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Making room for making with Cottage Courses
Natalia Zukerman
Aug 19, 2026
Participants at a recent Quilt Camp for adults.
Natalie Baxter
My hope is that people leave with not only something they’ve made, but also a renewed sense of creativity, possibility and connection. —Natalie Baxter
Cottage Courses is a series of hands-on workshops led by artists and craftspeople in the Hudson Valley and Northwest Connecticut, offering participants the chance to learn everything from basket weaving and natural dyeing to quilting, spoon carving and candle making. Founded by artist Natalie Baxter, the program is designed to make creativity accessible — and to give people something increasingly rare: the time, space and encouragement to slow down and make something with their hands.
“You don’t need to arrive with experience, or even with confidence, to take a class,” Baxter said. “Cottage Courses is for anyone who feels curious about making and wants to spend a little time learning with their hands.”
This fall’s lineup offers plenty of opportunities to do just that. On Sept. 6, basket maker Angela Eastman will lead a basketweaving workshop at Troutbeck in Amenia. Sept. 12 brings bundle dyeing at Rose Hill Farm in Red Hook, followed by a natural dye workshop at Maitri Farm in Amenia on Sept. 19. In October, participants can make fire cider at Maitri Farm, spend a weekend quilting at Cottage Courses’ Quilt Camp in Wassaic and learn spoon carving with Kate Hawes at Troutbeck. November brings beeswax taper candle making at Troutbeck.
The natural-dye workshops are part of a new collaboration with Maitri Farm, whose flower farmers worked with Baxter to select flowers specifically for dyeing. “They met with me earlier this spring to discuss which flowers to grow for natural dye workshops, which was very kind of them,” she said. “I’m excited to partner with them for two workshops this summer and fall.”
There are changes behind the scenes at Cottage Courses, too. Baxter is now running the workshop series on her own after her former co-founder, Polly Shindler, moved on. She has also built a new studio in her backyard, creating a dedicated space for longer, more immersive workshops. The studio recently hosted its first weeklong adult Quilt Camp, with another weekend version scheduled for Oct. 16-18.
For Baxter, the longer workshops offer something that can be difficult to find in everyday life: uninterrupted time to make.
“Longer courses allow participants to take on a more substantial project and spend enough time with it to really settle into the process,” she said. “They offer the kind of uninterrupted studio time that many of us don’t often give ourselves in our everyday lives.”
And the community that develops around the work is just as important. For longer courses, Baxter prepares lunch so participants can take a break, share a meal and get to know one another. “The conversations, encouragement, and sense of community that grow in the studio can be just as meaningful as the projects themselves,” she said.
That sense of connection is at the heart of what Baxter loves about teaching. “I love meeting new people and learning what draws them to making,” she said. “It’s especially meaningful to see someone arrive saying, ‘I’m not creative,’ and then watch them surprise themselves with what they’re able to make.”
The upcoming courses also bring in instructors Baxter has met while teaching at other craft schools. “I am also bringing in more instructors whom I have met while teaching at different craft schools lately to hold workshops, which is always fun,” she said.
Whether you’re an experienced maker or someone who has never picked up a needle, carving knife or basket reed, Baxter hopes Cottage Courses offers a welcoming entry point.
“My hope is that people leave with not only something they’ve made, but also a renewed sense of creativity, possibility and connection,” said Baxter.
For details, registration and the full course schedule, visit cottagecourses.com
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Jeremiah Bickford sees art as a way to give back
Ruth Epstein
Aug 19, 2026
Norfolk artist Jeremiah Bickford is donating part of the profits from his paintings to charities and hopes others will do the same.
Provided
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.
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“Amenia’s Spycatcher”
Lakeville Journal
Aug 19, 2026
Provided
“Amenia’s Spycatcher,” a new historical drama by George Bistransin, brings the Revolutionary War era to life through the story of Amenia residents Ephraim and Mary Paine, whose lives intersected with espionage, loyalty and the struggle for independence. Presented by the Amenia Historical Society at Amenia Town Hall, Aug. 21 and 22 at 8 p.m. and Aug. 23 at 2 p.m. Admission is free.
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Salisbury Band to close out summer with concert
Aly Morrissey
Aug 19, 2026
The Salisbury Band will perform its final summer concert on Aug. 29 at the Scoville Memorial Library.
Aly Morrissey
SALISBURY — The Salisbury Band will close out its summer season with an annual outdoor concert on the lawn of the Scoville Memorial Library on Saturday, Aug. 29, at 3 p.m., weather permitting.
Now in its 98th year, the community band has been a fixture at concerts, parades and other events around the Northwest Corner since its founding in 1928. The group draws amateur musicians from Salisbury and surrounding towns across the tri-state area and is often recognizable by its signature white uniforms and red vests.
The band most recently performed at the Lakeville Town Grove on the Fourth of July. Its annual appearances have long been tied to community traditions in Salisbury, including Memorial Day observances, which the band has participated in since 1931.
Originally known as the Lakeville-Salisbury Band, the group was founded by local insurance agent and musician Harry Eggleston at a time when town bands were a popular form of community entertainment. Over the decades, its musicians have performed throughout Connecticut and neighboring New York and Massachusetts. The group formally became the Salisbury Band in 1982.
Attendees at the Aug. 29 concert are encouraged to bring lawn chairs. The performance will conclude the band’s summer season, with activities resuming in the spring. New members are welcome.
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Robert Cronin, 90, reflects on career as an artist and a brush with Picasso
Patrick L. Sullivan
Aug 19, 2026
Artist Robert Cronin, left, and Hunt Library volunteer Garth Kobal prior to Cronin’s retrospective talk Thursday, Aug. 13.
Patrick l. Sullivan
FALLS VILLAGE — Painter Robert Cronin provided an overview of his career – including a close encounter with Pablo Picasso – at the David M. Hunt Library Thursday, Aug. 13, shortly after the opening of his current exhibit of paintings on the library’s ArtWall, on view through Sept. 11.
While Cronin, 90, is known today for his prolific body of work including abstract paintings, he began his foray into art with an attempt at industrial design — an attempt to make a 14-inch model of an automobile, to be more specific.
Cronin said that in the 1950s, General Motors sponsored a competition that brought select young designers to the Midwest to meet GM executives.
“If you won first prize in your state, you were flown to Detroit,” Cronin said of the contest, in which he saw some success, although he wasn’t invited to Michigan.
He participated throughout all four years of high school in the early 1950s and earned honorable mention a couple of times. As a prize, he remembers winning an X-Acto knife set, which impressed the young man.
Cronin said his interest gradually shifted from industrial design to fine art, and at the Rhode Island School of Design he “made an impression” on the faculty and fellow students with an exercise he completed for “2D class.”
“The professor hung it over a window for the whole semester,” Cronin recounted.
During the talk, he showed two slides: one a portrait of his girlfriend at the time and one self-portrait, along with photos of his abstract art pieces.
“I enjoyed the instinctive connection of abstraction and the discipline of representation,” he said.
Ultimately, Cronin’s career went in the abstract direction.
In 1969, now an established artist and art teacher, Cronin and his wife, Connie, traveled to Nice, France, and the surrounding area for a five-week stay.
One day they decided to drive to the nearby town of Vallauris to see Pablo Picasso’s pottery at the Galerie Madoura.
As they left the gallery, a Lincoln Continental pulled up, looking ostentatious and out of place.
Pablo Picasso, a very small man, emerged from the Lincoln, a very large car.
“He was wearing a bathrobe, basically,” Cronin said. “We just flipped.”
Connie managed to take a furtive snapshot, but they didn’t want to impose.
So they went for lunch instead.
On the way back to their car, the Lincoln appeared again, heading toward them.
“I said, you wave, I’ll get the picture.”
Picasso, recognizing them from the earlier encounter, leaned out the window and said ‘bonjour’ with a big smile. “He had such a happy face,” Cronin said.
Cronin had a Kodak Instamatic camera and, although he got a photo of Picasso going by in the passenger seat of the Lincoln, it wasn’t “THE” photo.
“This would have been a famous, iconic photo,” said Cronin. “But I missed it.”
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The team that keeps Mike’s Beehives buzzing
Roxana Robinson
Aug 19, 2026
Tom Pannullo, Chris Dunlop, and Ed and Kim Bahr of Mike’s Beehives, in their store at 80 Holmes Road in Goshen.With them is a honeycomb that a bear pulled from a tree in Sharon at Mudge Pond. The team was called to save and relocate the hive.
L. Tomaino
“When you are working with bees, you are entering their world. The vibration from the wings, the wax smell, the movement of the bees. It’s all very relaxing.” — Ed Bahr, Owner of Mike’s Beehives
GOSHEN — What do you do when yellow jackets invade a shed and defend it by stinging people and dogs who trespass? One solution is to call Mike’s Beehives in Goshen. With knowledge of all things bees, the company will relocate everything from honey bee swarms to hornet and yellow jacket nests.
Ed Bahr of Mike’s Beehives recently removed a yellow jacket nest from a local shed, dressing himself in protective gear and suctioning the insects into what’s known as a bee box. The process is designed to avoid harm to bees.
Not only does Bahr remove the bees from various locations, he saves the nests as part of an elaborate relocation process. Despite a couple stings to his legs, he remained cheerful and took the yellow jackets to a wooded area in northwest Connecticut.
Bahr said he has been working with bees since he was about five-years-old, when he began helping his father with beekeeping.
“My job was turning the handle on the honey extractor,” Bahr said. As he grew older, he would accompany his father on visits to the hives, learning by watching.
Eventually, Bahr partnered with and worked alongside Mike Rice, founder of Mike’s Beehives, and after learning more about bees, bee removal and how to build hives, he bought the business.
“Beekeeping has made a huge surge since Covid,” Bahr said, adding that gardens, canning produce, raising chickens, and keeping bees became popular after the COVID-19 pandemic. Chickens seem to be declining, he said, but beekeeping is still “going strong.”
In addition to bee swarm removal and hive maintenance services, Bahr’s team — including his wife, Kim, Tom Pannullo and Chris Dunlop — offers a variety of products. From beekeeping tools, handmade artisan hives, bees themselves and local raw honey, their store on 80 Holmes Road in Goshen is a one-stop-shop for aspiring beekeepers.
Classes on beekeeping are also offered in February and March and are taught by Bahr himself.
“I’ve taught hundreds of people,” he said.
They sell honey from their own hives and also lip balm and salves, made from the beeswax that results from honey extraction. Books about honey and bees are also available. On the second floor of the store is a viewing room where visitors can observe bees through glass as they work.
Beyond the shop’s walls, more than 100 honey bee hives can be found on the property.
Bahr, Dunlop, and Pannullo recently removed a decades-old honeybee colony from a tree at Mudge Pond in Sharon after a bear had ripped out a large section of honeycomb.They relocated the bees to Goshen. A video of the procedure, taken by Dunlop is on view at the store.
Everyone at Mike’s Beehives seems to enjoy their work, in spite of the hazards of being stung.Bahr emphasized that a calm attitude is necessary in beekeeping.“They can sense fear and nervousness and that puts them on alert. I talk to them calmly.They can’t hear you, but they feel the vibration.”
He described beekeeping as being peaceful. “When working with bees, you are entering their world, and it is very soothing and calming. The vibration from the wings, the wax smell, the movement of the bees. It’s all very relaxing,” he said.
The bee language involves the “wag tail dance,” Bahr said. “Bees have no ears and can’t talk.Communication is done by vibration and scent.”
When a bee returns to the hive, “it shakes its back end, turns and shakes, turns and shakes, to tell the others the directions to find clover, an orchard, or wherever there is nectar and pollen.”
He added, “They pick up on that vibration. They feel it through their feet in the honeycomb.”
For more information, visit mikesbeehivesllc.com.
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