CLINTON---Friday, July 20, you may have seen a group of children walking down Main Street with their canvases and easels, heading west from Cindy Stevens Fine Art Studio to the Food For All Garden.
It was a perfect day - the air was cool, the sun bright, and the nasturtiums, zinnias and marigolds were in full force. Last week and this one, Cindy Stevens hosts a "Summer Art Camp" at her shop from 9:30 to 12:00 where the students are introduced to a variety of art projects. The camps are divided by age - last week and this will be for 4th graders and up.
"We walked over to the garden with our canvases to paint what we saw. Plein aire painting is what I love to do...the hardest part is narrowing down a beautiful scene onto a canvas. Kids walked around the garden and picked a spot that appealed to them," explained Cindy."I think they found it was challenging. We had kids painting sections of flowers, the birdbath, the barn in the back, and other views that interested them. We talked about painting perspective with the rows, and adding sunlight, as well as using the space on the canvas."
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The Food For All Garden, located behind the Holy Advent Church on Main Street, is a place of organized beauty and bounty this time of year - bean sprouts are just coming up, eggplants a deep purple, cabbages spreading, tomatoes ripening.
Summer is the perfect time to visit, paint, harvest, make friends and enjoy working for the community. Everything the garden produces is for the food pantry, and in the past five years the garden has produced over 32,000 lbs of tomatilloes, tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, herbs and on and on.
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Cindy Stevens hosts another session of the Art Camp for grades 4 and up on August 8 ,9 and 10 from 9:30 until noon - and spaces are open for that session. "I'm hoping to paint in the garden myself in the near future, and do a painting workshop there for adults one evening later in the summer or early fall," she said.
Cindy Stevens Fine Art is at 30 East Main St in Clinton. For more information on Kids Art call 860-304-1666 or check out the studio Facebook Page. Food For All Garden is behind 81 E.Main Street in Clinton. For more information visit on Food For All Garden visit the facebook page book page or drop by the garden on Wednesday or Saturday mornings to experience a garden community in action. [submitted by Carrie Allen]
