September 26 Studio Tour Features Inspired Ceramicist, Painters and Multi-media Artists

Saturday, September 26 is an afternoon to celebrate the arts with  five well-known area artists who are extraordinarily talented. From 1 to 4 p.m. plan to visit their New Fairfield studios to see remarkable artwork that merits the acclaim they’ve earned over the years in their respective art media. It’s a special treat to listen to artists talk of their inspirations and artistic techniques in the very spaces where they turn those inspirations into realities.      

Mary Lou Alberetti, noted for her ceramic sculptures and Professor Emerita of Art, her husband Robert Alberetti, accomplished painter and multi-media artist as well as retired professor of art, and Plonia Nixon, multi-media artist and university art history lecturer. (Two more artists will also be included in the tour, Jean Mann who works in porcelain and clay, and Florence Froeder who works in water-based mediums.

    Most of Mary Lou Alberetti’s large sun-drenched studio is filled with what she calls her recent “Frammenti” works. These richly textured, layered and carved ceramic reliefs are inspired by the classical architecture, motifs and colors of Italy, Spain, and Turkey and France. Alberetti works her vivid and personal impressions of people and places from her world-wide travels into these multi-faceted pieces of sculpture. Her remarkable “fragments” are multi-layered statements that beautifully meld the past and present. A visit to her website, www.maryloualberetti.com , will convince you to get a ticket for the ARTISTS’ STUDIO TOUR just to see these intriguing and unique pieces of art!

          Alberetti’s process of sculpting these intricate pieces is equally multi-faceted and fascinating! A large rectangular table in her studio is covered with slabs of clay and screens of cut porcelain waiting to be assembled, all sorts of tools for stamping or carving the surface of the clay, just as many pots of custom-mixed glazes, as wells two large kilns. And surrounding her work area there are shelves stacked with a brilliant profusion of Mary Lou’s hand-crafted and thrown pots, plates, cups, and vases!

          Her studio is evidence of a life-time devoted to art; Mary Lou began her career as an art teacher in New Fairfield in the 1970’s and then became a professor at Southern Connecticut State University, where she taught ceramics and was honored with the title Professor Emerita of Art in 2003. Since then Mary Lou’s ever-evolving ceramic work has been shown in galleries across Connecticut, most recently at the Hunt Hill Farm/The Silo in New Milford.              

          Robert Alberetti’s studio is just across the hall in their contemporary New Fairfield home. His space is filled with oil paintings, collages, and other multi-media pieces of all sizes and shapes. Bob’s art has gone from monument-sized abstracts that he painted in the 1970’s to the intimate small-scale collages he’s currently creating in his home studio.These current pieces are carefully constructed and full of subtle colors.

          Bob works in a similar way as his wife, Mary Lou, in that his inspiration comes from an idea or a feeling about a special place he’s visited: “It begins with a remembered images of the places I love place—Italian  landscapes, Cape Cod beaches, New Fairfield rock ledges. I have an idea of what I’m after, but I don’t have a preconceived image. Much of it has to do with feeling “right’ about the work in progress or the finished work. Do these marks, colors, forms, lines, and textures evoke an emotion or a feeling – a sense of place, light, or atmosphere? When the work parallels my emotions, then I stop working on it.”

          His studio attests to the creative process he applies to achieve the richly textured “collage” of emotion of each finished canvas: assorted pieces of paper, tools for printing images, tubes of oil and acrylic paints, and brushes of every shape and size fill the space. Inspiration surrounds him!

          It should be noted that Bob is a Professor Emeritus of Art at Western Connecticut State University in Danbury where he continues to teach pat-time. Both he and Mary Lou are busy teaching during the school year and enjoy traveling in the summer months—to recharge their creative batteries with new sights and impressions!       

          Plonia Nixon, another New Fairfield artist featured in the ARTISTS’ STUDIO TOUR, also divides her time between lecturing in art history at Western Connecticut State University, teaching art in the summer, and creating art in the time between!  She is currently working in multi-media collage and her seclude woodland studio resembles the Alberettis’ in many ways. All three artists have respected art careers that span decades, so that their studios are filled with a variety of art- assorted styles and mediums explored over the years.

          Nixon’s recent collages, along with portraits, interiors, still life paintings, watercolors, and shadow boxes are eclectic and rich with messages and symbols of her past experience. Plonia draws from her personal life experiences, her Dutch heritage, as well as her exceptional knowledge of art. Her work reflects her advanced degree in fine art and decades of lecturing on art history at the university. You will see the influences of Jan Steen (Plonia’s great, great, great, great grandfather!), Chardin, Cezanne, Egon Schiele, Auguste Rodin, and Morandi. Plonia expands on these influences to create her own unique art.

          Her recent foray into creating collages-in-space is evidenced by the amount of bits of colorful paper of all kinds strewn about in the creative “disarray” of her large studio spaces that fill four separate rooms in the large studio built adjacent to her home. It will amaze you that stunning work rises from one room’s seemingly chaotic jumble. But the results appear complete, well thoughout and stunningly beautiful!

          Did you have any idea that there was so much artistic talent in New Fairfield?! How often do noted artists invite you into their creative retreats for an afternoon?! Saturday, September 26 is an afternoon you won’t want to miss!

          Call Jackie Hutchings, CAF advisor, to reserve a ticket: 203-746-0268 or visit the Barn Gallery at “Creative Corners,” 82 Route 37 to pick up a ticket and map. Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for students.