Showcase – Page 2 – ASHFORD AREA ARTS COUNCIL

Kathy Weigold, Weaver

Kathy Weigold

Kathy Weigold has made a career of production weaving. Subcontracting work from designers of handwoven fabrics, she makes their designs become a reality. Spanning 40 years plus, many miles of fabrics have been produced.
Kathy learned production weaving skills at The Marshfield School of Weaving in VT. A lifetime of honing those skills, both in operating the loom and seeing how colors interact. Kathy also developed her own line of woven goods. First with rugs, having a practical bent and using things on hand. What better use for old worn out clothes, sheets, blankets and the like then to make them into something usable again. Dish towels that are 100% cotton and really work.
Scarves that have their own personality; no two alike. Wooly ponchos, soft, light and warm.
Color interactions that simply amaze. These are some of the things that comprise her work and life.
Kathy will be our Presenter at our July 13th meeting.

Fiber Artist Joan Blade Johnson

Fiber Artist Joan Blade Johnson of JBJ is a Hampton, CT-based fiber artist who exhibits nationally and internationally.

Joan’s journey took her from a traditional quilter to a contemporary fiber artist who employs several surface designs in her art quilting. She enjoys the creative process involved in composing fiber art pieces using non-traditional methods and materials to achieve her artistic vision, most often inspired by nature and her original nature photography.

The surface design materials that she regularly works with on fabric include paint, foraged natural plant dye, rust, fiber reactive dye, and photos printed onto fabric.

Lisa Gantick – Floral Wreath Artist

My name is Lisa Gantick and I am the owner and designer for QuietCornerDecorCT. I am fortunate that I am able to run my business from my home. I am a wife to a wonderful man, a mother to three precious grown children, and Gramma to a very special grandson.

Visit Lisa’s website for more designs!
Lisa’s Etsy store

I have enjoyed crafting for most of my adult life. I began by sewing clothing for my growing family and by creating matching outfits for the family for Christmas and Easter. I then branched out and started quilting. For many years, I enjoyed paper crafting through the creation of greeting cards and scrapbook albums. My venture into wreath making and floral décor began in October 2017, after watching a hometalk episode for creating a burlap wreath. The episode featured a young man by the name of Nick Kreticos of Nick’s Seasonal Décor. I enjoyed making the wreath so much, that I looked Nick up on facebook. I was soon hooked and realized that for all of the wreaths I was making, I couldn’t just continue to give them away, so I decided to start my small business.

In December of 2010, I suffered a compression fracture of my thoracic spine. My world turned upside down. I was diagnosed in February of 2011 with Multiple Myeloma, a blood cancer similar to Leukemia and Lymphoma. I am fortunate that I am a seven year cancer survivor. I have endured many cancer treatments over the years, including a stem cell transplant. I was an Executive Administrative Secretary for 24 years before I retired in 2016 due to complications from my cancer treatment. My cancer has slowed me down, but I just develop new ways to get things done. Creating wreaths and floral décor has given me much joy and a new focus.

Please join me in my journey and I hope to inspire you.

Becoming

I wrote this poem about the arrival of Spring at my home in Westford upon being named Ashford’s Poet Laureate in March 2021 – Anthony Paticchio

Becoming

Sometime in March or April,
The Mount Hope, near its headwaters
down below the house, turns river again;

grows loud each day; spills its winter stream
in a full-on cold clear silver river rush;

threads a new watercourse run
across a thick-grown marsh that once was a beaver pond;

pours out through a rock channel carved
in the ruin of an old button mill dam;
and finds its way.

Dan Rackliffe

Dan’s Website

For the past 6 years, pottery has been my passion. In addition to creating my own work in my home I share with my wife, Jane, in Ashford, I now teach pottery and stained glass in our winter residence in North Port, Florida. My inspiration comes from the calm lakes we are lucky enough to live on in both places and am currently experimenting with combining blue glazes to get some great effects. My traditional stoneware is oven safe, dishwasher safe and microwave safe as well as being lead free. I have many practical and functional pieces to offer.

Have a look at my website or come see my Pottery Shed display by appointment. I am in Ashford right off Rt. 89, under two miles from I-84.

2021 Art and Garden Tour of Northeastern Connecticut

This free self-guided tour features 11 artists’ gardens displaying the works of 17 area artists. Enjoy paintings, sculpture, ceramics, woodwork, photography and other works of art in gardens in Ashford, Coventry, Mansfield and Willington. The gardens, which vary in style, include a handmade greenhouse, a hydroponic greenhouse, ponds and pools, a stone arch, paths, terraces and an abundance of flowers, shrubs, vegetables, trees and herbs. Artwork will be available for purchase. All current Covid-19 protocols will be followed, including masks.

More information can be found on their Facebook Page or go to their website for a virtual tour.

Christine Acebo: Receives Two Awards

Christine Acebo received a Certificate of Merit for her photograph “Golden Years,” exhibitedat the Salmagundi Club’s Figuratively Speaking Juried Exhibition in New York City (Feb 2 – Feb. 19, 2021).

She received the Council’s Award for her coffee-toned cyanotype print “Last Tram Out of Alfama” exhibited at the Connecticut Women Artists Members’ Juried Show (April 17 – May 14, 2021).

Poet Laureate

The Ashford Arts Council and the Town of Ashford have proclaimed Anthony Paticchio as our town Poet Laureate. Ashford now joins a group of more than 30 towns in Connecticut to have a Poet Laureate. In celebration we plan to honor Tony’s appointment with a virtual party on Zoom with poetry by Tony, virtual toasts, and then an Open Mic for town well-wishers to read their own poems. March 21st 4:00 – 5:30
Please email Christine Acebo to register for this event and get the Zoom link. Event is FREE to attend.

Sharon Punty

Title: Wave Patterns Description: Paint swirls and interacts as m a big wave emerges. Media: Paint Pour Size 10”x10” Price $14.00

topical getaway palm tree painting — Title: Wave Patterns Description: Paint swirls and interacts as m a big wave emerges. Media: Paint Pour Size 10”x10” Price $14.00

I started my career at Parish Hill Junior/Senior High School in Chaplin, Connecticut. As an public school art teacher, I taught students appreciation of masters’ artwork and of contemporary art. I encouraged all students to work to their best and to enjoy the process of creating art. After having my first child, I ran a family daycare home. I began teaching art in Manchester in 2000 and retired in 2017. Since then, I have been re-discovering my artistic passions, like as pottery, painting, and mixed media. I still love the art of teaching, most recently through zoom lessons.
Contact Information: sharonpunty@gmail.com

Linda Rogers

Linda Rogers has been working with the Encaustic process since 2008 after viewing this unusual process at a gallery in Charleston, SC. Switching over her studio was a bit challenging as Encaustic painting requires good ventilation, heated pallets to melt the painting medium and torches to fuse the work.
The painting medium she uses is made from refined beeswax and colored pigments. Linda also applies shellac mixed with pigments to create lacy intricate patterns that look organic when burned off. The entire process requires a controlled burn method to achieve fine detail and translucency. Most of Linda’s work reflects her love of nature including landscapes from her travels around the world and botanicals of all sorts. Recent work also includes portraitures using the Encaustic method often with paper collage additions. All work is available, contact her here.