Clay Works of Local Artist Mary Burk Smith in Cromwell Sat., 12/10

CROMWELL – Award-winning Wallingford Artist Mary Burk Smith will display clay work inspired by the Tyler Mill Preserve at the Cromwell Farmer’s Market and Craft Fair, Town Hall Gymnasium, 41 West St., Sat, Dec, 10, 9 a.m – 2 p.m.

Her Tyler Mill Collection” will feature a broad selection of clay work that includes bowls, plates, trays, and vessels inspired by Tyler Mills’ greenery. The collection is part of her “Connecticut Impressions” project that is tied in theme and substance to Connecticut’s parks and nature preserves.

A selection from her Hidden Valley Collection will be on display, as well as a miscellany of other Connecticut-related works.

The project began during the Covid pandemic in Connecticut. “To get fresh air and exercise, my husband and I began hiking in the state’s parks and nature preserves,” she said. “We visited places like the Mine Hill Preserve in Roxbury, The Steep Rock and Hidden Valley preserves in Washington Depot, as well as Tyler Mill.”

An artist who works in a variety of mediums, the Norwalk native saw in the greenery many artistic possibilities. “I became fascinated with this flora,” she said. “This translated itself into clay pieces featuring impressions of a wide variety of greenery, including its lines, shape, texture, color and natural design.”

She and her husband took many photos, measurements, and impressions, which she brought back to her Wallingford studio. There her She and her husband took many photos measurements and impressions which she brought back to her Wallingford studio There, her work began to take shape.

With more than 50 awards to her credit, she has been a member of the New Haven Paint & Clay Club; the Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts; Connecticut Women Artists; the Guilford Art League; and the Blue Ridge Mountain Art Association and Appalachian Art Guild, both of Blue Ridge, GA. In addition, she taught art courses at Southern Connecticut State University and Housatonic Community College.

Smith began her art studies at the Silvermine School of the Arts and Housatonic Community College. She went on to get her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in studio art from Southern. She also attended the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Gatlinburg, Tenn. Her works are held in public and private art collections in the United States, Japan, and the Philippines.