Flanders Art Workshops

Woodbury artist Melody Asbury is the featured instructor at the “Fall On The Farm” Art Workshop at Flanders Nature Center & Land Trust, 5 Church Hill Road, to be held on October 6 and October 13 from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm.

            Flanders conducts the art workshop series, “Inspiration Comes Naturally,” in the spirit of its founder, Woodbury artist and environmentalist, Natalie Van Vleck. Each session takes its subject matter from a natural setting on Flanders’ 200-acre outdoor campus. In the classes, students will learn to paint or hone their skills, under the tutelage of prominent Litchfield County artists.

During Asbury’s sessions, “Fall At The Farm,” sheep grazing in pastures and weathered barns surrounded by fall foliage provide the season’s grand finale of color to inspire artists’ work. Asbury will share drawing and painting concepts to bring the participants’ art to the next level. A former courtroom sketch artist, Melody Asbury is a signature member of the International Society of Animal Artists, whose mission is to promote the awareness of creatures who share our world.

Class fees are $18 per class for Flanders’ members and $24 per class for nonmembers. For more information or to register for the October 6 or October 13 class, call Flanders Nature Center at (203) 263-3711.

About Natalie Van Vleck

Flanders’ founder Natalie Van Vleck developed a talent for art at an early age and went on to study full-time at the Art Students League in New York City, under the tutelage of legendary teachers Robert Henri and Max Weber. In the 1920s and 1930s, Natalie’s art encompassed three styles: cubist and abstract-influenced paintings, regionalist landscapes of the Connecticut countryside and tropical locales and arts and crafts, such as wood-carving and furniture-making. By 1934, she became more involved in the daily operations of her family’s Woodbury farm, now part of Flanders Nature Center & Land Trust, and gave up her art career completely.