MEETINGS 2025 - 2026
We meet on the third THURSDAY of the month, September through May.
Our January and February meetings are via Zoom. Non-members may attend Zoom meeting by sending us an email.
Our new location: Manchester Church of Christ, Fellowship Hall, 595 Tolland Turnpike, Manchester, CT.
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Please check the home page for notice of any cancellation.
Any member entering artwork (one piece) in the Art of the Month competition should register between 6:45 pm. For more information, click here.
September 18
Lisa Miceli
stick & ink
Lisa is a plein air painter and art teacher with a focus on expressionist watercolors and oils. She teaches both in studio and at plein air locations year round. Lisa has studied with several prominent artists but a significant influence on her painting has come from her artistic grandmother, Lucille. She has won awards and been in exhibits and juried shows -- too many more to list. Lisa has taught art course across the spectrum. In her plein air painting Lisa seeks to convey something deeper about the land, sea and sky than meets the eye, something that is under the surface but visible only when we slow down to look, uncovering what is beautiful in the seemingly ordinary.
October 16
Howard Park
oil
Howard attended the Masters of Fine Arts program at Tufts University and studies at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. He won a National prize in photography during his studies in France at L’Ecoled’Art Decoratif de Nice. In 2001, Howard restored 1952 sailing vessel, COMET, and completed the circumnavigation of the globe in 2001. Howard owns HGPark Fine Art which focuses on Conservation, Restoration, and Appraisals of Fine Art. He teaches classes and is a member of several prestigious art societies/guilds. Howard’s goal is to ignite human imagination and stimulate thought and emotion by engaging the viewer in the landscape that he’s observed.
November 2
Bob Norieka
pouring acrylic
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Bob will be demonstrating a woodland snow scene in fluid acrylics. Working from a photo reference and a value sketch he will develop an interesting composition and a strong value pattern. Bob is a graduate of Paier School of Art and has been a professional artist for forty years. A prominent national award winning artist and illustrator, his paintings hang in both corporate and private collections throughout the United States, Europe, and Japan. Bob’s work is also featured in “100 Artists of New England” by Schiffer Publishing. Bob is a member of many academies and guilds. His passion for art is matched by a natural talent to paint a wide variety of subjects, highlighted by expressive coastal scenes, intimate woodland pictorials and street scenes.
December 19
Holiday Party
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More info will be posted when available.
January 15
via Zoom​
Bert Sirkin
photographer
Bert has been into photography since he was 10 years old. He built his first darkroom at 12 years old and apprenticed with a professional photographer in Boston in the early 1970's. He’s been a professional photographer and educator for over 40 years teaching photography since college and digital photography workshops in the Everglades, Joshua Tree NP and Monument Valley Tribal Park. Bert has done many types of photography over the years, but his passions in photography are landscapes, wildlife, night photography and, especially, infrared photography.
February 19
via Zoom
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Julie Cohn
watercolor seascapes
Julie has taught watercolor painting for over 35 years. Her artwork has gallery representation and has been exhibited nationally. Julie has been a juror for a variety of art exhibits in California and her artwork has shown in many museums. She is the author of two watercolor DVDs, color wheels and a book on color. For over 20 years she has been teaching watercolor painting at the College of Marin. She also teaches small groups in Berkeley, CA and conducts workshops in Sonoma and internationally. She enthusiastically shares with ​students as she continues to learn about art.
March 19​
Leif Nilsson
oil Impressionism
Inspired by the natural beauty surrounding the Lower Connecticut River Valley, Leif (pronounced LAYF) Nilsson paints his plein air impressionistic landscape compositions directly from life. Setting up his easel in and around his hometown of Chester, Nilsson creates engaging garden, Connecticut River and Coastline, and village paintings that invite the viewer to walk right in. Leif completed a full curriculum of Classical Studies at the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts and added to that with Scandinavia, Asia Minor and Europe where he studied the French 19th and early 20th century painters; Bonnard and Monet for color; Pissarro and Vuillard for composition and Van Gogh for energy. He exhibits his paintings in several galleries and at the Leif Nilsson Spring Street Studio and Gallery, LLC in Chester. He takes painting trips around the United States, the tropical islands and occasionally travels abroad where he creates his “little paintings” which are a favorites among his collectors.
April 16
John McNamara
pricing your art
John grew up in a working-class family in Alston, Mass. He moved from paint-by-number as a child to being accepted by the Massachusetts College of Art. His work was first recognized by Roger Kizik at the Rose Art Museum and had his first show in 1980 at Cutler/Stavaridis Gallery on Congress St. in Boston. John has had several fellowships including the MacDowell Colony, National Arts Endowments, and MA Arts and Humanities. His work has won many awards. John’s paintings engage photography as a hidden painted element with subjects from everyday life. He integrates these in a new relational and expansive narrative. John’s hope is to provoke a sense of curiosity within the viewer, similar to the curiosity and surprise he feels when making a painting.
May 21
Annual Member Meeting & critique with Karen Israel
Karen Israel’s pastel paintings are defined by their dynamic compositions and unique viewpoints. Subjects are rendered with a strong appreciation for the rigors of formal design coupled with a fearless array of color choices. In addition to numerous awards, Karen’s work has garnered the honor of Signature Member with the American Artists Professional League, Master Circle with the International Association of Pastel Societies and Master Pastelist with the Pastel Society of America. Karen is an artist member of the Salmagundi Club, NYC, The Copley Society, Boston and the Lyme Art Association. Karen conducts many teaching demonstrations and workshops throughout the United States and she has served as juror for many national competitions.
