Everything Grows Exhibit

Discover new and original art at Spectrum Gallery's newest exhibit, Everything Grows with an Open Reception, Friday, May 24 from 6:30 to 9pm. Enjoy fine art, crafts, wine, and refreshments that evening and during the Open House, Saturday, May 25 from 1 to 6pm. The seven-week exhibit, at 61 Main St., Centerbrook, Connecticut, runs through July 13.
Yes, now is the season to sow and nurture young plants and hug trees. While many things are growing in nature, people and objects are also changing with time. Adults become older, women give birth, babies become toddlers, and structures are built and demolished. At Spectrum, discover established and emerging artists who present new paintings, sculpture, mixed media, and photography that explore this powerful theme of change.
Returning favorites and new artists at the Gallery include award-winning painter and instructor Lorraine Ficara. Known well throughout Connecticut, she works in multiple mediums and is a member of various art associations and societies. Her work, spontaneous and experimental, is done in several mediums and often en plein air. Italian-born Louie Pisterzi, new to the Gallery, began his artistic exploration at Vanier College in Montreal where he immersed himself in a curriculum encompassing architecture, painting, drawing, and photography. This diverse experience nurtured his creativity with exploration via painting on canvas. His work focuses on the human experience, portraying emotions, beauty, and the layers of the human psyche.
Vivian F. Zoë is an artist and arts educator with a varied background that also includes theater design. She has served as a director and curator of several museums including the Slater Memorial Museum in Norwich, Connecticut. First time at Spectrum, she has presented in many juried exhibitions throughout the region. Returning to Spectrum is Yudit Barr, previously a professional opera singer, she found her passion for painting and went on to study at the prestigious Cleveland Institute of Art. Her work has been shown in select galleries in the US as well as abroad including in Germany, Italy, Greece, and Israel.
Spectrum favorite Gloria Nilsson also returns for Everything Grows. She is a professional teaching artist who works in a variety of mediums including painting on silk applying multiple techniques to her fine art paintings and scarves. Deepti Gondia, born in India, where color is part of everyday life, paints in semi-abstract and abstract styles and presents a vibrant landscape in this show. Also returning is mixed media artist Regina Thomas whose work ranges from representational to abstraction; she has exhibited extensively and is in private collections throughout the US, Europe, South America, and Asia. Collage artist and photographer Sue Mullaney's subject matter ranges from the natural world to more surreal environments such as ordinary objects juxtaposed in surprising ways. Currently, she presents a fine art photograph, Tenacity.
Oil painter Edith Skiba LaMonica returns and treats viewers to several vivid floral bouquets. Painter Jeannette Delmore is inspired by the beauty of the New England landscape. She is an award-winning artist and works in oil, pastel, and more recently watercolor. Leigh Harrison is a lifelong watercolorist, photographer, 3-D artist, collage-maker and jewelry designer. She presents a fine art photograph, Purple Roses. Victoria Williams returns with new work; she brings a quiet serenity and optimism to her contemporary impressionist paintings. Thoughts are often expressed through joyful color, organic lines, and shape.
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. Maureen Maalouf is a painter who draws inspiration from nature. Trees, flowers, and sunsets are subjects. Her strong use of textured brushwork brings an almost abstract look to her work. Lynelle Abel, a botanical artist, presents for the first time three of her framed botanical fine art pieces. Other fine artists include painters and mixed media artists B. Rossitto, Bivenne Harvey Staiger, Carol Courtney, Catherine Satsuk, Diane Rubacha, Linda McCarthy, Linda Reid, Megan Ely, Ned Farrell, Tatiana Ferraro, and Elaine Sych.
New and returning photographers presenting in Everything Grows include John Murray, who presents vibrant floral photographs, as well as award-winners Dianne Roberts, Mallorie Ostrowitz, Robert Thomas, Maria Johnson and Carol Lowbeer.
Spectrum fine artisans include fabric artists Anna Mastropolo delighting us with several embroidered and hand-painted Summer pieces, Elaine Sych, Kristen Owens, and Jillian Nielsen who is also a fashion and costume designer who creates bespoke horseware and equestrian clothing.  Joan Weir makes whimsical creations in stained glass for picture frames and contemporary suncatchers as does stained glass artist Maryann Flick, and Janice Wood offers a new Summer selection of soy artisanal candles. Others include Lynn Webber who repurposes glass to design garden art in the form of birdbaths and totems; Samantha Barlow-Beamer, a jewelry designer and crafter of fantastic, tiny fairy houses; and lampwork artisan Sandra Huber. Barbara Hernandez-Froehlich returns with her always popular seasonally decorated shells and standing glass and slate panels. Marianne Dietz creates new blank greeting cards, each individually collaged so impressively they can be framed as a unique gift.
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. Jessica Pack, new to Spectrum, specializes in wire-wrapped jewelry, incorporating ethically sourced crystals and semi-precious stones which she offers as healing pieces. Kristie Foss returns to the Store and shows a new early Summer selection of polymer clay jewelry designs.
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 at SpectrumAnytime.com with shipping available throughout the US, a perfect choice for convenient gift giving all year long, with gift cards also available in the Store and online. To join the community conversation, follow us on social media at facebook.com/spectrumartgallery, instagram.com/spectrumartgallery, x.com/spectrum_ct, and youtube.com/@spectrumgallery6211