Jeff Pitchell is an internationally-acclaimed, award-winning singer, songwriter, guitarist, who reminds fans of Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix, BB King, etc., but most of all, is a top drawing, best selling artist whose explosive guitar playing and impassioned vocals have drawn rave reviews from fans and critics alike for simply playing music that Jeff himself has written!

Jeff has just returned from Europe, where he had an extremely successful trip. Jeff and Texas Flood are top-notch musicians and singers who unite to bring a high energy mix of Rhythm and Blues, Rock, Soul and Funky Texas Blues. Jeff has recorded with such greats as Rick Derringer, Dave Mason, James Cotton, and Clarence Clemons and guitar "dueled" with Kenny Wayne Shepard, Rick Derringer, and Dickey Betts of the Allman Brothers (see "live" on Jeff's website or youtube) and has toured, as an invited guest with The Commitments.

November 16 – December 23, 2008            Craft USA celebrates craft as art.  It is recognized as an exhibit of merit where original works of art made by hand are showcased.  This is the sixth year of the juried craft triennial competition/exhibition.  The competition draws over 1000 entries and over 400 artists from coast to coast working in various mediums such as ceramics, fiber, glass, jewelry, metal, paper, wood, basketry and mixed media.   This year’s juror is Gretchen Keyworth, Director of the Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton, MA.  A notable figure in the world of contemporary craft, she has extensive experience in curating and advising prominent craft shows.  The Fuller Craft Museum underwent a re-branding in 2004/05 to become the preeminent craft museum in New England.  The museum has recently exhibited Joan Morris, Thomas Mann, Megumi Naitoh, Carter Smith, and Alan Klein.  Ms. Keyworth has independently curated many craft exhibitions such as GlassForms, Charles Kaziun Early Works and Traditional Paperweights.  In 2005, Ms. Keyworth was named one of ten people to watch in American Craft by The Crafts Report. GALLERY HOURS: Tuesday – Saturday: 11 am – 5 pm; Sunday: 1 – 5 pm.

Playhouse on the Green Presents:
The Santaland Diaries and Season's Greetings

by David Sedaris, adapted for the stage by Joe Mantello

Two irreverent one-act plays by the NPR humorist are the perfect antidote to the commercialism of the holiday season.

Performance dates: Friday 12/5 at 8 p.m.; Saturday 12/6 at 8 p.m.; Sunday 12/7 at 3 p.m.; Friday 12/12 at 8 p.m.; Saturday 12/13 at 8 p.m.; Sunday 12/14 at 3 p.m.; Thursday 12/18 at 8 p.m.; Friday 12/19 at 8 p.m.; Saturday 12/20 at 8 p.m.; Sunday 12/21 at 3 p.m.

Tickets $27. Playhouse on the Green, 177 State St., Bridgeport. Free parking available. Box office: 860-811-4111 or purchase online: www.playhouseonthegreen.org

Westport Arts Center presents:
c2 = (CP + CL): Creative Connections = Creative Process + Learning Process

Friday, Dec. 5 - Jan. 11

Friday, Dec. 5, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. for Opening Reception

WAC Gallery

Curated by WAC's Education Manager, Danielle Cavanna, featuring Westport Arts Center's teaching artists, who have made signifigant contributions to our Connections program. The works that will be selected will directly relate to each teaching artist's work as an educator. For more information visit www.westportartscenter.org.

For more information, contact WAC at 203-222-7070, www.westportartscenter.org, or visit the gallery, M-F 10-4; Sat/Sun 12-4 at 51 Riverside Ave., Westport.

Artistry on the Shoreline Holiday Sale

October 20 - January 11, 2009

Visit our website at www.guilfordartcenter.org.

Now through Dec. 14 -

Holidaze: The Real Story of Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas

Special exhibit at the Henry Whitfield State Museum

Learn why the Puritans did not celebrate Christmas, the myths behind the First Thanksgiving, and how All Hallow's Eve became a night of costumes and candy. The exhibit is available for viewing during regular museum hours and is included with museum admission.

Woodbury painter Matt Wood returns to nature’s essence
in “Pentimento” exhibition at Good News Cafe & Gallery

Woodbury artist Matt Wood returns to the essence of the subjects he paints from the natural world in his new exhibition titled “Pentimento,” showing through Jan. 5, 2009, at the Good News Cafe and Gallery, 694 Main Street South, Woodbury.

A native of southern California, Wood began his artistic odyssey with painting studies at the University of Iowa influenced by the work of Mauricio Lasansky. Wood notes that his own Polish and Russian heritage, and his marriage to Polish native Joanna Czaderna, have established a natural affinity for Lasansky’s passionate approach to the creative process that seeks to use art as a means to raise personal awareness.

Good News Cafe & Gallery is open from 11:30 am to 10 pm daily; closed Tuesdays.
 

The Connecticut Plein Air Painters Society presents its annual members exhibition at Hartford Fine Art, 80 Pitkin Street, East Hartford, beginning with the opening reception and awards presentation on Friday November 7, 2008 from 6-8 pm. This year's juror is David Dunlop, well-known to CPTV viewers for his thirteen-episode series Landscapes Through Time With David Dunlop, which debuted this year to rave reviews. His careful selection of 72 works in oil, watercolor, pastel and acrylic makes this the most exciting show ever for this talented group of artists. The public is cordially invited to the opening reception to share insights and a glass of wine with many member artists. All works will be for sale and a drawing will be held for one lucky guest to win an original painting by a member artist. The exhibit will continue through January 31, 2009. Please go to www.hartfordfineart.com for gallery hours and directions.

In conjunction with the annual exhibit, the Gallery will host a series of artist demonstrations and panel discussions on selected Saturdays in November and December, including a hands-on demo by David Dunlop himself on December 6 from 11-1. This is an opportunity for artists and art lovers alike to gain insights from several artists into the painting process. For a complete schedule of events, please go to www.cpaps.org.

On Friday, December 5, New Haven's Firehouse 12 will present the penultimate event of its 2008 Fall Jazz Series, a two-set performance by The Flatlands Collective.  The group, which will be touring the Northeast in November in support of its new CD, Maatjes (Clean Feed Records), pairs Boston-based, Dutch-born saxophonist/composer Jorrit Dijkstra with five of the most respected names from Chicago's celebrated creative music scene, James Falzone (clarinet), Jeb Bishop (trombone), Fred Lonberg-Holm (cello and analog electronics), Jason Roebke (bass) and Frank Rosaly (drums). 

Critics have called the band's music "infectious" (David Kane, Cadence) and "the perfect fusion of composition and improvisation" (Will Stewart, Ann Arbor News), noting its combination of "the intellectual firepower of the Dutch free-jazz scene with the instrumental virtuosity of some of Chicago's most accomplished creative improvisers" (Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune).  "Dijkstra hears the stylistic diversity within the networks that link his cohorts, and gives it space not just to breathe, but also occasionally to snort, howl and laugh riotously," writes DownBeat's Bill Shoemaker. "The music has a discernible Dutch tinge, which is alternately audacious and austere." 

The Flatlands Collective takes its name from the geographic characteristic shared by both Chicago and Dijkstra's hometown of Amsterdam, but Time Out Chicago argues, "In truth, the music of this group is as dynamic as downtown San Francisco, with bustling melodies and grooves built of rangy swing and dub-inspired meditations."  The ensemble works within the framework of Dijkstra's eclectic compositions, with the musicians' improvisations blending Chicago-style free jazz, texture-based minimalism and melodic layering to create a distinctive sound that is further defined by Dijkstra's lyricon (a vintage analog synthesizer) and Lonberg-Holm's amplified cello.  Maatjes is the follow-up to the band's 2006 debut, Gnomade (Skycap Records).  Learn more at http://www.jorritdijkstra.com/flatlands.html 

Art Exhibition Reception and Musical Performance

Tuesday, November 18th 5 – 7pm
Free and open to the public

Clare Gallery is pleased to present Completing the Journey: The Art of Hospice Care,an extraordinary and powerful multi-media exhibition depicting the use of the arts in hospice care. Artists participating in this exhibition are constituents of The Complementary Therapy Team, a Connecticut VNA Partners organization. Along with the artists, professional musicians from The Complementary Therapy Team will perform original music during the reception.

Along with this exhibition there are also other programs that might be of interest to people dealing with loss. The first program, sponsored by the ministries of Women of Hope and Bereavement from the Franciscan Center for Urban Ministry, is “Grief – Shattered and Mended: How Hopeful Women Survive” on November 12th from 5 to 9 pm. This Twilight Retreat includes dinner, a discussion on how women deal with grief, and a hands-on project. The cost is $15.00. The second program, sponsored by several Ministries of Pastoral Care is a “Service of Remembrance” on November 25th from 7-8 pm. If one would like more information on either of these programs, please call the Urban Center at 860-756-4034.

Free parking in Saints Lot across the street. Please bring ticket for validation.

So you think you know the whole story of Ebenezer Scrooge and his late partner, Jacob Marley?  Then you haven’t seen Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol, playing November 14 through December 13 at Hole in the Wall Theater in New Britain. 

In Tom Mula's funny, irreverent spin on the Christmas classic, Jacob Marley sets out to redeem Ebenezer Scrooge's soul and, in the process, save his own.  Accompanied by a jaunty Hell-sprite called a “Bogle,” Marley embarks on a journey filled with laughter, terror, the power of redemption, and the promise of second chances.  Four actors play multiple roles in this highly theatrical holiday entertainment.  Dennis Hull directs. 

Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol runs Fridays and Saturdays, November 14 through December 13, at 8:00 p.m. and Sundays, November 23 and December 7, at 2:00 p.m. at Hole in the Wall Theater, 116 Main Street, New Britain.  Admission is a $20.00 suggested donation.  Seating is limited, so please call (860) 229-3049 for reservations.  For more information, visit www.hitw.org.

Jennifer Jane Gallery has organized an art exposition with a cooperative of local artists in New Haven.

The best place around this holiday season to buy handmade, original gifts.

Original photography, paintings, stained glass, giclees, watercolors, jewlery, etc.

Located at ArLoW

838 Whalley Ave.

The Westville Arts District

New Haven, CT 06515

Hours: Wed - Sat, 12 - 6 p.m.; Sun 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.

www.GroupX20.com

ART@jenniferjanegallery.com

Connecticut high school students are challenged to write mainstream, mystery or fantasy fiction from source photography for the $1000 Grand Prize and publication with your byline in our e-magazine: Cum Laude, The Scholarly Evening Post. GOOGLE: stellar scholars aurora awards