Patty Mullins Goes Solo

It is a charming little gallery in the woods, only steps from the road, and comfortable within its setting. SOLO should be experienced. It is as authentic as can be, celebrating the Sharon, Conn., landscape that inspires the artist’s paintings shown there.

“I am not a gallerist,” artist Patty Mullins said. Saturday, Sept. 23, was the official opening day. She had held a private celebratory kick-off the night before, attended by close artist friends and supporters.

Balancing an interview with time to greet guests, Mullins took a few minutes at the opening to describe SOLO.

The freshly opened little gallery has exterior dimensions of 6’ by 7’ by 9’ (roof peak). It will be open on the next two Saturdays, Sept. 30 and Oct. 7, between noon and 5 p.m.  Mullins plans to greet visitors both days.

Reflecting on what SOLO Gallery is and hopes to be, Mullins said, “So, here it is: a small point of contact with you, a place to show my artwork to anyone interested or curious enough to stop by. As a venue, SOLO Gallery has potential as an installation space, a pop-up for art projects and flash sales, and as shelter in a downpour.”

The current exhibit shows examples of Mullins’ recent work, mostly landscapes with Sharon as the focus. She noted that most oils in the current exhibition are oil on board and some on paper.

Mullins sees the current showing as a “trial run,” with 21 paintings hung in the small space. The exhibit is probably best viewed by one art-lover at a time, perhaps true to the Gallery name, SOLO. While two people could fit comfortably, each would block the other’s view of multiple paintings.

A more considerable work, “Firewall,” adorns an outside wall under a generous overhang. Mullins explained that the abstract work came about during the Trump administration, when events compelled her to interrupt her work on a landscape to paint it. 

“The anguish I feel over our cascading environmental disaster is expressed in my paintings, sometimes through the colors I choose, such as cadmium red in the painting, “Firewall,” she explained.

“She wanders in the woods a lot,” commented Marilyn Mullins, the artist’s mother, who was enjoying the company of gallery visitors and had heard Pellegrino’s assessment. The artist agreed that she does just that: wander in the woods.

Mullins is a deeply rooted environmentalist and ecosystem protector.

“The New England forested landscape is my native habitat and my “Happy Place”.” I am definitely a woodland creature, though I also appreciate a vista,” Mullins said. 

“Growing up here, the landscape felt very open. There was no surveillance, no fences that couldn’t be crossed. I was permitted and felt safe to walk all over Sharon Mountain day and night in every season and weather condition. This gave me an intimacy with the land and a deep sense of Place. I have been privileged to live here,” she added.

“I should mention that I paint subjects other than landscape. I enjoy exploring and experimenting and being free to choose whatever subjects interest me,” Mullins said. About her art, she commented that she allows the unforeseen to happen.

“I’ve always drawn,” Mullins said of her early years watching her father, acclaimed artist Frank Mullins, as he painted in his local studio.

“Along with my love of painting, I love to make things, to work with my hands, to build; I particularly enjoy working with wood. I love scavenging materials, piecing, making do, and repurposing creatively. It gives me joy,” Mullins said of her broader interests.

“Taking a sturdy but unfinished farm stand and turning it into a tiny art gallery is my idea of fun,” she added. 

“I am a solitary, but at the same time, I treasure my friends and loved ones and want my artwork to reach people. SOLO Gallery, as a venue, is intended to span the gap,” Mullins said.