LAKEVILLE — Clare Veronica Walsh, 22, died quietly and unexpectedly on Dec. 25, 2011, in New York City. Clare is the daughter of Kate (McGavin) and Michael Walsh of Lakeville and the younger sister of Alexandra Elisabeth Walsh of Napa, Calif. She was born in Munich, Germany, on March 15,1989. Rev. Joseph Kurnath and Rev. Edmund O’Brien celebrated Clare’s short, but truly remarkable life, in a Mass of Christian burial at the Church of St. Mary in Lakeville on Dec. 30, 2011. Josh Slater was the organist, Lisa Rothauser and Alexandra Walsh were soloists and Stephen J. Walsh played the recorder. The pall bearers were Eloise Andrews, Catherine Coyne, Cole Aidan Atcheson, Journey Will Jackson, Janet Fitzgerald, Matthew Fugate, Roarke Satava and Daniel Walsh.In addition to her parents and sister, Clare leaves behind loving grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins from both the McGavin and Walsh families and an enormous legacy of friends from New York City, Munich, Paris, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Edinburgh, Napa, Miami, Vancouver, Sydney, Boston and more, who loved Clare dearly, and continue to be inspired by her energy and passion. Clare had recently moved from New York City to Los Angeles, where as Soul Cycle’s youngest master instructor, she was slated to open a major new spin studio in West Hollywood in early 2012. Dear friends from her childhood wrote the following to her family: “Clare taught us how to love unreservedly, passionately and unconditionally. She also taught us how important it is to show that love in our everyday lives. Clare will always remain that deep voice from within that challenges us to live fearlessly and to never settle.” The Walsh family is so grateful for the outpouring of love and support from our family and friends, and particularly from the Church of St. Mary, the Kenny Funeral Home, Pastorale Restaurant, Elyse Harney Real Estate and Deano’s Pizza. An unidentified angel brought an amazing homemade fruitcake and homemade scones to our home, and we would so love to know who that was.
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Cusack recently moved his painting practice from Torrington into the former church at 58 Main Street. The move came about somewhat unexpectedly, after a change in ownership made his previous studio untenable.
“At first I thought it was just gonna be too much,” Cusack said. When he first saw it, the building still looked unmistakably like a church, with its vaulted ceiling, stained glass and architectural details intact. It had served as a place of worship for generations before closing roughly 12 years ago.
But the space began to make sense.
“I’m very philosophical, very spiritual, very humanistic,” said Cusack. “And so for me to be in a church sort of fits.”
Cusack still lives in West Cornwall, where he has a garden he describes as mature and beautiful, along with a saltwater pool. The church is strictly a working studio, though he hopes to bring students in and occasionally invite other artists to exhibit alongside him.
“From Ground to Gravity,” 2026, Oil on Canvas, 77 x 65 inchesProvided
As with every studio, Cusack says, there is a particular direction and position that feels right for painting. In the church, he gravitated toward a spot where the geometry of the building creates a distinct rhythm, near where the pews once ended, before the altar.
“I can already see the arc of the dome involved in my work,” he said.
The first painting he made in the new space, “Prophets and Proverbs,” grew out of three forms he encountered during his morning meditation at home. After drawing and reflecting on them, he came to understand them as expressions of different aspects of maturity: “ego, strategy, agency.”
The exhibition’s title comes from “Nature Eternal,” a painting of a young nude figure in a pink field that evokes, for Cusack, the Garden of Eden and an idea of bliss and perfection. “The Narcissist,” by contrast, considers what happens after that innocence is lost: the arrival of consciousness, self-awareness and the search for identity.
Two paintings of swimmers explore another dimension of that relationship. In “I Will Love You Completely,” Cusack sees a figure reaching outward from the canvas almost like an angel. “It’s a message from the divine,” he said. In another painting, the swimmer appears to be held by the water, suggesting the possibility of being held by something larger than ourselves.
Having grown up in New York, Cusack says his relationship with the natural world has deepened since moving to northwest Connecticut. He thinks about the glacier that passed through this region, leaving stones behind that have remained through countless chapters of human history. In a painting of stones, Cusack considers the wisdom of the landscape and the extraordinary passage of time. “To me, that’s an eternal wisdom.”
Cusack regularly visits the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where he sits in the sculpture galleries, contemplating and drawing the figures.
“Drawing is just a way of looking and continuing to look,” he said. “It just helps me ground myself and be very present.”
“Nature Eternal,” 2026, Oil on Canvas, 77 x 47 inches.Provided
That practice of extended observation can be seen in the paintings. At first glance, Cusack’s color palettes can appear remarkably simple, sometimes almost monochromatic. But the longer one spends with them, the more they open up. Subtle shifts in tone and color begin to emerge, deepening and expanding the visual experience. What initially seems restrained becomes increasingly expansive as the viewer gives the work time and attention.
Before turning fully to painting, Cusack spent 12 years as a commercial artist represented by Morgan Gaynin Inc., where his work became known for its emotive storytelling. His paintings have appeared in Architectural Digest, Veranda, New England Home and Litchfield Magazine, among other publications, and are held in the collections of the United States Air Force, the New York Transit Museum and the Society of Illustrators. His training included an MA at Syracuse University and a year of classical study in France’s Loire Valley with a master painter who was also a former Zen monk.
The church, meanwhile, has its own layers of history. During the many repairs required after Cusack moved in, a plumber mentioned that he had been married there. His wife had since died, and Cusack asked whether he was sure he wanted to return to the building. He was.
It is a small story, but one that seems to resonate with Cusack’s interest in the passage of time and the histories held by places and objects. Although he says he doesn’t feel a particular presence in the church, he is conscious of its history and of the community for whom it was once a gathering place.
For now, he is looking forward to welcoming people into his new studio and seeing how they respond to the paintings. “Interacting with the work” is important, he said. “It always feels good to have people in your studio space.”
“Eternal: New, Recent and Near Distant Paintings” will be on view Nov. 13–15, from 1 to 5 p.m., at 58 Main Street (the Stone Church) in North Canaan. An opening reception will take place Saturday, Nov. 14, from 4 to 7 p.m.
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