ARTISTIC EDGE STUDIO presents: Seeing Takes Time
A student art show featuring over 100 pieces of artwork by 50 artists
On display in our Gallery: April 1 – April 28, 2024
Fine artist Heather Bondorew Sawtelle is the founder and sole teacher at Artistic Edge Studio.
“Teaching art and sharing what I have learned has been one of the great joys of my life. Most of my time over the past 25 years has been dedicated to teaching students the fundamentals of art and showing them how to expand their vision and grow in their knowledge of technique and materials to produce realistic artwork that is truly spectacular.
Talent is overrated. Patience, diligence, and acquiring the correct thought process enables each artist to attain the true skill of seeing, observing, and creating masterful works of art.
We all have creativity inside us, but learning the techniques to showcase our creativity and skill is imperative to achieve quality artwork. Most people don’t know where to begin, but EVERYONE CAN CREATE MEANINGFUL ART. This show is a celebration of aspiring artists of all ages.”
You can learn more about the studio by visiting www.artisticedgect.com.
March Art Exhibit: Avon High School AP Studio Art
On display in our Gallery for the month of March is the Avon High School AP Studio Art Student Art Show. This eclectic and impressive collection of work is a testament to the creativity and imagination of the students and their teachers. Make sure to stop by and see this wonderful show!
Students featured in this exhibit:
Kristine Antonio, Varda Bajpai, Aishwarya Balaji, Brooke Barcikowski, Angela Borden, Ying Yang Cheng, Grace Deng, Isabella Fasano, Gabriel Frenkel, Benjamin Hakim-Pourkavoos, Leah Haughey, Julie Iwama, Evan Keane, Sarah Larsen, Hannah McKinniss, Sawa Machida, Sabrina Pelletier, Julia Phillips, Savannah Pile, London Ward and Melody Wei.
November Art Exhibit: The Faces of Freedom – Photographs & Oral Histories of U.S. Military Veterans
Our November exhibit features The Faces of Freedom by Walter Schuppe. It is a collection of photographs and stories of U.S. military veterans. Walter began this project in July of 2019 to express gratitude to, and honor the sacrifices and service of U.S. military veterans and their families. The project uses black and white portraits and oral histories, as told by each veteran, to help connect a face with a personal story. Each story captures not only their recollections of their time in the service, but also their memories of their childhood, their life after the military and what it meant to each of them to be part of something bigger than themselves and to be in the service of others. You can learn about all 105 veterans that participated in this project at https://www.facesoffreedom.us/. If you are a veteran and would like to tell your story, or if you know a veteran that would like to participate in this project, you can contact Walter by email (walter11_22@yahoo.com) or phone (860-558-1072).
This powerful and moving exhibit will be on display for the month of November. We can’t think of a better way to recognize Veteran’s Day this month than to stop by our Gallery and see Walter’s work.
October Art Exhibit: Arthur Backstrom
Our October exhibit features the photography of Arthur Backstrom. Art is a photographer who was born and raised on Staten Island, the busiest port in the world. He is an ex-merchant seaman and the son of a merchant seaman. As an artist, he naturally gravitates towards ships and the sea. He has been a devoted photographer for the last 21 years, specializing in fine photos from film captured with manual cameras. His work has been featured at ArtSpace Hartford, Open Studio Hartford, 100 Pearl Street Gallery, and the Staten Island Museum Fence Show.
This exhibit will be on display October 3rd – October 31st.
An artist’s reception open to the public will be held on Saturday, October 28th from 2:00 pm until 4:00 pm. Light refreshments will be served – all are invited to stop in!
Artist Reception: Arthur Backstrom
Saturday, October 28th ~ 2:00pm to 4:00pm
Patrons are invited to meet our October artist, Arthur Backstrom, at a closing reception for his photography exhibit. Art is a photographer who was born and raised on Staten Island, the busiest port in the world. He is an ex-merchant seaman and the son of a merchant seaman. As an artist, he naturally gravitates towards ships and the sea. He has been a devoted photographer for the last 21 years, specializing in fine photos from film captured with manual cameras. His work has been featured at ArtSpace Hartford, Open Studio Hartford, 100 Pearl Street Gallery, and the Staten Island Museum Fence Show.
This exhibit will be on display October 3rd – October 31st.
An artist’s reception open to the public will be held on Saturday, October 28th from 2:00 pm until 4:00 pm. Light refreshments will be served – all are invited to stop in!
September Art Exhibit: DON BONNER
Now on display in our Gallery
About the artist: American artist Don Bonner grew up inspired by the picturesque surroundings of his hometown in East Longmeadow, Massachusetts. He lives in Avon, Connecticut near where his family roots go back to early settlements. He attended the Paier School of Art outside New Haven. Don continued with a career in commercial design, creating materials for many Fortune 500 companies. He went on to start and run his own business for 25 years, Bonner & Company Creative Communications. Don has continued to create imagery as a painter. He is passionate about telling a story on canvas, and creating it with color, lighting, and emotion. Don’s studio is in Avon, Connecticut.
July/August Exhibit: Aquatic Insects Up Close by Shepherd Myers
An exhibit of scientific illustrations of insects found in river streams and ponds both locally and world wide
On display in our Gallery for the months of July & August will be a collection of technical illustration prints by Shepherd Myers of the adult and nymph insects found in and around aquatic environments. These are inspired by observing the fly fishermen in the Housatonic River around West Cornwall. The drawings reveal in great detail the splendor and uniqueness of these small animals such as mayfly, stonefly nymphs, or dobsonfly adults.
These insects are chosen primarily for their graphic uniqueness, not based on the formal topic of study, but generally for sharing the commonality of being used as biomarkers of watershed health. Most technical illustrations disappear into esoteric research journals. This exhibit allows a much wider audience to appreciate the rendering of them. The original art work is all done by hand, carefully stippled, and required tens of hours (some of over a hundred).
Shepherd is an entomologist and illustrator who previously was the Collection Manager at the The Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum for over a decade in Honolulu. At fourteen million specimens, it is the largest Pacific Rim and the third largest insect collection in the United States. He has done extensive science outreach with school groups, class room visits, at fairs, festivals, etc, and enjoys teaching as much as working with research and collections. He also had his illustrations, photo and technical figures published in peer reviewed journals.
May Art Exhibit: Pine Grove & Roaring Brook Schools
On display in our Gallery this month is the beautiful work from the young artists of Pine Grove & Roaring Brook Schools. These K-4 students have filled our Gallery with their creative, colorful and cool work – you won’t want to miss it!
CONSTANCE PATTERSON presents: NOW & THEN
A show of new work & work from the past ~ A creative journey through the pandemic
On display in our Gallery: April 2 – April 29, 2023
Come & see this beautiful collection of old and new works by one of our favorites, Avon artist Constance Patterson (https://www.cpdsgn.com).
Artist Reception: Sunday, April 2nd, 2:00 – 4:00 pm
Artist Statement about the exhibit: The show is about my creative journey through the last ten years. It is a reflection of how my art and the memories that lie beneath it have been altered by surviving cancer and living through the pandemic.
This year I was at last able to resume painting with artistic conviction. I recognize how cancer and the pandemic had subsumed my creativity and left me with a new set of experiences that needed to be memorized and incorporated into my repertoire of images. In this context the transitional work can be recognized primarily by my altered color palette during the pandemic. Some works also make use of mixed media to explore the reconstruction of my life after cancer. Both have now been incorporated into my artistic expression and have been successfully integrated with my current work.
I am not a plein air painter. Instead, I call on memories or photos to create my images. At the same time writing about my work helps me focus my artistic intent, so I have included some of my writing as part of this exhibit.
