Through The Artist’s Eyes

By Nancy K. Crevier

Sandy Hook artist Glen River visited the preschoolers at Children’s Adventure Center on Riverside Road, Friday morning, May 7, to share his thoughts on art, as the children prepare for their own art show in June.

As the small artists-to-be clustered around, Mr River displayed samples of his two styles of painting, abstract and realistic. “Abstracts let you do what you feel, there are no real rules,” said Mr River as he showed the children examples of his geometric abstracts. Then pointing to a water scene he had painted in Provincetown, Mass., he said, “This one is from a photograph. Paintings like this tell a particular story.”

Mr River also talked about the supplies he uses to make his art. “The big fluffy brush makes the paint softer. The tiny, thin ones are for fine lines, and I even use this,” he said, pulling out a toothbrush and sending a ripple of giggles through the class.

Looking at a succession of paintings Mr River had painted of the same scene, the children were able to see how the time of day affected the colors he selected for the paintings. Color is important in painting, Mr River told the class.

“It looks like a rainbow of colors,” observed one little girl, and Mr River agreed, adding, “I like a big rainbow of colors.”

Mr River, a Sandy Hook resident who studied at the Yale School of Art, has been a visiting artist in Mystic Seaport, Harvard, and Provincetown. Many of his works have been edited into art books representing various regions.