Newtown’s Hidden Artists:

Dual Personas Double Life’s Joys

Personal expression is key to a balanced fulfilling life

By Nancy K. Crevier

One of the first things we find out about a new acquaintance is what they do: Teacher. Lawyer. Clerk. Doctor. Accountant. Landscaper.

Who we are is defined by what we do — to pay the bills, that is. It is the personality that is best known to others. But the persona that works to put food on the table is only one dimension of a personality that is rounded out through other aspects of being. For many, that wholeness is completed through some form of creativity, without which the essence of who they truly are would not be fulfilled.

“It’s my sanity,” said Andy Spencer of his music. Currently a member of the bluegrass group Redstone Ridge, he has been playing guitar and making music since he was 12 years old. But almost as long ago, he realized that making a living with music gigs was not necessarily realistic. Playing music is not always a paying proposition. “There is the cost of traveling to a gig, maybe staying somewhere, all of that. Once in awhile we might put some cash in our pockets, or break even, but there are times we actually take a loss to play,” Mr Spencer said. And that, he said, is okay. It is all about the music.

“I went to school to learn printing and worked at that for 20 years, and I worked at a machine tool company, too,” he said, neither of which he particularly loved. Now, he is the night supervisor and custodian at Sandy Hook Elementary School. “It’s nearby, it’s a good job, and it’s secure,” he explained. He can make a living, and the schedule allows him to pursue his music. Because he works evenings, he is able to spend two to three hours in the morning writing music and playing.

For it is Redstone Ridge that is near and dear to his heart. “I have a really good time with it. As soon as everyone tunes up and we get going, it’s magic,” said Mr Spencer. “I’d be lost without music.”

Another Sandy Hook School custodian who cleans the cobwebs from his head after hours by engaging the other side of his brain is Dennis Best. The head custodian at the school, he has dabbled in art since he was a child, and concentrates these days on multimedia art, watercolor painting, and a little sculpting on the side. He tries to spend at least one evening a week indulging his creative side, he said.

“It’s a good way to pass the time and wind down,” said Mr Best. “It’s a sense of satisfaction and it’s fun to do.”

“Music gives me a creative outlet and a chance to perform,” said Mat Kastner, who earns his living as an electrical design engineer for Canberra Industries. “I design electronic circuits and figure out how to hook them up to other things to do a particular job. My specialty is analog circuitry,” said Mr Kastner.

But when the workday is done, he jumps into another skin, playing six-string electric and an electrified National steel slide guitar for a jug band, The Bluelights.

“I started taking classical piano lessons when I was 6 or 7, then I learned guitar at summer camp when I was 10. Of course, guitar was more fun since I wasn’t forced to practice and I could play with friends,” Mr Kastner said. “Once [music] is in your blood, it’s hard to give it up. And playing with a group of musical friends at rehearsal or performing in front of an audience can be extremely stimulating.”

He takes both his engineering career and his music very seriously, resulting in what is sometimes a tricky dichotomy, said Mr Kastner. “Very few people are lucky enough to find a single career with a job they both are good at and find satisfying. The rest of us have to do a couple of things to make a living and satisfy both halves of our brain.”

Her co-workers at Tetley Tea in Shelton, where she is a controller, might be surprised to discover that Mary Andreotta moonlights as a musician.

Her love of music has been lifelong. “I started out majoring in music therapy, but I switched to accounting for practical purposes,” Ms Andreotta said. She did eventually return to school and receive a degree in music performance, but when it came time to pay the bills, “I got back into finance,” said Ms Andreotta.

Local music lovers might know Mary Andreotta as the director of the Newtown Choral Society and have probably heard her sing at one event or another in town. For a number of years, she taught piano and voice to area students, as well, and directed the Newtown Congregational Church choir.

With three children and a full-time job, her life is extremely busy, but directing the Choral Society and singing are ways to alleviate stress, she said. “Music helps me put the other job in perspective. It’s good to have something other than the 8 to 5 job stuff floating around in your head.”

Working with numbers puts money in the bank, but it is not as satisfying as planning musical programs and performing, said Ms Andreotta. “I enjoy relating to people and I get a lot of satisfaction teaching others about music. Music is just a part of who I am.”

Sympathetic Sensibilities

Other closet artists have found a way to meld their creative side with the work that they do “publicly.” Newtown builder Bill Weber sees his work as an extension of his creative side. “Building a room or an addition is really a form of creativity,” said Mr Weber. Even so, there is not enough release in building large projects, he said, so he paints and makes copper mobiles in his down time.

“I always have to be doing something creative,” he said. “My mind never stops. I wouldn’t be satisfied doing the same thing over and over.”

He would love to be able to turn the tables and make artwork his main source of income. “Making mobiles is certainly less physically abusive than building, for one thing,” he said. But ultimately, he realizes that painting and sculpting copper is a therapeutic outlet. “I have had people approach me who want me to make something and pay me for it, but then it becomes work and not a personal expression. It loses the point of doing art,” said Mr Weber.

What does a literature major with a minor in fine arts do with his degree? He buys a coffee house. Rob Kaiser is the owner of Mocha in Sandy Hook Center — where he can incorporate his love of art. A rotating show of area artists adorns the walls of the cozy coffee shop. “Part of having the coffeehouse is meeting new artists and putting together a show. I love to see how art affects people,” he said.

Mr Kaiser utilizes his own art skills to design the daily specials board and he created the graphics for the coffee board at Mocha. “There is always a longing for fine arts, though,” said Mr Kaiser, so in his free time he pursues watercolor painting, drawing, ceramics, and sculpting.

“Art is a playful and explorative process,” said Mr Kaiser. “For example, if we are at the beach, I will make a design in the sand using found materials. A lot of the sculpting I do is based on the same thing. You look at a piece of wood and see something in it.”

Foam sculpting has been an evolution of traditional forms, he said, and his large foam head sculptures have appeared in the annual Newtown Labor Day Parade and have been worn during the Main Street Halloween festivities.

“I started with making paper maché masks and such, but that has limitations. I got into soft sculpture next and then into the foam material,” Mr Kaiser said. Using a spray foam insulation that swells and hardens, he rough cuts the sculptures’ features and then goes back in with an angle grinder to carve out the details.

He does admit that foam head sculpting is not the escape that his other fine arts projects are, however. Because they are often driven by a holiday deadline, they do not provide the relaxation that painting or drawing can.

“I will always be able to create art and find art in everyday objects,” Mr Kaiser said, and it does offer relief from the pressures of being a business owner.

“Something I Do For Myself”

Randi Rote started out her college days pursuing an undergraduate degree in art therapy. “There weren’t too many jobs in that area when I graduated, though,” she said, so she returned to school and got an education degree. She is now a kindergarten teacher at Wesley Learning Center in Sandy Hook, and if you meet her that is one of the first things you learn about her.

While she was in college she took up oil painting, though, and she has not let her day job prevent her from continuing to paint whenever and wherever she can do so. “Painting is something I do for myself. It’s relaxing and I enjoy it,” said Ms Rote.

She takes art lessons once a week, and makes time to paint two or three other evenings a week. It does not distract from her time with family members, though, she said. While her family is involved in other activities around the house, Ms Rote will pull out the easel and work on a painting, staying close at hand but still focusing on what is important to her.

She has been able to incorporate her love for art into a six-week session that she teaches her kindergartners. “We learn about a different artist every day, and then the kids create a work in the style of that artist. That is my favorite part of the year. The children learn so much,” she said.

The sense of accomplishment and relaxation she finds in painting makes her a better teacher, as well, said Ms Rote. “You have to make time for yourself.”

Pushing a pencil, crunching numbers, working the assembly line, or offering advice eight to nine hours a day is a great way to earn a living; but tapping into the creative side, say hidden artists, makes the living you have earned a complete package.