Exhibit features Westport painter
WILTON — “All About Color” is the aptly named exhibition that opened May 10 at Wilton Library.
The walls of the gallery, reading room and reference area are filled with works of art large and small that burst forth with color.
The eight artists responsible are Ridgefielders Sally Aldrich, Hans Fischer, and Nancy Moore; Rich Alexander of Mt. Kisco, N.Y.; Sharon Cavagnolo of Chappaqua, N.Y.; Jennifer Mone Hill of Danbury; Erin Nazzaro of Redding; and Kris Davenport Toohey of Westport.
Whether the artists have embraced their passion from their early days, through their college lives, or more recently become immersed in the discipline, their works highlight a range of styles, subject matter and media choices that are bold and impressive.
“I was fortunate to see this group of artists in an exhibition in Ridgefield last year and I was taken by their collective works,” said Ed MacEwen, the library’s art chair. “I thought they would be well-received by the Wilton community and their paintings would show very well in the gallery throughout the library.”
A retired art teacher, Aldrich has intensified her study of pottery and sculpture while she continues to teach at her studio. A former president of the Katonah Museum Artists Association, she writes its newsletter and works on the Hammond Museum’s exhibition committee. Her work is exhibited in galleries in New York, Connecticut and Rhode Island.
Alexander is a trained draftsman and owned and operated a sign company, hand lettering signs and trucks with letter enamels. He became a New York City firefighter and during his 21-year career, he designed, built and painted dozens of firehouse tables and murals. Ten years ago he took up portraiture, oil painting and landscapes. He now paints at the Ridgewood Art Institute.
Cavagnolo has studied with Larry Rivers, Elaine de Kooning and Jane Wilson, and has exhibited in numerous solo exhibitions and participated in group exhibitions in Connecticut, Westchester and New York City.
Fischer’s artistic talents took him into careers in industrial design, interior architecture, graphic design, art direction and corporate communications and management. He established his own graphic design firm in the late 1980s. Over the past 15 years, he has been able to concentrate on his love of art. His work is in galleries and private collections in the U.S. and abroad.
Hill worked as a commercial photographer for over 20 years but painting is now her greatest passion. Her work has been in recent exhibitions at the Mattatuck Museum, Rene Soto Gallery, Carriage Barn Arts Center, and Ridgefield Guild of Artists.
Last year, Moore exhibited her work in four museums: the Katonah Museum (Katonah), the New Britain Museum of American Art (New Britain), the Mattatuck Museum (Waterbury), and the Fuller Craft Museum (Brockton, Mass.). She is an artist guild member of the Silvermine Arts Center (New Canaan), Ridgefield Guild of Artists, Katonah Museum Artists Association, Surface Design Association, and Artists Collective of Westport.
Nazzaro started out working with pencil and moved to paint in the 1980s when color changed everything for her. Her next big influence was traveling to the American Southwest where she embraced “the people, their beautiful families and the land they lived and worked on.” The artist noted that she appreciates all the swirling bright colors so integrated into the landscape, fabrics, dress and folk art. Her work is driven by this energy.
Toohey is a landscape painter who works primarily in oils. She is an exhibiting member of The Rowayton Arts Center, winning first place in oils at the 2018 Marine & Coastal Show, as well as an active member of the Artists Collective of Westport and the Ridgefield Guild of Artists.
For information and directions, visit www.wiltonlibrary.org or call 203-762-6334.