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Old Lyme’s ‘Cooley Gallery’ Hosts Show Featuring ‘Fearless’ Art of Helen Cantrell

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Saltmarsh Radiant Pink, oil on canvas, 48” x 48”, by Helen Cantrell will be on view in the exhibition at The Cooley Gallery.

OLD LYME – On Friday, May 5, The Cooley Gallery is hosting an opening reception from 5 to 7 p.m. for ‘Laying it On,’ an exhibition and sale of paintings by Helen Cantrell.

“Finally!” says Jeff Cooley. “We were so excited when we saw this group of Helen’s paintings before lockdown. Her use of color and fearless application of paint drew us in immediately. The surfaces are full of energy and gesture. It’s as if you are witnessing the moment the light bulb goes on.”

Over 15 paintings will be on display at the gallery on 25 Lyme St. Laying it On includes bold landscapes and figurative scenes. Cantrell’s paint surfaces with their additions and subtractions are as lively as her subjects and the artist has never been afraid of tackling a large canvas.

She adds paint, takes it away … and then adds more.

Her landscapes might include roads or overheard wires implying structure while her brushwork resists it. She is openly influenced by California artist, Richard Diebenkorn, who, like Cantrell, was also a printmaker and a painter comfortable wielding the power of color.

There is an “in the moment” quality from a gesture of last light or to a couple turning to look at the viewer. The moment Cantrell captures may seem new but there is a familiarity like a distant memory gently returning.

River Forest Field, oil on canvas, 48” x 48”, by Helen Cantrell.

Cantrell moved to New York from her birthplace of Chicago when she was 21 and never looked back. She was gainfully employed as a typesetter in the city until 1998, the year she became an elected member of the Silvermine Guild of Artists and a full-time painter and printmaker.

Cantrell and her husband John live in Old Lyme.

Narragannsett, oil on canvas, 40” x 60”, by Helen Cantrell.

This exhibition runs through June 10.

The Cooley Gallery is located at 25 Lyme Street in Old Lyme, Connecticut. Gallery hours are Friday and Saturday 12 to 5 p.m. or almost any day by appointment. There will be special gallery hours during this exhibition to include Sunday from noon to 5 p.m.

For more information, call Jeff Cooley at 860-304-2386 or visit cooleygallery.com

Editor’s Note: This article is based on a press release issued by The Cooley Gallery.

Old Lyme PGN Library Offers Two-Part Event on Light Pollution, Part 2 to be Held May 17

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Photo by Roger Charbonneau Jr.

OLD LYME — The Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library hosts a two-part series on Light Pollution in the Connecticut River Valley presented by Misha Semenov-Leiva and Alan Sheiness.

Learn the effects of a brightened night sky, as well as natural cycles in aquatic and terrestrial life. Semenov-Leiva will share simple site lighting design changes that can reduce impacts while promoting safety.

  • Part I met at the Library on Wednesday, May 3, at 6:30 p.m.
  • Part II will meet at Trail 53 Observatory located in Lyme on Wednesday, May 17, at 8 p.m.

Register at this link.

Death Announced of Thomas Vincent Yourell, 92, of Old Lyme; Former Owner of Rooney’s Package Store

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OLD LYME — Thomas Vincent Yourell, 92, of Old Lyme, entered God’s kingdom April 29, 2023. He was born July 19, 1930, to Thomas and Kathleen Yourell of Dublin, Ireland …

Through the decade of the 60s and into the 70s the family grew to a brood of ten. It was in the mid-60s when the family found the “Cottage” in Old Lyme. There the family spent Summers enjoying the shoreline and developing close friends among the Old Lyme Shores community …

Thomas … loved to garden … Driving by the cottage in Old Lyme, one would see his work. Garden beds bursting with an array of vegetables and berries. Perennial and annual flowers offered a rainbow of colors throughout the growing year. He was also a beekeeper …

Thomas … owned Rooney’s Package Store in Old Lyme for many years and passed the business down to his family …

Thomas retired to Old Lyme, where he lived many happy years with family and friends. Old Lyme reminded him of Ireland and allowed him to enjoy the life well lived …

Interment will follow in Duck River Cemetery, Old Lyme …

Visit this link to view the full obituary published by The Day on May 3, 2023.

Lyme-Old Lyme Prevention Coalition Announces 100% Success of Recent Alcohol Sale Compliance Checks in OL

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OLD LYME — On April 24, the Lyme-Old Lyme Prevention Coalition (LOLPC) partnered with the Old Lyme Police Department to conduct compliance checks at local alcohol retail establishments in Old Lyme.

Both organizations are proud to inform the community that all the establishments checked successfully refused the sale of alcohol to a minor.

Alcohol compliance checks are a tool used by law enforcement to reduce the availability of alcohol to underage youth from commercial sources.  By partnering with the LOLPC and trained underage youth (ages 18-20), a compliance check is a police-supervised attempt by a minor to purchase alcohol. The trained minors use their own ID and do not attempt to misrepresent themselves.

Compliance checks are a long-standing, nationally-recognized, environmental strategy proven to reduce underage access to alcohol. Routine compliance checks help to identify businesses, which knowingly or unknowingly sell alcohol to minors, and return them to compliance with state law. 

The LOLPC congratulates Old Lyme alcohol retailers and continues to provide them with resources and training opportunities for store employees. These TIPS trainings cover the laws concerning service to minors and intoxicated customers, as well as techniques for responsible service and sale of alcohol, and intervention to ensure that underage sales are not made.

Local retailers are important partners in reducing underage drinking and the LOLPC is pleased to continue these positive relationships and connections to keep Lyme/Old Lyme youth safe.

The LOLPC will be partnering with Old Lyme Police to conduct tobacco compliance checks soon.

For more information about the LOLPC, visit www.lysb.org/prevention.