Change doesn't have to be hard, here are 10 steps to help make it easier.
1. Begin by making small changes or break up large-scale changes into more manageable increments. This can make you feel better about handling the changes you are about to make while making you more comfortable with change in general.
2. Mentally link changes to established daily rituals. This can make changes like taking on a new habit, starting a new job, or adapting to a new home happen much more smoothly. For example, if you want to begin meditating at home, try weaving it into your morning routine.
3. Going with the flow can help you accept change instead of resisting it. If you stay flexible, you will be able to ride out change without too much turbulence.
4. When a change feels most stressful, relief can often be found in finding the good that it brings. An illness, a financial loss, or a broken relationship can seem like the end of the world, yet they also can be blessings in disguise.
5. Remember that all change involves a degree of learning. If you find change particularly stressful, try to keep in mind that after this period of transformation has passed, you will be a wiser person for it.
6. Remember that upheaval and confusion are often natural parts of change. While we can anticipate certain elements that a change might bring, it is impossible to know everything that will happen in advance. Be prepared for unexpected surprises, and the winds of change won't easily knock you over.
7. Don't feel like you have to cope with changing circumstances or the stress of making a change on your own. Talk about what's going on for you with a friend or write about it in a journal. Sharing your feelings can give you a sense of relief while helping you find the strength to carry on.
8. Give yourself time to accept any changes that you face. And as change happens, recognize that you may need time to adjust to your new situation. Allow yourself a period of time to reconcile your feelings. This can make big changes feel less extreme.
9. No matter how large or difficult a change is, you will eventually adapt to these new circumstances. Remember that regardless of how great the change, all the new that it brings will eventually weave itself into the right places in your life.
10. If you're trying to change a pattern of behavior or navigate your way through a life change, don't assume that it has to be easy. Wanting to cry or being moody during a period of change is natural. Then again, don't assume that making a change needs to be hard. Sometimes, changes are meant to be that easy.
A bunch of weak people, even in numbers, aren't strong. Get a whole bunch of confused people together and see how much clarity comes out of it. In other words, you just can't add one more confused person to the pot, and expect to get any more clarity… One—standing outside of the confused group—who is clear, is more powerful than a million who are confused.
On 23 August 2019, science lost one of its great minds: Paul Michel Georges Remi Vanhoutte, born on 26 November 1940 in Merelbeke near Ghent in Belgium, unexpectedly died in Paris after he had suffered a fall 10 days earlier. He was 'one of the fathers of vascular biology' (Heistad, ) who contributed to and shaped our understanding of how vascular endothelial cells regulate blood flow under physiological conditions and in disease.
The early years
Dr Vanhoutte, or Paul (as he asked everybody to call him, regardless of age or position), was born at the time of the German occupation of his country during World War II and grew up in a family with several siblings. He attended a Jesuit school, developing a keen interest in humanities and classics, before becoming a Candidate in Natural Sciences in 1961 (equivalent to BS) and a Doctor in Medicine, Surgery and Obstetrics in 1965 (equivalent to MD) at the University of Ghent. After completing a Licentiate in Physical Education (equivalent to MS) in 1970 in Ghent, Dr Vanhoutte obtained the Aggregatie Hoger Onderwijs (Aggregation in Higher Education, equivalent fo habilitation/PhD degree) at the University of Antwerp in 1973. Dr Vanhoutte discovered his passion for science early, a love affair that would last more than half a century until his untimely death. From 1961, as third year medical student, he worked as student‐assistant in the laboratory of physiologist Dr Isidor Roger Leusen (1923–2010) in Ghent studying venous reactivity and cardiovascular adaptation to exercise, and continued to work with him after graduating until 1968.
Genuine curiosity certainly was one of Dr Vanhoutte's most significant traits; many of his groundbreaking discoveries initially challenged but subsequently revolutionized the understanding of the regulation of blood flow and the way that diseases affect cardiovascular function. Dr Vanhoutte was instrumental in shaping our view that endothelial cells are much more than a simple inner lining of arterial and venous blood vessels. Dr Vanhoutte's decision early in his career to follow his calling for science and knowledge (Wetenschap, the Flemish word for science, literally means 'knowledge creation') was his gift to medicine and science equally, as well as to those who had the chance to learn from and work with him. He called those who trained with him as his 'scientific children', those who trained with his pupils, his 'scientific grandchildren', and those, who trained with his scientific grandchildren his 'scientific great‐grandchildren' (Vanhoutte, ). Indeed, science was Dr Vanhoutte's second family and his intellectual home. It was impossible to separate him from what he loved, and he showed the way to several generations of young scientists who continued the way that Dr Vanhoutte and others had started.
Studying vasodilatation and the endothelium
Following postdoctoral studies in Ghent with Dr Leusen, Dr Vanhoutte in 1968 moved to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, USA, working under the mentorship of Irish‐born physiologist Dr John T. Shepherd (1919–2011) (Vanhoutte & Shepherd, ; Joyner, ; Vanhoutte et al. ). After returning to Ghent in 1969, he accepted a position as Assistant Professor at the Mayo Clinic in 1972 (Fig. 1). In 1973, he moved again back to Belgium to become Head of the Laboratory of Physiopathology at the Department of Medicine to the University of Antwerp where he was promoted to Professor of Pharmacology and Physiology in 1975.
Already at that time, Dr Vanhoutte had developed an interest in the relaxation of blood vessels: intrigued by observations published in 1962 by Dr Roger Jelliffe (born 1929) (Jelliffe, ; Barton, ), Dr Vanhoutte began his own investigations, in 1971, of the mechanisms underlying the relaxing effect of ACh on the vascular wall (Vanhoutte & Shepherd, ; Vanhoutte, ). In the spring of 1977, together with his mentor Leusen, Dr Vanhoutte organized a meeting in Wilrijk, Antwerp, entitled 'Mechanisms of Vasodilatation' (MOVD) as a satellite symposium to the 27th International Congress of Physiological Sciences in Paris (Vanhoutte & Leusen, ) – one year before Dr Robert F. Furchgott (1916‐2009) began to study the mechanisms of ACh‐induced vasodilatation after an accidental finding made in May 1978 as a result of an error made by a technician (Furchgott, ). In the same year, expanding on his initial observations that ACh induces relaxation (Vanhoutte, ), Dr Vanhoutte and Jo De Mey reported that relaxation to ACh was oxygen‐dependent (De Mey & Vanhoutte, ), which later would be shown to be the case for the enzymes producing nitrogen monoxide (or nitric oxide, NO), the NO synthases (Vanhoutte et al. ). At the Fall Meeting of the American Society of Pharmacology and Therapeutics (ASPET), held 17–21 August 1980 at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, both Dr Vanhoutte and Dr Furchgott independently presented abstracts reporting endothelium‐dependent relaxation of arterial blood vessels (De Mey & Vanhoutte, ; Furchgott & Zawadzki, ) when Dr Furchgott had just submitted a manuscript to Nature (Furchgott & Zawadzki, ). More than 1 month before Dr Furchgott's article appeared in print, Dr Vanhoutte and Dr. Jo De Mey had submitted their manuscript to the Journal of Physiology. However, the review process took time and the paper was not published until July 1981 (Fig. 2) (De Mey & Vanhoutte, ). Despite the fact that they both had been involved in the discovery of endothelium‐dependent relaxation, Dr Vanhoutte always credited Dr Furchgott, reflecting both his humility and his admiration for Dr Furchgott, who had become a close friend (Furchgott & Vanhoutte, ; Vanhoutte, , ).
Dr Vanhoutte again returned to the Mayo Clinic in 1981 as Professor of Physiology and Pharmacology. The years in Antwerp and in Rochester became the most fruitful in Dr Vanhoutte's career. He discovered that, in addition to its vasorelaxant properties, endothelium also mediates vasoconstrictor effects, given that removal of endothelium decreases the contractile effect of anoxia in both arteries and veins; Dr Vanhoutte and Dr De Mey (who began working with Dr Vanhoutte as a master's student on August 26, 1976 at 4:30 pm) reported their findings in manuscripts submitted in 1981 (Fig. 2) (De Mey & Vanhoutte, ) and in 1982 (De Mey & Vanhoutte, ; Barton, ). Subsequent studies in his and other laboratories eventually led to the identification of a number of endothelium‐derived vasoconstrictor agents, including thromboxane A2 and other arachidonic acid‐derived prostanoids, superoxide anions and endothelin (Hickey et al. ; Rubanyi & Vanhoutte, , ; Yanagisawa et al. ; Vanhoutte & Tang, ; Rubanyi, ; Vanhoutte, ; Vanhoutte, ; De Mey & Vanhoutte, ). In this regard, in his lecture on May 21 at the MOVD/EDH 2019 Symposium held last May in Rotterdam entitled 'NO, from good to bad', a title he coincidentally chose for one of his last papers (Vanhoutte, ) that sadly turned out to be his swan song, he hinted that enhanced vascular contraction following hypoxia also involves endothelial NO, which, instead of being a vasodilator acting via soluble guanylyl cyclase to produce guanosine‐3',5'‐cyclic monophosphate (cGMP), becomes a vasoconstrictor by stimulating biased activity of the enzyme, resulting in the generation of inosin‐3'‐5' monophosphate (cIMP) (Vanhoutte et al. ; Vanhoutte, ). Finally, together with Dr Michel Feletou, Dr Vanhoutte first demonstrated that factors different from NO are involved in endothelium‐dependent vasorelaxation, in a manuscript that he submitted in April 1987, by showing that NO‐independent endothelium‐dependent relaxation can be mediated by hyperpolarization of vascular smooth muscle cells (Feletou & Vanhoutte, ). A number of endothelium‐derived hyperpolarizing factors have subsequently been identified, including cytochrome P450 metabolites, epoxyeicosatrienoic acids, potassium, H2O2, and endothelial gap junctions (Garland et al. ; Feletou & Vanhoutte, ).
Figure 1
Dr Paul Vanhoutte in 1973 when he was Assistant Professor at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.
Figure 2
The figure legends below are those used by Drs De Mey and Vanhoutte in the original publications. The data shown on the left, showing endothelium-dependent relaxation, were submitted for publication in October 1980 (De Mey & Vanhoutte,) and those on the right, showing endothelium‐dependent contraction, in December 1981 (De Mey & Vanhoutte, )
Left: Inset: isometric tension recording in an isolated canine femoral artery with endothelium intact. Effect of ACh during response to exogenous adrenaline. Graph: comparison of the relaxing properties of increasing concentrations of ACh in paired rings of the same arteries (n = 6) with (●) or without (○) endothelium. The relaxations are expressed as percent depression after control response to 10−7m noradrenaline (mean increase in tension, respectively) and shown as means ± S.E. means. Right: Representative experiment showing the effect of incubation and glucose‐free solution on the response to 10−7m noradrenaline (NA) with superimposed anoxia (N2) and rings with (A) and without (B) endothelium from the same canine femoral artery.
In 1989, Dr Vanhoutte moved to the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX, USA, as Professor of Medicine, Pharmacology and Physiology and Director of the Centre for Experimental Therapeutics. He returned to Europe in 1992, accepting a position as Vice‐President Research and Development at the Institut de Recherches Internationales Servier in Paris, France, the city that he made his home for the rest of his life (Fig. 3). His energy and passion for his work induced him to escape a compulsory retirement in 2002, and so, in 2003, he moved to the University of Hong Kong as Distinguished Visiting Professor and Director of the Biopharmaceutical Development Centre. In 2006, he became the Head of the Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacy at the University of Hong Kong and, from 2015, he was permanent Visiting Professor at the same institution. Concurrently, he held multiple adjunct or visiting appointments at universities in many countries, including Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, Korea, Switzerland and the USA in an endless effort to inspire and supervise PhD students and advising senior investigators, 'do not repeat my mistakes', as he often stated.
Figure 3
Dr Paul Vanhoutte in the late 1990s when he was Vice‐President Research and Development at the Institut de Recherches Internationales Servier in Paris, France.
Science was his life
Dr Vanhoutte was an incredibly quick wit and had a wonderful way with words (Vanhoutte, , , , ). He also had the ability to invite others to follow his thinking, which sometimes proved to be difficult for younger colleagues because, within seconds and at multiple levels, Dr Vanhoutte could integrate a life's knowledge that he had accumulated. He always was a patient listener and enjoyed explaining his views and ideas to others. Discussions with him were truly inspiring. When asked about important moments in his career, Dr Vanhoutte responded:
'It comes in bits and pieces. You never got the full answer, you get a partial answer. And each partial answer asks several new questions, and then you perk along and you get there. And once in a while you get something that really is exciting. Not all the time, but you know, it's more frequent than one thinks.
The most important thing, you know, is: luck is very important, but everybody is lucky in research. Most people don't recognize their luck. So you have to focus – you cannot spread yourself too thin – but it is the unexpected that will give you the gold. If [someone] tells you 'I want you to test this hypothesis, because I expect this to happen' – and it doesn't happen, that's the jackpot! When something different happens than we project or expect!'
The immense contribution of Dr Vanhoutte to the progression of scientific knowledge relies fundamentally on his studies demonstrating how endothelial cell‐derived substances may not only interfere with, but also contribute to the development of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease (Vanhoutte et al. ). A journal's scientific credibility and reputation, not its citation metrics, were essential for Dr Vanhoutte when deciding where to send his manuscripts. He chose to publish his most significant discoveries in the Journal of Physiology, the world's oldest physiology journal in existence, as established in 1876 shortly after the founding of the Physiological Society in London. Dr Vanhoutte was a long‐standing member of the Physiological Society, and became an Honorary Member in 2006. The Editors of the Journal of Physiology have kindly agreed to publish a Commemorative Issue comprising Dr Vanhoutte's contributions published in the Journal between 1975 and 2008 coinciding with the publication of this obituary (Barrett, ). This Commemorative Issue of the Journal of Physiology on Dr Vanhoutte will establish a permanent memorial highlighting and commemorating his major achievements that stand out among his enormous impact on science, with a legacy of more than 1000 published scientific articles.
An ambassador of science
In addition to his outstanding career as 'creator of science', Dr Vanhoutte has played a unique, unsurpassable role as a 'popularizer' of science. His 'vanhouttegrams' (Fig. 4), comprising black and white sketches depicting the numerous vasoactive substances released by endothelial cells and acting on vascular smooth muscle cells, together with their receptors and their downstream pathways, have been instrumental to thousands of scientists throughout the world in becoming familiar with the countless players involved in vascular homeostasis. In his continuous efforts aimed at the dissemination of science, Dr Vanhoutte was the brain father of a series of international symposia, held with different periodicity at varying locations, such as those on Mechanisms of Vasodilatation (MOVD), Endothelium‐Derived Hyperpolarization (EDH), Vascular Neuroeffector Mechanisms and Serotonin (the Serotonin Club). Dr Vanhoutte was Chair of the Third International Conference on Endothelin (ET‐3) held in Houston, Texas, in February 1993, as well as Honorary Chair of the international endothelin conferences ET‐9, ET‐11, ET‐12 and ET‐13 (Vanhoutte, ; Barton et al. ; Vanhoutte, ; Barton & Yanagisawa, ). Given the outstanding scientific content of the symposia that he organized, it comes as little surprise that, at one of them (the MOVD 1986, organized by Dr Vanhoutte in Rochester, MN, USA), the identification of endothelium‐derived relaxing factor (EDRF) as being NO was announced independently by Dr Furchgott (1916‐2009) and Dr Louis J. Ignarro (Vanhoutte, ) for which, in 1998, Drs Furchgott and Ignarro shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Dr Ferid Murad (Vanhoutte et al. ). Dr Vanhoutte, who considered the discovery of NO as 'the climax of one of the most exciting sagas in vascular physiology and pharmacology' (Vanhoutte, ), significantly contributed to the work that led to the Nobel Prize: 1 year before the 1986 MOVD meeting, he provided an important piece to the puzzle: his laboratory had discovered that EDRF is inactivated by superoxide and quickly submitted a manuscript (Rubanyi & Vanhoutte, ). However, its publication was delayed considerably, as Dr Vanhoutte later recalled (Vanhoutte, ):
'In early 1985 the author's laboratory reported that under superfusion‐bioassay conditions superoxide anions were scavenging EDRF. After a long battle with reviewers and editors, the full description of these observations finally was published at the same time as a similar conclusion [was] reached by Salvador Moncada and colleagues.'
Figure 4
Dr Paul Vanhoutte in 2010 during his lecture at the 12th Symposium on Vascular Neuroeffector Mechanisms held at the University of Southern Denmark in Odense explaining one his famous 'vanhouttegrams'. Listening in the audience is Dr De Mey, who worked with Dr Vanhoutte between 1976–1982 on deciphering multiple new functions of the endothelium.
Dr Vanhoutte personally trained, educated, and mentored hundreds of scientists and students in cardiovascular research in countries around the world. For those young scientists who turned to him for advice on their projects or careers, he always tried to make himself easily approachable. Given his genuine pleasure in promoting their interest in research and advances in their growth, scores of junior scientists (and seniors alike) have greatly profited from his nurture, guidance and advice (Vanhoutte, ):
'It's not the technology you use, but the question you ask and how you answer it!'
One of his great attitudes was humility, which allowed him to immediately make unexperienced and shy students feel at ease, with no awe in front of such a respected and globally acknowledged authority in the field that he had devoted all his life to. The young were those who he considered as the most important in science (Vanhoutte, ):
'The only way to be successful is to surround yourself with people who are younger and more intelligent than you. And let them grow, let them "get"! Just give them the kind of atmosphere they need to grow and bloom! […] If you're talking to young people and trying to help them and get excited about what they do, then you forget that you are a dinosaur!'
Dr Vanhoutte's extraordinary scientific achievements were matched by his delightful human traits. He had an exuberant personality that made it a joy to be with him, whether this would be during a discussion in a scientific session or sitting at a table for a meal. He was curious, caring and imaginative in proposing possible solutions to the problems that he was posed. He was comfortable with who he was, thus making people feel at ease with him. He had high a working ethic and was devoted to his family. Dr Vanhoutte truly enjoyed life. He stood out among his peers, but he never was a showman. He showed little interest in the limelight, nor at being the first to publish a new discovery. Rather, it was of foremost importance to him that his own scientific conclusions – and those of others – were accurate (Vanhoutte, ):
'Remember: It is not important to be first. It is important to be right!'
Dr Vanhoutte accompanied the authors (MB and CC) during most of their scientific careers. Initially, he did so through his published work, which became indispensable in learning and understanding the mechanisms of vasodilatation, and also as the chairman of conference sessions where he challenged their work always in a friendly and constructive way. Later on, Dr Vanhoutte – who successfully overcame serious health challenges – became a personal friend and mentor, which included paving the way for his scientific great‐grandchildren. His enthusiasm and his love for science was without borders (Vanhoutte, ):
'It's a rough life, you know. Many hurdles and many disappointments. Whenever you get to the point that things work out and you understand something that you didn't understand before – then you get this feeling of achievement that no money in the world can buy. And money can't buy everything. It cannot buy the joy that we get from our work!
I started research […] more than fifty years ago but as of today I am still as intrigued, as interested as the first day, and I think that only research can give you that. So will a bit of luck, well, a lot of luck, you will get that, too!'
Dr Vanhoutte (Fig. 5) leaves such a great legacy to his field that to report it all in a brief tribute is an impossible task. The Paul M. Vanhoutte Commemorative Issue of the Journal of Physiology, however, summarizes and preserves some of his greatest achievements (Barrett, ). We appreciate how privileged we have been for the opportunity to have met and spent time with this great scientist and delightful human being. We truly believe that getting to know him, as a man who was humble, of great sensitivity, kind‐hearted and friendly, has added an unforgettable personal dimension to the interaction with a giant of science. Our thoughts are with Dr Vanhoutte's wife of 53 years, Jacqueline, as well as his children and his family. Paul Vanhoutte lives on in the hearts of those who knew him and his legacy will inspire generations of scientists to come.
Figure 5
Dr Paul Vanhoutte in 2018 in China, near the University of Hong Kong, where he held his last academic appointment (photograph courtesy of Madame Jacqueline Vanhoutte).
Additional information
Acknowledgements
The authors are indebted to Dr Jo De Mey for critical reading of the manuscript and for his valuable comments and to Madame Jacqueline Vanhoutte for the photograph of her late husband.
Alexa Pearson grew up in Chicago and London, but spent every summer here in Stonington. She has a BA from Sarah Lawrence College, where she studied painting. Alexa has lived in New York City, Paris, and Mystic, and now calls Stonington home.
Allison Gildersleeve
Behind Allison Gildersleeve's canvases, collages and drawings lies a singular proposition: places are not inert; they are repositories for all that passes through them. Gildersleeve deliberately returns again and again to familiar settings – wooded areas, home interiors, open highways, back country roads – to show that repeated visits to the same place invariably result in wildly divergent depictions. Gildersleeve received her MFA from Bard College in 2004, and her BA from College of William and Mary in 1992. Gildersleeve has exhibited widely across the United States and abroad. Notable solo exhibitions include Olle Nymans Ateljeer (Stockholm, SE), Asya Geisberg Gallery (New York, NY), Auxiliary Projects (Brooklyn, NY), Robischon Gallery (Denver, CO), Cynthia Reeves (Walpole NH), Valley House Gallery (Dallas, TX), The George Gallery (Charleston, SC) and Galleri Andersson/Sandstrom (Stockholm, SE). Selected group exhibitions include Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art (NY), CRG Gallery (New York, NY), PS122 (New York, NY), Sharon Arts Center (Peterborough, NH), Dunkers Kulturhus (Helsingberg, SE) and Gana Art Space (Seoul, Korea). Gildersleeve was arecipient of The Sharpe-Walentas Studio Program in Brooklyn, NY. She has been awarded a NYFA Fellowship as well as residencies at Yaddo, the Millay Colony, the Vermont Studio Center and most recently, the Liquitex International Research Residency in London. Gildersleeve lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.
Amanda Fowler
Andrea Greene
Andy has lived in Stonington for many years and has always enjoyed creating art. As a teen, she won the gold key scholastic art award for achievement in art from The Hartford Courant. She was an assistant teacher for art classes at the Lyman Allyn Museum in New London.
Today, Andy still loves painting in oils, gardening and reading.
Ann Wildey
Annie draws her inspiration from the coastal landscape where she lives in Westerly, Rhode Island and on her travels and art residencies in the US and Europe.
In her current work, Annie celebrates the sea, sun, and wind. An intoxicating combination of elements that can nourish, nurture and surprise us in both dramatic and quiet ways. While Mother Nature puts on a spectacular display of beauty at sunset, the sun can also sparkle like jewels on the ocean. In the next moment glistening beads of water explode into the air as the wind catches the surf.
Annie brings these experiences into the studio, interpreting the sights, smells, feelings, of being at the shore with the energy, and movement of the ocean. Her process is fluid, and she explores gesture and mark-making, moving between freedom and control, accident and intention
Annie received her MFA from the New York Academy of Art in 2008 and was awarded their one-year post-graduate fellowship. After which she spent two years as artist in residence in Orient, Long Island While Annie's primary practice is painting she is also an accomplished printmaker, and an award winning artist.
Annie and has exhibited in museums and galleries nationally and internationally in the UK and China. Her work has also been included in special exhibitions curated by Eric Fishl, and in exhibitions alongside renowned international artists such as April Gornik, Tula Telfair, and Alyssa Monks.
Annette Born
With a career in commercial real estate around New England over thirty plus years, Annette closed her small consultancy /brokerage firm and retired. She chose Stonington CT as a second home for its friendship, beauty, and sense of "place". Photography was an adjunct interest so with the changed vista and now living in a seaside "Boro", it was time to take it up a notch to her next adventure in life.
As part of her interest in the arts, she has been on the Advisory Board of the SMFA@Tufts for several years. Surrounded by young people and amazing professors, she found her niche. Digital camera/program courses available there, as well as The Renaissance Academy- Naples FL and other adult education opportunities, she worked on the "nut + bolts" to enhance the journey. The "picture" now began to form and it continues.
Her work can appear as ordinary, with shots of places, people, nature, events, then turn, with a title- often humorous or questioning, into a whole different story. For me it is "Out Of the Box"... the camera, the shot, and the mind's eye …. she wants to take the viewer to what, where, and how she sees through these "boxes". Hopefully that journey is fun, thought provoking, or just beautiful.
Included for the past 3 yrs. in the School of the Museum of Fine Arts- Boston (SMFA) Annual Fall Show, she also has shown in several community art shows in Naples Fl. As a member of the Pelican Bay Photo Guild, she won Best in Show at their 2019 Annual Winter Photography Show. She has also shown at the LaGrua summer art shows and NESS Summer Art fundraiser in Stonington, CT, as well as a local gallery in Westerly RI. She can be reached at Bornal@msn.com
Erica Lindberg is a resident of Stonington, CT. She earned a Masters in Digital Imaging and Design from New York University in 2006. Before starting Lindberg Designs, where she loves to paint, teach art, and create products digitally; Erica ran a branding and marketing company called Lindberg Marketing + Media whose mission was to monetize the art and images of children's characters, authors, illustrators, television shows, movies and cultural institutions. Today, she loves to help individuals monetize their creative works.
George Brengle
George is a resident of Stonington CT in the Quanaduck Cove area. He grew up sailing in Maine in the summer with family and friends. He and his wife Ann are passionate about travel and have started there own travel business franchise as a next chapter careers. Says George: "Travel is my passion. Whatever is on your bucket list and where ever you want to go, I will research, find and book the ocean or river cruise or land vacation of your dreams. I will work with you to plan your vacation with an eye toward making it an unforgettable experience". He also is relishing the opportunity to paint more and capture the light in special ways.
Gleanna Doyle
Gleanna Doyle loved dogs from day one. As a young child she taught tricks to dogs everywhere she went and everywhere she went she took her polaroid instant camera along to photograph dogs she met. Gleanna has combined her passions in her career and personal time. She trains "mostly dogs" for movies, TV, and print, falls in love everyday with new dogs and puppies she trains for her local dog training school, Rhodes Collar and continues to photograph "mostly dogs" everywhere she goes.
Heather Bessette
Heather Bessette lives in Mystic CT and loves to paint fish. As a member of the Quanaduck Cove Painters Group in Stonington where her sea life paintings have flourished. Heather grew up in this area on and around the water, is an athlete, fitness Instructor and a prolific painter, her sense of design brings joy to herself and to others.
Jennie Stevenson
Jennie Stevenson grew up in Australia and now lives in the USA with her husband Blake traveling as often as possible but primarily between Stuart, FL an Stonington, CT. Jennie loves painting in Acrylic for its drying speed and in Oils for its depth and richness. Jennie has her captain's license and many off shore sailing hours to her name hence her seascapes often have a magic that comes from having really been there herself. Jennie is a dog lover and avid hike and captures nature in beautiful ways with paint.
JJ Tillinghast
J.J. Tillinghast Sinton was an Art major at Colby College years ago. For the last ten years, she has been taking watercolor classes after retiring from the music/event coordination business. J.J. lives in Stonington and for the last six years has helped teach children's art classes at the LaGrua Center in the summer. J.J. has five grandchildren who attend NESS.
Jo Rabjohn
Jo Rabjohn, Vero Beach Artist, captivates our imagination with her work, ranging from portraits of pets to book illustrations and interior designs. Jo is an artist, illustrator, award-winning toy designer and former teacher at Parsons School of Design in New York City.
Jorge Gamboa
Photographer and Visual Storyteller, Jorge Gamboa was born in the Philippines and migrated to the United States at an early age. Gamboa first started taking photographs religiously when he moved back to his hometown as a means to reconnect with his motherland, its people, and its culture. Most of his work reflects everyday life of Filipinos on the streets, marketplaces, and farmlands of the Philippines. His more recent work plays with ideas of diaspora, assimilation, and the universal force that connects all beings with one another.
Joshua Carter
Wuyeekeesuk (good day),
My ancestors are Mashantucket Pequot, Narragansett, African American and Irish. I am married to my best friend and the love of my life. We have been blessed with four wonderful children, Haley, Isabella, Joshua II and Isiah. I fell in love with wampum after I had lost a close family member which was a hard lesson in the transient nature of all things. This inspired me to do something I had felt in my heart. I was fortunate enough to establish a strong relationship with the most talented wampum makers known in modern times, Allen Hazard (Narragansett). He has taught me everything I know about this beautiful ancient art. I am forever grateful for his gifts of wisdom and patience that transcends wampum making. Outside of working with the quahog shell I really enjoy the dialogue around its traditional use, the north eastern woodland people's relationship to the ocean, and its use to exhibit relationship. It is also an opportunity to address the perpetuated fallacy that wampum traditionally was money. I will continue to honor my ancestors, Allen and my family by teaching all those in my community that would like to learn. I feel blessed to carry on this most beautiful ancient tradition.
Kutaputush (I thank you),
Joshua "eye if the hawk" Carter
Karin Ford Whittemore
Viewing life through the lens of a camera ignites a primal sensitivity and joy and a compelling purpose that connects me to our world. Although photography can be a means to an end, a documentation process for the photojournalist, in my world, it is a vehicle for artistic expression. My intent and desire is to capture a composition with emotion and its nuance of color, light, and texture.
My life as an artist and photographer began at age seven when I received a Polaroid camera for my birthday. Soon after, I acquired a Kodak Instamatic, and then moved on to conventional film with more sophisticated cameras and finally digital photography.
The camera is my chosen vehicle for artistic expression. Viewing life through the lens deepens my connection to the world, giving me great personal joy and deep satisfaction. My intention when composing an image is to not only consider the relationship between subject matter, color, light and texture, but to achieve that rare moment in time that tells a story.
I have always been drawn to black and white photography, so it seemed a natural progression for me to pursue the art of infrared photography. My latest work has taken me down many unforeseen paths. Infrared is an intricate and sometimes unforgiving process and my fascination is influenced by the fusion of complex techniques, which often result in the unexpected and happy accident.
I invite viewers to take away that which resonates with them, offering them a perspective they may not have expected or considered. My hope is that the infrared aesthetic elicits an emotion that touches the soul in its mood and execution.
When not traveling, I enjoy life in Mystic, CT at my home on the water where family and friends have come to expect to see me with camera in hand, looking for that next visual stimulus.
Kat Murphy
Contemporary artist Kat Murphy lives and works in New London, CT. For over two decades, Kat has worked in the art and design industry. She has collaborated with artists and professionals along the way, near and far, in window display design, installation art, prop sculpture, custom murals and interior design. Her design sense and quality of craft is revealed in her artwork where she creates intricate, color-rich, multilayered surfaces with vibrant color. Original artwork and archival prints available through her website or studio visit. www.katmurphy.com
Kate Hinman
Elizabeth Lee Jewelry Designed by Lori Dyer
Elizabeth Lee Jewelry designs handmade jewelry for everyday wear. The idea for Elizabeth Lee began in 2014 as a way to help fund Meghan's college abroad trips. Since then it evolved into a mother-daughter partnership. Meghan and Lori Dyer design affordable jewelry for all ages and occasions. Elizabeth Lee is located in Stonington Borough and can be found at local farmers' markets, craft fairs, and select retail stores. We hope you enjoy wearing our jewelry as much as we enjoy making it!
Mary McKenzie is a Connecticut native who enjoys painting with oils and acrylics. She discovered her love of painting through workshops with other local artists. Professionally, Mary has been working in biosciences most of her career. She is currently an oceanographic researcher at the University of Rhode Island.
Mary Lou Fusi
Mike Smiles
Mike Smiles has been painting actively as a hobby since being trained at Beloit College where he also began his career in advancing great causes including h a 3 year term as VP and Dir of Advancement at NESS from 2012 to 2015.
Mike's work is on permanent display at the Ram Island Yacht Club and in private collections. He began painting maritime scenes based on his tenure as Dir of Development at Mystic Seaport Museum from 1998 to 2003.
A long-time resident of Noank, Mike and his wife Martha moved to Vermont in 2015 where he continues his fascination with maritime pursuits and artwork along the shores of Lake Champlain between a summer cottage in the Adirondacks and his home in S. Burlington VT.
MJ Brush
Art, in oils, watercolor & printmaking, has always been my passion. Whether working in my studio painting natural history, or out of doors air, painting is always about light & form. I paint light, how it reflects in the luminosity of color, how it carves shapes & sets moods, acting as the muse for my depictions of our world.
Olga Goff
Olga Goff Lives in Watch Hill Rhode Island and has the genuine joy of the natural world imbedded in her soul which she shares with us through painting. An avid gardener, world-traveler with her husband Lyman, Out Back hiker, pet lover, walker, mother, grand-mother, she is the hub and creative leader in her family. Over the years she has been involved in many creative pursuits, Sailor Valentines, Decorative Painting, Nantucket Baskets, Shaker Baskets, Rug Hooking and Knitting, and more recently she has turned to painting in both oils and acrylics.
Peter McIntosh
PETER MCINTOSH IS A MYSTIC BASED ARTIST AND WRITER. DURING A 30 YEAR CAREER PRODUCING FILMS AND TELEVISION SHOWS, HE TRAVELED AROUND THE COUNTRY, SPENDING TIME IN HISTORICAL COASTAL TOWNS ON THE EAST AND WEST COASTS, AND THE WESTERN MOUNTAIN STATES. HIS PAINTINGS AND DRAWINGS ARE INSPIRED BY THE TRANQUIL BEAUTY OF THOSE PLACES.
R Doulass Rice
R. Douglass Rice was born in La Jolla, California in 1952. He grew up in Sewickley, Pennsylvania. In 1968 his family moved to San Francisco, California. He attended Phillips Exeter Academy where he took his first sculpture class with Richard Lyman. He attended Stanford University where he studied sculpture with Richard Randall and earned a degree in Human Biology in 1974. He also studied painting at the Mendocino Art Center, San Francisco State University and the School for Visual Arts in New York. In 1987 Rice moved with his family to New York and raised their two children in New York City's Soho District. He worked in his high-end residential company from 1987 to 2015. During this same time, Rice maintained a studio in Tribeca. He has exhibited in numerous galleries over the last thirty years, including two shows at the National Arts Club. After his second show there in 2008, he was invited to become a member and continues to serve on the club's Round Table committee. Rice was a board member of the Bronx Museum of the Arts for ten years and served as its Chair from 2009 until 2013. He is currently Chair Emeritus of the museum. In addition, he is an Elected Artist of the Mystic Museum of Art, The Artist League of Rhode Island and the Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts. His work is in the collections of over a hundred people. In 2016 Rice moved to Stonington, Connecticut. He now paints and sculpts full time and shows at local museums and galleries.
Richard Chapman
Richard Chapman "Dick", of South Burlington Vermont passed away this past April. His family wanted to donate some of his work on his behalf as Dick was an avid sailor and the grandfather of a NESS employee; Margaret Bouchard. Dick was a graduate of RPI with a Bachelor of Science in Metallurgical Engineering (1958) and a Master of Science in Materials Science (1961). He raced his O'Day Day Sailer, "No Tea for Me," on Lake Champlain in Appletree Bay with his daughters. Later he co-owned a 30-foot Hunter sailboat, "Fantastic". Sailing was just one of Dick's many hobbies, most of which were self-taught and all of which he practiced with great enthusiasm and mastery. He was a skilled woodworker, and in his retirement really picked up his hobby of oil painting. The feeling of his paintings were constantly changing as he experimented with style and most importantly color. Dick would be thrilled to know that his legacy will live on through his artwork.
Sally McBee
Sally McBee is a watercolorist living and working in Stonington Borough, CT. Her business, Two Bees Design Studio, has grown from her original four lines of greeting and note cards to include leggings, T-shirts, mugs, travel accessories, and more, all printed with her distinctive and colorful original watercolor and ink designs. In the spirit of the season, Sally's holiday mugs and annual Christmas cards are available from 2013 through 2020 on line now; you may order those or any other products on her website at www.twobeesdesign.com, and items will be shipped directly to you.
Spike Lobdell
Spike Lobdell Founded and is President of NESS which is the beneficiary of this show. NESS offers a unique education model that empowers students with leadership, teamwork, confidence, and problem-solving skills to ensure academic success. NESS taught 9,000 students last year and has focused on 'under-served youth.' NESS is transforming student lives. www.nessf.org
The combination of art to support distance learning is all about creativity and learning to adapt to changing situations as this COVID crisis has presented to us. As a relatively new artist he can't talk about his long art resume other than he's had a tremendous amount of fun painting. There is always art in the heart of supporting students learning. A huge thank you to all of the artists that are participating in the show!!!!!
Susan Scala
Drawing and art is Susan Pfeifer Scala's life and she lives it with verve and versatility. Her art is endlessly varied- she's painted everything from race cars to abstractions, to landscapes, to portraits, to cartoons, to pottery, and more. Two things all her work have in common: an impressive talent full of freshness and creative vigor; and they tell a story.
Susan has been teaching art throughout her life: Buckhill (Pennsylvania) Art Association; Brookfield CT; Famous Artists School; Special Children of Connecticut; and at her own studios. She has also used her art as pain and depression therapy.
Her art has been widely displayed and hangs in numerous prominent corporate and private collections throughout the world She is listed as a member in many guilds and art associations in Connecticut. In addition she is a Coast Guard Artist with the Bureau of Transportation in Washington DC., a member of the National Federation of Press Women, the Connecticut Press Women, the Southern California Cartoon Society, and the American Society of Marine Artists.
Susan has her own studio/company, Susan Scala Studios in Pawcatuck CT. She is well known for her hand painted pottery- both of local scenes and events, as well as personalized custom ordered pieces. She has just illustrated the upcoming Stonington Pop-up book for the Ocean Community Chamber of Commerce.
Ted Brown
Our family has deep roots in Maine and we chose Brunswick as home town, where we have resided for the last 50 years, raising our now three creative adult children. We cherish our beloved State in countless ways, but above all we love the people who surround us and are in awe of each season's renewal and especially the endless beauty of Maine's rockbound coast and peaceful mountains, where we spend much of our time. Joyfully, I recently have discovered and experienced a hidden talent for painting "wonderful purposeful memories of life in Maine and New England." Working with acrylics from a ready-made studio in Brunswick, facing south with lots of wooded greenery in our backyard, I've begun to dip into an accumulation of ideas and visions, expressing on canvas what we have appreciated most about living in the northeast region. I like to think that each painting represents an individually unique story of life and love of New England's unique warm lifestyle. A fun fact: our oldest daughter, a painter too, recently inspired me with such wonderfully helpful tutorials, enabling me to learn many fundamentals and "stretch my mind" to capture and enjoy painting favorite places and natural wonders. Her wisdom and encouragement has moved me to now enjoy every moment I can find in our studio with brush in hand! Painting as an expression of one's connection to an ever changing natural world seems so abundantly fulfilling and calming. After an ambitious 50+ year career as a supermarket executive with Hannaford Bros. Co., followed by a dozen exciting years consulting in the area of environmental sustainability, I find painting a most welcomed pastime. I love to innovate with purpose by helping others fall in love with memorable moments, through a painting.
Todd Vorenkamp
Todd Vorenkamp is a photographic artist who focuses on aviation and nautical subjects as well as commercial architecture. A former US Navy Aviator, US Coast Guard Aviator, and Merchant Marine Officer, Todd has travelled the world with his cameras. He has a Master of Fine Art degree in Photography from the Academy of Art University and teaches photography at Dakota College at Bottineau. He is the Associate Director of
