Gallery hours: Monday -Thursday...9-9, Friday...9-6, Saturday...10-4, Sunday...1-5 (Sept to June)

 

The public is invited to the Bruce S. Kershner Gallery in the Fairfield Library for a reception for a three person show, "Beyond Reality", on June 9 at 4:30-6:30 pm. The artists will talk about their work at 5:30 pm. The show can be seen from June 3 until July 15 during library hours.

This show features the work of gouache and ink artist, Toby Michaels, scratchboard artist Andrew Mullen, and acrylics painter, John Newcomb.

Westport resident, Toby Michaels, taught first grade at Coleytown School in Westport and later became an art teacher in the Weston and Darien elementary schools.

After receiving a Masters Degree in Art Therapy and Counseling, she initiated an Art Therapy program for Norwalk Hospital's Department of Psychiatry. Toby practiced there for 17 years. Later, she moved on to lead art therapy groups at Silver Hill Hospital. At the same time, she was appointed Adjunct Professor of Art Therapy at Quinnipiac College in Hamden.

Currently an award-winning full-time artist, Toby is a member of Art/Place Gallery, Women's Caucus for Art, Westport Arts Center, Silvermine Guild of Art, and is represented in the Westport Schools' Permanent Art Collection. She has appeared on Cablevision's "Creative Women Today" and was in the award-winning film "Years in the Making", a documentary which celebrates late-life creativity. She has exhibited in many area facilities, including Art/Place and The Watermark.

Toby says, "Going beyond the limits of logical thinking, my abstract paintings become spiritual and metaphysical adventures, inspiring me to inquire into the 'unseen', the endless cosmic and universal possibilities that give life to artistic expression. Making art for me becomes a doorway into Self-Knowledge, allowing for a deep connection to a Higher Source, the basis of all creativity."

Bridgeport resident, Andrew John Mullen, is an artist, art educator and illustrator. He has a Masters in Art Education from Boston University CFA. His words and drawings have been featured in publications such as Powder Magazine, Backcountry Magazine, Cross Country Skier Magazine, Fairfield Weekly and The Hartford Courant, and they are in public and private collections throughout the United States. The Salt Lake City, UT based clothing company, Lightpole Clothing has adopted Andrew's images for clothing graphics and logo design. In addition, he has designed CD covers and tour posters for bands.

Although he creates in many different mediums (oil painting, pen and ink, colored pencil, and graphite), since 2004, Andrew has found joy in the intricate line carvings of his scratchboard work. Some of them can be seen in this show. Recently, he has been experimenting with carving weathered wooden objects using a pocket knife and razor.

All of Andrew's inspiration stems from his experience and memories associated with ways of life in rural, suburban, and urban America. He grew up in the suburbs and now lives in the city of Bridgeport, but his love of the wilderness and of sports become the subjects of much of his work. He enjoys the concept of watching how man manipulates the environment and becomes a part of it through architecture, machinery, and everyday life.

Regionalism, Thomas Hart Benton, as well as the work of Baroque artists have had a great influence on Andrew's work. The concept of Chiaroscuro, light objects emerging from a dark background, inspired the use the black ink panel of the scratchboard. He says, "I believe that our experiences in life and the choices that we make along the way are what mold who we are as people. These same choices and experiences are our connection to society and the environment around us. Everything exists together as one and if you look at the world with the right kind of eyes you can begin to see that. This is the main goal of my work."

Norwalk resident, John Newcomb, was born in 1937 in Topeka, Kansas. He received a BFA at Kansas University and a diploma in National Design at St. Martin's School of Art in London. He spent the next thirty years as an art director of magazines for such companies as Time, Inc. and The New York Times, while always finding time to paint.

John's paintings are now in private collections in most parts of the United States. Recently, he had a solo show at the Wilton Library. He creates in several styles, with most of the work being figurative. His forms have been influenced by those of Giotto, Chagall, Rouault, Picasso, Wyeth, and Minoan sculpture, and his use of color by the paintings of Cezanne, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Matisse, Derain and Kandinsky. He says, "In my opinion, a modern artist who will not study and profit from the hard-won knowledge of these famous explorers is fooling himself or herself and cheating the great painters of due credit for their accomplishments. Most of them were supportive of colleagues and would be happy to help create new artistic statements."

John is interested in communicating quickly with the viewer. He says, "I'm aware of the shifting needs of a painting as I'm working and I try to stay alert to these changes. This 'dialogue' is a major source of satisfaction and creative renewal - and a way to avoid overusing a few favorite tricks. Age is liberating for an artist. Many great artists have reached a point at which they disregard convention and make startling artistic statements. ...This is a road I want to take, if I can."