The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Summer Paint-Out featured at gallery
Fine Line members host ‘en plein air’ event Saturday
WOODBURY » When the weather gets warm, people have cook-outs and camp-outs. This summer the Fine Line Art Gallery at 319 Main St. South had a Summer Paint-Out.
Six of the membership gallery’s 15 artists plus two artists’ friends painted canvasses “en plein air,” or a French expression meaning outdoors, on the gallery lawn and nearby on Saturday, answering questions and offering insights to about 70 visitors into their artistic process.
In sultry, 71-degree, overcast weather, a risk of rain, light values changing, wind knocking over paintings and insects getting stuck in the canvasses, Fine Line Art Gallery board member and artist Mally DeSomma of Waterbury painted a gargoyle as a subject during the event.
“There is nothing like painting outside,” she said. “There is nothing like seeing colors in the sky and reproducing them in a unique way.”
DeSomma, whose oiland pastel-based works (some featuring inlaid gold leaf ornamentation) were on sale in the gallery along with works by other members, praised the diversity of the artist members of the gallery, whose work ranged from Impressionist to abstract art: “People are into different things. If they were all the same, it would be boring. It is a nice smattering of different styles.”
DeSomma said that three of the gallery’s member travel to Cape Cod in early June annually to take advantage of the region’s special lighting. In fact, DeSomma’s oil painting on display, “Catch the Wave,” was inspired by the trip to a North Truro, Massachusetts, beach. DeSomma pointed out: “We have about 20 pieces from this year’s Cape Cod trip.”
She added, “It is a special challenge (painting en plein air) because the light values change from moment to moment.”
Artist Lorraine Skelskey Chapin of Southbury, who was painting an 11-by-14 oil painting tentatively called “The Little Mermaid,” said, “We are having so much fun. It is nice to be able to talk about the work. I love being part of a community of artists.”
Fellow artist Adele Moros painted a watercolormedia still life of a bouquet of roses nearby, adding, “I’ve always liked painting outside.”
Other artists painting on the front lawn concurred, and despite the downpour at around 1 p.m. they continued working under a large white tent.
Bantam artist Carole Moore said, “It’s always fun to have people taking an interest. Painting can be a challenge with the changing sun.”
A reception inside the gallery started at noon, with cheese and crackers as well as cookies and wine for visitors as they perused the works on display.
John Forgione, 56, of Easton, a friend of the gallery, painted a neighboring house — an architectural office at 331 Main St. South — as a subject.
“I’ve been doing this a long time – 35-plus years,” Forgione said. “The event is wonderful. If people were more creatively expressive, it would be a better world.”