The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Loft Gallery exhibit of local artists
NEW PRESTON — The Loft Gallery welcomes an exhibit of large-scale landscape paintings by South Kent artist, Lisa Brody. Alongside Brody’s work is joined by meticulously crafted furniture and mobiles by Litchfield artisan Daniel Gugnoni.
This show opens on Saturday, Sept. 1 and runs through Sunday, Oct. 14. An artist’s R\reception will be held Sept. 1, 4-6 p.m. The event is free; the community is invited to meet the artists, chat with friends and neighbors and enjoy light refreshment.
Brody has been painting landscape for most of her career. The scenes that preoccupy her are places that she knows and cares about intimately, and have become part of the texture of my everyday consciousness — not only the views through her window, also walks taken, and roads driven.
She begins her work intuitively open to change, accident and transformation. Just as the weather can change, the paintings slowly evolve over time sensitive to the subtle permutations of the atmosphere. There is a longing for these places, a longing to paint them, a longing to know them, a longing to be in them.
Brody studied at the University of Pennsylvania where she graduated with degrees in fine art, and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Maine. Her awards and recent residencies include Painting’s Edge Residency, Idyllwild, CA (2005), Cooper Union Residency in Painting, (2004) Vermont Studio Center Residency, Johnsonville (1995). Her work is collected by IBM, Campbell Soup, Equitable, Kaiser Permanente, HBO, Merck, Citibank, Banker’s Trust, The Hartford, CT Sumitono, and PepsiCo. She lives and works in South Kent.
Gugnoni has been crafting fine furniture for the past 30 years, drawing inspiration from the beauty and resources supplied by nature. The marriage of the right board found at the right time guides the creation of each piece. His designs emphasize pure forms and clean lines allowing each tree to tell its own story, and he carefully considers every board a gift from nature, not to be squandered, and feel a responsibility to use the material in the best way possible.
He owns Troy Brook Studio and Gallery, which are housed in a beautiful barn set in the historic countryside of the Litchfield Hills, and is open for studio tours and to browse the gallery. As Daniel glances out the windows of the barn, he is inspired to make every piece as unique as one of Mother Nature’s creations — never manufacturing product, always creating art.
The Loft Gallery is located on the second floor of The Smithy Store, a meticulously renovated barn that once housed the village Smithy shop. The charming retail space offers a unique, and thoughtfully curated line of locally sourced specialty food, products and gifts from within a 70-mile radius.
The Smithy Store is located at 10 Main Street in New Preston. Visit www.thesmithystore.com or call 860868-9003.