Jeremiah Bickford sees art as a way to give back

Jeremiah Bickford’s art not only showcases the beauty of the landscape, but his work also aims to benefit the community.

While he was always drawn to art, noting, “It’s been simmering in the background all my life,” he really got serious about pursuing his passion about six years ago. He has now produced a number of paintings and, even to his own amazement, garnered some awards.

Bickford, who lives in Norfolk, thinks big when it comes to his watercolors. He works on canvases that are about the size of a piece of plywood — 88 inches by 44 inches. He acknowledged there’s not a lot of meaning behind the large concept, “but it’s like a puzzle for me.”

His focus is on nature and local landscapes, occasionally imaginary,, although his first endeavor was life-sized copies of stained-glass windows. He paints vertically on an 8-foot-by 4-foot easel.

The local scenery provides him with numerous subjects. He’s proud of the piece featuring Freund’s Farm Market flower garden in East Canaan.

He was also pleased to be a finalist in the Berkshire Museum Show in Pittsfield in January 2025, when 41 pieces were chosen from a field of 1,200 submissions from 484 artists.

A panoramic painting of Campbell Falls State Park won him first place at the Indian Mountain School Art Show in April 2025. “I was too embarrassed to open the envelope there, and when I did, I was shocked to see a $5,000 check,” he said.

Bickford recently had his first solo show at the Five Points Annex Gallery in Torrington, where 15 pieces of his work were displayed. One depicted Laurelbrook Farm, owned by the Jacquier family, which is also in East Canaan. Jennifer and Cricket Jacquier saw the painting on their 29th wedding anniversary and were so enthralled with the scene that they bought it as a gift to themselves.

He is currently part of the Sherman Artists Association’s “August Light 2026” show, which opened Friday, Aug. 14 at the Kent Art Association gallery, where he took best in show. That show is on view through Sept. 6.

“I’ve been very lucky for someone who doesn’t really know how to promote my work,” said Bickford, 50.

But Bickford does know that artists are often at the forefront of social change. Describing himself as an introvert, he was looking for a way to show his support. “As things got crazier and crazier in the country, I wanted to do more to help.”

So he is designating about half the profits from the sales of his paintings to a charity. He has donated $2,000 to the Canaan Fire Department, and the next beneficiary will be the Douglas Library in North Canaan.

He hopes the idea will catch on and other artists will follow suit. He’s toying with the thought of establishing an online gallery where like-minded artists could post their work and link to nonprofits.

Bickford, a graduate of Housatonic Valley Regional High School, has a degree in graphic design from Northwestern Connecticut Community College, studied at the University of Wyoming and graduated from Charter Oak State College. He holds a master’s degree in special education from Westfield State University. He has been a special education staff member in the Monument Mountain school system in Sheffield for 18 years.