Two exhibits open at Middlesex Community College Thursday

Middlesex Community College Pegasus Gallery
100 Training Hill Road, Middletown, 1-800-818-5501
Judith Randall De Graffenried: Diverging Processes in the Pegasus Gallery
(Pegasus Gallery is located within the library on the first floor of Chapman Hall)
Kathleen Sumpter: A Tea Party in The Niche
(The Niche is located in Founders Hall across from the Registrar’s Office.)
Nov. 16, 2012—Jan. 3, 2013.
Opening Reception: Thurs., Nov. 29, 4—5:30 p.m.

Press release from Middlesex Community College

Judith Randall De Graffenried’s painting process considers the varying degrees of analytical, emotional, sensual and spiritual human sensibilities. In watercolor works like “Resort City,” pictorial plays of space and compositional juxtapositions create a multilayered series of visually charged settings. In other works painted in oil, figure model session poses are adapted into invented backgrounds.

Judith de Graffenried: "Resort City"

Judith de Graffenried is associate professor of fine arts/graphic design and program coordinator at Middlesex Community College. She earned a B.A.at the University of South Carolina, an M.A.T. at the University of South Carolina, and an M.F.A. at City University of New York. She also attended a year-long painting program at the Art Academy of Munich, Germany and studied art at Queens College and Indiana University. She has exhibited her paintings in more than 50 national juried exhibitions.

Kathleen Sumpter: "Queen Bea Teapot"

Kathleen Sumpter’s A Tea Party is a series of glazed and painted ceramic cups, teapots and tea party food. These are functional and sculptural works that emphasize the whimsical and fanciful character of their handmade origins. Vessels like “Queen Bee Teapot,” transcend its utilitarian tradition through color, pattern and ornament as a harmonious union of grass, sky and swarming bees. Sumpter’s forms inhabit the intimate space of the mind and activate associations with the world of play, the nature and delicacy.

Since 2004, Sumpter has owned and operated Sumpter Design Middlefield, CT and is an adjunct instructor of digital arts at Middlesex Community College. She earned her B.F.A. at the University of Connecticut and has received numerous EdPress Design Awards (1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998), the Weekly Reader President’s Award for Excellence (1995) and Young’s Printing Calendar Contest, Middletown (2003).