A Bear Affair For One Local Artist

By Nancy K. Crevier

It was a grizzly assignment, but one that artist Carol Smith handled with much aplomb. Ms Smith was invited earlier this year to take part in A Bear Affair, a public art project to be presented by five regional organizations in northwestern Connecticut.

Northwest Connecticut Arts Council, Litchfield County Association for Retarded Citizens (LARC), Northwest Chamber of Commerce, Tri-State Chamber Foundation and the Winsted Health Center Foundation have joined forces to present the display of painted bears as a means of raising money for the five organizations, joining numerous organizations across the country that have utilized the animal art to promote and raise money for their endeavors. Artists have interpreted cows, pigs, dogs, cats, turtles, fish, and stags. Whales and roosters have made the news in Newtown, as local artists worked their magic upon these creatures in recent years (one whale was decorated by a Newtown artist to an art trail in the Mystic area, and dozens of artists put their mark on ceramic roosters last year for The Parent Connection).

Business and community members participate by sponsoring individual fiberglass and polyester resin forms, in this instance bears, and an artist. The decorated bears will be exhibited throughout the northwest region of the state during September and October. The bears will be cemented to a base and the display will include a sponsorship plaque with the artist’s name, title of the bear, and the sponsor’s name.

For the Bear Affair, each artist was provided with a form of a bear, primed and ready to be transformed with paint, brush, and imagination into a one-of-a-kind work of art. Ms Smith’s bear is a 5’6” standing bear, whose paws are calmly crossed across his protruding belly.

“I had always wanted to paint one of these sculptures,” said the Newtown resident. “I’ve seen the hearts [sponsored by Danbury Hospital last year] and the whales, and last summer we went to Custer, S.D., and I saw the buffalo there and thought how much fun it would be.”

She submitted her proposal in March when she heard about A Bear Affair through Washington Art Association’s newsletter to her husband.

“I’m a computer programmer, I don’t really consider myself an artist, and some of the proposals were out of this world. I didn’t hear and I didn’t hear from the selection committee, so I thought I hadn’t been selected. Then I saw an e-mail from them and realized that I did have a sponsor. I was thrilled,” said Ms Smith.

Ms Smith picked up her bear from LARC headquarters the second week of June. As the primary painter for her husband Wayne Smith’s well-known wooden figures, she is familiar with painting on wood, but painting on the slippery resin was a learning experience for Ms Smith.

“It takes a different sort of acrylic paint and blending the colors is really different when painting on plastic. I was excited, but quite nervous. All of a sudden, the end of July deadline seemed like not as long a way off as it did in March,” she said.

Finally, she said, she just picked up the brush and set about turning the bear into the realistic rendition requested by her sponsor, Kent Village Barns, known for the black bronze figurines on its grounds in Kent. Unlike the brilliantly colored creatures that are the usual fare for public art projects, her bear is a more subdued version.

“Hence the name ‘Bare Bear,’ as in undecorated or unclothed,” she explained.

She could have painted her bear to resemble the black bear common to this part of Connecticut, but with her husband known as The Grizzly Woodsmith, it only seemed appropriate that she use the visage of a grizzly bear to create her piece. Shades of brown highlighted with gold and black give her bear a lifelike look, and his peaceful countenance suggests that he is as pleased as can be to have been brought to life by the talent of Ms Smith.

“It really was a great experience,” said Ms Smith. “I would do it again if I ever got the chance.”

There are still some finishing touches to add to the bear, as well as two coats of UV finish to protect it from sun exposure, said Ms Smith. Then she and her husband will gently slide the bear into the back of her van and return it to LARC. From there, said Ms Smith, the bear will join the 76 bears painted by the 66 other artists at the Northwest Hills Dealership in Torrington for a final clear-coating of protective finish. Only then will “Bare Bear” be ready to take his place on his pedestal in the center of Kent.

 “We hope to hear of a new species of bear being ‘sighted’ in various towns,” said Amy Wynn, executive director of the Northwest Connecticut Arts Council. “This new painted species will certainly be safer than any of the usual bears we see in our community,” she added.

A Bear Affair map will be available showing the locations of the 77 bears, as well as information about the sponsors and the artists. Following the public exhibition of the bears during the fall, sponsors can opt to buy back their bear or let it lumber off to the Bear Affair Auction being planned for Veteran’s Day weekend in November.