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 Muse Gallery Showcases "Connecticut Artists: East Meets West"

Coventry, CT -Muse Le Belle Artiste gallery and arts center is bringing together eleven award-winning artists from the eastern and western parts of the state in "Connecticut Artists:  East Meets West." The artists have all exhibited their work in group and solo shows and are represented in private and corporate collections.  They will come together at an opening reception on Sunday, February 15, 2-4 pm. The exhibition will close on March 31.  Muse is located at 1141 Main Street, Coventry, in the former Methodist Church.

ARTISTS FROM EASTERN CONNECTICUT

Richard E. Davis of Mansfield works in abstract impressionism / expressionism /mixed media. He describes himself as "75+ years into my life, humbled by the fact that I'm not great, not famous, not well-known. Still I have great dreams.  I feel I am a willing tool for the art trade.  It's what I do." 

Beth Ellis of South Glastonbury draws inspiration from N.C. Wyeth, Andrew Wyeth and Winslow Homer for his passion for the sea and his compelling use of color. Beth paints outdoors year-round, most often along the Maine coast, farmlands and the Connecticut River. She has a successful gallery at Perkins Cove/Ogunquit, Maine where she has exhibited her New England paintings for four years. 

Dianne Fitzgerald Wyant of Coventry is a native New Englander and a former art student at ECSU, CCSU, UConn and The Wadsworth Atheneum. Her plein air paintings illuminate local and faraway landscapes; her portraits and sculpture celebrate form and spirit; her mixed media pieces have been described as "off the wall." 

Harrison Judd of Willimantic is a photographer, new media artist and philosopher who will be showing several photographs from his mannequin series taken in New York, Paris and Milan. The Connecticut native has lived in California and NYC and worked with museums, ad agencies, corporations, political campaigns, non-profit organizations, universities and individual artists. His clients have included the NFL, Danbury Hospital, New Haven Symphony, Lucie Arnaz and Maurice Sendak. 

Nancy J. McIntire of South Windsor enjoys the challenge of working in a variety of mediums, with oil painting and watercolor her favorites. Her current passion is capturing the beauty and tranquility of local landscapes. Her painting of "Golden Grasses" was chosen as the cover illustration for the 2009 Reminder Gold Pages Community & Business Directory that reaches 70,000 homes and businesses in central Connecticut.                                                                                                   

Sonja Weber of Willimantic is a fine artist, an art instructor and a realist, often with a humorous subtext.  Her camera accompanies her everywhere and provides her with unplanned discoveries to maybe paint at a future date. Currently she is working on a series of small oils of "snow-persons"-amusing figures that acquired back stories and "are quite bossy while I'm working on them," she says. 

Paul Zelanski of Willington was a Professor of Art at the University of Connecticut from 1962 to 1995, where he taught the first color class, first graphic design class, and the first programming course in computers for art students. The author of four books on The Art of Seeing, Color, Shaping Space, and Design Principles, he has received an impressive number of distinguished awards from international associations.  

ARTISTS FROM WESTERN CONNECTICUT

Robert Noreika of Avon is an award-winning artist and illustrator whose paintings hang in corporate and private collections throughout the United States, Europe, and Japan. His passion for art is matched by a natural talent to paint a wide variety of subjects, highlighted by expressive coastal scenes, intimate woodlands pictorials and seasonal treks through the countryside.  He has illustrated several children's books and magazine editorials.

Candace LaFleur of Canton Center is a self-taught artist who has found serenity and beauty in the landscapes of New England for as long as she can remember. "With its disappearing farms and threatened loss of traditional scenery, I find comfort in being able to preserve in my paintings the landscapes and farms that I love so dearly." A passionate birdwatcher, fisher woman, kayaker and hunter, she recently began a series of oil paintings of the marshes along the Connecticut coastline. 

Ron Barrante of Torrington has been making jewelry for more than 30 years.  What began as a hobby has lead him to collect stones from around the world and create pieces that incorporate his collection of artifacts from ancient civilizations into unique and classic designs. A graduate of the Gemological Institute of America, he works with gold and precious metals.

Sharon Farber of Barkhamsted took her first watercolor class as an adult and discovered a passion for painting that she had no idea existed. She teaches watercolor painting and serves as the Education Coordinator of the New Hartford Art League.  She paints landscapes of nature, wildlife, oceans, flowers, farms and all that she finds beautiful.  

ABOUT MUSE LE BELLE ARTISTE

Muse Le Belle Artiste is holding an Artist Salon on the 3rd Sunday of each month between 2-4 pm. Aspiring and professional artists are encouraged to bring their latest work and discuss it with other artists. Admission is free. Donations are accepted.