Art Show at Case Memorial Library

The art show at Case Memorial Library was a nice and fun evening. There was a fairly large crowd who seemed to enjoy the artwork and jewelry. I saw a number of my artist friends, including John Massimino, who gave me a short critique on some of my work. I was pleased that he liked two of my favorite paintings, Milk Weed at Rettich Preserve, and Autumn Field Near Revervoir. John is such a wonderful artist. He's taught art for a number of years at Paier School of Art and has done really well as a painter. He has a sharp eye for composition and technique and he has a delicious sense of humor. I always enjoy talking with him. It was also great to see Ed Magnotti, George Manning, and Ron Tonelli. I'm hoping to join them at a life drawing class in New Haven at the John Slade Eli house on Wednesday evenings.

The Case Memorial Library meeting room is set up nicely for artwork and has great lighting. I was able to display twenty-one pieces of my work on two walls and outside the room.

The exhibit will be up until the end of February. It's nice to have two months to display artwork.

Show at Case Memorial Library

I'm getting ready for a show in January at the Case Memorial Library in Orange, CT.   There are a lot of new pieces that I've done this past year of locations in Connecticut. Here is one that I did at Rettich Preserve in Madison, CT. I also participated with other plein air artists in a fundraiser for the preserve during the summer.

I'm going to be showing with two other artists.

Pauli Zambarano, member of the Hamden Art League and past member of the CT Watercolor Society, has been working in watercolors for the past 25 years. Her work has been featured in exhibits in Connecticut and Massachusetts.

Lee Heckendorf, a resident of Branford, has been creating and designing jewelry for over fifteen years. She makes one of a kind pieces using crystals, pearls, semi-precious stones, unusual beads and wire. Lee sells her jewelry at New England craft fairs and at local boutiques.

An opening reception is planned on Thursday January 10, from 5-7 pm. The snow date for the reception is January 17. The show will run from January 2 through February 28, 2019.

The Case Memorial Library is located at 176 Tyler City Road, Orange. For more information, call the library: 203-891-2170.

New 2019 Calendars!

I now have calendars with photos of my paintings for sale. Each photo depicts paintings of the New England area and reflects the season.  Here's a sample of what's inside:

To order a calendar, email me at pmser51@hotmail.com.

The 12 month calendars are 8" x 10" and open to 16" x 10" on a heavy soft gloss paper.

Woodbridge Town Library Show

I had a nice show at the Woodbridge Town Library on Tuesday night. It was nice to see the paintings under different lighting conditions and be able to view them from a distance. The feedback was very positive. Here's what the display looked like.

Street Painting of Guilford

I finished this painting of the market in Guilford on the green. I love the way the sunlight bounced off of the buildings. Guilford has some quaint old shops in the center of town that are usually very busy and fun to visit. This painting is featured at the exhibit now on display at the Woodbridge Town Library, Woodbridge, CT.
Guilford Market, Oil on Canvas, 16"x20"

Part IV: The Tour of the Boston Public Library

From the Chavannes murals, we passed into the Bates Hall, which was featured in the film, "Good Will Hunting." The reading room was dedicated to Joshua Bates, who donated $50,00 for books for the library. It was simply decorated with green shaded reading lights that light the rows of plain wooden tables.
Occupying the whole front of the building on the second floor level and lighted by high arched windows, it is 218 long, 42 feet wide, and 50 feet high, to the crown of its barrel vaulted ceiling.
The next room that we entered was the Edwin Abby Room. This room held the murals of the Tennison version of the Search for the Holy Grail. Installed in 1895, Edwin Austin Abbey painted fifteen scenes from Tennison’s story and arranged them in a circle high up on the walls in this large room (64’x22’) that is now often rented for special events and parties. The ceiling is made of heavy ornamental rafters, and the floors are made of Istrian and red Verona marble. There are also two grand fireplaces made of red Verona marble.

The Holy Grail was fabled to be the sacred vessel from which the Lord had eaten at the Last Supper. Joseph of Arimathea had gathered the divine blood of the Lord’s wounds after purchasing it from Pontius Pilate. Its existence, its preservation, its miraculous virtues and properties were a cherished popular belief in the early ages of European Christianity. From twelfth-century narrators, Walter Mapes in England, ChrÈtien de Troyes in France, and Wolfram von Eschenbach in Germany, came folklore that the Grail was guarded for ages in the Castle of the Grail by the descendants of the "rich man," to whom the body of Jesus had been surrendered, where it awaited the coming of the perfect knight, who alone should be worthy to have knowledge of it.

King Arthur’s court first introduced us to the romances of the Holy Grail and to the perfect knight. To the one who possessed the Grail was granted the ability to live, and to cause others to live, indefinitely without food, as well as the achievement of universal knowledge, and of invulnerability in battle.

The scenes recount the journey of Sir Galahad and the knights of the round table to find the Holy Grail, and the mishaps, dangers, and triumphs along the way. Sir Galahad, always in red, the symbol of purity, eventually breaks the spell of Amfortas, the Fisher King, King of the Grail, and later frees the Virtues, maidens of the Castle of the Maidens. He remains virtuous and renounces every human desire, and is able to accomplish his mission. The Holy Grail appears before him and his soul is freed from his body.

The room is magnificent, the paintings are very powerful. If you have a chance to read the book and then see the paintings, do so.