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07/18/2023 12:02 PMSome artists specialize in one area, genre, or medium, while others, like artist Sandra Kensler, have talent that transcends the entire spectrum. Since moving to Madison in 1990 with her husband Terry, Sandra has honed her skills and become one of the shoreline’s most beloved artists.
Sandra says she initially started as a music teacher in Indiana, instructing pre-k through undergraduate students, focusing on elementary-age kids. However, a master’s degree in music and almost 15 years of musical education experience didn’t force Sandra into any artistic box, she says.
“I was just starting to learn to paint and draw shortly after we moved here. I had always drawn as a kid. My grandmother was a painter, and she would babysit me and showed me how. And I love doing it. Learning it is like all of the arts — you learn a little bit and practice, and then learn a little bit more, and pretty soon, you get better at it. It’s the same process whether you’re learning to play the piano or painting a picture,” says Sandra.
After moving to Madison, Sandra says she made a conscious decision to move away from music and delve into painting.
“A friend asked whether I’d like to attend a workshop, but I said I didn’t have the equipment, so she took me to New Haven and got me set up. There are so many people here, not just in the state, but particularly along the shoreline, who paint,” says Sandra. “It is so easy to learn here in Connecticut. It seems like every other person here in Connecticut is an artist, so it makes it so easy to learn.”
Sandra eventually became a member of Madison’s Tuesday Painters Club, a decades-old organization dedicated to inspiring local artists via practical work sessions and discussions of themes and ideas.
“Gosh, I think I’ve been with them for at least 25 years,” says Sandra. “We get together right here at the old Town hall for more than 50 years. There are several folks who’ve been there that long. It’s really just a bunch of folks that like to paint and like to paint with other people. That way, we get to know artists from the area, both beginners as well as accomplished artists. What’s neat is that every other week we critique each others’ work. We always give feedback about what is working or what is not working and maybe even why. It’s really been fun. It’s a great way to meet people. It’s really important to me to have time to paint with others.”
According to Sandra, the critiquing process is formulated for mutual respect and encouragement.
“I like to get better, and I like diverse ideas. I’ve learned a number of techniques, but I really enjoy the feedback because it allows me to get even better. To get other people’s viewpoints are great because maybe I can take someone else’s viewpoint and use it in a way that I have never thought about, and so I really like that,” says Sandra.
According to Sandra, she has developed a unique style she describes as “painting flat,” which uses blocks of vivid colors in well-defined shapes in order to express her vision.
“I don’t just paint “representational,” I like to be abstract too. I really like to break rules,” Sandra says, laughing. “Other opinions really help me to do all that.”
Sandra says she has dabbled in many mediums as an artist, truly embracing a number of styles and forms that allow her to express her designs.
“I started out in watercolor, then I went to oil, and now I paint in acrylic, collage, and even mixed media. I am even using tools rather than just brushes. Pallet knives, credit cards, sticks…to make different kinds of marks. It is really fun,” Sandra says.
That style is evident in one of Sandra’s recently completed projects, the new mural at the children’s library at the E.C. Scranton Memorial Library. The new work is a vibrant splash of bright, cheerful colors and animals that Sandra says she hopes inspires youngsters.
“A long while back, going back to the old library, my husband and I did some work in Kenya for many years and I had done some paintings inspired by that work, paintings of elephants and children, so I thought they would be great to donate to the children’s room at the library,” says Sandra. “So, I dragged them over, and they really liked them. They are still at the library. Then there was a donation made to the library for someone to paint a giraffe and a seahorse-specifically those two animals, and he wanted them in particular places. [Scranton Library Director] Sunnie [Scarpa] called me, and I said, ‘Yes, I can do that.’ Shortly after that, she asked me if I could paint a mural too, and of course, I said yes to that too.”
Sandra says her style fits perfectly with what the library was searching for regarding theme and color. It took Sandra about three months to complete the work, and she utilized scaffolding to realize the new mural.
“I’m not a traditional master painter. I like exaggerated color. I like hard lines. I like putting shapes together,” Sandra says. “I wanted kids to like it, but also adults and I obviously wanted it to say ‘New England,’ so I hope I was able to accomplish that,” Sandra says. “I think it’s pretty awesome to have been part of this and very grateful that Sunnie asked me to do this. It’s a privilege to paint something that’s going to last so long and particularly because it’s for children,” says Sandra. “To be able to do this for kids, I am flattered and feel very lucky. It’s rather humbling to add a painting to a brand-new library. It’s pretty cool.”
Sandra has displayed her work all over the state in institutions such as the New Britain Museum of American Art, one of the state’s premier institutions of art, and she belongs to several shoreline arts organizations, including the Guilford Art League, the Clinton Art Society, and, of course, the Madison Art Society.
“I was really lucky this year; I had two paintings accepted into the New Haven Paint and Clay Club exhibition in New Haven,” says Sandra. “Every painting is a lesson and is teaching me something.
Since the 1940s, area artists have gathered Tuesdays from September through June, and for more than a decade, the Tuesday Painters Club has met on the upper level of the Memorial Town Hall by the Green in Madison from 9 a.m. to noon, according to Sandra.
Sandra says the group is always seeking new members, and all are always welcome and attend and provide inspiration or find it via the studio and critiques. The group urges those interested to feel free and stop by any Tuesday starting again in September. For more information or questions, contact the Madison Tuesday Painters at marileebn@gmail.com.