EarthWorks, An Exhibition at the Darien Nature Center

Featuring Artists Heidi Lewis Coleman, Lucy Krupenye and Nancy Woodward

By Carolee Ross

“EarthWorks” Opens on Sunday, April 22 at the Darien Nature Center

The opening reception will be held on Earth Day, Sunday, April 22 from 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. in the Nature Center’s  Wetherstone Gallery at 120 Brookside Road, Darien, Connecticut.

              The Darien Nature Center, a small, Fairfield County oasis that houses live animals including rabbits, turtles, screech owls, reptiles and prairie dogs also features the work of select area artists. For Earth Day, Curator Ann Hart of Stamford-based “annart” has partnered with three local artists to present “EarthWorks,” a serene exhibit that borders on visual poetry in an era when society needs the calm and contemplative peacefulness of artworks that are meditative in nature.

            Hart explains in her curatorial statement, “EarthWorks is a celebration of nature’s simplicities and complexities through the eyes of three remarkably insightful artists; Heidi Lewis Coleman, Lucy Krupenye and Nancy Woodward. Each pays homage to the beauty of the current, the remnants of the past and the wonder of the unknown future.”

Heidi Lewis Coleman Explores Language in Art

"DOGWOOD"

2011

Cut Stainless Steel

 

In her artist’s statement Coleman writes, “My work reflects an ongoing exploration into the aesthetics of using language in art. While most conceptual artists incorporate text into their work as a means of analyzing popular culture or for making political and social commentary, I am more intrigued with developing text as a visual design element. I am particularly inspired by Asian art and have studied the intricate calligraphy used to decorate ancient scrolls and screens. The columns of simple, yet elegant characters may express specific meanings, but a viewer is not required to understand that meaning in order to appreciate the grace and integrity of the artwork.”

Coleman’s work focuses on developing text as a visual design element. Her mixed media assemblage pieces and steel sculptures incorporate her own abstract writing which is an invented, rhythmic language that she develops intuitively. Most of the artist’s assemblages are created using Thai papers which incorporate embedded bits of wood, leaves, petals and stems.

“For me, the languages have an ancient, almost mystical quality. I believe that because my artwork communicates in the abstract, individual viewers are not forced to translate it specifically, allowing them to “feel” the energy of each piece and to take away their own unique messages on a subconscious level, Coleman explains.

            Heidi Lewis Coleman studied at Parsons and the New York School of Design in New York City. She is a juried member of the National Association of Women Artists and the Silvermine Guild of Artists and is represented by Reynolds Fine Art in New Haven, Connecticut.

Lucy Krupenye Creates Wall Hanging Assemblages of Found Objects

Lucy at a former show at The Carriage Barn Arts Center with (from left)
"Ceremonial Totem", "Sea Creature", "Balance" and "Zen Shelter"

Krupenye believes that her sculptures are a reflection of her soul and she strives to create works of beauty, peace and tranquility in a world that is often surrounded by violence and hatred. Her work can be described as organic and Zen in feeling and are inspired by nature, music and the bits and pieces of the world around her, including stone, wood, metal and bone. She looks for treasures in the discarded pieces she finds in her Connecticut environment and searches for harmony in their creation.

Lucy Krupenye, who has her studio in Wilton, Connecticut, has been the featured artist in many magazines and newspapers, on the cable television program, Miggs B and her work was included in the book “The Art of the Birdhouse: Portraits of Artists and Their Creations. She has exhibited in galleries and museums in the Northeast including The Hammond Museum, The Stamford Museum, and The Silvermine Guild Arts Center and has won awards for her sculptures in juried exhibitions.

Nancy Woodward, A Photographic Artist Who Transforms Views of the Natural World

            Woodward's images result from her “hearing the calling to go further into the woods, to patiently wait for the sun and the clouds to illuminate the trees,” that she photographs, and then transforms into what she calls a “spiritual thank you.”

              She is a Norwalk native who works out of her Silvermine, New Canaan studio, where the digital darkroom, she says, "affords me the resources to coax out even the faintest of shadows and ethereal landscapes". Woodward is a regular exhibitor at Southport's "Rooms with a View." For the last six years, she has been an Artist in Residence at Silver Lake Conference Center in Sharon, Connecticut and is a member of the Ridgefield Guild of Artists.

EarthWorks, featuring artists Heidi Lewis Coleman, Lucy Krupenye and Nancy Woodward continues through June 8th.

Nature Center Hours:

Weekdays 9-4

Saturday 9-12

120 Brookside Road, Darien Ct 06820

203-655-7459

www.dariennaturecenter.org

           

Tito Puente, El Rey del Mambo by Carolee Ross

Recently I received a pleasant surprise. I saw that the United States Post Office had issued a commemorative set of stamps titled "Latin Music Legends," honoring Tito Puente, Carmen Miranda, Selena, Carlos Gardel and Celia Cruz. I went home and searched for the memorial I had written about my friend, Tito Puente, the year that he passed, June of 2000. This is from the archives of The Advocate/Greenwich Time, of the Times-Mirror newspapers and was originally printed on June 11, 2000. Following is the original article:

Tito Puente playing his beloved timbales

Tito Puente, el Rey del Mambo, The King of Latin Music, the consummate showman, the man who never forgot his Spanish Harlem beginnings is gone.

He was The Man, way before Carlos Santana, Ricky Martin and Marc Anthony appeared on the music scene. He played for presidents and with jazz greats such as Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, George Shearing, Cubana songstress Celia Cruz and pop singers such as Tony Bennett.

Tito Puente, playing at the Palladium Ballroom in the 1950's

It's hard to believe that it is 40 years since I first saw him play at the Palladium Ballroom in New York City. Mambo was the rage of the time, with crowds flocking from everywhere to hear the music and see dance master "Killer Joe" Piro teach the latest steps. Jazz stars from Birdland, the club just down the street from the Palladium, came by to groove and dance. Greats such as Charlie Parker, Max Roach and Gillespie stayed to watch Tito incorporate jazz harmonics into his music, producing the Latin jazz or "salsa" for which he was famed. The 1992 movie, "The Mambo Kings, paid tribute to the era, when people danced through the night as Puente clowned and beat his timbales.

For anyone who ever saw Puente perform, it seems inconceivable that this vibrant whirlwind of a man with the dazzling smile, the wild sock of curly white hair, the magic, rapidly flying hands and the impish grin could be gone. It is quite an achievement in an age of rapidly changing musical trends that his genius has endured for more than six decades. For those who mourn his passing, his music will never die.

Tito Puente in "The Mambo Kings"

The man nicknamed "Tito" was honored with the keys to the cities of Los Angeles, Miami, Boston and Hartford, received New York's Bronze Medallion and won an Eubie Award for lifetime achievement in the recording industry. He served as Grand Marshall of New York City's Puerto Rican Parade and in 1990, he received a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame. A five-time Grammy winner, he received an honorary degree from Columba University. Puente penned "Oye Como Va"  in 1963, which 12 years later would be a hit for Santana. During his lifetime, Puente recorded more than 100 albums.

In 1993, I had the privilege of interviewing Tito before his concert at the Stamford Palace and in September 1999, I watched him memerize an audience at Norwalk's Oyster Festival, as he gave encore after encore to a cheering crowd. When Puente asked how many Latinos were in the audience, there was a universal handraising. That night, everyone was Latino.

How It All Began

When Ercilia Ortiz Puente enrolled her seven year old son, Anthony "Ernestito" in the nearby branch of the New York School of Music at 125th Street and Lenox Avenue, she never dreamed the boy would one day be hailed worldwide as "El Rey," The King of Latin Music.

Born shortly after his parents arrived in Spanish Harlem from Guanadillas, Puerto Rico, Tito grew up in the jumping, jiving era of swing music, listening to Duke Ellington, Artie Shaw and Benny Goodman. Surrounded by the richly diverse Caribbean street rhythyms played by the street bands of "El Barrio," he was also influeced by the new music coming out of Cuba.

When Ercilia Puente observed her first-born's passionate obsession with Gene Krupa, she managed to quietly slip a quarter from her sleeping husband's pants pockets for the boy's weekly music lessons. Tito would later win a drum contest, playing Krupa's solo, "Sing, Sing, Sing," his keen ear remembering the riffs. Young Tito rewarded his mother by giving her a personal nightly concert, playing classical, pop and Latin songs. During our interview, Puente reminisced about his childhood and his mother's encouragement. "One of my earliest memories is played the Puerto Rican dana "Mis Amores (My Loves) for my mother," he said. "She loved when I would play that."

Although his mother had signed him up for drum lessons, it was on the streets that he learned to play mracas, cowbells, claves, shakers and bongos. "Percussion is the heart of it all," he said. "Your heart pumps like the claves. It's what's inside you, keeping you alive. It's the sound which has roots in Afro-Cuban musi and the heart and soul of my music."

Puente was a seasoned performer before he waws 12, playng with society bands as well as local Latin bands. His muical versatility landed him his first professional engagement at age 13, when he sat in as substitute in the Noro Morales orchester. The place was the famed Stork Club, then the home of New York cafe society.

The Rest is Musical History

In his early teens, Puente got permission from his father, Ernesto Sr., a factory foreman, to play a 12-week engagement with a sextet in Miami. After returning to New York, Puente became a regular for the Machito Orchestra where he made musical history as the first performer to play timbales standing up.

Tito Puentes' Timbales, now on display at the Smithsonian Museum

"In the old days, in jazz orchestras, the prcussionists were in the back. In the front line were the saxophones, the trumpets, the trombones," Puente recalled. "Part of my job was to give the cues to he trumpet players. They aways had to turn back to look for the cue. Then, Jimmy Fiaua, ho was the band's sax player and my right-hand man for over 40 years, said, 'Tito, why don't you stand up in front -- it will be easier to give the cues" And from then on, it was the rhythym section up front, the congas, the bongos, the cowbells, the claves and the timbales. And a little showmanship on top of it doesn't exactly hurt," he added. "I try to send out good vibration to the public -- they feel it and it makes them enjoy the music more. I don't have a beautiful woman in front of the orchestra and I'm not Ricky Martin, waving my hips and showing my belly button. I need the people to see I'm having a good time."

In 1949, after he graduated from The Juilliard School of Music, taking advantage of the G.I. Bill (he served a stint in the Navy) Puente formed his ow group, "The Picadilly Boys, and started playng regularly at the Palladium Ballroom, a New York dance club on 52nd Street.

"The place was a melting pot," remembered Puente. "Jews, Italian, Irish, African Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, you name it. Everyone was equal. They were there to dig the music and dance."

In honor of his early nurturing, Puente established the Tito Puente Scholarship fnd in 1981, giving grants to musically gifted youngters in the Latin community. To date more than 200 grants have been awarded. During our talk, he urged young musicians to "stay cool," and finish their educations, advising that above all, they should stay away from drugs.

"You need to keep yourself centered so that you can use your creativity to the fullest," he said. "Keep vibrant, keep experimenting. We need new arrangers, composers, instrumentalists. Study your craft so when you are called upon to work, you are prepared to be your best."

Asked what he wanted as his obituary, Puente laughed and said, "Maybe just put a pair of timbales on my grave."