Life In Motion: Spectrum Gallery Show Opens January 24
Discover new and original art at Spectrum Gallery’s newest exhibit, Life in Motion with an Open Reception, Friday, January 24 from 6:30 to 8:30pm. Enjoy fine art, crafts, wine, and refreshments that evening and during the Open House Weekend, Saturday, January 25 from 1 to 6pm, and Sunday, January 26 from 1 to 5pm. The six-week exhibit, at 61 Main St., Centerbrook, Connecticut, runs through March 8.
Motion can be beautiful, exciting…and even dangerous! But what does motion do to a person or object? What stops it, and what makes it accelerate? At Spectrum, we explore this theme as we present established and emerging artists with new paintings, sculpture, mixed media, and photography.
Returning favorites and new artists at the Gallery include painter, sculptor, and illustrator Chris Kunze. An arts educator and graduate of Rhode Island School of Design, Kuntze had a long and successful career in advertising, with illustrations and designs used in many books, magazines, newspapers, and corporate designs. He presents a new pastel work and wood sculptures that capture “life in motion” uniquely. Dora Dylanne Reyes, a baker and watercolorist presents at Spectrum. In 2022, she began collaborating with artist and illustrator, Don Carter (known by his pop persona, Edgar Allan Slothman). They incorporated her watercolor and digital desserts with his Audubon prints to create a unique series called Birds and Their Just Desserts / Let Them Eat Cake. Carter is a designer, illustrator, author and award-winning creative director. The illustrator of seven picture books for children, Carter has also created two Disney animated short-form animated series, Happy Monster Band and Dance-A-Lot-Robot.
Kim Kordonowy is an experimental artist who has developed a signature style. In her multimedia process, she embeds fabrics into acrylic washes and finishes with oils. For Life in Motion, she presents several charcoal pieces as well as oils combined with quilted fabrics. Returning to Spectrum is watercolorist Mary Jane Magoon who comes from an interior design and color consultancy background. A former gallerist, Magoon is a member of many arts organizations and has exhibited extensively, including several solo shows throughout Connecticut and New York. Spectrum favorite Gloria Nilsson returns to the Gallery with new jewelry pieces and an exciting pastel depicting the rapid movements of competitive ice skating. Painter and graphic artist Greg Murry shows a new wildlife scene in acrylic. He creates colorful and detailed paintings of various subjects including boats, birds, and tropical beach scenes. And perennial Spectrum favorite, mixed media/collage artist Regina Thomas, whose work ranges from representational to abstraction, is also showing. She is in private collections throughout the US, Europe, South America, and Asia.
Maria Johnson, a painter and photographer presents several works that exemplify the theme of motion in nature and in words. Recent addition to Spectrum, artist Kim Hoyt McGennis has new work in the show; she is a painter, photographer, and creator of “funky” hand-painted furniture. Linda Hallinan works in acrylic and draws inspiration from the smallest of details in our daily lives. Her piece in Life in Motion shows the effects of seaside breezes on shoreline plantings. Maureen Maalouf is a painter who draws inspiration from nature with trees, flowers and the ocean as common subjects. She is known for her vibrant colors and strives to bring feeling into every piece. Michelle Kaufman is a painter known for vibrant figurative work that feels “alive”, as well as conceptual. She often creates her work from her own photographs and uses a long lens to achieve invisible intimacy with people. Lois Blood Bennett works in many mediums including vibrant digital art which she is showing at Spectrum, mixed media, collage, photography, and is a maker and creator of a variety of crafts including spun wool and silk yarn, weaving, bead embroidery, bobbin lace, pottery, and ceramics.
Also presenting is Amy Valiante, a painter and illustrator who creates landscapes, cityscapes, seascapes, animal depictions, and still-life. Painting with acrylic on a smooth canvas, she emphasizes brush strokes and uses delicate glazes to create depth and luminosity. Bivenne Harvey Staiger is known for her colorful, dramatic watercolors of the natural motifs she loves, like birds, animals and flowers, and is the recipient of many prestigious awards. Her book on the medium of watercolor, White Light! Bright! is also sold at Spectrum. Carol Dunn is an award-winning printmaker, photographer, and mixed media artist, specializing in alternative processes for creating artwork. She exhibits frequently in the New England area and on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Ceal Swift also returns to Spectrum with new and “humorous” depictions of animal life.
Daniel Dahlstrom returns to spectrum with works in oil. He often paints en plein air the scenes of his beloved Chester, Connecticut, the Connecticut River, Long Island Sound, and the surrounding vistas of the beautiful countryside of New England. For Life in Motion, he shows a large-scale seascape depicting waves picking up movement as a storm approaches. Jeanette Wimmer, new to Spectrum, is known for her colorful watercolors and pastels of unique still life, landscapes and birds. Her delicate piece at Spectrum catches a bird in the act of helping himself to berries from a nearby plant branch. An artist with an eclectic approach, Lisa Fatone, concentrates on original watercolors, graphic design, greeting cards, and jewelry design. She dedicates most of her time to honing her artistry by continually experimenting with new mediums and collaborating with like-minded creatives. Vivian Zoë, an artist and arts educator with a varied background, shows a new waterscape in oil entitled, Flushed Cormorant. Teri Glassman returns with a new oil work inspired by the world of ballet; she explores multiple mediums and is often found working en plein air with a focus on landscape painting. Other fine artists include Jeni Gray-Roberts, Pat Damiani, Molly Waite Lund, Linda McCarthy and collage artist, Marianne Dietz.
New and returning photographers presenting include Carol Lowbeer who photographs animals, seascapes, and nature photography which she enhances with a variety of digital painterly effects to recreate the mood and stunning beauty of the original scene. Award-winning photographer Dianne Roberts returns with a new piece; she explores the differences in intensity of color, line and form in subjects as light changes. It is this sense of awe and wonder that captures the frozen moment of her photograph at Spectrum, Girl with an Umbrella. Donna Spencer joins the exhibit with several photographic works. She uses special lenses in her pieces at Spectrum to capture the movement and liveliness of two cityscapes.
Jake Barba shows at Spectrum for the first time. His preferred subject matter is wide, from landscapes to wildlife, travel photography to astrophotography. At Spectrum he shows the adventurous and often dangerous wild “riding of the bulls” at rodeos. Luke Giroux discovered his talent for photography early, turning moments into lasting memories with his camera. His philosophy is simple: be present and capture the fleeting scenes around him, whether with his trusty Canon or a quick snap from his iPhone. Other award-winning photographers (and Spectrum favorites) presenting include Robert Thomas and Paul Ramsey.
Spectrum’s Store includes many fine artisans working in ceramic, pottery, glass, fabric, wood, and paper. Included are woodworker Andy Teran who works with various mediums (collage, wood sculpture, assemblage, and paint) and is known for his carvings of whales and now his new “loons”. Paula Jacobi, new to Spectrum, designs memorable pillows created with upholstery fabric, woven ribbon, zippers, and cords which fit nicely on a bed, chair, sofa, bookcase or easel. Her pillows can feature first and/or last names, dates, sport teams, colleges, boats, inspirational thoughts and comical expressions. Other artisans include knitter and sewer, Jillian Nielsen and Elaine Sych who shows off vibrant, beautiful new winterwear pieces such as her Purple Passion scarf.
Anna Mastropolo who is a textile artist, jewelry designer, and large-scale gouache and mixed media painter has new hand painted and embellished clothing pieces. Knitter and crocheter Dale-Gardner Fox offers new accessories perfect for the coldest of winters. Lynn Webber is back. She repurposes glass to design garden art in the form of birdbaths and decorative totems. Artisan Thomas O’Connell creates small, fused glass objects, at times whimsical and abstract. To bring the beauty and fun of glass to the winter months, he has created for Spectrum his “Funny Birds” in a variety of colors.
Richard Abamo, new to Spectrum, is a photographer, graphic artist, and sculptor who has created over two hundred sculptures made from wood, clay, paper, metal and an occasional feather. They are original and whimsical pieces meant to delight. Virginia Simmons presents at Spectrum for the first time. She is principally a self-taught oil painter who paints mostly from her imagination, life experiences, and memories of the natural world – particularly from childhood. Riya Devi-Ashby, is an emerging artist who recently graduated with a BA in Studio Art from Wesleyan University. She specializes in painting and mixed media. A classically trained Kuchipudi dancer, her dance background enriches her visual art as is evident in her piece, Ignite, at Spectrum.
Stained glass artisan, Maryann Flick displays whimsical creations in stained glass for picture frames, decorative boxes and contemporary stained glass window panels. Other artisans include Barbara Hernandez-Froehlich who returns with her popular seasonally decorated shells and standing glass and slate panels, as well as Maria Campbell who works in ceramic, mosaic and pastel; she offers new ceramic vases, vessels and a glass mosaic. Sharon Lee Mullen-Reynolds, a retired art teacher, crafts Frida Kaholo-inspired floral headpieces. Believing in the healing power of art, she has actively used her artwork to support community causes, including fundraising for Ukraine’s war effort through her “Petals for Peace” paintings.
A wide mix of unique fine jewelry can be had in multiple styles created in semi-precious stones, fused glass, beads, polymer clay, and fine metals. Kristie Foss shows a new selection of polymer clay jewelry designs. Other jewelry designers with new creations include Joan Wenzel and Michele Kleiman. Wenzel, designs with Japanese seed beads, Czech glass, semi-precious stones, crystals and handmade lamp work beads (which she and other local artisans have made) sterling silver and other metals. Kleiman, who has worked in various mediums including wood, collage and metal, focuses on beadwork jewelry. She most enjoys utilizing various found, natural and interesting components for her bead weaving and bead embroidery creations.
Also, in the Store is work by an accomplished author, social worker, and advocate, Sarah Elliott-Caratasios. A mother of four and lifelong storyteller, her passion for history and storytelling inspired The Adventures of Nibbles Munk Munk, the first in a cherished children’s book series designed to foster meaningful connections through the joy of reading. Her latest book (available at Spectrum) is I Love You as Much as…, a celebration of the limitless love of family through playful and whimsical comparisons with illustrations by the watercolorist, Bivenne Harvey Staiger.
Spectrum Art Gallery and Artisans Store is open Wednesday through Saturday (12-6pm) and Sunday (12-5pm). For more information call (860) 767-0742 and visit Spectrumartgallery.org. Shop online 24/7 at spectrumanytime.com with shipping available throughout the US – a perfect choice for convenient gift giving all year long, with gift cards are also available in the Store and online. To join the community conversation, follow us on social media at facebook.com/spectrumartgallery, instagram.com/spectrumartgallery, twitter.com/spectrum_ct, and youtube.com/@spectrumgallery6211
###