A Tale of Two Stories in Guilford

Guilford Art Center is currently hosting a tale of two stories about connections made across the world wide web, and together they weave a story of lost histories and creative bravery.

On Valentine’s weekend, Guilford Art Center hosted a fun and electric book signing for Branford author Jen Payne’s new book Water Under the Bridge (www.3chairspublishing.com). Told through a series of emails, it’s about two former loves who reconnect after 15 years apart and work to reconcile their pasts and futures. It’s a conversation, a memoir, a love story…sort of.

And while the premise itself is intriguing, it’s the stunning cover design that first captures your imagination. The image, called Hurricane Woman, was painted by Sarah Zar (www.sarahzar.com), a New York-based multi-disciplinary artist. Payne and Zar connected through their Etsy shops back in 2019.

But the story doesn’t end there.

When the time came to launch the book, Payne saw a great opportunity to weave the common threads — cover art and artist, artist and art center. And so it was that the salon-style exhibit BIGGER ON THE INSIDE found a home in the Center’s lobby gallery.

Sarah’s paintings, often executed in low-lit, moody colors, are filled with bizarre figures, interacting or inhabiting solitary scenes with other unnatural presences, absences, and transpositions. She often paints on old book pages and found remnants, preferring the polished texture of things with lost histories. In any medium — painted or three-dimensional — Sarah’s works are often figurative and a bit fabulist. She thinks of her objects as love letters to the unconscious minds of strangers.

All of the work is for sale and outlined in a full-color price list available in The Shop. Also for sale are copies of Water Under the Bridge: A Sort-of Love Story, signed artist prints of the Hurricane Woman cover art, joy bottles, lover’s eye necklaces, postcards, and signed copies of Sarah’s art book, Riddled With Spots, a popular item at the MoMA gift shop. A portion of all proceeds supports Guilford Art Center’s community and educational programming.

Guilford Art Center is located at 411 Church Street in Guilford, CT. The Shop and Gallery are open Monday-Saturday 10am-4pm, and Sunday 12-4pm. For more information, call (203) 453-5947 or visit www.guilfordartcenter.org.