Ms. Upin is an accomplished metalsmith who has been working in the field for over 50 years. She has a BFA from Drake University, an MA from San Diego State University and an MFA from California State University at Fullerton. She has exhibited in over 125 exhibitions world wide and has work published in many books and periodicals. Ms. Upin has taught at a variety of universities as well as Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Penland School of Craft and Centro: Diseño, Cine y Television in Mexico City.

Munya has been a life-long member of the Society of North American Goldsmiths and organized the 1989 conference in San Antonio, Texas. She was involved with the Women’s Jewelry Association and for eight years, co-owned ALCHEMY 925, a fine craft and contemporary jewelry gallery in the Boston area.

Munya is still working in her studio, creating pieces for galleries and exhibitions.

https://m-avigail-upin.com

My goal is to make unique, functional and lovable pots.  Animal imagery underpins all of my work whether animals decorate the plates, bowls, platters and mugs or animal sculptures are assembled from thrown or hand built pieces. I like the fluidity of moving between the two modalities. The tesselations found on the plates were/are designs that I started to develop during the pandemic when everything was so up in the air and unnerving.  In retrospect, it was a  personal way of containing and controlling (in my head) the chaos that was going on in the world. I immensely enjoyed the long hours I spent in the studio during that time of isolation. As with any art form one idea leads to the next and sometimes my inspiration comes from the previous pieces I’ve worked on and sometimes i turn to ancient pottery to be inspired.This has been my mode of creating through my many years of working with clay.  Remembering back to when I made my first piece in pre-school, I remember the feeling of being totally enchanted by the magic of working with clay and luckily for me that feeling still holds true.

https://alisonpalmerstudio.com

Cindy Brown is a ceramic artist living and working in South Kent, CT and Merida, Yucatan. All of her ceramic pieces serve practical functions in the home or garden. They are intended for people who prioritize tactility, authenticity, and custom craftsmanship.

Cindy is currently producing hand-built ceramic lighting and planters designed to anchor a room or define a landscape. Her large format stoneware planters bridge the threshold between the house and the garden and serve as focal points in outdoor rooms. They are crafted with bold glazes that provide an architectural weight that redefines the garden as an extension of the indoor space.

Her fully assembled ceramic lamps are functional sculptures that can be enjoyed as works of art during the day and warm light sources at night.

https://www.cindybrownceramics.com

My family and I live in the country in an old farmhouse that we are slowly refinishing and modernizing to current energy standards. My studio and our house’s electricity are fed by the recent addition of a 6,000-watt solar tracker system. In addition to making artwork, I am occupied as a stay-at-home parent, micro-homesteader, and an adjunct professor.

I have earned an MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University and a BA from Berea College. With the help of my professors, artist friends, and personal creative endeavors, I have reinterpreted standard clay forming techniques to create visually complex artworks. I make my sculptures by combining multiple hand-built parts, which are each formed and finished separately. Then, I assemble the pieces into a cohesive whole.

My art practice tends toward serials: The five series that I have created’, all have different conceptual endeavors. At the moment, I am currently maintaining two of these serials: the Orphaned Teapots, and my most recent, the Visitor Series, that like my other bodies of work, share a wide array of visual influences including insects, toys, mechanical objects, natural objects, masks, and more.

I view my sculptures, as highly crafted, complex three-dimensional clay collages that embody disparate influences, forms, and conceptual ideas. I playfully construct my sculptures and painstakingly develop their surfaces over several firings, which results in personified individual sculptures with unique identities.

https://www.gerardferrari.com

Most of my childhood was spent abroad in different countries in Africa and Asia. This nomadic lifestyle exposed me to different worlds, landscapes and ways of living that deepened my appreciation for my existence on this wonderfully complex planet, where we and all our earthly companions live. I credit this nomadic upbringing for my unending interest in my natural surroundings and my creative impulses. When working with clay I try to embody my childish curiosity and make work as a tribute, in a way, to play. My focus is mostly on functional ware, from mugs and teapots to dinner ware, but I am known to dabble in sculpture here and there. My work is a result of constant experimentation.

For a few years now I have been working at Todd Piker’s Cornwall Bridge Pottery, assisting another production potter with piece work. By my involvement at the pottery I have had the privilege of being able to work alongside Todd, aid in his wood firings, and most importantly observing him in his natural habitat. His earnest and thorough attempts at answering my endless questions have done so much for me during these early years of learning how to work in this medium. He is a wealth of knowledge, a wizard at the wheel, and a leader and a friend during firings. I am very fortunate to know Todd and I have the utmost respect for him and his work.

https://www.clayway.net/home/sanah-petersen

“If I don’t do my art I get very cranky!”

Creativity has always been the story of my life.  I started young as dancer and choreographer, then 40 years as a costume designer throughout the United States.  Shamanism added to that mixture and intensifies my connection to nature.    My art reflects these myriad interests.  The emotional idea directs the medium: acrylic, colored pencil, pastel, clay and cardboard,  fabric, found objects from nature and hoarded trinkets.  Thus,  paintings, drawings, sculpture, greeting cards, children’s books are all  part of my portfolio.

https://www.instagram.com/bgrahamart/

In rural northwestern Connecticut, Shaari Horowitz and Alistair Jones make the 150 foot commute from the house to their 19th century barn which serves as workshop and studio. Here, under the watchful eyes and critical supervision of their shop cats, they carve new wood bowls and revive older bowls, adorning them with layers of hand-painted original design and patinated gilding.

Guided by an old world color palette, the patterns and imagery they use stem from classical sources such as medieval tapestries, ancient textiles, and the Frescoes of Pompeii.

The couple bring backgrounds of traditional furniture-making and mural painting to this collaboration. Shaari is a graduate of Pratt Institute, and has worked across the country as a mural painter, specializing in the style of trompe l’oeil for over three decades (no!…yes). Alistair is a master furnituremaker, born in England and apprenticed in the English tradition. Among the varied paths taken during his long career working with wood, he has crafted custom yacht interiors, and designed and built custom furniture in a wide range of styles and periods. His current passion is making traditional long bows.

Now Shaari and Alistair take pleasure in working together to create functional and decorative works of art on a more intimate scale.

https://www.shaarihorowitz.com

Peter Wooster’s artistic expression is truly mixed-media. Educated at Pratt Institute, he was involved with commercial and residential design projects in Manhattan, including designing the well-known restaurant ORSO, and its sister restaurants in Los Angeles and London.

In 1984 he left his beloved home in Brooklyn and moved to Roxbury, Connecticut. In Litchfield County, Peter’s meticulous eye for detail and his ability to create spaces, which welcomed the visitor, landed him a variety of assignments, designing and renovating homes and estates for clients who include Stephen Sondheim, Agnes Gund, and Kathryn Walker. He is also the architect and designer of several truly distinctive new homes designed for James Taylor, Jack O’Brien and Jane-Howard-Hammerstein.

Simultaneously, he began making his mark as a landscape and garden designer, not only for private homes, but he also co-designed the Seasonal Walk for the New York Botanical Garden. But his razor-sharp wit and deftly-honed aesthetic is particularly apparent in his own world-class garden where the edges and appointments are as acute as his humor. That garden has been the subject of articles in every prominent gardening periodical in this country, and several publications abroad.

In 2006, Peter suffered a stroke, which paralyzed his right leg and arm – his drawing arm. The effects of the stroke diminished his ability to speak and read. Seeking a method by which to communicate, but also an outlet for his artistic expression, Peter at first turned to photography, then experimented with drawing – charcoal, watercolors, and colored pencils. But none of his creations pleased him.

He then began creating small collages, utilizing graphics and photography which he found readily available in a variety of print media. The medium of collage was able to perfectly express his unique and artful view of his new world.

https://www.saatchiart.com/account/profile/991489?srsltid=AfmBOopKe9JOstKuqDbCU-bFBZbcE8-Jlev7c2brCEvK_yeSJk4YFgBk

Judith Secco, a native of Connecticut’s Northwest corner, has been an avid self-taught photographer all of her life. She began with an in-home darkroom focusing mainly on black and white images and later realized a passion for digital photography. Developing her own technique by using textures and layers, she gives her images a unique quality, enhancing nature’s beauty with an artist’s eye and neutral background, bringing nature to life.

Shooting a variety of subjects, Judith’s work finds its balance between photography and fine art. She has won numerous awards for her work which has been shown throughout New England. 

All framed and matted pieces are printed on an Epson SC P5000 Professional Printer using all archival inks and paper. Most frames are created by Judith’s husband, James, adding a beautiful finishing touch to each piece.

https://www.judithsecco.com

I have been designing and creating distinctive necklaces, bracelets and earrings on Manhattan’s Upper West Side since 1996. My work features rare, artisanal and vintage glass beads as well as semi-precious stones, fresh-water pearls and silver and gold vermeil pieces handcrafted in Turkey, Thailand and Bali.

A trip to India in 1990 inspired me to play with color. The original owner of Liberty House, a fabulous (but now closed) store on the UWS asked me to create items for her to sell in the store. With her encouragement and support, in 1998 I started to create and sell full time. I began with home shows, setting up in corporate lunchrooms and participated in a few juried crafts shows. Since 2004, I have participated in at least one of the big NYC holiday markets. I have found my home at the Union Square Holiday Market (mid-November through Christmas Eve) and at the Grand Bazaar (many Sundays in the Spring and Fall). During the summer months, you can often find Carnelian Knoll in northwestern Connecticut.

https://shop.carnelianknoll.com

I was born in Czechoslovakia and studied at the Hollar School of Visual Arts in Prague. After graduating and working as a graphic designer, I lived a year in France, then moved to the United States, where I began to work in New York City in advertising, both as a graphic designer and computer graphic artist. I did this for many years, but in the end the work seemed unfulfilling and constricting, and eventually I moved to Kent CT, and started to pursue my main interest full time – creating sculptural work, kinetic whimsical objects, assemblages and videos.

My work is 3D, mostly framed or placed in wall enclosures that I build out of salvaged wood. I like to work with recycled materials and find it satisfying to look at the finished piece and see how a previously worthless piece of metal or wood becomes something else altogether – unique, and hopefully a more interesting object. It consists of one of a kind pieces, limited editions (numbered, usually a series of 5), and unlimited production (mostly some of the kinetic objects). However, as all are made using found materials and figures cut individually by hand, there will always be differences – different patinas, variations in texture, and other variations making each piece in fact an original.

tomassavrdaart.com

Elizabeth Place is a South Kent-based woodworker and member of the Berkshire Woodworkers Guild. Working under the name Berkshire Place Tables, she creates one-of-a-kind serving boards and furniture, using locally sourced woods with dramatic grain and live-edge character. From ashwood charcuterie boards to walnut writing desks and large applewood tables, each piece is crafted by hand in her studio. Elizabeth collaborates with area sawmills and a local blacksmith who forges custom steel legs and brass handles, honoring a tradition of honest, regional craftsmanship.

Her process is deeply personal—she offers clients video tours to select the perfect slab or burl, shares behind-the-scenes updates during production, and delivers the finished piece herself.  Place’s work celebrates the natural beauty of the wood, showcasing unusual shapes and grain patterns that inspire her designs. Learn more at www.bptables.com and follow at #BerkshirePlaceTables to see new pieces. 

https://www.bptables.com

Danielle Mailer received her BA from Bowdoin College and studied at the New York Studio School and School of Visual arts. In the last decade, she has completed four larger than life, public art pieces permanently installed in Connecticut’s Northwest Corner.

Mailer has shown in galleries and museums throughout North America. She was honored with a retrospective at the Mattituck Museum (2009) with over 40 works on display. She was also part of a traveling retrospective of Provincetown artists titled “The Tides of Provincetown” produced by The New Britain Museum of American Art.

In 2013 she debuted her Dancing Muse installation at Five Points in the East Gallery. In June 2020 (the height of Covid), The Mattituck Museum invited her (along with five other Connecticut artists), to offer a cyber studio tour showcasing to their members her current work. She is represented by the Berta Walker Gallery in Provincetown Mass and also has her own Gallery in her home town Goshen Ct.

Danielle divides her time between making art and teaching art at The Salisbury Boys School in Salisbury Connecticut. She lives with her husband jazz music Peter McEachern, their three adult children who visit often, and little Merlin the beloved and sometimes wicked terrier.

https://www.daniellemailer.com

My work of sculptural tableware is from my lifelong interest in design – surface, object & environment, the satisfaction of working with my hands and clay in particular.

The things I make have dual possibilities. The visual appeal of a unique, handmade well crafted object sitting on a table. Meanwhile, tableware are pieces people interact with – platters, mugs, bowls to eat, sip, touch: the other senses experience the objects function as well.

I create surface by using handmade stamps and textures by weaving or carving, as well as creating glazes to give even more depth and layers to the surface. My goal is to make an object that intrigues & pleases the eye and feels good to the touch.

https://degaseiclay.wordpress.com

Jill Scholsohn’s anthropology background is evident in the pieces of jewelry she creates. She uses a mixture of amulets, talismans along with rare, exotic beads and mediums from sourced from several cultures spanning the globe. In her work you’ll find Indian Rubies, Ancient Coral, Turquoise dating back 2,000 to 4,000 years,  Gaspeite, Sugilite, Glass Seed Beads, Carnelian, Fossilized Mammoth and Walrus Tusk and more.

While in Thailand she bought her first spirit lock and still wears it today.

In 1997 Jill Scholsohn had begun a new career as a NYC paramedic. To reduce her stress level, she chose to take a kayak lesson in Cornwall, CT. That was how Riverstone was founded. She married Dan Greenbaum, her kayak instructor, 3 years later. They both had a love of travel so they spent months traveling the world learning of other cultures and collecting artifacts for a store in Kent, Ct.

They opened the store in order to sell their crafts but they soon found they were too busy running the store and had no time to create so in 2004 the store was closed in order to pursue their crafts.

www.riverstonejewelry.com•

My knitting focuses on color and pattern. I am inspired by the way colors interact and how they change in different patterns and combinations. Using a knitting loom, I make pillow covers with patterns that I design, based on anything from tiles, Art Deco, or patterns from other countries as inspiration. The covers close with a mix of vintage and modern buttons. I also knit larger abstract geometric wall hangings in wool, which is then felted.  I handknit colorful and warm cowls that button in front, using cotton chenille, which provides the warmth of wool without the itch.

https://www.instagram.com/susanrandel/

My name is Estelle Trabucco. I am a French native, grew up in Africa (West Africa and Madagascar) and France (Bordeaux region), and have lived in the US since 1994, Kent CT since 2006. 

I am a licensed massage therapist by day, and a painter by night. I have always enjoyed painting, from the youngest age. So I have always made the time for this passion of mine, except when my three daughters were very young and needed me most. 

My main style is abstraction, using primarily acrylic paints and inks. I am what you would call a momentist: I almost always start and finish a piece in one session. I start on the blank canvas without a plan. I just go with the flow and see what happens. Painting, to me, is playing with colors, expressing the emotions of the present moment in the rawest kind of way. I am a lover of bright and cheerful colors. They uplift my mood and I hope affect viewers in a similar way. 

https://www.estelletrabuccoart.com

Focusing on the form and shape of fallen trees and found objects on our property, I have been creating original pieces of furniture and sculpture for the past 15 years in Warren, Connecticut. Using my chainsaw and other tools, I deconstruct logs using their natural form and texture and “reconstruct” the milled lumber into striking and stylish furniture and sculptures. Developing each piece as I go, and rarely knowing where the process will end, I create tables, benches, chairs and sculptures using the unique qualities each tree contributes. I incorporate a tree’s texture. form and shape to develop original pieces of furniture and art.

From the moment I gripped a crayon, art gripped me back. My dad became my first agent at ten, selling my drawings at work. By 13, I was winning competitions, and by high school, my art was stolen straight from my locker.

But at 22, buried under commissions, I traded creativity for corporate comfort. For 22 years, my pencils gathered dust, until life reminded me what mattered. After beating triple-negative breast cancer twice, I realized I wasn’t meant to live safely. I was meant to live fully.

Carmen 2E Art is my second evolution, the return of my hands, my heart, and my purpose.

Art isn’t just what I do. It’s who I am.
If it feels like remembering, that’s because it is.

https://carmentuohy.com

Claire, a professional ceramist based in Sherman, Connecticut, creates both functional pottery and sculpted decorative pieces in her studio. A recent transplant from Brooklyn, New York, she draws inspiration from her serene surroundings to fuel her creative process. While her primary focus is ceramics, Claire’s background in oil painting and sculpture enriches her artistic perspective.

Claire’s ceramic work is rooted in a spirit of exploration, as she continuously experiments with different firing methods, clay bodies, surface techniques, and glaze chemistry. This curiosity drives her to push boundaries, seeking new textures, forms, and finishes that reflect both innovation and tradition.

https://www.villagecenterarts.org/ourteam

My boyhood home was full of duck decoys and decorative wildfowl art. My father loved his duck hunts on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Many school days were wasted away as I doodled ducks at my desk. Today that pencil has been replaced by a draw knife and hand plan. I carve working decoys which means I actually use them on marshes and lakes to attract the real thing. They are hand carved from white cedar and hollowed for buoyancy. This is referred to the “South Jersey” method. No two ducks look the same as they reflect my mood and temperament on that particular day. These decoys are brought to life by my wife Elizabeth who paints them. It’s a collaborative effort. Today the inside of our house has a familiar resemblance to my boyhood home. Our decoys have a wonderful presence which captures the attention of all who visit. We are offering commissioned pairs to those interested in owning a unique and fading woodworking craft.