Monthly Meetings

March 14, 2023: Leif Nilsson WAS ON ZOOM

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The Hamden Art League hosted Leif Nilsson at 7 pm, on Tuesday, March 14th, as he presents “Contemporary Connecticut Impressionist".  
Leif Nilsson showed scenes of the Connecticut River and his boat, the village of Chester and his own garden. His plein air paintings are alive with vivid colors, that are heavily textured, and multi-layered producing the unique effects of changing light.
Website: http://www.nilssonstudio.com/

February 14, 2023: Carol Vinick

The Hamden Art League hosted Carol Vinick at their meeting on February 14th, where she presented “Art for Social Justice".  Carol Vinick uses fabric collage to tell stories. Included in her body of work are stories of the struggle for social justice, her family history, and the wonders of nature. She brought several examples of her textile art in addition to a slide presentation summarizing her body of work and detailing how she makes it.  Her most recent accomplishment was a two- person show at the Windsor Art Center, Sewn Stories, Shared Lives, where she and Linda Martin explored the common threads of their Jewish and African American family histories.

January 10, 2023: Elizabeth Gourlay

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The Hamden Art League hosted Connecticut artist Elizabeth Gourlay at 7 pm via zoom, as she presents “Explorations in Color, Light, and Shapes".    ​Gourlay’s work has been written about in The New Criterion, Painters’ Table, Gorky’s Granddaughter and most recently in the Art blog, In Their Studios. Gourlay’s work has been shown nationally and internationally, most notably at The Drawing Center, MASS MoCA, The Cummings Arts Center at Connecticut College, The Hecksher Museum and currently the solo exhibition, Elizabeth Gourlay: Eclectic Threads, at The New Britain Museum of American Art.  ​For more information see her website at https://www.elizabethgourlay.com/ .
November 9, 2022:  Lisa Miceli​
Hamden Art League hosted award-winning CT artist Lisa Miceli as she presented “Expressive Skies in Watercolor". Lisa illustrated expressive watercolor techniques that capture the spirit of the moment, the light and atmosphere of the sky and water.  For examples of her work go to her website.
October 11, 2022:  Sandra Wakeen
Hamden Art League hosted award winning artist Sandra Wakeen as she presented “Painting a Portrait in Oil".  She demonstrated her technique of creating a poster study (value study) first, then creating the portrait through massing and carving the image with paint.
Website: https://www.sandrawakeenfineart.com, Workshop contact: sandrawakeen@gmail.com
September 13, 2022:  Howard Park
Hamden Art League hosted award-winning CT artist Howard Park as he presented “Oil Landscape using a Palette Knife".  He demonstrated his basic steps for plein air painting and explained his process, color, and mark making with different knives. For samples of his work and more information, see his website https://www.howardparkart.com/
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Artist Howard Park during HAL demonstration.
Date
Time
Event
September 13, 2022
7 - 9 pm
Howard Park “Oil Landscape with Palette Knife”
October 11, 2022
​7 - 9 pm
Sandra Wakeen “Painting a Portrait in Oil”​
November 9, 2022​*
7 - 9 pm
Lisa Miceli “Painting Clouds in Watercolor”​
December 6, 2022
4 -6 pm
Winter exhibition drop-off
December 13, 2022
7 - 9 pm
Winter reception
January 3, 2023
4 -6 pm
Winter artwork pick up
January 10, 2023
7 - 9 pm
​Elizabeth Gourlay “Explorations in Color, Light, and Shape”​
February 14, 2023
7 - 9 pm
Carol Vinick “Art for Social Justice”​
March 14, 2023
7 - 9 pm
Leif Nilsson “Contemporary Connecticut Impressionist”​
April 4, 2023
4 -6 pm
​Spring exhibition drop-off
April 11, 2023
7 - 9 pm
Spring reception
May 2, 2023
​4 -6 pm
Spring artwork pick up
May 9, 2023
​7 - 9 pm
Aleta Gudelski “Experiments from Chaos to Order”​
The demonstration begins by 7:30 and runs until 8:45 pm. 
Hamden Art League meetings are held in the Social Hall of the Hamden Senior Center, 2901 Dixwell Avenue, behind the Miller Library.  If the library is closed due to inclement weather, the HAL meeting will be cancelled.  Visit the Hamden Public Library website, hamdenlibrary.org/, for the library's schedule.
​                          *Note: Meeting changed to Wednesday due to Election Day on Nov. 8

Workshops​

On Sunday, March 5, 2023 the Hamden Art League held a Critique with Eileen Eder.
It was from 2:00-4:00 pm at the Eli Whitney Museum, Water Center program room in Hamden. Each artist brought 3 pieces, varying in theme and medium. Eileen Eder's experienced eye helped  to examine each piece for value, harmony, focal points and color temperature relationships. Through this focus Eileen suggested how each artist could improve their piece. 
On Sunday, December 4, Howard Park and Lisa Miceli held Still Life Speed Painting workshop from 11:00-3:00 pm at the Eli Whitney Museum, Carter Studio in Hamden.  20 minutes is very little time to paint a still life, especially as they get more complex. ​
​On Saturday, November 12, HAL held a critique, from 1:00-3:30 pm at the Veteran’s Memorial Hall at Brooksvale Park in Hamden. Sandra Wakeen, our October presenter, critiqued works from 13 artists.
​​​On Thursday, September 29, HAL offered a Plein Air Workshop with Frank Bruckmann at one of our favorite locations, Lockwood Farm.  Frank demonstrated his basic steps for plein air painting in oils and explained his process, creating a pictured work in an hour.  Attendees spent the next several hours working on their own paintings under Frank Bruckmann's guidance.
The Hamden Art League in cooperation with the Hamden Library offered "Improvisational Fabric and Paper Collage workshop with Ed Johnetta Miller" at Miller Library on Saturday, September 24, 2022.  Attended by 19 from the community it was a smashing success.
​"Support has been provided to Hamden Art League from CT Humanities (CTH), with funding provided by the Connecticut State Department of Economic and Community Development/Connecticut Office of the Arts (COA) from the Connecticut State Legislature".