LEGOS AND LIGHTHOUSES BRIGHTEN THE SEASON

There’s no merrier place to be this season than Fairfield County in Western Connecticut where two of the most original exhibits in New England brighten the season at local museums.

A lavish moving landscape made of a billion LEGO® bricks delights visitors to the Stamford Museum and Nature Center while the 13^th annual Festival of Lighthouses contest at the Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk shows off dozens of fabulous new miniature creations.

WIDE WORLD OF LEGOS®

Trains and planes.  Cars, tractors and trucks.  Ships, shuttles and monorails. Helicopters and spaceships

Just about anything that moves on land, sea, air and space will be seen as colorful LEGO® sculptures, moving through a three-dimensional imaginary landscape at the Billion Bricks 2 exhibit at the Stamford Museum & Nature Center.  Everything in the amazing exhibit is made of LEGO blocks.

Master builder Bill Probert & I LUG (LEGO® Users Group) NY return to the Museum Galleries for a sixth season of their popular displays, promising a LEGO world that is even bigger and better this year. The exhibit runs  to January 25.

Starting in January, families are invited to make their own LEGO® creations in weekend workshops. 

Participants on Saturday, January 3 will build and race a LEGO® car while the group on Sunday January 4 will build and fly a Lego helicopter or space ship. Lights! Camera! Action! Animation 

Workshops on Saturday and Sunday January 17 and 18 for ages 10 and up will be led by Alex Kobbs, of KooberzStudios. Kobbs will teach techniques for film stop action animation using LEGO® creations and mini figures.

Workshops are limited in size and advance reservations are required.  Phone 203-977-6521 to register and see www.stamfordmuseum.org for more information.

LIGHTHOUSES LIGHT UP THE SEASON

Some are funny. Some are clever. Some are beautiful.

For the 13^th year, artists and would-be-artists will compete for the most original entry in the Festival of Lighthouses at the Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk from November 22 through January. 19.
The rules are simple.  Entries must be three to six feet tall and have a working light. They may not include animal remains such as shells. Beyond that, it’s up to the creators’ imaginations and the results are guaranteed to amaze. Past entries have been made of stained glass, stone, yarn, clay, candy and tiny coffee cups. One entry was made of holiday greeting cards, another included computer animation. One memorable entry featured all the makings of the 12 days of Christmas.

 This year's exhibit will showcase 24 lighthouses and there is no telling what the creative results will be. Aquarium visitors will follow these one-of-a-kind beacons through the galleries and then cast a vote for their favorite.  The winner takes home the $1,500 first prize. Runner-ups divide the rest of the $3300 in prize money.  To learn more, see www.maritimeaquarium.org.

For more information about holiday events and a free copy of Unwind, a full-color, 152-page booklet detailing what to do and see, and where to stay, shop and dine in Fairfield County as well as in the Litchfield Hills, contact the Western Connecticut Visitors Bureau, PO Box 968, Litchfield, CT 06759, (860) 567-4506, or visit their web site at www.visitwesternct.com.

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Charlie Hewitt Cut & Printed at the Center for Contemporary Crafts Jan 22- March 12

The Center for Contemporary Crafts in Norwalk CT has announced a new exhibit that will be on view from January 22 to March 12, 2012. The name of the exhibit is Charlie Hewitt: Cut and Printed, Recent Color Woodcuts. The opening reception is on Sunday, January 22 from 2 PM to 5 PM.

Charlie Hewitt is a printmaker, painter and sculptor, who has taught extensively since 1986 at schools including Dartmouth College and Fordham University. He has had many solo exhibitions and has his work in major private and public collections including the Museum of Modern Art, The Whitney Museum of Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Brooklyn Museum, the New York Public Library, The Library of Congress and the Portland Museum of Art.

In addition to the exhibition, Charlie Hewitt will be leading a workshop, "Wet-On Wet Woodcut Intensive", with Master Printer David Wolfe from February 17th – 19th at the studios located at the Center for Contemporary Crafts. They will co-teach this workshop in multi-colored woodcut and relief printing methods. Students cut and print using a wet-on-wet ink process that produces a spontaneous, immediate print. The workshop concentrates on creating unique print variations by working with a variety of cutting and inking techniques. Participants need to bring their own tools if they have them. Tools will also be available for those that do not own them. To register please visit the website at www.contemprints.org, or call 203-899-7999.

Two additional workshops are offered in January. Mezzotint with Carol Wax is offered from Jan. 27 through Jan. 29 from 10 AM – 4 PM. This worshop features direct, non-toxic engraving with the resulting luminous prints with rich tones and dramatic lighting effects. Participants will learn the most efficient way to prepare a mezzotint ground, proper care and handling of tools, image making and printing techniques, alternative grounding methods (no rocking!), use of mezzotint with other intaglio techniques, color printing, registration methods, cool tricks and more.

There is also a 6-week evening workshop on Carborundum aquatint that takes place on Wednesdays, from January 18 through February 21. The workshop includes 6 hours of studio time per week, during the workshop session.

Carborundum aquatint is a painterly intaglio technique in which the artist paints directly on a Plexiglas plate with a mixture of carborundum grit and acrylic medium. When dry, the plate is inked and wiped as an etching. Using a variety of sizes of grit, a printmaker can achieve a wide range of tones. Participants will also explore multiple plate registration methods and printing in color.

The Center for Contemporary Printmaking is located in Mathews Park, 299 West Avenue Norwalk, CT 06850 203.899.799. The website is www.contemprints.org.