June Gallery Exhibit

Featuring works by Muffy Kashkin Grollier

Author, Artist & Dollmaker 

June 16 – July 17, 2022

Gallery Opening
5 – 6 p.m.
June 16th

Muffy has been an artist all her life. She began oil panting around age two.

“My mother would lie down on her bed with me at nap time. Often, I would sit and babble while my mother napped. One day as my mother slept, I explored her nightstand. To my delight I found a tube of black paint. I painted the bed, the pillows, and blankets and of course, my mother! 

My mother was a talented artist and my most supportive mentor and teacher.” – Muffy KG

After attending the University of Hartford Art School and Massachusetts College of Art, Muffy Continued her artistic studies independently. She has taken classes and workshops with a variety of artists to study felting, pastels, watercolors, doll-making and mixed media art. Incorporating different techniques and materials, she experiments to achieve different effects.

Over ten years ago, Muffy began felting three-dimensional characters. She then evolved to two-dimensional artwork, discovering the joys of “painting with wool”. The techniques she learned with watercolor and pastel made her paintings come to life, adding character to the animals and depth to her colors.

Photographing flowers, trees and animals, each piece is created using her own images for reference. One painting can take weeks to make as Muffy felts inspiration into every piece primarily using a single felting needle. “To create art from the wool fibers of an animal with a little barbed needle is magical”. – Muffy KG

Muffy is a contributor in the book “Worldwide Colours of Felt”, by Ellen Bakker

“I like the textural feel of fiber; it’s like the living spirit of the sheep is in the fiber and helps to bring the painting alive. Similar to pastels, you layer color over color so that when you needle them in, the color underneath enriches the color on top. It is a length process, almost like meditation when I am working on a piece.” – Muffy KG

Muffy is the author of “Gregory, Gregory Hates His Food”, a children’s book she illustrated in felt. This delightful story will take you through Gregory’s dislike of a variety of food until the day he decides to eat.

Muffy’s mother was an avid collector of dolls. “I couldn’t afford to buy dolls, so I started making them.” Muffy began making apple-head dolls and was known internationally for her unique dolls. She was featured in “Crafts of America” by Constance Stapleton: A Guide to the Finest Traditional Crafts Made in the United States.  Because of the impermanence of the apple faces Muffy changed to clays and needle felting. She enjoys making fantasy characters and healing art dolls.

Muffy continues to play with a variety of mediums but specializes in needle felting.

Muffy lives in Vermont with her husband, a French chef, two Golden Retrievers, a cat, geese and chickens. They have a large old farmhouse, with vegetable, herb, and flower gardens. 

July Gallery Exhibit

The Vermont Pastel Society

Featuring a number of talented local artists

July 20 – August 15, 2022

Gallery Opening

5 – 6 p.m.

July 20th

Vermont Pastel Society (VPS) promotes the beauty of pastel painting and the growth of artist members through many different venues. The Exhibition Committee works on organizing two Vermont exhibits per year. The Workshop Committee organizes events of varying duration with teachers of national and regional renown. Not only do you have all the statewide benefits of VPS, you also have the opportunity to belong to a Regional Hub near you where friendships, connections and small group activities occur on a regular basis. General membership meetings are held once a year to discuss VPS organizational matters and typically include demonstrations, career development presentations, exhibit-related activities and guest speakers. VPS also strives to notify the membership of pastel painting happenings through email, web site links and Facebook postings.

About The Vermont Pastel Society

The Vermont Pastel Society (VPS) is an all-volunteer organization founded in 1999. The purpose of VPS is to build and strengthen connections among pastel artists. VPS has about 100 members and is open to all levels of pastel artists. Artists using both oil and soft pastels are welcome to join.

For more information on the Vermont Pastel Society, please visit https://vermontpastelsociety.com/