Holiday Extravaganza at the Trailer Box Project to benefit Ann's Place

Opening November 21 and running through December 30, 2015, the Trailer Box Project is featuring a sale of artist-made holiday ornaments. All of the proceeds from the ornament sale go to Ann's Place which provides a wide range of cancer support services to many people in the Greater Danbury area.

The opening reception is Saturday, November 21 from 5 pm - 8 pm.

Trailer Box Project is located at 15 Great Pasture Rd, Unit 15, Danbury. The gallery is open Thursday - Saturday noon - 5 pm. For more information, please contact the gallery at 203.797.0230 or visit their website at www.trailerboxproject.com

Extensive offerings at the Bridgeport Art Trail

The Bridgeport Art Trail takes place in Bridgeport, CT on November 12 - 15, 2015, spanning multiple venues and offering multi-disciplinary events around the city. Full information is available at The Bridgeport Art Trail's website. The kickoff party is on Thursday night at Read's ArtSpace, at 1042 Broad St., from 6 pm - 9 pm.

Still River Editions' own Lys Guillorn will be exhibiting artwork among 25 others at the Bridgeport Innovation Center on Saturday, November 14 from noon - 7 pm and Sunday, November 15 from 1 pm - 6 pm. The event was organized by Made in Bridgeport / Gallery 1212's Robin Gilmore. Guillorn will also be playing a set of music at 3 pm (preceded by Chica Non Grata at 2). The event at the Bridgeport Innovation Center is located at 955 Connecticut Avenue, Bldg 1, 2nd floor.

Nearby (walkable), there will be numerous open studios at the American Fabric Arts Building, 1069 Connecticut Ave, Bldg. 4.

Downtown there are events at City Lights Gallery, 37 Markle Court; The Arcade Mall, 993 Main St.; Read's ArtSpace, among many other venues.

SRE clients, photographers Jay Misencik and Geralene Valentine of Misencik Photography, will be participating in two events--on Saturday at Read's ArtSpace, they will be showing short videos and still photos from two Bridgeport-based documentaries they are currently producing, and on Sunday from 2:30 pm - 5 pm, at the Klein Memorial Auditorium (177 State St.), they are presenting a discussion, "ReVisit Bridgeport," about Ed Brinsko, legendary Connecticut Post photographer. The slide show will be narrated by Mike Daly, Editorial Page Director of the Connecticut Post.

There are bike and bus tours available.


"Fact or Fiction" at Bruce S. Kershner Gallery, Fairfield


© Paul R. Berger
Newtown photographer Paul R. Berger is among the artists whose work is included in the exhibition "Fact or Fiction" at the Bruce S. Kirshner Art Gallery at the Fairfield Public Library from October 17 through November 28, 2015. The library is located at 1080 Old Post Road, Fairfield, CT. There is an opening reception on Saturday, October 24 from 4:30 pm - 6:30 pm.

From the website: "These works explore each artist’s emotional response to a real or imaginary experience and are in a variety of styles, materials, and media. The show was juried by artist, Susan Sharp. It includes the following artists: Lynne Aromas, Paul Berger, Joanne Bryant, Bevi Bullwinkel, Miggs Burroughs, Elizabeth Devoll, Barbara Dierolf, Megan Garbe, Christine Goldbach, Barbara Gray, Molly Hauser, Judy Henderson, Dawn Kraemer, Phyllis Lee, Fruma Markowitz, Toby Michaels, Susan Taylor Murray, Johnny Shahnazarian, Laurene Truhn, and Al Coyote Weiner."

"Traces" at Trailer Box Gallery

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"Traces" features paintings by Natasha Karpinskaia and sculpture by Janice Mauro and takes place at the Trailer Box Project in Danbury, CT. The exhibit runs from October 17 through November 14, 2015.

From the e-announcement:
"We leave traces wherever we go, on whatever we touch, so that others who come after us can trace our experiences. Patina of time changes our traces, alters the shapes we once had, erases certain parts and details. Others who come after us see that these traces are just remnants of something that had happened to us before, that what is present now is different from what it once was. Traces cannot be defined. Words are irrelevant, attempting to capture something so perfectly intangible. We put traces in a box to protect and preserve their altered beauty, but the box itself is a remnant of something it once was, a surviving mark, under the evidence of a former existence."

There is an artists' reception October 17, 2015 from 5 pm - 7 pm, 15 great Pasture Rd, Unit 15, Danbury, CT.

Edith Borax-Morrison and Keith Johnson at Kehler Liddell Gallery

© Edith Borax-Morrison
From the gallery's press release:

Kehler Liddell Gallery is pleased to present two concurrent shows by member artists, TIME CAPSULE with pen and ink drawings by Edith Borax-Morrison, and an exhibit of NEW WORK by photographer Keith Johnson, on view from Thursday, October 15 through Sunday, November 15, with an Opening Reception on Sunday, October 18 from 3:00 - 6:00 p.m.
© Keith Johnson

Keller Liddell Gallery is located at 873 Whalley Avenue in New Haven, Connecticut. Gallery hours are Thursday through Friday from 11:00am - 4:00pm: Saturday and Sunday from 10:00am - 4:00pm. It is free and open to the public.

Why JPEG file format is not great

Let's talk JPEG file format. It's a lossy compression method (it loses image info when saved) but because of its smaller final file size, still is the default choice of camera manufacturers worldwide.

 Shooting in RAW (if your camera lets you) is currently the better choice. When your camera saves a file as a JPEG it does its own form of processing in-camera. The resulting file is basically what you get. RAW file format gives you the unprocessed file, allowing for post-processing by external software with much more control of the image exposure, color balance, highlight/shadow details, etc.

 But if your camera (or cell phone camera) only allows for saving the file as a JPEG, is it the end of the world?  No.

 Some camera raw software allow you to open that JPEG and do limited adjustments. Nothing like you can if it was a RAW file format, but some.

 But the thing to always remember, when its time to save that file after you have worked on it in your image editing software, DO NOT SAVE IT AS A JPEG AGAIN! Save your files as a TIFF or PSD if possible. Both are loss-less file formats.

 Below are two images saved as JPEGs. The top one was saved just one time. Not much loss of image quality. The bottom one was saved as a JPEG twenty times on top of itself. Notice the image degradation.

 Click on each photo to view larger version.





New York Diptychs: I & II by Robert Kalman at The Gallery at Still River Editions

"Danielle"
© Robert Kalman
The exhibit "New York Diptychs: I & II" features 22 of photographer Robert Kalman's large format black and white portraits of New Yorkers. It will be at the Gallery at Still River Editions from October 10 through December 18, 2015. There will be an opening reception on Saturday, October 10 from 2 pm - 4 pm.

Robert Kalman, who lives in Brewster, NY, uses an 8"x10" film camera to photograph people on the street in New York City. His method makes him different from other street photographers, many of whom shoot candidly with smaller cameras, or using digital gear. He asks each subjects a question, and they answer in their own writing, which appears with their portraits.

The resulting diptychs are beautiful portraits first, and also brilliant glimpses into the lives of New Yorkers. While Kalman shoots traditional black and white film, he scans his negatives as well as his subjects' writing into the computer and prints them digitally. Kalman chooses to wait until it is time to scan to see what his subject has written. While his working method is controlled, it maintains an element of surprise.

Some of the photographs were first shown at Soho Photo Gallery in April, 2015. The exhibit at Still River Editions also features new photographs from 2015 that have not yet been exhibited.

The Gallery at Still River Editions is located at 128 East Liberty St., Danbury, Connecticut.

Dimensional Contrast at Art & Frame of Danbury: Dayna Wenzel & Shona Curtis

The exhibit "Dimensional Contrast" features photographs by Shona Curtis and sculpture by Dayna Wenzel and runs from September 26 through November 6, 2015 at Art & Frame Gallery in Danbury. The opening reception will be held on Saturday, September 26 from 5 pm - 7 pm with light refreshments and a musical performance by Wendy Cahill of Sans Cherubs. There will be an artist talk Thursday, October 15 at 6 pm. Art & Frame of Danbury is located at 60 Newtown Rd., Danbury, Connecticut.


Newtown Arts Festival takes place Sept. 19 and 20, 2015

© Tara Tomaselli
Photographer Tara Tomaselli is among the artists selected by jury to exhibit and sell work at the Newtown Arts Festival on September 19 and 20 2015. The festival runs from 10 am - 6 pm both days (rain or shine) outdoors at Fairfield Hills Campus, 3 Primrose St., Newtown, CT.

The festival also hosts music, dance, poetry and demonstrations. A schedule is available here.

Members of SCAN and Flagpole Photographers will be there as well discussing membership and giving demonstrations.

Gene Gort "Venetian" at Five Points Gallery

Gene Gort's installation "Venetian" will be exhibited at Five Points Gallery, 33 Main St., Torrington, CT from Thursday, September 17 through Saturday, October 17, 2015. There is an opening reception Friday, Sept 18 at 6 pm and there will be and artist panel conversation on Friday, October 2 at 6 pm.

From his website: "This series is based on photos taken during morning walks in Venice in June 2013. Each morning, as I walked past the luminous stucco walls of the city, I took photos of the color variations. The images are intentionally blurred to highlight the color palette and de-emphasize the surfaces or "object-ness" of the architecture. The series is organized in seven color groups meant to be exhibited as discreet sets of five images. They are inkjet prints in editions of 3 with 2 artist proofs. The prints are 28" x 28" on Hahnemühle Photo Rag, 308 gsm with Epson Ultrachrome Inkset."

WCSU Faculty Art Exhibit Opens Thurs 9/3/15

A reception for the Department of Art Faculty Exhibition will be at 5 p.m. on Thursday, September 3, 2015. in the Art Gallery of the Visual and Performing Arts Center on the WCSU Westside campus, 43 Lake Ave. Extension in Danbury. The exhibit will be on display from noon to 4 p.m., Monday through Thursday, and 1 to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, through Sept. 13. The reception and exhibition will be free and the public is invited.

 Faculty participants will include: Bob Alberetti, Vincent Baldassano, David Boyajian, David Bradford, Riley Brewster, Leslie Cober-Gentry, David Ferreira, Chris Hartman, Jilaine Jones, Stacey Kolbig, Jurg Lanzrein, Ed Little, Megan Marden,  Sabrina Marques, Plonia Nixon, Fran Patnaude, Marjorie Portnow, Karen Roff, Ken Scaglia, Elyse Shapiro, David Skora, Jack Tom, Catherine Vanaria and Terry Wells.

Marko Susla in Salmagundi Club Annual Juried Photography & Graphics Show

Marko Susla's photograph "And So I Wander" is included in the Salmagundi Club Annual Juried Photography & Graphics Exhibition. There is a closing reception and awards ceremony on Friday, August 7 at 6 pm. The Salmagundi Club is located at 47 5th Ave., New York. The exhibit opened on July 27, 2015.

This competitive fine art exhibition is comprised of works from all over the country. This annual presentation allows both well known and up-and-coming artists to exhibit their work in the Salmagundi Club's prestigious galleries.

Phyllis Crowley in "Voicings" exhibit at City Gallery, New Haven

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Photographer Phyllis Crowley is one of four artists featured at City Gallery in an exhibit called "Voicings" which runs from July 9, until August 2, 2015. The other artists featured are Meg Bloom, Kathy Kane and Karen Wheeler.

There is an opening reception on Friday, July 10 from 5pm - 7 pm. City Gallery is located at 994 State St., New Haven.

A Daily Nutmeg story gives some insight into the title.

Ben Larrabee in Rowayton Arts Center "Marine & Coastal Art" exhibition

"Petit St. Vincent Pavilion"
© Ben Larrabee
Ben Larrabee was awarded 2nd prize in Black & White Photography in the Rowayton Arts Center "Marine & Coastal Art" exhibition. The image “Petit St. Vincent Pavilion”, is of a recognizable subject, his muse and wife Trudie.

The gallery is located at 145 Rowayton Ave, Rowayton, CT, and the  exhibit is on view through July 26, 2015.

See more about this image here.  


"Candlewood Kiss: An Alternative View of a Beloved Lake" photographs by Elisabeth J. Levy

"Candlewood Kiss"© Elisabeth J. Levyh
"Candlewood Kiss" features Elisabeth J. Levy's photographs of Candlewood Lake, and is on exhibit from June 15 through August 13, 2015 at Portofino Restaurant and Wine Bar, 213 Greenwood Ave, Bethel, Connecticut. There is an opening reception on June 20, 2015 from noon - 3 pm. 

From her press release: “I was relaxing at home one afternoon in mid-January when I looked outside and couldn’t believe how gorgeous the Lake looked. I had marveled at its beauty countless times but this Light and what it was doing to the water and the hills around it was beyond anything I had ever seen here before. I grabbed my camera and kept shooting until it got too dark. Then the next day I went out and shot again. It was about 24 hours of Candlewood Magic. It was my last winter on the Lake and I felt like it was giving me a kiss good-bye, hence the title of the Series.”

The exhibit is part of the Cultural Alliance of Western Connecticut's "Accessible Art Series". 

Northwest Connecticut Arts Council 2015 Open Your Eyes Studio Tour

"Colander Cornucopia"
© Ann Harriet Carew
27 artists from Washington, Morris, Roxbury, and Bethlehem are opening their studios as part of the Northwest Connecticut Arts Council 2015 Open Your Eyes Studio Tour, Saturday, June 27, from 10 to 5 pm and June 28, from 10 to 4 pm.

Among the 27 artists participating are clients Ann Harriet Carew, a realist painter located in Roxbury, and Missy Stevens,  a thread painter and clay artist in Washington.

For full list of artists, see the link in the first paragraph.