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There are 60 works in a diverse range of subjects, styles, and media, by Janel Cassara, Art Gerstein, Susan Kurnit, Lenore Sillery, Russell Sillery and Cindy Sinor. The exhibit runs through Friday, Jan. 27.
The featured artists are:
Janel Cassara grew up on a farm in Minnesota, where she first enjoyed drawing and art and even created commissioned landscape paintings in high school. Her degree is in Apparel Design/Patternmaking and she earned a BFA in fine arts, painting, drawing and printmaking, and an MBA from University of Colorado. After an 18-year business/finance career, she retired to care for her family. She volunteers in Wilton for Minks to Sinks, Turnover Shop, and Wilton Children’s Theater; flips houses, does custom sewing, makes murals, and paints theater sets.
“It is an honor," she said, "to be selected by Wilton Library to display more pieces of my crazy color creations.”
Art Gerstein began taking photos as a child and has melded his avocation with his vocation. In his early career, he was an assistant to photo-journalist Lucien Aigner and a production still photographer for Stanley Kubrick’s special effects director, Doug Trumbull. His latest work combines aspects of impressionism and animal portraiture.
"The show consists of animal portraits taken at the Norwalk Aquarium (where I served 3 years as artist-in-residence), from the Sanibel Island Preserve in Florida and from an expedition to the Galapagos Islands," the artist said.
Susan Kurnit had an early career as a fashion editor and worked with photographers and art directors in laying out Seventeen Magazine. The former history teacher, now semi-retired, rediscovered her love of painting. She takes classes with Althea Ericson and Steve Parton, a member of the Silvermine School of Art faculty in New Canaan. She has a pet portrait business
“My love of animals was the inspiration for my new endeavor. I live in Wilton with my wonderful partner, who feeds the birds, fish, and ducks every day. We are the proud parents of two wonderful 16-month-old Labrador Retrievers," said Kurnit.
Lenore and Russell Sillery, of Wilton, are a married couple that dreamed of living the life of artists and selling their paintings “as true children of the ’60s." They opened an ad agency instead, in the 1980s, and ran it for 28 years. Both are retired. Russ paints figures and landscapes in oils and mixed media and Lenore creates portraits. Recently, she started using colored pencils in a class with Martha Talburt in Wilton. She studies oil painting with Eddie Nino in Norwalk.
Cindy Sinor is a commissioned artist and art instructor. She teaches Wilton Continuing Education classes and private lessons. She spent 10 years in corporate publications, marketing, and public relations. Later, as an adult education student, Cindy was inspired to pursue her life-long love of art as a second career. Her realistic colored pencil drawings bring both humans and animals to life.
“My colored pencil portraits express the beauty in the details—the subtleties that often go unnoticed," said the Wilton resident.
A majority of the works in this exhibition will be available for purchase, with a portion of the proceeds benefiting the library.
Click here or call 203-762-6334 for more information and library hours.
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