UPDATE (Monday, March 13, 2017): This feature has been updated to include the time of the opening reception on Sunday, March 19.

* * * * *

The next exhibition opening at Avancé Day Spa, "Art With A Heart: Nature's Glory ~ Equine Splendor," will celebrate the work of two local artists. Its opening reception, from 3 to 6 pm on March 19, will also honor Embrace Hope, a nonprofit Sandy Hook-based equine assisted therapy program.

"Nature's Glory ~ Equine Splendor" will be on view March 15 through May 7 at Avancé, located within The Villages at Lexington Gardens, 32 Church Hill Road. It will offer a dozen oil paintings of horses by Jeanne Eleck and approximately 50 photographs by Bill Glass.

Ms Eleck's paintings are from her series "Blue Rock and Spiral Rock."

"The paintings," she offered in her artist's statement about the collection, "are an ode to our ancient ancestors who so skillfully depicted the beauty of animals on cave walls. It is thought that the cave paintings were a place for sacred rituals.

"The spiral paintings were influenced by the spirals that have been graven on ancient rocks, one of the first complex symbols to be carved into stone," her statement continued.

Ms Eleck found great inspiration, she said this week, while reading some of the works by the late American mythologist Joseph Campbell.

"He had written something about our ancient ancestors, the cave art, particularly the cave in Lascaux, France, and those paintings are against a rock wall," she said March 6 when she, along with Mr Glass, curator Rosemary Rau, and Embrace Hope Executive Director Annette Sullivan sat down to discuss the upcoming exhibition.

"The artist would use the charcoal end of the stick to draw, and a lot of the rock would become the pelt of the animal," Ms Eleck noted. As she continues to look into cave art, she said, her works remain realistic, but also lean toward "the amazing thoughts the cave artists had on how light works.

"They used to have these little bowls that would have rendered fat in it, and it would light only about a ten-yard area," she explained. "So as you went in, you would focus on a certain area of the animals, a grouping, and the light would be flickering, so it was really kind of the early animation. It seemed to have some movement to it."

Her works for the Avancé Day Spa show celebrate and embrace that style.

"I focus on the light that falls on the animals' shiny coat as they move," she said. "I try to show movement not by the horse's legs, but by the position of the body of the horse, and the wind blowing its mane."

Ms Eleck works out of a studio in her Newtown home. She often takes advantage, she said, of her home's screen porch during the summer when it is warm enough to work outdoors. She uses oils on yupo paper, which she favors for its nonabsorbent surface.

"It's very slick, so you can pull back out highlights. The white of the paper is actually brighter than the white you can get from a tube of oil," she said.

All 12 of the works she will be showing at Avancé are new.

Bill Glass's photographs reflect two of the things he tries to include in his latest artistic endeavor.

"I am fascinated with light and color," the Newtown resident said this week, showing off just a few of the 50-plus photographs that will be included in "Nature's Glory ~ Equine Splendor." Dramatic sunsets, with skies filled with purples and red-oranges, and swirling, dramatic clouds fill a number of the frames in a collection Mr Glass previewed with

The Newtown Bee. Other works are equally strong, focusing on florals, a single animal, seascapes featuring piers, and even a few photos that include people.

Landscapes including scenes that are familiar on the national level - the Washington Monument in one image, The Tomb of the Unknowns in another - as well as very local views fill his portfolio. Views of Ram Pasture, a few of cows grazing at Ferris Farm, what appears to be one of the walking trails at Fairfield Hills, and the familiar view from Castle Hill looking toward the Main Street flagpole were also among the images Mr Glass previewed prior to the Avancé exhibition.

"I have lived in Newtown over 35 years, and love this town," Mr Glass said Monday afternoon. "Newtown is filled with so many rich things to see. You don't have to go too many places to get great photos."

One of his favorite parts of photography, he said, is waiting for just the right moment to capture an image. Pulling out a framed photo of a multicolored iris, he said, "This is an example of waiting for just the right moment.

"The light was shifting, I took this photo, and then the light was gone," he said.

Mr Glass's camera of choice is the one built into his iPhone 6.

"This makes it easy to be spontaneous," he said. "I see something coming, and I can get out of my car and wait for the light. I don't find myself bogged down with all kinds of equipment."

Mr Glass studied painting, drawing, and color theory, and painted for a number of years. He was a founding member of ArtPlace, an artist's cooperative and gallery in Southport; and was a member of Artists 12, an artists' cooperative studio space where he had his first painting studio.

While his artistic passion is now photography, Mr Glass's home studio still includes painting materials.

"I always still have a few works in progress," he said with a laugh.

Like Ms Eleck, the Glass works going on view next week have not been publicly displayed before. Having studied classical drawings and paintings in school (Mr Glass holds six university degrees, including ones in fine art and art education), the artist continues to see the world through his artistic eye.

He does not own a copy of Photoshop, the popular imaging and photo editing software, preferring instead to rely on what he can create without too much manipulation.

"I think that kind of takes away from photography," Mr Glass said, although he does use traditional steps including cropping, and the occasional filter. "With too much Photoshop, you're making photos, not taking them."

Art With A Heart Celebration

On Sunday, March 19, the formal opening reception for the exhibition will double as a fundraiser for Embrace Hope. Avancé Day Spa Owner Melanie Allen and Ms Rau have coordinated on previous exhibitions, with receptions that serve as fundraising efforts. Their most recent, in November 2016, supported Newtown's two food pantries. Previous efforts benefited The Newtown Fund and Newtown Woman's Club.

"Melanie and I try to give recognition to home-based nonprofits as our way to say thank you and show our pride for the goodness that is Newtown," Ms Rau told The Newtown Bee.

Based at Zoar Ridge Stables in Sandy Hook, Embrace Hope is a foundation that works with mental health professionals and equine specialists, and horses, to provide therapy for children. The therapists have a focus, says Executive Director Annette Sullivan, so that the activities put children at ease, and relax. Ms Sullivan also serves as program director and one of the equine specialists for Embrace Hope.

"They also help them modify their behavior," Ms Sullivan said March 6, "because horses are so sensitive to how people respond and react to them, that they can use that to help them relax and begin their healing process."

Embrace Hope, Ms Sullivan added, is not a mounted program.

"I always tell people it's play therapy with horses," she said. An equine specialist selects the correct horse and watches all safety issues. Two to three horses will be in an area, and then therapists will work one-on-one with a patient, she said.

Sponsors of the Avancé exhibition and partial sales of any work sold on March 19, along with a percentage of gift cards and spa services, will benefit Embrace Hope. Sponsors as of March 6 included Armando's Restaurant (Bethel), Barnwood Grill, Bountiful Board, Cafe Xpresso, Dental Associates, DOrazio Sisters Bakery, Chris Fairchild/Coldwell Banker Realty, Farmhouse Restaurant, Holzner Northeast Generator Company, the Kennedy family, Mesa General Contractors, Robert Morey/ReMax Realty, Newtown Savings Bank, Newtown United, the Rossi family, and Sal e Pepe Contemporary Italian Bistro.

Donations and proceeds from March 19 will benefit the farm and its maintenance, and sponsorship of the horses.

"A lot of our grants are focused to just pay for therapists," Ms Sullivan said.

The organization, she added, would like to expand the area of its patient coverage.

"A lot of funds are available" for children who were inside Sandy Hook Elementary School on 12/14, she said, "but children not in that school that day are not covered.

"Different funding is needed for other loss and trauma patients," she added. "Newtown is the primary focus, and our greatest concern is to help our community, but we also hope to start helping people outside town as well."

Avancé Day Spa, at 32 Church Hill Road, can be visited on Mondays between 10 am and 4 pm; Tuesday and Thursday, 11 am to 8 pm; Wednesday, 10 am to 6 pm; Friday, 9 am to 6 pm; and Saturday, 9 am to 5 pm. For additional information call 203-270-8911 or visit avanceesthetiques.com.

[mappress mapid="638"]