Amanda Bartel

Portfolio Categories: Pottery.

Earth Bowl

Amanda Bartel first began her pottery career in Ithaca, NY when she asked a local artist for private lessons. Shortly after, Amanda and her housemates built their own studio in their basement where they dove headfirst into the craft. When Amanda and her husband moved out of town and started bouncing around the world (Germany, Russia, New Jersey, New York, Washington D.C., and Connecticut), Amanda was committed to finding a wheel wherever she went. She is grateful for all the studios and potters who have inspired her and helped her grow as a maker. Now Amanda sells her work in coffee shops, galleries, beauty salons, florists, local markets, and online. She is also a passionate ceramics teacher and loves to share the joy of pottery. With a background as a therapist, Amanda strives to create a rich therapeutic environment in the studio to bring wholesomeness and a centered heart as the wheel spins.

Andy Teran

Portfolio Categories: Wood.

Safe Harbor

Growing up in New York City, Andy attended Parson’s School of Design at 17.  He worked at finding a medium that fit, trying collage, sculpture, and painting. Eventually he became a carpenter and spent many years since doing art in various mediums as a hobby.  He always enjoyed working with collage, wood sculpture, jewelry making, assemblage, and paint. Recently he found his roots again in driftwood, returning to a love of wood established in his first career as a carpenter.

Andy’s wood sculptures are currently exhibited at Spectrum Gallery in Centerbrook, Connecticut.

Ann Carney

Portfolio Categories: Decorative.

Pine Needle Basket w Painted Bird and Handles, long leaf pine needles, wooden center w. painted bird, raffia, string, 9in h x 11in w

After thirty years of management in Human Resources and technology, Ann Carney and her husband retired from Connecticut and Pennsylvania jobs to twenty-three years of Florida living.   They spent winters exploring Florida and the southern U.S. coast and then went RV’ing through northern U.S. and Canada in the summers.

The beauty of the foliage, the birds, the Gulf of Mexico inspired Ann to try her hand at painting.  That was the beginning of a new, challenging endeavor.  The beauty of the western U.S. made camping and painting the mountains, lakes, trees, sky a never-ending delight. Additionally, the variety of baskets made by Native Americans using natural materials became a second inspiration and challenge.  Baskets from Long Leaf Pines, found in the Dakotas or Georgia, lend themselves to artistic renderings of animals, containers, decorations, etc., so, when Carney wasn’t painting, she was creating with pine needles. However, knitting, needlepoint, sewing and gardening fill any remaining hours now that Ann is living in Connecticut.  Carney’s Baskets are currently exhibited at Spectrum Gallery in Centerbrook, Connecticut.

Anna Mastropolo

Portfolio Categories: Fabric-Fiber.

Butterfly Mandala Tee Shirt

Anna Mastropolo is a textile artist, jewelry designer, and large-scale gouache and mixed media painter.  She is inspired by Abstract Expressionism and The Pattern and Decoration Movement.  Anna is interested in painting patterns, using patterned paper and textiles (often hand-knit) to create mixed media compositions, celebrating femininity.

Anna has been involved in 36 art shows since graduation with a BFA from Hartford Art School in 2010, and she is currently in an MFA program for Visual Fine Arts at Vermont College of Fine Arts. Anna has been creating public art and community projects in Bristol, CT before moving to New Haven, CT. Mastropolo received Art Awards from Tunxis Community College, the Westfield Articulture art show, and the Chalk Walk of Collinsville and has designed garments for the Hartford Trashion Shows three years in a row. Mastropolo has worked as an Art Teacher for the last 4 years, in New Britain, and now in New Haven. Anna’s work is currently exhibited at Spectrum Gallery in Centerbrook, Connecticut.

Anna Sidorow

Portfolio Categories: Note Cards and Notecards.

Blissful Bloom, pressed botanicals on cardstock

Anna Sidorow is a self-taught artist working in mixed media: collage, printing, painting who primarily creates small works of art. Her paintings are semi abstract, and more than just the subject, the colors, shapes, movement and the paint itself gives the image a strong visual aesthetic. She uses pressed botanicals in her collaged note cards – every petal, leaf and stem has been picked and pressed by her. She has been experimenting with marbling paper and monotype printing, using gelatin as the plate surface.

She works at Yale University in the Anesthesiology Department business office.

Annette Womack

Portfolio Categories: Decorative.

Dandy Roar, oil and seeds, 7×7

Annette Womack is a visual artist based in Connecticut.  She is primarily an oil painter, but also loves experimenting with ceramic sculpture, printmaking, and mixed-media techniques.  She received her Masters of Art Education from Boston University College of Fine Arts and has studied under Ramon Alexander Hurtado, Roberto Osti, and Tabitha Whitley among others.

Annette has been painting and creating for about 15 years. Her biggest inspiration is the struggle between man and nature.  Psychology, spirituality, femininity, and connectivity often find their way into her work.  She has taught at Mystic Art Museum and the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and is a full-time ceramics teacher in Newtown. She has exhibited throughout the region including Ridgefield playhouse, Newtown Arts festival, and Hartford Art Space, has public artworks currently on display in Danbury, CT, and her work is also exhibited at Spectrum Gallery in Centerbrook, Connecticut.

Annika McKenna

Portfolio Categories: Jewelry.

Charlotte Earrings, Sterling Silver, 1.5in drop

Annika McKenna is a second generation silversmith and the owner of SeaSalt Design Jewelry.

She creates unique collections of handmade Sterling Silver jewelry inspired by nature. Annika is well known for her vibrant colors, coastal lifestyle jewelry, and floral designs. Techniques include: hand forging, precious metal clay, mill rolling, oxidizing, beading and wire work in her jewelry designs. Materials range from Semi-precious gemstones, pearls, crystals, and other natural elements, to found objects such as seaglass and rare beach shells. As an example, each sterling silver leaf, flower, or seed pod is handmade by her from the one she finds in nature. The focus is on simplicity of design, classic style, and enhancing the beauty of each piece.

As an Artist, her work is inspired by the incredible beauty I find in the natural world around her; whether it’s the golden fall foliage, the particular shape of a small stone, or the unique color of a piece of sea glass. Her jewelry is continuously influenced by the simple complexity of nature.

Accomplishments
2013 Best in Show Old Saybrook, CT Arts and Crafts Fair
Featured Artist for New Britain Museum of American Art
Featured in Bride and Groom Magazine 2015
Cushing Academy Alumni Event featured Artist 2016
Consistently chosen to participate in coveted juried art events across New England.

2015/2016 Highlighted Events
Dogwood Festival Fairfield, CT; Virtu Art Festival,Westerly, RI; Old Saybrook Arts and Crafts Fair Old Saybrook, CT; Mystic Outdoor Art Festival Mystic, CT; Guilford Expo Guilford, CT; Scituate Heritage Days Scituate, MA; Mattapoisett Harbor Days Mattapoisett, MA; Harwich Cranberry Festival Harwich, MA.

Barbara Hernandez-Froehlich

Portfolio Categories: Glass.

Sunflower Glass Panel

Meet Barbara Hernandez- Froehlich, a retired 20-year law enforcement veteran from New York, now living in Connecticut. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology, and for the past two years embarking in her new adventure…. creating small mixed media art.  Self-taught, she decorates seashells with sweet images, making them one-of-a-kind pieces. She also uses photographs, embedding the images in glass panels and making a beautiful addition to your home decor or memorialize a happy moment by using customer’s photos, by request.  Within the past year, she has attended many wool-felting classes, given by instructor Lori Neumann of Menagerie by Lori. Using wool, she is now creating dolls, as decorative pieces, with different colors and various heights.

While Barbara is busy making her wonderful creations, she still makes time for her husband and pets. You can find some of Barbara’s works at local arts and craft fairs and her artwork is currently exhibited at Spectrum Gallery in Centerbrook, Connecticut.

Beth Terhaar

Portfolio Categories: Jewelry.

Flower in Camo Pendant, polymer clay

Beth Terhaar (Bagged by Beth Studio) of Danbury, CT and Jensen Beach, FL was raised in a home with an artistic mother that encouraged creativity with her children. During Beth’s 25-year tenure as a schoolteacher, Beth did floral arranging, made boiled wool purses, and painted glass. She and a friend would turn her house into an annual two-day holiday boutique that drew 500+ customers. The boutique included themselves along with 20 other artists. As Beth retired from teaching, she was introduced to polymer clay by her sister, a prominent pottery artist. That’s where Beth really settled into her niche of polymer clay jewelry artistry. She loves the endless possibilities of colors, textures, and shapes that this medium offers her. While participating in art shows throughout Florida and Connecticut, Beth is often sought out to combine her talents of teaching and polymer clay jewelry making and teaches private classes to others.

Her work is currently exhibited at Spectrum Gallery in Centerbrook, Connecticut. Beth recently participated in Spectrum’s Summer outdoor Art Festival on the Essex Green.

Beverly Waters

Portfolio Categories: Decorative.

Pocketful of Berries

 

Beverly welds, fuses, solders, hammers, brazes, enamels, and cold connects metals, while often integrating silk, paper, paint, and organic materials into her pieces. Beginning with separate, distinct, and individual entities, she builds and compounds each segment to form a cohesive whole. Using any number of finishing techniques (sand, polish, paint, grind, file, patina, etc.), she works to enhance the natural beauty of metal, integrating all of the pieces so that the disparities fuse to become a unified structure.

Beverly was born in Baltimore, Maryland. She has been a metalsmith since the early 1990’s, when she began making jewelry and small metal items. Her jewelry has been sold in the Against His Will Gallery and Studio in Siler City, NC. In the last several years she has studied welding (in CT and in New York) to design and to build larger metal sculpture and wall art. Beverly’s work is currently exhibited at Spectrum Gallery in Centerbrook, Connecticut.

Bivenne Harvey-Staiger

Portfolio Categories: Prints.

White Light Bright

Bivenne Harvey Staiger is known for her colorful, dramatic watercolors of natural motifs she loves, like birds, other animals and flowers, and is the recipient of many prestigious awards.  Among the most recent is the Silver Medal from the American Watercolor Society’s 152nd International Exhibition (2019).  She is professionally affiliated with many art groups, including but not limited to the Salmagundi Club, American Artists’ Professional League, Academic Artists Association, Connecticut Academy of Fine Artists, Connecticut Watercolor Society, and many others.  Bivenne regularly gives instruction, demonstrations and workshops in watercolor, and in fact has an upcoming weekend workshop, focusing on painting flowers in watercolor, at Yale Peabody Museum in August.  At least two major solo exhibitions and a few group exhibitions featuring her work, including Spectrum Gallery in Centerbrook, Connecticut, are scheduled for the end of this year and next.

Bruce & Gail Barton

Portfolio Categories: Jewelry.

Acqua Seaglass Pendant

Bruce and Gail Barton spend the winter months living aboard their boat in the northern Bahamas collecting rare sea glass shards.  The area is rich in beautiful old sea glass as a result of numerous shipwrecks on the reefs off the islands during the early 1800’s. Their jewelry creations feature old and very rare pieces of sea glass and pottery.

Prior to opening the business Sea Glass Designs 18 years ago, Bruce was an electrical engineer.  Bruce’s engineering background carried over to create innovative designs including bezels that reflect light back into the sea glass enhancing the color of the sea glass.  Gail in addition to her role as jewelry maker is the business manager for Sea Glass Designs.  She formerly held the position of business manager for 25 years for the State of Connecticut.   Both Bruce and Gail have studied jewelry design at Metalwerx School of Jewelry Design in Waltham, MA.

Bruce and Gail are members of the North American Sea Glass Association, Society of American Silversmiths and MJSA. They received the Second-place award at the St Lucie Florida Botanical Garden Art Show. Their jewelry is currently exhibited at Spectrum Gallery in Centerbrook, Connecticut.

Carley Tillinghast

Portfolio Categories: Decorative.

Lake Skeeter Decorative Bug

Carley’s art began when she was a child, where she would spend hours in hopes of becoming a cartoonist. She grew up in a creative household, with a mother whom created hand-braided rugs. As she grew up, she moved from the world of traditional medium, and began to explore the world of Fiber arts, when she took up crocheting around the age of 10 years old.

As she became more involved in crocheting, she eventually moved onto the art of tatting in the early 90’s. Tatting is also known in many circles as poor man’s lace or a hand-created lace, and is a rare and dying art form. She began to sell her pieces at craft shows, much like her mother had, but did not find as much success as she had hoped.

One day, while looking at her inventory, she realized she had extra supplies of beads and networking cable from the IT work that she does in her M-F 9-5 job, and stripping wire. By chance, Carley had come across a folktale about Christmas spiders, and while experimenting with her wires and beads had created her very own Christmas spiders. These became quickly popular, and eventually Carley began to make other creations with her wires, including other bugs, trees and LED-lit trees.

Carol Dorman

Portfolio Categories: Jewelry.

Hazy Green

Carol Dorman, recently deceased, has been showing at Spectrum Gallery for many years. As a result, we
will continue to show Carol’s jewelry that we still have in our inventory.
Carol’s jewelry designing began as an accidental attempt to make pottery. Twenty years ago, Carol took
her first jewelry class at Wesleyan Potters. Over the years she perfected her craft by attending
numerous workshops in Connecticut and New York. Dorman enjoyed the entire process of designing and
making jewelry and tried to use the best materials to create pieces that will appeal to a variety of
women. Carol was inspired by beautiful handmade lamp work beads, venetian beads from Italy,
freshwater pearls, semi-precious stones and sterling elements. Carol carefully handcrafted her jewelry
designs in her studio in Old Lyme, Connecticut.

Dorman’s Jewelry Designs are currently available at Spectrum Gallery in Centerbrook, Connecticut.

Carol Hawes

Portfolio Categories: Decorative.

Carol Hawes’s love of art began in her mother’s ceramic studio. Her artistic endeavors were put on hold with a marriage and three beautiful children…which became the magic of her life. It wasn’t until they were of school age, Carol went to work as a Teachers Aid in the Wallingford school system. This allowed her to be home with her family.

It wasn’t until much later that her journey into art began.

From painting on furniture and walls, Carol went on to create with cloth HELENCAROL DOLLS with a good friend and artist.

Retired, Carol began to explore her love for clay and paint, which is when her mother’s years of teaching began to come back to her.

It wasn’t long before she fell in love with air dried clay and its endless possibilities to create.

Carol enjoys painting birds, animals and pets using watercolor as her medium of choice. Still creating…Her work is currently exhibited at Spectrum Gallery in Centerbrook, Connecticut.

Caroline Yankura

Portfolio Categories: Pottery.

Copper Bubble Glazed Bowls

Caroline Yankura was born in New Haven Connecticut, but resided in Portland Maine for eight and a half years, after receiving her BFA in Ceramics in 2013, from Maine College of Art. Caroline has worked as a teacher in her field for ages 5-17, as well as also been recognized in a show at Art Space New Haven gallery in a small exhibition showing “sea and insect” studies. Caroline has since participated in a thesis exhibition in April of 2013, displaying her BFA work, constructed multiple ceramics series, (Flora Memorium 2013/14: in memory of flowers, Deficiens Pulchritudo: Decaying Beauty2019/20) and now “Briny Froth” 2020. Yankura is working in a studio space with local Branford Connecticut artist, Sharon Hosley. Caroline’s work is currently exhibited at Spectrum Gallery in Centerbrook, Connecticut.

Sherie Gage

Portfolio Categories: Pottery.

Woodland Luna Moth Lidded Vessel

Sherie Gage is an enamel and ceramic artist, and designer. She received her bachelors in Fine Arts from the University of Connecticut in 2008 with an emphasis in sculpture. She has taught art to people of all ages, in the public schools, and in community art centers. She started her art business, Cone 6 Designs, in 2013 and has since worked on developing her art and designing jewelry and other functional objects. In addition to running Cone 6 Designs, she also works at Manchester Community College as the art technician for the studios.  She currently focuses primarily on the art of enamel. She lives in Columbia Connecticut where she also enjoys running, biking and kayaking.

Casey Hartley

Portfolio Categories: Decorative.

Atlantic Cod, hand carved basswood sculpture, acrylic painted and stained, taxidermic glass eyes, 38 1/2in w × 15in h, 5lbs

Each fish is hand-cut and hand-carved from 2” thick planks of basswood. Because no templates are used, each one is a true original. The tail is flattened and the body is shaped using a rasp, and further definition is given to the gills, eyes, mouth and tail using a variety of carving tools. The end result of the woodworking process is a true-to-size fish “plaque” somewhere between 2D and 3D.

Several layers of pigment are then hand-painted to create an accurate, detailed, patina finish.
The coloration is determined by the approximate size and life stage of the fish. With custom orders, reference photos (of the trophy catch) are ideal, and insights are welcomed to achieve the perfect hues and ensure that the ‘catch of a lifetime’ is given it’s due.

Next, the fish gets ‘weathered’ in one of two ways. If it was painted with acrylic, it gets two coats of sealant and is allowed to dry overnight. A crackling medium is then applied and allowed to dry and ‘age’ the paint for a minimum of 24 hours. Stain is rubbed on, giving the fish a cracked, weathered appearance. If it was painted with milk paint, it gets coated with furniture polish, wiped down, then buffed and ‘dirtied’ with steel wool.Finally, a glass eye is added and the fish is complete.

Catherine Stebinger

Portfolio Categories: Fabric-Fiber.

Mini Grecian Urn, felted wool

Creating with her hands has long been part of Catherine Stebinger’s life as a pastry chef. Now retired from the kitchen, that need for tactile expression has been translated into fiber.

Catherine layers, rolls, kneads, and dyes various types of wool, silks, and vegetable fibers to create pieces that range from soft shimmery vests and scarves to firm, taut vessels, wall hangings, and sculptures. Just as simple ingredients such as eggs, sugar, and flour can create airy mousses or crispy bread sticks, so can the various fibers be combined and manipulated in infinitely diverse modes to produce stunning pieces of art.

Catherine began her fiber studies with international fiber artists Katia Mokeyeva, Natalya Brashovetskaya, Lisa Klakulak, Renate Maille-Moskowitz, and Lena Archbold. Her sculptures, wall hangings, and wearable art have exhibited and sold at The Hygienic, Maple and Main Gallery, and Wesleyan Potters and her work is currently exhibited at Spectrum Gallery in Centerbrook, Connecticut.

Cathy and Eric Phinney

Portfolio Categories: Decorative.

Hippy Dippy Nag Champa Soap, olive oil, palm oil, coconut oil, caster oil, fragrance and micas 4ozs

Our names are Cathy and Eric Phinney and we own Silk Milk Soapery LLC. We started soaping as a hobby 3 years ago and have transformed into what we are today, a company making specialty soaps containing Tussah silk and a variety of milks in the majority of our bars.

We began crafting 8 years ago making a variety of other products. We feel we have found our niche in creating unique soaps. I really enjoy the “mad scientist” aspect of making soap from scratch. I’ve learned how to make soap watching countless Youtube videos, reading books and trial and error. It’s an art, a science and an all-consuming hobby.

Soap making affords endless combinations of ingredients, color coordination, fragrances and artistic styling. All these factors keep us in love with our avocation and ensure every customer will be buying a product that is unique to them.

Cathy and Eric Phinney’s unique soaps can be found at Spectrum Gallery in Centerbrook, Connecticut.

Cathy Lovell

Portfolio Categories: Fabric-Fiber.

Sunny Sun Flower Scarf

Cathy Lovell’s lifelong interest in the creative arts continues to guide her through a gratifying career as both art educator and studio artist. A graduate of the University of New Hampshire and Wesleyan University, Cathy has taught in the Newton, MA, Greenwich, CT and East Lyme, CT public school systems. She has also taught private classes in various fields including stained glass, jewelry making and silver work, enameling, ceramics, glass bead making, and quilting.

In the interest of furthering her own education, Cathy received a scholarship to attend the Pilchuck Glass School where she worked with Dale Chihuly and Patrick Reyntiens. Her interest in felting began with a workshop led by Lynne Ocone at the Guilford Art Center. Cathy is a member of the Northeast Feltmakers Guild where she has had the priviage of participating in classes given by world renounned feltmakers. Cathy credits her friend and fellow feltmaker Catherine Stebbinger with sharing ongoing creative energy, inspiration, and encouragement. Her work is currently exhibited at Spectrum Gallery in Centerbrook, Connecticut.

Ceil Rossi

Portfolio Categories: Decorative.

Butterflies are Loose

Ceil Rossi lived in Arizona for over 26 years and it was during this time she discovered gourds, the magical art form of the southwest. She learned from the best, taking classes from well-known gourd artists in the Southwest. Ceil became a respected member of the gourd artist community.  She then opened her own gallery, The Carefree Gourd Gallery and teaching studio in the quaint town of Carefree, Arizona.

Ceil’s work can be seen at Spectrum Gallery in Centerbrook, Ct as well as several gallery’s around Massachusetts and Connecticut. She has participated and won honors in several Fine Art shows, and she also teaches in Avon, West Hartford, Windsor, Ct, Spectrum Gallery in Centerbrook, Ct, and at her studio in Agawam, Ma. She is a member of many art organizations in Western Ma. and Ct.  She also lectures on the history, art and culture of the gourd, From Field to Fine Art.

Christine Miller

Portfolio Categories: Decorative and Servingware.

Jewel Poppy Wine Glass Set

Christine is a continually evolving self-taught artist whose work exudes bold bursts of color, vivid textural elements and splashed of simple brush strokes. Her paintings have been representational, slowly morphing into free, abstract touches of nature. She credits this inspirational transformation to her children’s boundless, inventive energies.

Christine has been creating art since childhood with vibrant imagination and strong connection with nature. She has nurtured her creative interests by graduating high school with an art endorsement, taking studio art classes at Wheaton College while majoring in psychology and elementary education, incorporating elements of art as a history teacher, creating art projects for her children, and always exploring a variety of mediums.

She enjoys painting landscapes, abstract florals, working with mix mediums and sculpting. Christine resides in Killingworth, CT with her husband and their five children. Many of her pieces are in private collections and showing in galleries in and around the shoreline. Miller’s work is currently exhibited at Spectrum Gallery in Centerbrook, Connecticut.

Christine Rook

Portfolio Categories: Fabric-Fiber.

Purple Bunny Sweater

Christine does not remember when she did not knit. Her mother and grandmother got her started and she has not stopped since! From whimsical mittens, hats and beautiful Icelandic style sweaters to her now famous artful shawls, scarves and necklaces, everything in her collection is handmade with care and expertise by Christine herself.

She became enchanted with arts and crafts at a young age when she worked at Current Crafts, a ‘before its time’ artisan crafts store in Mt. Carmel, Connecticut. Her Wearable Art business grew out of this lifelong affection for handmade, one-of-a-kind items and her expertise in the art of knitting and working with unusual yarns. Christine’s Knitting is currently exhibited at Spectrum Gallery in Centerbrook, Connecticut.

Cristina Lugo

Portfolio Categories: Decorative.

Looking for the Light, Sea glass, card stock, gel ink, MDF black frame, frame width: 3/4in. Acid free white matte, picture glass, .75 in. Matte W: 5.5 top/bottom 5.8 sides. Frame dimension is 1 inch

Cristina Lugo relocated to CT after hurricane María hit her home island of Puerto Rico. She brought with her the love for the sea and her large sea glass collection and started making scenes with it that reminded her of her home. Since then, she has been roaming through the beaches of Westbrook collecting more sea glass and getting inspired by her new surroundings in Westbrook. She has become part of the community working by day with special education preschoolers at their elementary school but keeping to her roots as she teaches Afro Puerto Rican drumming and dancing. In her spare time, with the help of her husband and 8 year old daughter, she hunts for special pieces of sea glass that help her express her creativity. Christina’s work is currently exhibited at Spectrum Gallery in Centerbrook, Connecticut.

Dale Gardner Fox

Portfolio Categories: Fabric-Fiber and Jewelry.

Amethyst Beaded Ribbon Necklace

Dale grew up in a farming community where crafting handmade items was expected and valued.  She’s been knitting and crocheting since she was a child and her mom taught her how. She states  “The yarns available these days provide a perfect canvas for me to explore color and texture.  I believe that everyone should be able to enjoy beautiful things so I try to keep my prices as low as possible.  Mountain To Seas Knits came into being when I had exhausted my family and friend’s need for hand knit accessories.  I grew up in Vermont and travel to see my sister in the Bahamas or Florida and I knit or crochet wherever I am.”  Having now retired from a career as a Physical Therapist and co-founder of the CCATT assistive technology center with the Collaborative in Northampton, she is now enjoying even more time to design and create items from the fabulous fibers available.  She shows in a number of craft fairs in Western Massachusetts including the Mattoon Street Fair, the Big Brothers Big Sisters Holiday Fair and the Old Deerfield Holiday fair.  She also has a number of items in The Boutique in Easthampton.

Daniel Finks

Portfolio Categories: Servingware.

Henge Cup, stoneware

Daniel Finks is a Furniture Designer and Fine Artist living and working in East Haven, Connecticut. Originally from Michigan, he has a BFA in Furniture Design from Kendall College of Art and Design in Grand Rapids, MI. He has designed and engineered a wide variety of home furnishings that have sold throughout the world. Daniel also has a dual bachelor’s degree in Studio Art and Social-Psychology from Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo. He has been actively creating, showing and selling his artwork for more than twenty years and has had numerous gallery shows.

Daniel’s mixed media artwork incorporates a fearless use of found objects and natural occurring media, with an unconventional use of typical art materials and an unrestricted, anything goes attitude to create pieces he describes as frantic, prolific, and perceptive. Taking shape in the form of landscapes, treescapes and all-out abstraction, his art is deeply personal or superbly superficial and is often rendered into a state of decomposition. His work is intentionally earthy, imperfect, and variegated, bastardizing typical art process and mediums to create a celebration in the beauty of all things imperfect, incomplete and ostensibly crude.

Daniel’s work is a disconnect from the normalcy of pop culture and instead contemplates the beauty in entropy, celebrating the fundamental uncontrollability of nature in the environment. His work is currently exhibited at Spectrum Gallery in Centerbrook, CT.

Darrell Wilt

Portfolio Categories: Wood.

Chickadee on Branch with Leaves, carving basswood, 3.25in h × 4in w

Darrell’s interest in carving started when his brother in law decided to carve decoys to hunt over. He admired his carvings and expressed a desire to give it a try. He took Darrell under his wing and he has been carving ever since.

Darrell decided to enter carving competitions and have won numerous awards and ribbons. He competed in carving shows in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New York, California, and the prestigious Ward World Championship Carving Competition in Ocean City Maryland, and has been awarded ribbons in all of the competitions listed.

His carvings are in private collections throughout the country.

Dawn Lombard

Portfolio Categories: Jewelry.

Swirls Pendant

After earning her BS in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing (and a Studio Art minor), Dawn entered the workforce in Consumer-Packaged Goods as a market research analyst. Flash forward 17 years and an MBA later, she was doing rather well in business and in her career but always felt as though something was missing. On a whim, Dawn’s sister asked her to join her and their mom at an introductory lampworking class.

Since that class in 2006, Dawn has been refining her technique and learning the intricacies of working with glass. She attended more classes by leading artisans including: Cynthia Liebler Saari, Nancy Tobey, Lauri Copeland, and Joanne Conant. To enhance her glass work, Dawn learned metalsmithing with Pauline Warg and Joy Raskin. Her work has been featured in ‘1000 Jewelry Inspirations (Sandra Salamony 2011),’ ‘Creative Lampwork (Joan Gordon 2011),’ ‘Creating Glass Beads (Jeri L. Warhaftig 2011),’ and ‘1000 Beads (Kristina Logan 2014).’

Lombard’s work is currently exhibited at Spectrum Gallery in Centerbrook, Connecticut.

Diana Eastwood

Portfolio Categories: Paper.

Vase with Paper & Dried Flowers

Diana has always loved handmade items. As a child, she was influenced by many of her aunts who spent hours knitting, crocheting, sewing, and trying newly discovered arts and crafts. She was the recipient of many handmade items, which she treasured. Over the years Diana tried her hand at a variety of crafts which were usually given as gifts to family and friends.

Now retired after more than 30 years working in municipal government, Diana enjoys creating types of paper art: Folded Book Art-an age-old method of using different techniques to fold book pages to create artworks for decorations; Quilling-the ancient art of rolling, shaping, and gluing thin strips of paper together to create decorative designs; and Origami-the Japanese art of folding squares of paper into representational shapes.

Her work has been sold at various craft fairs, the You’ve Got It Made shop in Somers, CT; and juried exhibits at the Vernon Arts Center in Vernon, CT.Diana’s work is currently exhibited at Spectrum Gallery in Center brook, Connecticut.

Don Carter

Portfolio Categories: Decorative.

Heavens All Star Jazz Band

Don Carter is a creative director, designer and illustrator. A graduate of Paier College of Art in Hamden, Don has over thirty years of experience designing and art directing for Connecticut ad agencies.He has been awarded for art direction, design and copywriting from organizations such asBoston’s Hatch awards, New York’s ADC, and many more.The illustrator of seven picture books for children, he has also created two Disney animated short-form series, Happy Monster Band and Dance-A-Lot-Robot. Don’s first book, Wake Up House! by Dee Lillegard was named one of the New York Public Library’s “100 Titles for Reading and Sharing” in 2000. Get To Work Trucks has been named a “Best Book of the Year” byChild Magazine and a “Top 100 Book of 2002” by the New York Public Library. His Heaven’s All-Star Jazz Band celebrates the pioneers of jazz and has received a starred review from Kirkus Reviews. Most recently, a life-long love of birds and illustration have come together in recreating Audubon’s Birds of America series in a simplified, graphic style under his fine art pseudonym, Edgar Allan Slothman.

Dutch Krake

Portfolio Categories: Wood.

Maple Bowl, watertight maple wood bowl, beaded base, tung oil finish, 5in h x 3in w

Dutch took a basic wood turning course at the Brookfield (CT) Craft Center in 2006 and has been turning bowls and other items ever since. He has done commission work for architectural and furniture pieces, but prefers the freedom of making bowls from mostly native wood cut from his woodlot in Bethlehem, CT. This way he is not held to someone else’s design or concept, but can follow whatever path he sees in the wood as the piece takes shape. Some of his bowls have found their way from local shows and galleries to the Midwest, the Far East and Europe.
Krake’s wood works are currently exhibited at Spectrum Gallery in Centerbrook, Connecticut.

Edith Deeg

Portfolio Categories: Glass.

Leaves on a Stream Dish

Edith was born in Germany during WWII. Towards the end of the war, the apartment building where she lived was bombed out. Her mother was forced to leave Germany with her two children, running across the border to Switzerland on foot. In those years, Edith cherished the few belongings they owned. She and her fiancé married back in Germany, but they decided to immigrate to the United States permanently. Edith put her self-taught design talent to work, designing homes, gardens, and always interior decorating.

She took a distance learning class from the Art Institute in Manhattan when her children were grown and cultivated her artistic passion by experimenting with different mediums. In 2011, she found her passion in glass. Edith is now in her late70’s and enjoys creating new designs and sharing her creations with others. She spends summers with her daughter’s family in CT and winters in northern FL.

Elaine Sych

Portfolio Categories: Fabric-Fiber.

Summer O’s X-Body Bag

Elaine has always sewed, knitted and crocheted learning from her mother and her grandmother as a child. She enjoys working with fabric and fiber to create unique colorful garments, handbags and toys that bring her joy and a smile.

After 30 years as an environmental planner she can now enjoy playing with her stash of yarn and fabric, being creative and inspired by her garden, the colors of nature, and her horse, Isla Rose.

Elain’s work is currently exhibited at Spectrum Gallery in Centerbrook, Connecticut.

Elisa Eaton

Portfolio Categories: Pottery.

Long Geometric Edge Tray

Studying the work and ideas of Kandinsky and Der Blaue Reiter, Elisa Kayser Eaton has been interested in expressing the spiritual in art.  Researching her family history (my grandfather was 1/2 Algonquian) led Elisa to the artwork and ideas of Native America from where she now draws her inspiration.

Eaton started pottery making as a small child, digging clay out of the brook behind her house and shaping crude bowls.  She continued from there taking pottery classes and workshops with many teachers including Barbara Diduk, Kim Dickey, and Grandmother Marsha.  Elisa’s BA from Dickinson College is in Fine Arts with a studio arts concentration in ceramics.

Elisa’s pots are hand built using the traditional methods of coiling, pinching and scraping.  The pots are then carved, sculpted and slip-decorated with designs inspired by the Northeastern designs of my ancestors as well as motifs of the Anasazi, Hohokam, Mimbres and other peoples of ancient America.

A member of Wesleyan Potters in Middletown CT since 1991, Eliza has had work in the Wesleyan Potters Gallery/Shop and Annual Exhibit and Sale. Her work is also exhibited in the Agonist, Fisher Gallery (FVAC), ACE, ArtWorks Gallery (Ware, MA), Canton Clayworks, Artwell Gallery, Epigee, Center Framing and Art, and Guilford Arts Center.

Elizabeth Hargett

Portfolio Categories: Pottery.

Starlight Candleholder, B mix clay, white clay, Cone 6 glaze, 5 1/2in h x 10in w

Beth has worked in clay for over 10 years.  She worked mainly with functional forms using the wheel until 5 years ago when she began experimenting with altered forms in clay. This led to using piercing techniques to enhance the functional forms she created on the wheel. She is happiest creating and experimenting with clay. Beth has been a member at Wesleyan Potters for 5 years and is a current NECEA member. She resides in Meriden, Connecticut.

Ellen Marshall

Portfolio Categories: Glass and Jewelry.

Hungry Heron Glass Panel, fused glass

After viewing many breathtaking stained glass cathedral windows during a trip to Europe, and watching glass blowing in Murano, Italy, Ellen Marshall fell in love with glass. When she returned home, she began doing research about American made glass and soon took her first stained glass class. For years, in her spare time, Ellen made many stained- glass windows, lamps and mirrors. After retiring from teaching, Ellen took a glass fusing class and was fascinated by the multitude of techniques and processes that one could experiment with while fusing glass. That began her journey across the country to learn some of these techniques from some fabulous teachers. Among the many classes were: strip cutting in Denver, Colorado with Patty Gray; crackle and powder theory with Robert Leatherbarrow at Oatka Glass in New York State; Sandblasting at Oatka with Lance and Amanda; pattern bars and flow bars at Bullseye Glass in Santa Fe, New Mexico; silkscreen and photo imaging with Gail Stouffer in Rhode Island; and most recently fused glass landscapes with Alice Gebhart in Rhode Island.

Ellen has sold and exhibited her glass creations at a variety of shops, venues, and shows such as Silvermine Art Guild in New Canaan, CT, The Wesleyan Potter’s Christmas Show in Middletown, CT, Glastonbury Art Guild Show, Glastonbury, CT, Swift Waters in Willimantic , CT , and Artist’s Cooperative Gallery of Westerly, Rhode Island. She has also participated in several Artist’s Open Studios of Northeastern Connecticut.

Emily VanDerMaelen

Portfolio Categories: Jewelry.

Pink Sugar Drops Earrings

Emily VanDerMaelen’s imagination has been greatly influenced by her colorful upbringing. She grew up on a small farm, wearing ladybug printed sneakers and a little red coat. She felt beauty, wonder and magic all around her, as she was surrounded by the ever-changing wildlife. She has studied jewelry at the Guilford Art Center with Linda Edwards, as well as privately studied with Rebecca Bunting, a local goldsmith. She is now attending PAIER College of Art, for a degree in Illustration. Her style is sophisticated yet playful and whimsy. Each piece is handcrafted by her in her backyard studio. Her favorite materials are sterling silver, brass, copper, semi-precious gemstones, glass Czech beads, vintage lucite, ceramic beads, and other interesting treasures. VanDerMaelen’s jewelry is currently exhibited at Spectrum Gallery in Centerbrook, Connecticut.

Eric Ambler

Portfolio Categories: Ceramics.

Antique White Salt Pig

Eric grew up in rural, Northern New Jersey graduating with a BS from Southern CT State University. He finished his Masters of Education at Sacred Heart University, with more Master’s work at Yale University. He is a science teacher in the Madison public schools, teaching genetics, chemistry, physics, and astronomy. Eric is on the Board of Trustees of the historic Adam Stanton Museum house in Clinton.

Eric lives in an historic house on Clinton’s Liberty Green that was constructed in 1663. He restored the interior of the nine-bedroom home with period finishes. His home was featured in, CT on the Shoreline, Best on the Shoreline, Fall 2019.

Eric primarily works on wheel thrown pottery and enjoys various combinations of glazes and firing techniques. He had work in several galleries such as the Fresh Ayer Gallery in Old Lyme, the Old Lyme Art Association, and continues to win Best of Show, and blue ribbons at local and state fairs.

Eric’s pottery is currently exhibited at Spectrum Gallery in Centerbrook, Connecticut.

Gabriella DuCharme

Portfolio Categories: Jewelry.

Triangle Stud Earrings

Gabby DuCharme is a professional landscape and portrait artist. She creates works of art that capture the unique beauty of locations and the innate personality of pets. With over twenty-five years of experience, Gabby is passionate about connecting people through emotion with her paintings. She specializes in landscape/architectural paintings, primarily commissioned by people wanting to capture the memories or experiences of a particular house or place. She also specializes in pet portraiture, ensuring her client’s long lasting memories of beloved pets. She actively donates to humanitarian and animal causes.

Known for her artistic views, DuCharme clearly demonstrates her ability to create a play of light and shadow in her most recent body of work featuring coastal landscapes. Gabby’s clients say she is a true professional, easy to work with, always hits deadlines and is kind and compassionate. She has studied with Artist Leslie Stokes as well as the renowned Artist Morgan Samuel Price.

A former gallery owner with an international clientele, DuCharme was a Runner-up and received an Honorary Mention from Artist Magazine, for her work entitled, “Rose Farm”. Her painting, “Moon Over 11 Maple Street”, is owned by singer Celine Dion. One painting, “The Three Amigos”, has been featured on the working set of the TV Series, Beverly Hills 90210. Gango Editions, in Portland Oregon, produced her paintings that were sold worldwide. She is represented at Art Mundo in Fort Pierce, Florida and 54@70 Art Gallery in Tularosa, New Mexico. Additionally, her work has been purchased and showcased in various hospitals, veterinary clinics and corporations in both Connecticut and Florida.

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