Mike Metsack and his partner Keith Dagnall started raising goats as pets in 2014. After much trial and error Keith discovered the perfect recipe for their goats milk soap and in August 2016 Hy-Hope Soap was born! Since then their product line has grown to not only include soap but also “Whole Milk Whole body Lotions” and Lip Balms with more products on the way.
Hy-Hope is a true small batch producer. They even make all of their soap molds so each bar is soap is truly unique.
I’m Christopher Pavliscsak, an artist from the quiet corner of Connecticut with a lifelong passion for creativity. I studied illustration at CCSU, which led me to explore painting, graphic design, caricature art, and animation. I work with various mediums—watercolor, acrylics, and digital art—allowing me to express my ever-evolving perspective. Through plein air painting adventures, art material experiments, and creative challenges, I share my artistic journey as I refine my voice and vision. Lately, I’ve been drawn to exploring nature’s relationship with humanity, a theme that continues to shape my work. I don’t believe in creative restrictions—my art shifts with my emotions and experiences, offering a raw and honest reflection of the world as I see it.
See Chris’ website.
Dorothy (Dot) Drobney is a retired educator, from Willington, who has a passion for nature and travel photography. Having closed her photo studio and a small gallery/gift shop, she is now free to travel both locally and internationally, and is very excited to see what comes next!
Kathy has been mastering the art of quilling since 2018. As an acrylic painter for most of her life, she found a new passion the multidimensional art of quilling, and has even started combining the acrylic painting and quilling together to create some fun multimedia art. Stop by and see at A Summer’s Palette, she’ll be working on a piece, or join her group on Facebook.
Dan Merlo makes bowl, pepper mills and tables from “Rescued Wood.” He often accents his pieces with colored resin, enhancing the natural beauty of the wood. Contact Dan to visit his studio in Eastford, CT!
Xiaohong Song enjoys working in various mediums including painting, stitching and crayon. Her cheerful, romantic pieces celebrate flowers and nature. Follow her on Facebook.
Gretchen Geromin and Lauren Merlo work as a team, collaborating on unique, handmade boards and signs with original wood burned art. Working with local downed trees, Lauren makes the boards. Gretchen then wood burns them birds, mice, horses, flowers, cats, dragons and more. They welcome commissions and can be found at our shows.
Jay’s art captures the beauty of nature in bold colors and dynamic textures, created using acrylics on canvas or wood. He invites viewers to experience the joy and serenity of the great outdoors, transforming everyday scenes into lively expressions of color and emotion. If you’re looking to add a splash of inspiration to your space, come and see for yourself! JaNoBaStudios.com
Art has proven to be the most potent means for me to reconnect with my true self. Whether I’m immersed in painting, drawing, or any other creative pursuit, I lose myself in the process, and the external world fades away. In this state, I forge a connection with reality that defies easy explanation. It’s a profoundly soothing experience that enables me to rediscover myself and my surroundings.
While you will find that most of my work is in brightly colored landscapes, I do like to experiment with different styles and subjects as I make my artist journey. My subjects are a mix of being loosely based on actual places along with views straight out of my imagination.
Lori is a watercolor artist who is inspired by sights she sees while traveling, often on her bicycle. At the Holiday Artist Market she will have large framed paintings as well as affordable mini paintings, both framed and on wood blocks, as well as cards and unframed works. Lori will be at our Holiday Artist Market.
Early American Decoration
Valerie B. Oliver – Ashford author’s recently published book, The Historical Society of Early American Decoration, its historical record describes the efforts since 1946 to preserve and continue the decorative techniques popular in the late 18 th – mid-19 th century: country painting, stenciling, gold leaf and free hand bronze work. Pontypool, pen and ink, theorem and reverse glass painting well as Victorian flower painting, clockdial painting and the schoolgirl art of watercolor painting on boxes and furniture popular during 1790-1830.
This is a fascinating history of an organization of members, mostly women, from the northeastern U.S. especially New York, Pennsylvania and New England.
Valerie Oliver will be giving a talk about her publication The Historical Society of Early American Decoration, its historical record at the Babcock Library at 10:00 a.m. on May 11th, a Saturday. There will also be a tea, and she will display a few objects decorated using the historical techniques. She will speak about how she came to write the history and what it revealed about a mostly female led group since its founding in 1946, etc. Valerie was a Society Trustee from 2002-2012 and Pres. 2011 and 2012 and is currently their Historian and asst. editor of their journal The Decorator. **Pre-registration is requested for this event. Please call Babcock Library # 860-487-4420 to register**
See more – By the author of Fashion and Costume in American Popular Culture, a reference guide, Greenwood Press, 1996, this publication shows the same attention to detail, 236 pages plus index complemented by over 120 colored photographs. The author a former trustee and president of the Society continues to carry out decorative painting projects.
Valerie B. Oliver was born in Nashua, NH; she graduated from Classical H.S., Springfield, MA, received her BS in Mathematics from St. Lawrence Univ. in 1960 and MLS from McGill Univ. in 1961. Her professional career as a librarian began at the Research Labs Library at United Aircraft. Her many years as a Reference Ln. at UCONN’s Homer Babbidge Library, culminated with the publication of her book,Fashion and Costume in American Popular Culture, a reference guideby Greenwood Press in 1996.
Her interests in early American decoration began in the early 1970s with teacher Florence Rainville of Uncasville, CT. She became an Historical Society of Early American Decoration (HSEAD) member in 1997, eventually serving as Connecticut Charter Oak Chapter Chairman, then as an HSEAD Trustee and finally as HSEAD President 2011-2012. She currently serves as their Historian and as assistant editor of their journal The Decorator. Her decorative painting work consists of country painting on metal and wood, stenciling, freehand bronze work, gold leaf work and reverse glass painting (all using historically documented patterns). Reproducing old designs such as those seen on the 18th-19th c. Pennsylvania German decorated documents called frakturs involves work with a pen and with watercolor paints, a process both easily and enjoyably performed. The designs have many uses i.e. cards, bookplates, letter heads or simply framed for display.
