Art By Three Women

Reflecting Their Views Of  The World

At Booth Library

By Shannon Hicks

Three views of the world by female artists, each with her own point of view, form the exhibition “A World in Transition: Three Women’s Views.” The exhibition opened this week in the Olga Knoepke Memorial Meeting Room at C.H. Booth Library and features work by Beverly Branch of Bethel, Linda Dohanos of Monroe, and Julia Provey of Sandy Hook.

The public is invited to meet the artists on Saturday, March 7, when the library hosts the opening reception for the exhibition from 2 to 4 pm.

“Our work has always looked at the world, and now the world is going through a few major transitions, between the economy and wars, and our work shows all of that through a feminine view,” Ms Dohanos said this week. She and Ms Provey visited the library to put the final touches on the exhibition Tuesday morning, which was the official opening day of the show. Ms Provey and Ms Branch braved Monday’s snowstorm to get to the library and set up the show.

“It’s also a very political world, with our new President and his new policies,” added Ms Dohanos.

“The environment is also a big concern,” Ms Provey said. “Our work is introspective and emotional, but we’re trying to give some sentiment to viewers. I use poetry in some of my work to give my message.”

“We try to work out how we feel though our art,” said Ms Dohanos, whose paintings employ bright palettes and whose subjects combine reality with symbolism and images from dreams. She also enjoys creating clay sculptures, which incorporate raku firing, underglazing, and enamel painting, all done at her studio.

Ms Dohanos opened Barn Hill Studio & Gallery in Monroe in 1992. About 18 months ago she and Ms Provey teamed up for “Through The Generations,” a retrospective at Barn Hill that presented the work of Ms Provey, her mother and her grandfather, along with work by Ms Provey, and her mother and grandfather. It was the first time the three generations exhibited their work together, but the second time Linda and Julia had collaborated on the show. The two worked together a few months earlier for a presentation called “Concrete Blondes.”

The Monroe studio-gallery has also hosted group shows that have included the work of the three women now featured in the Newtown presentation.

Ms Provey is a third-generation painter, following her mother and grandfather. Originally from urban Brooklyn, she was influenced early on by the diverse beauty of the city’s cultures.

Her brightly colored paintings of people use her own style of abstract realism, with a primitive edge. Her intention, she says, is to present an image that viewers can imagine going with their own story. She also creates fabric art and garden sculptures.

Ms Provey works out ideas and creates drawings and poems in the journals she keeps.

“I think of it as introspective journaling,” she said in an artist’s statement. “It’s a way to convert the onslaught of information we are subject to each day in this techno world into my own opinions and ideas. Artists have always reflected on the world around them, and in these times of transformation it’s our calling to participate in the change.

“My foremost desire is to portray images of unity and emotions that we all share.”

Ms Branch was a featured artist at Booth Library in January 2006. Visitors to the current exhibition may recognize the style of her work, which carries tones of 19th Century luminaries such as Degas and Sargent.

“The compositions,” The Bee wrote about that show two years ago, “seem to radiate the idea of a lifelong relationship between people and the world in which they temporarily live.”

Friend and fellow artist Linda Dohanos sees another influence.

“Bev’s work reminds me of Mary Cassatt. She gave an importance to the domestic scenes that hadn’t been seen before,” said Ms Dohanos. “Bev takes those moments and adds spiritual essence.”

Beverly Branch has devoted her working life to her art. She has worked as a successful illustrator. Her true love, however, has always been painting. Her portraits and fine art, as well her illustrations, exemplifies the joy she takes in both life and her art. She has worked in acrylics for a number of years, but newer works have been produced in oils.

She was educated at Paier School of Art. Her achievements include shows at both museums and commercial galleries, awards, commissions and placements in major corporate offices such as Hartford Legislative Building, Bradley International Airport, and the Stamford Government Center.

In curating the show Monday afternoon, Ms Branch and Ms Provey decided to merge the works of all three artists rather than devoting one wall to each artist. Visitors will walk in and find Ms Provey’s painted banners alongside Ms Dohanos’s equally bright paintings, right next to Ms Branch’s realist paintings.

“We weren’t sure about it at first,” admitted Ms Provey. “We were afraid Bev’s works might get lost. Mine and Linda’s are so bright. But when you look at it as a collage, it does work.”

There are 29 works on view in “A World in Transition,” which will remain in the library’s meeting room until March 31.