Celebrating the Season, and a Fond Farewell

ome head south for the winter, but Sylvan Gallery is going north. After a decade of bringing art to the shoreline, Ann and Rick Scanlan are moving their gallery from Route 1 in Clinton to Route 1 in Wiscasset, Maine. Before closing their doors, the Scanlans threw one last holiday shindig-replete with artists, artwork, and art talk-to showcase one last exhibit: a 100-piece show titled A Celebration of the Season.

Many of the artists who made the last 48 shows so rich once again grace the walls of Sylvan. They've returned with pieces that capture the shoreline of Connecticut, the snowscapes of New England, and the charm of wide-eyed innocence. Among them are Peter Layne Arguimbau, Joann Ballinger, Al Barker, Catherine Christiano, Angelo Franco, Heather Gibson Lusk, Paul Lipp, Victor Mays, Robert Noreika, Crista Pisano, Deborah Quinn-Munson, David Rau, Polly Seip, Karen Wiesner, Laura Winslow, and Shirley Cean Youngs.

As was the case in previous years, this holiday show is as cozy as the gallery itself. Filled with ease, warmth, and good-cheer, the glow created by A Celebration of the Season invites any and all to stop in and stay a while.

Tiny Treasures

Heather Gibson Lusk's miniature oil jewels nearly burst from their own sweetness. Bluebird on a Watering Can is one of these perfect little sugar plums. This scene, which is similar to many of her miniatures, is established by a color wash in the neighborhood of burnt umber. Like a lighting engineer in a play, Gibson Lusk then bathes portions of the canvas with a light source. This darkened, precisely lit stage establishes the contrast that builds the intrinsic purity into the final painting. It is neither the plump bluebird, nor the delicate arc of the watering can that creates the impression of wholesomeness. Surely that puffed chest and copper, mirrored effect are key elements, but it is the marriage of warm background against cool subject matter that allows the diminutive painting to carry such weight.

Perhaps it's the tie to the season, or maybe it's because Gibson Lusk elevates a simple, well-worn ornament to a magical experience akin to the Nutcracker itself, but Antique Slipper is a show favorite (the actual antique ornament is displayed alongside the work; it is a pale companion). In it, a pink pipe-cleaner doll rides in a winged glitter clog. The enchanting scene keeps the sparkle factor running high. Standing before it, viewers will suddenly see tree tinsel and white lights, smell pine sap and hickory smoldering in the fireplace, and be transported to that moment when childhood wonder and anticipation of Santa's arrival were all-consuming.

Seasonal Greetings

One of the strengths of Sylvan has always been its varied landscape works. From abstract, summer seas and moody, winter riverbanks to lush, spring hills and earthy, autumnal marshlands, artists from the collection use a mix of media and subject matter to provide a small universe of surrounding vistas.

For the traditionalists among us, the works by Angelo Franco and Paul Lipp will captivate. Both offer exceptional technique and realistic renderings. The two components that strike me most in Franco's Winter Stream, Birch Shed, and Along the Stream are the immense detail and the homage to light pattern-every blade of grass appears to have been placed on the canvas with tweezers, each clump of snow shows the shadowing effect developed by the rise and fall of the terrain, and all of the ripples moving down the river have a direction and a purpose. Lipp's Texaco Station and Under the Weather have the same critical building blocks, but add a dose of country nostalgia.

Three contributors break with tradition and offer a modern sensibility to classic techniques and themes.

Catherine Christano sometimes uses egg tempera to achieve luminosity, but it is the assessment of the view that stretches before her which provides the contemporary flair. Simplified silhouettes, sharp angles, and stark color contrasts unite in Rocks and Sea. In it, a steep diagonal composition that splits the canvas in two is partnered with dimension-less planes of pigment. But for the title, a viewer would spend a solid three minutes deciphering the image before seeing the rocks, sand, and surf rise to the surface. In Kilkenny, Ireland #2, Christano uses a "postcard" canvas board to delineate the rise and fall of a town roof line. Here, there is a conservative quality to the painting that is cut off by the panes of color, jagged roof angles, and flattened perspective.

Deborah Quinn-Munson and Robert Noreika both take Impressionism, turn it side-ways and upside-down, and then land in a new and unexpected place. Quinn-Munson's A Walk in the Park takes the viewer down a meandering tree alleyway. The concrete sidewalk is transformed into a canvas and the sunlight a brush as the canopy is unveiled beneath the traveler's feet. Noreika's inventive take on architecture (Victorian Farm), the commonplace (Sunflowers), and the sea (Oyster House) stand apart from the crowd. The miraculous thing about his work is the structure that develops from nothingness-each is a chaotic mass of strokes, dips, and slashes from which the magician Noreika pulls images of windows, balusters, water-pails, and sailing vessels. Much like the Sylvan Gallery, he leaves all who stare on mesmerized.

Best of luck Sylvan Gallery-here's to a new year, and a new adventure.

A Celebration of the Season will be on display From Jan. 4 through Jan. 8 at Sylvan Gallery, 121 West Main Street, Clinton. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 4 p.m.; and by appointment. For more information, call 860-669-7278 or visit www.sylvangallery.com.

Leah Lopez Schmalz is an environmental attorney with a B.A. in industrial design and a concentration in visual art and jewelry studies. Email her at leahlopez9@yahoo.com. Read more from Leah on Zip06.com; select Reviews/On Exhibit from the Living pull-down menu on your town homepage.