Robert Andrew Parker Named Featured Artist For Annual Four Seasons of Flanders

WOODBURY — Robert Andrew Parker, a renowned artist and illustrator from West Cornwall, is this year’s featured artist for Flanders Nature Center Annual Benefit Auction and Dinner. The event, called Four Seasons of Flanders, will be on Saturday evening, October 20, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Southbury.

Each year, one regional artist is selected to create an original piece of art depicting a scene of Flanders Nature Center in Woodbury. This piece is highlighted during the gala and is sold at the live auction. Typically, the featured artist’s work draws one of the highest bids at the auction, significantly contributing to the more than $60,000 raised at this event.

Mr Parker’s painting, which he calls “Springtime at Flanders Pond,” depicts a late afternoon view of the pond at Flanders. It is an oil painting on wooden board.

“I could hear the peepers at dusk,” said Mr Parker, who spent time walking around the nature center, making drawings to catch the essence of the piece. “I wanted to show this lovely, mild time of year.”

“One lucky person will soon have an original Robert Andrew Parker hanging in his or her home,” comments Flanders executive director Arthur Milnor.  “That person will join MoMA, Whitney and the Met as a proud owner of an original Parker painting.”

In addition to the most prestigious art museums in New York City, Mr Parker’s paintings have also been on display at the LA County Museum in California and, in Connecticut, at New Britain Museum of American Art and The Mattatuck Museum. His works are shown at the Davis & Langdale Gallery in New York and at the Morgan Leyman Gallery in Lakeville.

The mediums that Parker uses include etchings, water color and oil.  He paints portraits, landscapes, cityscapes, animals, and, as he describes, “almost everything interesting.” He is also a printmaker, sculptor and illustrator and has illustrated more than eighty books, a great many of which are children’s books.

Mr Parker has received many grants and awards for his work, including a Guggenheim Fellowship.  He was cited in Steven Heller’s book, Innovators of American Illustration.

At eighty years young, Mr Parker continues to paint prolifically. He also performs regularly with his jazz band, Jive by Five.

Mr Parker’s painting will be on display during the Four Seasons of Flanders artists’ preview reception, which will be on Sunday, September 23, from 3 to 5 pm, at Good News Café in Woodbury. Several other prominent Litchfield County artists who have donated works for the Four Seasons of Flanders Benefit Auction and Dinner will also be present at the reception. The works of art displayed here will be auctioned off at the October 20 event.

The public is invited to attend the artists’ preview reception, meet the artists and view the work that will be available for auction.  The art will be on display at Good News Café through October 16.  There is no charge for the artists’ preview reception and reservations are not required.

Tickets for Four Seasons for Flanders Benefit Auction and Dinner are $70 per person, which includes a silent auction with hors d’oeuvres and open bar, seated dinner with wine, live auction with Woodbury auctioneer Wayne Maddox, and after dinner dancing with live music by Fullsound Productions. Table sponsorships are also available.

Advance reservations for the gala are required. For tickets or for further information, call the Flanders studio at 263-3711, extension 11.