Painters Restaurant, Bar, and Gallery in Brookhaven, NY

On a recent trip to Long Island for the weekend  my boyfriend and I went out to dinner at this restaurant called Painters in Brookhaven. Painters was a really interesting place to go to and I would absolutely go back. First off the food was delicious and reasonably priced. The walls of the entire restaurant and bar are covered in local and foreign artists work, which is all for sale.  At painters it isn't out of the ordinary to sit at a table, order your food, then wander around the restaurant looking at the different art. Plus the restaurant resembles is in an old barn which I thought was really cool. The atmosphere was really laid back, and there is live music there every weekend. If your ever in the area I would absolutely reccomend checking it out.
http://www.paintersrestaurant.com/

Left Bank Gallery, Essex CT

Recently I visted the Left Bank Gallery, located in the downtown area of Essex, CT.  I enjoy going to this gallery because there is always a variety of pieces that can be seen here. You can find hand made jewelry, fashioned out of sea glass, beautiful panoramic photos of the CT river and surrounding shoreline, and many interesting drawings and paintings created by artists with different styles. Primarily the artists that contribute work to the gallery live locally, which is apparent when looking at their work. At one time there can be as many as 40 different artists contributing to the gallery. Someday soon I hope to contribute some of my work here as well.

Johnsonville East Haddam, CT

I have decided to create a photographic documentary of a place called Johnsonville, in East Haddam CT which will also consist of some self portraits at the site for my final project. Johnsonville is small town located on one road within the boarders of East Haddam. Johnsonville was created in the 1960's as a tourist destination by aerospace tycoon Rayond Schmitt. The many acres consists of dozens of old churchs, barns, mess halls, and cottages that have all been abandoned since Schmitt's passing. The buildings and houses remain deserted and empty. I have gone twice to Johnsonville to take photos, and will continue to do so until the end of the semester. Here are a few photos so far:

Art Space New Haven, CT

About a month ago our class visited the gallery Art Space in downtown New Haven. There were a few different artists exhibiting their work at the time but the one artists work that caught my eye the most was Phil Lique. Lique's exhibition was called Evidence of Competitive Nature and I think that the name describes it well. The first thing an individuals sees when looking at this large paintings on canvas are intense grizzly bear jaws and the razor sharp teeth of a shark staring back at you. After reading up on Lique a bit, I found out that the these violent objects are supposed to be a metaphor for the deteroriation of our economy and the degradation of our natural environment, as Americans, and humans.

Guilford, CT Artist Brendan Loughlin

Brendan Loughlin is a local artist who primarily paints landscapes and floral designs. His work can be seen all over downtown Guilford, CT and he recently has starting showing some of his pieces at my place of work Nautical Needles and Decorative Interiors, in Westbrook, CT. Loughlin has become somewhat of a local phenomenon in the town of Guilford and many individuals are gathering to paint with him. He has no formal art training but yet is giving individuals interested in his technique lessons. Loughlin has even started to do so at my company. He calls his new technique pastac, a blend of pastels and shellac. Loughlin's goal is to end people's fears about painting. He claims thats this new technique is virtually fool proof and anyone can do it. Some employees at my company have tried painting like this and have made beautiful pieces, so Loughlin must have figured something out. I on the other hand have not gotten to paint with him yet because he comes on Tuesdays when I have class :(.