandra Daignault, and Opening Night by Becky Butler are a few of many paintings in an exhibit titled Perception and Perspective: Three Artists-Becky Butler, Sandra Daignault and Lucy C. Pierpont. The show will be on display from September 1 to October 31, 2025.
PERCEPTION AND PERSPECTIVE - EXHIBIT TO FEATURE THREE LOCAL ARTISTS
Online exhibition curated by Lani Ming Holloway with artwork by Maya Tihtiyas Attean, Laura Barr, Jordann McKenna, and Benoît Trimborn
exhibition dates: August 1 – September 30, 2025, on www.kbfa.com
Stories told in light and silence
Poetry will make me violent
Violets outside our yard…
Why does the world have to be so hard?
Encompassing the hidden truths
Of things unseen in what we view.
- LMH
Kenise Barnes Fine Art is pleased to present the online exhibition Stories told in light and silence curated by Lani Ming Holloway featuring Maya Tihtiyas Attean, Laura Barr, Jordann McKenna, and Benoît Trimborn.
Maya Tihtiyas Attean is a Wabanaki artist raised on the Penobscot Reservation in Maine. Excerpted from her artist statement: “Through the lens of Wabanaki history and culture, my photographs intertwine forgotten truths within the landscape of what is now called Maine. My work explores the deep, complex relationships between the land, its people, and the lasting impact of colonization. The energy embedded in the landscape reverberates through my creations and reveals the scars left on both the earth and our bodies. My work invites contemplation on occupation and ownership, prompting reflection on who exploits the land and how systems of oppression have disrupted its balance.”
Maya’s work expresses the dichotomy the artist exists within, marrying mediums and different cultural techniques. “Does the Land Remember?” is an ongoing series photographing landscapes that hold the history of devastating events of colonization. The power of that residuum is felt in the images in a supernatural way, as the dualism of her lived experience is pronounced in the contrast of light and dark. Sunlight shimmers through the leaves as bright stars overhead look down upon the land, a fire burns. Maya’s work calls us to remember that nature feels the spirits.
Maya Tihtiyas Attean lives and works in Portland, Maine or Machigonne. She earned a BFA in Photography from Maine College of Art & Design, Portland. Her work is in the permanent collection of the Portland Museum of Art, Portland, ME and the Abbe Museum, Bar Harbor, ME.
Laura Barr’s work explores impermanence through oil paintings and oil pastel drawings on paper capturing passing moments in color, reflection on water, and light. Simplifying forms and illuminating the scale of special glimmers, her work considers the preservation of water and the protection of our environment. In Laura’s paintings in the exhibition, fireflies gleam in a starlit field and remind us that fireflies may not continue to glow on our planet, while a surfer catches the last evening wave the ocean offers, an Aurora Borealis dances in the night sky.
Laura Barr lives by the Thimble Islands in Branford, Connecticut. She earned her BFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA and a BA in Fine Arts from Tufts University in Medford, MA and has studied at Tyler School of Art in Rome, Italy.
From Ithaca, NY, Jordann McKenna paints and photographs the quiet beauty in everyday life in work that contemplates mundanity and the softly fleeting feeling within light and shadows around her. In lushly applied oil paint, flames flicker and shadows play across the scene. Jordann’s work in this exhibition reflects the peaceful, ephemeral moods of interiors and intimate still lifes, either staged or spontaneous. Jordann McKenna works from photographs and from memory to create images that serve to process rather than recreate, expressing not only what is seen but what is felt, and celebrating the beauty in the ordinary.
Jordann McKenna earned a BS in Visual Arts from State University of New York at New Paltz, New Paltz, NY, and an MFA from Maine College of Art & Design in Portland, ME. She lives and works in Portland, ME.
Born in Strasbourg, France, and trained as an architect, Benoît Trimborn describes his work as “contemporary impressionism”. Viewing the world as an architect, Benoît’s large-scale oil paintings evoke what his artist statement calls the “morphology of the landscapes… like an architect, I see in it a breath, a light, a rhythm, which alone can constitute a principle of beauty. The elements represented compose atmospheres of which I try to faithfully convey the impression, as the musician faithfully follows the score. In this process, the contemplative attitude prevails, much more than the adventurous attitude. No message, no story should disturb the projection of the viewer...”
In Benoît’s meticulously painted large-scale landscapes, the absence of the figure instills a quietude in the story while light is the present form in all its magic. Reflections play like a musical score on the surface of the water and golden glimmers illuminate the forest and emanate from a sunset sky.
Benoît Trimborn’s work is in the permanent collection of Galerie Ariel Sibony in Paris, France, Absolute Art Gallery in Bruges, Belgium, and Galerie Bertrand Gillig in Strasbourg, France. He lives and works in Strasbourg, France.
Please contact Lani@kbfa.com, 860 560 3085 with inquiries.
Shipping is available worldwide throughout the exhibition.
Stories told in light and silence
Join us in celebrating the incredible talent of photographers from near and far at this year’s EXPOSURES 2025 at Gallery 25 in the Historic Train Station from August 21-Sept 7!
We’re honored to showcase a stunning collection of photographs that capture moments, moods, and stories through the lens of truly gifted artists.
Opening Reception
Saturday, August 23
2–4 PM
Gallery 25 | 11 Railroad Street, Downtown New Milford
Come support local art, meet the photographers, and enjoy an inspiring afternoon surrounded by creativity. All are welcome! Bring your friends and family!
Let’s fill the gallery with community and appreciation for the power of photography. See you there!
EXPOSURES 2025 – Open Juried Photography Show & Opening Reception
Enjoy the works of
Photographer Sarah Blodgett & Basket Weaver Tina Puckett
About the Artists
Sarah Blodgett
Sarah Blodgett is a photographer from the Hudson Valley in New York. Born in New York City, daughter of a professional advertising photographer, she bought her first camera at the age of ten and has been shooting ever since. A commercial & portrait photographer professionally since 1993, her passion now lies with creating images of wildlife and natural areas. Her primary focus is on birds as well as landscapes, seascapes, still lives and florals. She also offers speaking programs to accompany her work with a focus on ecology and preservation of the natural world around us.
https://westernconnecticut.blogspot.com/2025/07/art-lovers-covered-bridge-woven-hand_30.html
Tina Puckett
American Master Weaver Tina Puckett is a self-taught Artist. who has been weaving since 1981. For over 40 years the woven arts have been evolving and each one is indescribably dynamic and colorful. The character of each piece is an expression of Tina's imagination and her sense of color that she applies to the weaving and structural form. Throughout Tina’s career she has exhibited her woven arts at museums, art galleries, libraries and art shows. Also, has been featured in magazines, books, newspapers, TV and on different platforms on the web.
Artist Statement
My woven pieces from baskets to wall sculptures, ceiling hangers, to furniture has evolved and is the way I define myself as an artist, and as a woman. I am fulfilling my dreams that started out with my imagination as a set designer. My creative path took a turn. It was not set design—but the woven arts with its many forms and functions where I found the passion for my life’s work.
The natural beauty of Bittersweet always sparks my imagination and is at the heart of the many pieces I weave. My imagination guides all that I do and it has become very attuned to the harmony of shapes, forms, and colors of the vines and reeds. I am also influenced by the beauty of our natural world and wonder how to weave it.
My palette for color is very much influenced by this experience of growing up in South America. I mix my own dyes and enjoy building a palette for the reeds that will shape textures and forms with color into a
one of a kind woven art!
In and with Nature - Mixed Media Exhibit - Sarah Blodgett Photography & Tina Puckett Master Basket Weaver
Bismuth is a Boston-based artist known for her self-portrait photographs. Her work explores and challenges ideas surrounding identity and its fragile nature, politics and trans expression through a satirical and spontaneous approach.
Recently, Bismuth has taken up oil painting as her primary medium, in which she creates numeric and interactive landscapes.
Dismembered, showing at Peggy Mercury, will be her debut solo exhibit and will showcase her self-portrait images alongside painted works. Co-curated with James Boehmer and Gregory Fricke, the show will display Bismuth's current fascination with fragmentation and isolation, and so much more.
Peggy Mercury
Kent Barns
9 Maple Street, Unit 2
Kent, CT 06757
IG @itspeggymercury
For more information email us at hithere@peggymercury.com
DISMEMBERED by Bismuth Arsenide
🎨 Art Show @ White Silo Winery in Sherman, CT
🗓 On view: September 5–28
🥂 Opening Reception: Sunday, September 7 | 2–4 PM
Get ready for a burst of bold color and creative energy in “Pouring with a Purpose”—a showcase of abstract acrylic art and photography by Christy Bonaiuto.
Christy’s work is all about movement, mood, and vibrant spontaneity, using poured acrylics, resin, and layered textures to create immersive, one-of-a-kind pieces that flow with emotion. Her abstract photography adds another dynamic layer to the show—capturing moments that feel both fleeting and timeless.
Stop by White Silo Winery, enjoy a glass of wine, and explore a diverse art show featuring local artist, Christy Bonaiuto. Come for the view—and leave with something beautiful.
✨ Free & open to the public
🛍️ Artwork available for purchase
Come for the pour. Stay for the art.
White Silo Winery
32 Rt. 37 East
Sherman, CT 06784
860.355.0271
Friday 11-6 PM | Saturday 11-6 PM | Sunday 11-6 PM
Pouring with a Purpose: Art Show That Flows From the Heart
Join us in welcoming the brand new L.A. Rick's food truck at the winery! Serving all of your favorites from the west coast!
L.A. Rick's Food Truck
Kenise Barnes Fine Art is thrilled to announce our midsummer exhibition focused on three artists whose keen observation and connection to the natural world invites us to pause and appreciate.
Margot Glass focuses primarily on drawing, using various traditional methods and materials as a foundation for her work, including traditional silverpoint and 14k goldpoint, homemade organic inks and oil and acrylic painting with mixed mica using fine point crow quill pens in place of brushes.
Glass is inspired by the tradition of idealizing nature in art and design as ornament across cultures while seeking to observe and represent her subjects as accurately as possible in all their irregularity and imperfection.
Central to her work is the exploration of ephemeral, fragile subjects, focusing primarily on weeds or ‘waste plants’, and other plants generally considered to be undesirable, to recognize their beauty in all their imperfection and asymmetry. Her focus on these marginal plants is guided by the question of what we value, what we consider ‘belonging’ to mean, and to highlight the beauty of what is present in the disrupted landscape that we find ourselves in today.
Margot Glass grew up in New York City, and studied art at The Art Students' League, Brown University, Rhode Island School of Design, and Fashion Institute of Technology. Glass’s work has been widely exhibited in the United States and internationally. She is a recipient of a Massachusetts Cultural Council STARS Artist Residency; Lost and Found Lab Artist-in-Residence and an Oak Spring Garden Foundation Interdisciplinary Fellowship. Her work is in private and public collections including the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation at Carnegie Mellon, PA, Weatherspoon Art Museum, NC, Oak Spring Garden Foundation, VA, Fidelity Investments Corporate Art Collection, MA, Hotel Del Coronado Collection, CA, Allentown Art Museum, PA, Midwest Museum of American Art, Elkhart, IN, the Beth Rudin deWoody Collection, among others. She currently lives and works in Western Massachusetts.
Richard Klein has been copper plating organic objects for over three decades utilizing found objects that are intrinsically fragile and impermanent. The process allows Klein to encase natural objects in a thin coating of metallic copper, permanently preserving them. The alchemical transformation being both practical and poetic.
In his most recent work, the artist juxtaposes electroplated natural findings with photo gravures of urban landscapes addressing our relationship with nature simultaneously reminding us that we are nature and that our detachment from nature is the source of much of the destruction to our planet. In particular, the artist’s interest in both fungi and copper hint at the convergence of natural and technological evolution: fungi, through their mycelium, connect virtually all terrestrial plant life, acting as natural communication networks; while copper is the material that the human-made electrical and digital networks depend on.
Richard Klein is the former exhibitions director of The Aldrich of Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, CT. His work has been shown widely in US and is in the public collections of Norton Family Collection, Santa Monica, CA, De Cordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Lincoln, MA, Connecticut Artists Collection, Hartford, CT and has been featured in The New Criterion, Two Coats of Paint, Hyperallergic, Art Forum, The Brooklyn Rail and Art New England to name a few. The artist lives and works in CT.
Francis Sills’s work is grounded in the perceptual-based, realist tradition. The artist works directly from observation in nature. In dealing with the intricacies and challenges of working from observation and the sustained experience of intense, visual scrutiny, the artist comes to understand and know his world. The flora series is an ongoing group of paintings utilizing the flowers and plants from the artist’s home garden. Sills recently been adding various shaped mirrors to the set ups, which both multiply the forms and fracture the space. Sills’ paintings are dense and subtle, revealing specific nuances of color, light, and form. Often, the underlying geometry and architecture of the composition are apparent in the application of paint, the artist’s analytic thinking about structure and his methodology still evident in the finished work.
Sills’s work has been exhibited throughout the United States, has been featured in publications such as Wall Street International Magazine, American Art Collector, The New York Times, I Like Your Work Podcast, and can be found in The Fine Art Program and Collection at Montefiore Einstein, New York, NY. Francis Sills earned his MFA at Parsons School of Design, New York, NY and BFA at Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY. The artist lives and works in South Carolina.
Please contact Lani Holloway, Associate Director, Lani@kbfa.com, 860 560 3085 with inquires or to arrange a preview of the exhibition.
Walking Not Talking (Nature as Muse)
This is a sensory friendly screening.
Our sensory friendly movie screening is for audience members on the autism spectrum or anyone who might enjoy a more gentle theater experience.
The Warner Theatre is making the following accommodations:
- Quiet fidgets that can be used during the screening
- A quiet space in the lobby with activities for those that need a break
- A social story about the experience of attending a movie
- A character and plot description print-out
- House lights kept at 30% during the performance
- Guests attending sensory-friendly performances are welcome to bring their own food for personal consumption to better accommodate their needs.
We welcome audience members to bring their own easy-to-clean (no slime, please) fidgets and quiet sensory tools.
Please contact the Education Manager if you have any questions at education@warnertheatre.org
This screening is presented by Education @ The Warner with the support of The Neag Foundation.
The Secret Life Of Pets - Sensory Friendly Movie Screening
Imagine walking among rows of vibrant, fragrant blooms and selecting the flowers that inspire you. In this hands-on workshop, Susan Spanger of Bloomful Floral Design will share how dahlias are grown and cared for at local flower farms, along with techniques to create arrangements that highlight their beauty. You'll choose from an assortment of dahlias, seasonal flowers, and foliage - all locally and sustainably grown, including varieties you might find in your own backyard. With Susan's guidance and plenty of room to explore your own style, you'll create a natural, garden-inspired arrangement that celebrates the best of the season and the beauty of local blooms.
Floral tools, vessel, market-fresh materials will be provided. All ages and levels are welcome. Two people can work together and pay for one booking.
For more information or to register, visit www.newmilfordct.myrec.com
Dahlias Floral Design Workshop
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART String Quartet in E Flat Major, K. 428, "Haydn"
Dmitri SHOSTAKOVICH String Quartet #14 in F Sharp Major, Opus 142
Robert SCHUMANN Piano Quintet in E Flat Major, Opus 44
Tickets: $30-65, Under 19 Free
Musicmountain.org or 860-824-7126 for tickets and more information
Come early for a free pre-concert talk at 2PM
Music Mountain: History of a Dream
Pre-Concert Talk by Anne Liebling about the history of Music Mountain, including the Mail Order Houses of Sears Roebuck and Company.
Music Mountain Summer Festival: Cassatt String Quartet & Magdalena Baczewska, Piano
The artwork of Veronika Herman Bromberg will be on display in the Library during the month of September. Expressive Forms in Encaustic Work is an exhibition of encaustic and mixed media artwork. The show explores themes of preserving memories, experiences, and trusting the power of one’s intuition. With the application of waxed-based color pigments including collage papers, various layers are formed to create a visceral experience of color, depth, transparency, mark-making, and movement with shapes and forms. A resident of both Salisbury, CT, and New York City, Veronika is an art educator whose work has been exhibited in galleries on the East Coast. Her work is included in several private US and international art collections.
Please join us at a reception for the artist on Sunday, September 7, from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m., graciously hosted by the Library Associates.
Artist Reception: Veronika Herman Bromberg
EXHIBIT TO FEATURE THREE LOCAL ARTISTS
(New Preston, Connecticut) – The Smithy Café & Market is pleased to announce an art exhibit to be displayed September 1 to October 31, 2025, titled Perception and Perspective: Three Artists-Becky Butler, Sandra Daignault and Lucy C. Pierpont.
Join us for a collaboration of three women and their varying forms of artwork, style, and perspectives.
The three artists have painted together for several years using a variety of mediums.They have formed friendships and enjoy working together while sharing ideas and support.
Becky Butler founded the not-for-profit, Arts Escape in Southbury in 2012. Arts Escape’s mission was to focus on arts education for adults. After witnessing firsthand how art created camaraderie and joy with those who participated, it was time for Becky to do the same. She retired in 2022 to follow her own art journey. She has been taking painting classes in Abstract, Pastel and Acrylics for the past two years and is excited to keep learning and exploring new mediums. Her pastel, Tethered Beauty, was accepted into a National Pastel show and she also won Best in Show for mixed media in Roxbury’s Art at the Meeting House show in 2024 for Somewhere Out There. Becky lives in Woodbury, Connecticut with her husband Paul.
“I love working in pastels – the colors are limitless and immediate. My pastel paintings are primarily painted realistically. Breaking the barriers of painting realistically has been a challenge. My love for color has recently launched my exploration in creating abstract work. Using color and mark making intuitively is exciting and challenging as well as inspiring. During my exploration I found the medium of oil and cold wax. While having no expectations as to the outcome of my work, my eyes have opened to a whole new world of creativity. I love the freedom of experimentation and the joy of playing. I want my work to reflect my emotional insight into today’s world while uncovering the beauty that still exists,” explains Becky.
Sandra Daignault, a Woodbury resident, was the Fine Arts Director at Arts Escape, Inc in Southbury, CT and teaches classes in acrylic painting. Her artwork has been shown in galleries and organizations across CT (Stamford, Litchfield, Washington, New Milford, Brookfield, Bantam, Ridgefield, West Hartford, Southbury, Rowayton, Newtown), as well as having a permanent piece at the US Headquarters of Jägermeister in Westchester County. In addition, she has published two books of poetry with illustrations and has recently published a climate change fiction novel. Visit her website at sdaignaultfineart.com.
“My painting process is all about creating an open mind and letting go. While I often do not have a predetermined subject I am always influenced by my fascination with our place in the universe. Letting go of preconceived forms allows for the mystery and essence that makes up everything around us. While my influences are abstract artists such as Richard Diebenkorn, contemporary Peter Wileman as well as English romantic artist (JW Turner) I strive to create from the words of favorite poets (Pablo Neruda, Wislawa Szymborska, Mary Oliver). It will please me if viewers respond with wonder and wanting( not knowing what),” states Sandra.
Woodbury resident, Lucy C. Pierpont has worked in the marketing/graphic design field ever since graduating from Hartwick College as an art major. She has created art her whole life and has had her photographs and paintings displayed in exhibits at the Mattatuck Museum, Majors Inn, Hartwick College, Oneonta Art Association, Kent Art Association, Washington Art Association, Burnham Library, Kent Memorial Library Art at the Meetinghouse, Ridgefield Art Walk, Flanders Nature Center and now, The Smithy. She currently works part-time with the Kent Memorial Library and the Washington Depot Office of Klemm Real Estate doing graphic design & public relations. Her artwork can be viewed at lucypierpont.carrd.co. Her graphic designs for the Kent Memorial Library have been the recipient of eight Connecticut Library Association Publicity Awards in recognition of design, marketing, and publicity created to promote a Library service or event.
“From my earliest recollections, art has always been in the forefront. I chose the graphic design route and spent my career in it. Now art embodies my life- through friends, work, play, and travel!” claims Lucy.
Please join us for a reception on Saturday, October 11 from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. For more information, please call the Smithy at (860) 868-9003 or go to their website at thesmithymarket.com.
10 Main Street New Preston CT 06777
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caption: Heat by Lucy C. Pierpont, Parade by Sandra Daignault, and Opening Night by Becky Butler are a few of many paintings in an exhibit titled Perception and Perspective: Three Artists-Becky Butler, Sandra Daignault and Lucy C. Pierpont. The show will be on display from September 1 to October 31, 2025.
