Showing posts with label New Milford. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New Milford. Show all posts

Friday, October 10, 2014

Pastoral Solitudes and Landscape Paintings at the Gregory James Gallery

Contemporary realist and Connecticut native Thomas C. Adkins has spent years meandering through the hills and farms of Litchfield County, searching for the perfect view. Rather than seeking out new landscapes, Adkins finds inspiration in the familiar and captures on canvas the emotion or feeling that is evoked when something suddenly appears fresh and new. 



Adkins, who will present 30 new works, both Plein Air and studio paintings, in a one-man show, “Pastoral Solitudes,” at the Gregory James Gallery in New Milford. The show continues through November 4th. All of the paintings were produced over the past two years and reflect the farms and untouched landscapes of Connecticut’s Northwest Corner. A few marine paintings were inspired by scenes near Adkins’ home in Maine, where as a boy, he spent summer vacations with his family. 

Most of his paintings are derived from small sketches made on location, which Adkins refers to later in the studio, making subtle changes in color and light to evoke a mood, the season or time of day.

The green and gold fields of “Northern Farm Early Spring” draw the eye up to an aging grey barn illuminated by sunlight peeking over the hills beyond the farm. The last remnants of snow are visible on hilltops and the bare branches of trees stretch toward a pale sky tinged with purple. The interplay of light and shadow hint at a scene captured just before sunset, or perhaps slightly after sunrise.

The change of season is evident in “Fall Diagonal Light Kent,” which features a pair of barns, bookends to a white farmhouse, tucked beneath leafy green trees tinged with orange. The last slanting rays of sun fall over the scene from beyond the frame of the painting as thick clouds move in from the opposite side.




Looking at “Lake Waramaug Summer,” the viewer seems to be perched on the path, in the same spot Adkins set up his easel, pausing to take in the view of the lake and green the hills sloping down to its edges. There is a small farm tucked into the hillside, yet there is a sense that the viewer is able to take in this tranquil scene alone. Adkins calls it “a snapshot of the moment. You get a true sense of the atmosphere and the feeling for the place.”

A graduate of Paier College of Art of New Haven, Adkins completed graduate classes at the School of Visual Arts of New York. He has worked as art director and creative director for some of the most prestigious advertising agencies in Connecticut and New York. 

As a contemporary painter, Adkins’ style and technique has developed from early influences by Impressionistic painters of light on nature, such as Monet, Pissaro, Willard Metcalf. Adkins’ work is featured in private collections throughout the United States and abroad. His paintings have been shown in galleries and exhibitions in Connecticut and New England, including the New Britain Museum of American Art, The Butler Institute Of American, Old Lyme Association, Gregory James Gallery, Greene Art Gallery and at Bayview Gallery in Brunswick, Me. A member of the Connecticut Plein Air Painters Society and the Association of Oil Painters of America, he participated in the prestigious International Marine Art Exhibition at The Maritime Gallery at Mystic Seaport. In 2014, he will be one of a select few award-winning artists from seven countries selected to participate in the 35th Annual International Marine Art Exhibition at Mystic Seaport.

The Gregory James Gallery is located at 93 Park Lane Road (Route 202) in New Milford, about 100 feet from the intersection of Route 109. For more information, please call (860) 354-3436 or visit www.gregoryjamesgallery.com.

Monday, May 19, 2014

“Jazz Great” Bucky Pizzarelli at The Silo Hunt Hill Farm

The Silo at Hunt Hill Farm located in Litchfield Hills is "Saluting Jazz" in style on May 24 at 7 p.m. when they will be  hosting jazz great Bucky Pizzarelli at the Canterbury School in New Milford. Pizzarelli, a , world-renowned jazz guitarist, will be accompanied by Ed Laub. The duo has been performing for audiences all over the US and Canada in clubs, concert halls and jazz festivals for the past 12 years after a lifetime association as teacher/student.



Pizzarelli and Laub combine instrumental and vocal arrangements with an emphasis on the Great American Songbook and well as some of the classic 1930's guitar duos made popular by Carl Kress/ Dick McDonough, Eddie Lang and George Smith. Their great friendship of over 45 years is evident in their sound and the way they interact together.

 All proceeds from the concert will benefit The Silo at Hunt Hill Farm, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, offering programs and family events that enrich the community, including art gallery exhibitions, cooking classes, live music, literary readings and more.

Tickets begin at $30 for general admission, with reserved seating tickets at $50 and $75 levels. A pre-concert reception will be held from 5:30 to 7 p.m., also at the Canterbury School, with tickets for the reception and concert at $100. Sponsor and Underwriter levels are available as well.

For more information and to purchase tickets visit www.hunthillfarmtrust.org, or call (860) 355-0300. Tickets are also on sale at The Silo during regular business hours. The Silo Gallery and store are open Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m.

Ticket prices are: $30 General Admission  $50 Reserved Seating,  $75 Front and Center, $100 Jazz Lover (includes pre-concert reception and "Front and Center" reserved seating), $250 All Star Patron (includes pre-concert reception, "Front and Center" reserved seating and program credit as a patron),  $500 Premier VIP (includes pre-concert reception, "Front and Center" reserved seating, CD and program credit as an underwriter).

About Hunt Hill Farm Trust
Located in New Milford, Conn., the Hunt Hill Farm Trust operates The Silo at Hunt Hill Farm, a non-profit organization and Smithsonian Institution Affiliate dedicated to preserving the unique history of this farm.

The Silo is as devoted to protecting this piece of New England agricultural history – its buildings, stone walls, and fields – as it is to the cultural legacy of Ruth and Skitch Henderson, the founders who brought 'new life to old barns.'™

The Silo continues traditions of education, conservation, artisanry and excellence in the Cooking School, the Skitch Henderson Museum, the Hunt Hill Farm Land Preserve, the Gallery and the Silo Store and is a vibrant and unique regional resource, offering the public opportunities to explore music, art, cuisine, and permanently protected historic open space. For more information, please visit www.hunthillfarmtrust.org, and connect with the bank on Facebook and Twitter (@thesilohunthill).

For information on Litchfield Hills www.litchfieldhills.com

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Silo Kid’s and Teens Vacation Day and Valentine’s Day Classes

If you’re looking for an activity for your child on school vacation days – or for Valentine’s Day, The Silo has cooking classes for you.



Located at historic Hunt Hill Farm, 44 Upland Road, New Milford, The Silo Cooking School will hold vacation day classes on Martin Luther King Day, Monday, January 20 and Presidents’ Day, Monday February 17. 

On January 20, two classes will be held.  The first, “Young Chefs Winter Warm Up” for children ages 6 to 10, will be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., followed by “Teens and Tweens Winter Warm Up” from  2:30 to 5:30 p.m.

On February 17, President’s Day, “Young Chefs Cook Presidential” will run from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. for ages 6 to 10, and “Tweens and Teens: Hail to the Chief” will run from 2:3 to 5:30 p.m.

In addition, “Valentine’s Sweets for the Sweet,” a three-hour class for children ages 5 to 11 will cover the basics from homemade cookies to candies, coming up hearts!

Classes are taught by Nancy Stuart, Silo Cooking School assistant director and are full-participation.  Students will learn basic skills such as kitchen safety, proper food handling, food preparation, cooking and baking techniques.  Class cost is $45 or $50 per student, depending on class chosen.


 The Cooking School is part of the Smithsonian Institution affiliated Hunt Hill Farm Trust, a non-profit organization.  Hunt Hill Farm Trust is a vibrant and unique regional resource, offering the public the opportunity to explore music, art, cuisine, crafts and literature in a setting of historic farm buildings and permanently protected open space.

Hunt Hill Farm also includes The Silo Gallery, The Skitch Henderson Museum, and The Silo Store, which sells cookbooks, giftware, tabletop, foods and kitchen items. 


For more information and to register for classes and events, call (860) 355-0300 or visit www.hunthillfarmtrust.org.  Registration is also available at The Silo during regular business hours.  The Silo Gallery and store are open Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m.

Monday, July 29, 2013

Barns and Farms Art Exhibit at The Silo at Hunt HIll Farm

February - Eric Sloane

The Silo Gallery at Hunt Hill Farm located in the Litchfield Hills on 44 Upland Rd. in New Milford Connecticut is hosting an opening reception on Friday, August 2 from 5 to 7:30 p.m. for the new Barns and Farms Exhibit that will be on display through October 5. Tosto, Laurence Neufeld, son and nephew of the Neufelds, and Art Kerber, of Millerton's Green River Gallery who is offering a selection of Eric Sloane paintings, will be greeting guests at the reception. The artwork in the gallery is available for purchase, and Tosto will also be accepting future commissions.

This exhibit that is hung in the hayloft gallery at The Silo features the work of some of the areas best known artists: Eric Sloane and Woldemar Neufeld. Also on display will be works from Kate Neufeld, Woldemar's sister, and by Merryall resident Frank Tosto.


Woldemar Neufeld

 The artists, each in their own style, have documented buildings, vistas and the history of their era. While the Neufelds and Sloane are deceased, Tosto carries on the tradition of recording the landscapes of our time for posterity.

This exhibit shows that barns are are more than just buildings. They are a witness to centuries of change. In this era of sustainable agriculture, part of the mission at Hunt Hill Farm is their focus on teaching future generations the importance of farming and barns through active adaptive usage of our historic buildings.


Frank Tosto
The Barns and Farm exhibit will be augmented in September by the addition of Barn Again, a retired Smithsonian Institution Main Street exhibit, now in the hands of Hunt Hill Farm.

The Silo Gallery and Store are open Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. For more information, please call Liba Furhman at (860) 355-0300 or visit www.hunthillfarmtrust.org.

For area information www.litchfieldhills.com.

About The Silo at Hunt Hill Farm
Drawing on the creative legacy of Skitch and Ruth Henderson, the Henderson Cultural Center at Hunt Hill Farm, a Smithsonian Institution affiliate, is a vibrant and unique regional resource, offering the public opportunities to explore music, art, cuisine, and permanently protected historic open space.