Connecticut Travel

The James Gregory  Gallery on Rte. 202 in New Milford is featuring the work  of several of  their favorite artists, including Thomas Adkins who captures the beauty of “Spring, Meigs Point, Hammonasset, State Park”  in Connecticut, as seen below. This fine art gallery features the work of established and emerging regional and local artists. This spring the theme of the gallery seascapes. As Gregory says, “Art lovers and collectors have treasured seascapes for centuries, and for good reason. Landscape painting as a medium is like the universal language of art, unifying and satisfying, and spoken and understood by all. By adding the mystery and poetry of the water, seascapes elevate that language to a higher emotional plane.”

Three prominent artists are featured. Thomas Adkins who divides his time between Connecticut and Maine and his friend, Jim Laurino also paints seascapes in Maine. Another featured artist is Christopher Magadini of Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y., who is considered one of the finest landscape and plein-air painters in the Northeast. Magadini also has a love for nautical themes. The work of Ralph Della-Volpe is also part of this show. His work reflects a strong emotional interpretation by taking a bold creative license with color in his landscapes and seascapes.

The gallery also offers a comprehensive framing service for fine art, heirlooms, posters, objects, needlework, mirrors, photos and garments. Restoration services are also available.

Contact gallery owner Gregory James Mullen at 860-354-3436 or by email at GregoryJamesG@aol.com for pricing or to plan a COVID-safe gallery visit to see the small but wonderful collection of seascapes.

The Glebe House Museum located on 49 Hollow Road off Rte. 6 in Woodbury, the “antiques” capital of Connecticut is hosting a book sale on Saturday, April 24 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Books will be available cover many topics including gardening, history, fiction, non-fiction, children & youth, coffee table books and more. Visitors may also find puzzles to occupy their time.

In addition to books, there will be a selection of plants from the Gertrude Jekyll Garden will also be available for purchase. This plant sale will continue throughout the season, replenished as product is available. The Garden was designed in 1926 by the famed English horticultural designer and writer Gertrude Jekyll. It  was commissioned by board member Annie Burr Jennings (Colonial Dame, heiress to the Standard Oil fortune, living in Fairfield, Connecticut, Connecticut Trustee at Mount Vernon) to create an “old fashioned” garden to enhance the newly created museum. Miss  Jekyll  had a profound influence on modern garden design and is widely considered the greatest gardener of the 20th century. Although a small garden, when compared with the some 400 more elaborate designs she completed in England and on the continent, the Gertrude Jekyll Garden includes a classic English style mixed border and foundation plantings, and a planted stone terrace. 

One of the most interesting facts about this garden is that it was never fully installed in the 1920s and its very existence was forgotten. After the rediscovery of the plans in the late 1970s the project  began in earnest in the late 1980s and is now being completed according to the original plans. The garden we see at the Glebe House today is the only extant garden designed by Jekyll in the United States.

The Hickory Stick Bookshop is a charming independent book shop that has been located in Washington Depot for more than sixty years.  The shop has a lovely selection of books for everyone in the family, as well as a large selection of children’s games, toys, puzzles and, much much more. The shop was voted as “the best bookstore in Connecticut” by Yankee Magazine and is well worth the trip. 

In addition to offering books and gift items, Hickory Stick also has special events. On Sunday, May 1, at 1 p.m. there will be a lawn signing with author Nan Rossiter for her new book, Promises to Keep. Rossiter is an author illustrator of several children’s books and adult novels and lives in the Litchfield Hills of northwest, Connecticut.

After the book signing, you might want to head over to the Institute of American Indian Studies on 38 Curtis Road in Washington to visit this museum with permanent and temporary displays that trace the history and culture of Native Americans. They have a replicated  16th century Algonquain Village and the award-winning Wigwam Escape Room and hiking trails on the grounds of the museum.

The Seaport Association in Norwalk is busy getting ready for the summer 2021, season.  April is the time of year when Seaport Association volunteers are busy getting their vessel, docks, and Sheffield Island and Sheffield Island Lighthouse ready for their opening beginning the last weekend in May. This year, the Association will be offering two-hour harbor cruises as well as a cruise to Sheffield Island and its historic lighthouse.

The Association is also busy organizing this year’s 43rd annual Norwalk Oyster Festival that will take place on Friday, September 10, Saturday, September 11, and Sunday, September 12. The Association’s new website offers forms for organizations and businesses that want to participate in this popular and highly anticipated event. Forms for food, arts and crafts, merchandising, marketing, and non-profit organizations as well as sponsorship opportunities are all online and can be found by clicking here.

The Seaport Association is also busy organizing a special outdoor in-person celebration that is scheduled to take place this summer. This fundraising event, which is open to the public, promises to be a “boat-load” of fun with lots of fun, food, drinks, and auction items.  “We have a lot to be grateful for especially our many supporters, friends, and volunteers,” said Mike Reilly, President of the Seaport Association.

The Seaport Association has also just announced that it has finalized the details for the Annual Golf Tournament that will be held on October 4, 2021, at the Silvermine Golf Club in Norwalk. The golf tournament will help support the programs for education and restoration of the Sheffield Island Lighthouse. It will include a friendly competition, prizes, raffles, food, and a gift package for every player. For more information click here.

Native Americans lived off the land and were able to identify edible plants and fungi from a young age. Most people today don’t invest the time to gain the experience required to know where to look for and how to identify wild food and edible plants. If you have ever been curious about foraging and what is edible in the woodlands of Connecticut, don’t miss the Spring Foraging Forum on April 18 with Griffin Kalin, a Museum Educator and Traditional Skills Expert at the Institute for American Indian Studies located at 38 Curtis Road in Washington, Connecticut. This program is recommended for the entire family and will be held in three one-hour time slots starting at 1:00 pm.

Simply put, foraging is searching for wild food and provisions. It is a wonderful way to experience the natural world and connect with the land through traditional ways that have become less commonly practiced. Wild greens and edibles in the Spring were an important source of nutrition for many Native communities and this forum offers a fascinating glimpse of how important this food source was. Spring is one of the most important times of year to forage because many types of plants and fungi are just starting to re-emerge after a long winter’s rest, which helps supplement the end of winter food supplies.

Foraging can be as simple as picking berries or identifying plants, tubers, and mushrooms that are good to eat. It can also involve more complicated and time-consuming processes, like grinding acorns into fine flour or tapping a maple tree for sap. This forum teaches us that foraging is an art that requires us to use all our senses and to understand and respect the habitat that plants grow in. Please note, this program is intended for educational purposes only; never eat any forage item you can’t be 100% certain about.

Space per time slot is limited and pre-registration is required. To sign up for this workshop, visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/spring-foraging-forum-with-griffin-kalin-tickets-149317226845. Please call (860) 868-0518 or email events@iaismuseum.org with any questions.

About Institute for American Indian Studies 

Located on 15 acres of woodland acres the Institute For American Indian Studies preserves and educates through archeology, research, exhibitions, and programs. They have the 16th c. Algonquian Village, Award-Winning Wigwam Escape, and a museum with temporary and permanent displays of authentic artifacts from prehistory to the present that allows visitors to foster a new understanding of the world and the history and culture of Native Americans. The Institute for American Indian Studies is located on 38 Curtis Road, Washington, CT.