ART WALL

The Hunt Library Artwall features up to nine exhibits annually including solo and group shows.  It exists to showcase local professional and emerging artists living in the Northwest Connecticut community and further afield.  A portion of all art sales benefit the library.  For information, please inquire with the library staff.

The Artwall of the David M. Hunt Library in Falls Village, CT will hold a reception with refreshments for artist John J. Hodgson’s new exhibition of paintings “Audubon Reimagined” on Saturday, April 27^th from 4 to 6 PM.  The exhibition will be on display from April 18 through, May 11, 2019 during Library operating hours.  This event is free and open to the public.  For more information call the library at 860-824-7424 or visit huntlibrary.org.  63 Main Street, Falls Village, CT 06031. Hours: Tues 10-5, Thurs 10-5, Fri 3-7, Sat 10-1.

John J. Hodgson has been making art since 2008 with his teacher, Baris Gokturk. Since that time, John has had 11 solo exhibitions and has participated in eight group exhibits, including collaborations with Madison House Autism Foundation in Rockville, Maryland. Several of John’s works are included in private collections across the United States as well as Turkey, Germany, and Slovakia.

John’s creative sessions include time spent learning classic brush stroke techniques as well as experimenting with non-traditional tools and methods. Time, movement and creation of an individual pictorial language through an articulation of various painterly moves is the focus of his paintings.  Mr. Hodgson is now participating in art classes at the Jewish Community Center of Manhattan where his classmates have been inspired to “create new kinds of art” after viewing his most recent solo exhibit.

His other interests include running in Central Park, visiting museums and galleries, hiking the Appalachian Trail, attending cooking classes and volunteer work. John currently enjoys volunteering with Orkesta Farm, the Central Park Green Team and at Materials for the Arts where he was featured in the Volunteer Spotlight of the Month.

To learn more about John Hodgson and view his paintings, visit parkbenchartist.com.

The David M. Hunt Library in Falls Village will have a reception with refreshments for artist Danielle Mailer’s exhibition Magical Reality: New Works on Saturday, May 18 from 4 to 6PM.  The exhibit will include the artist’s distinctive narrative-themed paintings featuring bright and bold colors and intricate designs.   Well-known for public art murals, the artist here turns to intimate acrylic canvases that retain the expansive and positive imagery found in her larger works.  It will be on display through July 6, 2019 during Library operating hours.  The library will also host a salon featuring an interview with the artist on Saturday, June 15 at 3PM.  For more information call the library at 860-824-7424 or visit huntlibrary.org.  63 Main Street, Falls Village, CT 06031. Hours: Tues & Thurs 10-5, Fri 3-7, Sat 10-1.  The artist’s work can be seen at daniellemailer.com.

For years, Goshen-based artist Danielle Mailer has worked on public art murals directing teams of interns in executing her bold and colorful designs on fabricated steel forms.  Her large cats, lions, horses and crows–distinctly patterned with the Peruvian inspired designs of her mother’s heritage–can be found in Salisbury, Torrington, Boston, New York City, St. Petersburg, FL and other places.  More recently the artist has moved from public art to private art, returning to images of intimacy in smaller acrylic works on canvas:  the crow that visits daily, the shape of an upright bass, the play of light over a treasured velvet chair.  These are just a few of the subjects that have occupied Mailer in her painting since last fall and will be featured in the exhibition, Magical Reality.  Speaking of her influences and goals, the artist said, “It is here where I can express a more personal narrative that reveals my spirit in simpler terms. I can give a nod to my favorite giants, Matisse, Bonnard, Klimt, Kahlo, to name a few. I can conjure up my Peruvian mother’s palette. I can follow my late father Norman Mailer’s advice, “paint what you know.” And in the perimeters of a simple rectangular canvas, I can express a perspective that mixes both the ordinary and the unexpected and sometimes, when lucky, the magical.”

Danielle Mailer received her BA from Bowdoin College and studied at the New York Studio School and School of Visual arts. Thanks to major grants and commissions, her public artworks reside in Torrington and Salisbury in Connecticut as well as in Boston, New York City, and St Petersburg, FL.  She has shown in galleries and museums throughout North America.  Danielle divides her time between making art in her Goshen Ct. studio/gallery and teaching Art at The Salisbury Boys School in Salisbury Connecticut.  She lives with her husband, jazz musician Peter McEachern, their three adult children who visit often, and little Merlin the beloved and sometimes wicked terrier.