Something New At Lakeside Gallery

By Shannon Hicks

When Pat Barkman opens Lakeside Gallery next weekend for its annual show and sale, visitors will find something new.

For years Mrs Barkman’s gallery has featured the paintings of the Newtown resident, who lives in a home that is loaded with and surrounded by inspiration, situated as it is on the banks of Taunton Lake. Birds and other animals are heard at all hours of the day, and their tracks are left behind for Pat and her husband, Leon. The gentle rippling of water is a constant, as is the beauty of the plants that surround the Barkman home.

Mrs Barkman has for years taken in the beauty that surrounds her and turns that into watercolor florals and landscapes that have been enjoyed by artists and art lovers alike for decades. These are the works that have been traditionally featured in the two-day event at Mrs Barkman’s art gallery (in addition to being presented in area group and solo exhibitions during the rest of the year). Visitors are welcomed into Lakeside Gallery to meet Mrs Barkman, view her works, and perhaps purchase one of her paintings.

This year the paintings will be intermingled with mosaic works. The new pieces combine living elements –– shells that have been collected from the shores of Long Island Sound, coral from the beaches of Florida –– along with pieces of glass, watches and keys. Mrs Barkman has been collecting items and keeping them sorted in her basement for years, but it was not until recently that she began to see how she could work the pieces together.

The artist begins with a thin-set mortar to attach all of the elements to a wood frame. Grout then “anchors the pieces into the frame, giving you the idea of finding something” in the sand, Mrs Barkman recently explained. Sand is put down on top of the grout, which gives each work the look of having a hidden treasure buried just below the surface.

The final step is to polish the glass, which becomes covered with sand and dust during the gluing and arranging stages of the projects. This step returns the glass to its brilliant luster, and adds to the multidimensional look of the mosaics. Each piece, like Mrs Barkman’s paintings, is named.

Lakeside Gallery, at 49 Taunton Lake Road in Newtown, will be open Saturday and Sunday, June 7–8, from 2 to 4 pm each day. The gallery is open year-round by appointment. Call 426-8949 for details.