“Stone Barn in Late Fall” by John Walker.
The owners of the Vineyard, Michelle and Kevin, have invited Carole and John to do a two-person show from May 24 through June 16. The Lost Acres Vineyard and Gallery is at 80 Lost Acres Road, North Granby. There will be an artists’ reception on May 24 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. It is most welcoming to the public.
The event is featuring 25 of Carole’s paintings and thirty of John’s paintings. Carole’s style of painting is contemporary realism with a strong focus on drawing skills and its concepts. Her formal art education includes graduating from the Boston Museum School of Fine Arts. By entering a fifth year of study at the school, she consequently was awarded a traveling scholarship to study art in Europe. Her graduate workshop courses were at the University of Hartford Art School. Continuing to enter several gallery and museum shows, being a Granby Land Trust Award recipient more than once, as well as doing commission work, makes her life as an artist very full and rewarding.
Carole’s paintings express her passion for the land and sea, both with landscapes and waterscapes. She believes being connected with the outdoors is a privilege. To smell the greenery, listen to the whispering of water, and touch the fallen snow is our gift.
“l hope my paintings take my viewers to that magical moment in time, as it does for me,” explained Carole. She and her husband enjoy life in Granby, with family nearby.
Born and raised in New England, John Walker spent over four decades as a registered landscape architect, including thirty years as a sole practitioner with an office in Springfield, Massachusetts. During this time, he produced a variety of graphic design works in site planning, most of it utilizing graphite, ink and magic markers for descriptive and illustrative designs.
Since retiring in 2000, John has devoted much of his free time developing his skills in watercolor painting. He received early exposure to this through a series of classes with Bob Norieka at the West Hartford Art League. In 2005, John further developed his skills with a series of one-on-one reviews/critiques and technical advice from the award-winning Springfield watercolorist, John Rossini. These productive bi-monthly sessions went on for well over a year, and to this day, a welcome critique is still available to him.
In his painting process, he works in what is typically called a representational style developing a series of preliminary studies to set values and composition. His color palette is dominated by earth tones with the selective introduction of complementary colors. His subjects are primarily landscapes utilizing the changing seasons, the land, vegetation, sky and water. He strives to create a mood and tell a short story with each painting.
Presently, John belongs to a local Painting Study Group which meets monthly to review a well-chosen variety of art subjects and receive and give constructive critiques on art works in progress in a friendly and informal setting.
John and his wife, Barbara, live in their Granby home surrounded by gardens, trees, and informal landscaped spaces, attesting to John’s artistic abilities in “landscape mediums.” His at-home landscape architect’s office, now transformed to an artist’s studio, demonstrates his level of enthusiasm and skills in his present and on-going interest in watercolor painting. Rows of framed art works of subjects throughout New England are displayed wall-to-wall and ceiling-to-floor—all produced in Granby since 2000.