Antiques, Bottles & Flowers

Welcome to Antiques on Main of Old Wethersfield, Connecticut, voted the best antique shop now for the third year in the Hartford magazine's Best of Hartford 2008 May issue. It is located next to the firehouse on Main Street. I have a variety of my work available there from paintings, tinware, art signs of the town and my wonderful collectibile houses. Historic Old Wethersfield, founded in 1634, is a special place to experience a communtiy of authentic New England heritage, museums, old architecture, places of interest nestled along tree lined streets. Of noted interest also is the Webb House where Washington and Rochambeau planned the Campaign of Ending the Revolutionary War at Yorktown in 1781. The Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum is a must to visit and just a few steps from Antiques on Main. Across the street from the museum is the J MICHAELS TAVERN, located in the historic Standish House, where I also exhibit my work.

Janice and I wandered around the shop and she was happy to find some small bottles. One was a medicine appearing bottle, a decorated little vase and an old ink bottle. Then when we got home Janice picked some flowers from the carpet of Myrtle along the edge of the stone walls, which were perfect for the new collection of bottles.

This is a half Federal house with an ell addition I made and with a painted scene all around. I couldn't resist making the image of a flowering tree by placing the Myrtle flowers in the back.

Looking forward to seeing you here at the studio in Glastonbury just over the river from Old Wethersfield, where there are plenty more houses of different sizes and shapes that I've made to bring an accent to your home.

Marblehead Art Walk

April 11th and the 12th was the first time for the Marblehead Art Walk, a partnership of the Art Association and the Chamber of Commerce where various artists were featured in participating small businesses throughout town highlighted with hanging ballons. Friday night was the preview opening and then all day Saturday. I was featured at the Marblehead Arts Association and set up in the front parlor where I demonstrated pencil drawings and gave them away to a fortunate few. Saturday was also the antique appraisal day up in the ballroom with Paul Royka from the Antiques Road Show where many brought in their "treasures".
For this showI did several new paintings, three are shown below, and at the end of the day I placed them in my gallery on the second floor where I hope you can visit someday. This was another successful event in the wonderful town of Marblehead and promises to be again next year in the Spring.

This is an 11x14 painting of Old Tucker's Wharf based on an old post card from my father's Marblehead collecton of many harbor scenes. This shows the wharf from the rocks of Crocker Park which is still there today except all the buildings have changed or are no longer there.

This is an 11x14 painting of Old Appleton's Wharf and is where the Boston Yacht Club is today.

This 11x14 painting is an image of the Fort Sewall lobster shacks where at one time many were there. In the background is Gerry Island and Peach's Point.

A Country Class

On the last Saturday in March, I gave a small private class here at Early New England Homes built by Country Carpenters, the company that also built my barn a few years ago. This model home is open to the public for viewing and when it first opened I spoke to the invited guests about what a wonderful contribution to New England's harmony it was. Eric Sloane, a well known writer and artist of New England would have been so happy to have seen this as well I'm sure.
I did a painting of this complex used on the cover of their brochure. New England Homes is located in the Connecticut countryside of Bolton, a short distance from my Art Studio & Gallery in Glastonbury.
I did a similar class recently in January at the Wayside Inn in Massachusetts. Fred from Country Carpenters asked me about the possibilities of holding a class in Connecticut and then the day finally came. We started at 9:30 on a crisp beautiful morning and it wasn't too long before everyone was pounding away, finishing by 4:30. How fast the day went, but now on this Saturday March, 29th, time was forever frozen with the creation of the "little pine footstool"

Everyone is busy sanding after the roughed up and distressing steps were done previously. It gets noisy with all the pounding and filing! The idea though is to keep in mind not to over do it but give the piece a character of 200 years of use. In the barn there is a display of old tools helping to bring the feeling into the piece as well.

Everyone is concentrating with the final details before the last step of varnishing.

The class all with their finished projects and seven hadn't ever painted before. When the stools were lined up drying I picked one up thinking it was my own, but was surprised that it was Mike's (on the left ). Everyone went home with a smile and all had good reason to be happy!

Collecting Houses from the Barn

I look forward to your visit here in Connecticut to my Studio & Gallery where the flowers soon will be blooming and the birds singing. Please call first to be sure I'm in at 860-633-7707. I will be happy to show you the many houses and barns I have made from large timbers to very small pieces of pine.

When Country Carpenters built the Studio & Gallery post and beam barn, there were some leftover timbers. This is a 4x8 that I used to make this "row" house with scenes and buntings and flags on both sides. I even used old copper from the chimney flashing to make cut out designs and nailed them on the houses. A story is told in the design of the celebration of America by the little band marching by on what I envisioned was a voting day.

This is a set of of three cut from one piece of 3/4" pine wood. There are a wide variety of different houses and barns here in the gallery, that can capture an Old New England accent in any season wherever you want to display them. Each and every one has a finishing patina of history.

I made this collection of small houses for my wife Janice and although very tiny, as the dime shows, they bring a nice accent when arranged on the kitchen counter.

Firescreens at the Tavern

I recently painted two fireplace screens at JMICHAELS TAVERN with a red onion tile effect to simulate a fireplace that was once there. There actually were two removed many years ago to make a stairway that leads up from the kitchen to four dining rooms on the second floor. When visiting during renovations several months ago, I saw that they were painted just solid black and I suggested this to compliment the wonderul panel wood work. The red onion is a symbol of the town's heritage that was so famous years ago.

J MICHAELS TAVERN at 222 Main Street and the First Church of Christ built in 1761 and 1764.

There are wagon rides similar to what is shown at special times throughout the year.

The Webb, Deane, Stevens museum houses across the street from the J MICHAELS TAVERN in the center of the oldest town in Connecticut, Old Wethersfield established in 1639.

I also exhibit other folk art paintings at the tavern that are available for purchase. It's a special experience to sit near the screens and let your imagination wonder through the times while having a wonderful dining experience. Visit the museum across the street where George Washington had stayed in the Webb house in 1781 planning the battle of Yorktown.

Just a little further up the street visit Antiques on Main where I have various other original works of Old Wethersfield or call me to visit the studio just across the river in Glastonbury.

Making one of my Puzzles

On cozy winter evenings at the end of a working day, my wife Janice likes at times to relax putting a puzzle together. I first wondered how that could be "relaxing" and thought it would be frustrating instead and impossible to fit a thousand pieces together. Well, after sitting down with her a couple of times I began to look forward to joining in and getting a little brian "excercise". It was fun to be together working on sorting the colors and shapes to fit and feeling the satisfaction of accomplishing something. It's a nice way not only to exercise the mind, but it was relaxing working on it a little at a time.

I hated to take apart the few puzzles that we did and instead just laid them down upstairs in my studio. However with this puzzle, "Marblehead Fish Company," I noticed that my signature was missing. So I have made this one very special by signing the box and the completed puzzle on the bottom right , noting that Janice and I finished it in February '08. This will be offered for sale on ebay someday but until then you're invited to come by my studio to see it.

"Better Connecticut"

On Monday, February 4th I was at the J MICHAELS TAVERN in Old Wethersfield where I soon will be installing two large firescreen panels with paintings of the tavern and the Webb, Deane Stevens museum across the street. Scot Haney of WSFB channel 3 in Hartford, was filming a story of the recently opened restaurant for the program "Better Connecticut" and he met me therefor the first time. It was from this meeting that he came to my studio & gallery where there was also plenty to see for a story. The segment aired two times on Friday the 8th and once on Saturday morning the 9th. This brought in interested vistors to the gallery and a special story of one of my earlier paintings that surprised me. Everyone called ahead of time to let me know of their arrival and I invite also to visit when the time is right.