The Creators: A sense of place, Leslie Watkins at Dandelion Cottage

Norfolk artist Leslie Watkins in her garden at Dandelion Cottage
Jennifer Almquist
Norfolk artist Leslie Watkins in her garden at Dandelion Cottage
'We make the invisible, visible- my muse and teacher Frank Mason taught me that,” recalled Norfolk artist Leslie Watkins.
A pre-Raphaelite beauty herself, this master watercolorist, classically trained landscape painter, and Master Gardener sat in dappled sunlight on her deck, feeding walnuts from a jar to a friendly chipmunk, with her rooster Houdini crowing in the background. Her love of nature, painting the beauty that surrounds her, and creating landscapes en plein air (in the open air), inform the details of her life.
Years ago, Leslie purchased a small house in Norfolk with a lawn that slants directly down to a busy roadway. Now when approaching her magical one acre, one must search to find her house. Deep layers of trees, magnolias, apples, giant hydrangea blooms, and native species of flora and fauna create a labyrinthine series of pocket gardens, some dark with shade-loving plants and ferns. Leslie has become the landscape she paints.
She refers to herself as an “artistic descendant” of the Old Lyme Art Colony, which was the heart and soul of American Impressionist painting. The pantheon of Watkins’ artist influencers includes Childe Hassam, William Metcalf, and Frank Vincent Dumond. At the Art Students League in Manhattan, Dumond taught Georgia O’Keefe, John Marin, Norman Rockwell and Frank Mason. Watkins has exhibited her fine art paintings in the Columbus Museum, the Lyman Allyn Art Museum, the National Arts Club, the Salamagundi Club, the Union League Club, the Hudson Valley Art Association, Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, the Lyme Art Association, and in Japan.
Her prolific commercial art career includes botanical watercolors and nature studies that decorate note cards, placemats, textiles, Battersea enamel boxes, and educational materials. Her illustrations appear on postage stamps, books, and magazines.
Watkins’ many clients include:
Walt Disney Co., Tiffany & Co., Caspari, B. Shackman & Co., Addison Wesley-Scott Foresman, Harcourt Brace, Houghton Mifflin, McGraw-Hill, Options, Oxford University Press, Prentice Hall, Rodale Press, Scholastic, Golden Books, Dover, Book-of-the-Month, and The New York Times.
A recent watercolor of the gardens at Dandelion Cottage by Leslie Watkins.Jennifer Almquist
Jennifer Almquist: Tell me about life in Dandelion Cottage.
Leslie Watkins: Dandelion Cottage is my tiny homestead in Norfolk designed as an experience in “living off the land” on just one acre. I named it Dandelion Cottage because I feel like I blew into Norfolk like a weed, like I didn’t belong here, and I loved it. I sent down this big, long taproot because I wasn’t going to leave. The seeds go off on the wind when I share my creative inspiration with other people. I don’t know where they go, I don’t know what they’re going do, yet I hope that they’ll carry on the tradition of this natural creative inspiration.
Small as it is, with the help of my cheerful and hard-working flock of Bantam chickens, I produce much of my own food supply in season. Honeybees help pollinate the fruits and flowers. My chickens live free range and eat bugs, scraps, seeds, fallen apples, small fruits and greens. They provide eggs, manure, and laughter. I have bred Bantam chickens (which are 1/5 the size of standard chickens) for 18 years, such as Bearded Belgian D’Avers, Seabrights, and Dutch Bantams.
My partner is an ethnobotanist. On our first date (thirteen years ago) at the Southfield Store, he talked to me for an hour about Heirloom tomatoes. His knowledge and wisdom are invaluable.
JA: You are a Master Gardener?
LW: Yes, I am a Connecticut Master Gardener. I have a certificate in horticulture. I design, renovate, and maintain gardens in Northwest Connecticut. Currently, I am creating a garden of native species alongside the Norfolk Library. I want children to be able to see the plantings from inside the library. My own cottage gardens are filled with flowers blooming in mass succession. There’s a fragrant white garden with cimicifuga, hydrangeas, phlox, a fringe tree and punctuated in autumn with blue asters. The central peony bed is filled with lush blooms in June. Old fashioned roses and butterflies are everywhere. My garden design illustrations have been published in Rodale’s Perennial Combinations and in Fine Gardening, Horticulture, Kitchen Gardener, and in The New York Times.
JA: How did you become a designer for Tiffany?
LW: The head of the Art Students League, Rosina, called me to her office. “Tiffany called- they want a studio assistant. I want you to get this job.” I had never done commercial work, but that night I put together a portfolio and trotted down to Tiffany design studio on 5th Ave. and 57th St, the most expensive property in the world at the time and went to the 9th floor design studios. Tiffany designed jewelry for kings and queens, for the aristocracy, and the White House. They hired me. I worked with 6 or 7 designers who specialized in different areas: jewelry, china, silver, and stationary. The designers, who did brilliant botanical designs, took me under their wing. I was hired by the International Philatelic Association in New York to create a series of stamps. Using watercolors, I designed a souvenir sheet of nocturnal animals for Lesotho, a series of food crops like mangoes for the Maldives, and a World Health Organization stamp for Uganda.
JA: Tell me about your early life.
LW: I’m a New Yorker through and through. My parents were born in Brooklyn and Queens. Generations of my family had a printing business, John B. Watkins Company down on 9 Murray Street, NYC. My parents divorced; my mother remarried when I was 10. I had a lot of adversity in my life, but I always kind of landed on my feet. I feel I’ve got a powerful Angel watching out for me.
When I was a little girl, around three, my mother and I went to visit my grandmother in Brooklyn. Aunt Flossie showed me how to make a box. I was absolutely mesmerized. I must have made fifty boxes. I just thought it was an amazing piece of magic. My father was a printer brought home reams of paper so I could sketch and draw.
I was an incredibly shy kid. I literally grew up in the woods with dogs, no other kids. I still don’t know how to socialize, truly. It took all my courage to sit next to this older girl on our school bus to watch her draw the most beautiful horses I had ever seen. I was enraptured. It made such an impression to see people draw. It was like magic to create something out of nothing. I was always an optimist who felt that if I could share my love of nature that it would inspire other people to love nature, develop a reverence, and help take care of it.
JA: Now what are your plans?
LW: I want to get back to painting now. I got further and further away from my painting while running my garden business. Friends of mine who have gone on to be well-known artists wonder what happened to Leslie for twenty years. Well, I designed my Olana, like Frederic Church. Dandelion Cottage was never going to be an estate, but I knew it would be the cutest darn cottage it could. I was creating my life.
Now, I’m kind of scrambling. I must resurrect my career. I want to create a new body of work and a new audience. I can distinguish myself with watercolor. I have the credentials, the history, the background, and the ability. This September I’ll be teaching watercolor classes in the beautiful natural light in the Arcanum Building Annex in Norfolk. I’m also going to be offering some holiday paper crafting workshops, because now is the time to start getting ready for Christmas.
In part, I have modeled my life on the lives of Tasha Tudor and Beatrix Potter, who is my favorite. I combine my backyard sustainability lifestyle, my reverence for nature, with my artwork. I wanted it all to connect. I want to live an authentic life.
While playing outside in the early post-pandemic days, Berkshire Busk! founder Eugene Carr had an epiphany: why not expand the idea of performing on the street (aka busking)into a full-fledged festival in Great Barrington?
As an entrepreneur and cellist, Carr envisioned a well-organized jamboree featuring regional talent, including musicians, acrobats, storytellers, fire-eaters, and more. He formed a team, connected with local businesses and the town of Great Barrington, and launched Berkshire Busk! in 2021. Since then, Berkshire Busk! has grown into a summer staple for Great Barrington.
In the summer of 2024, over 25,000 people experienced Berkshire Busk!. The festival is free to the public, provides a big boost to local businesses, and spectators can tip performers.
Busking takes place all over the world, either organized by individual performers or via busking festivals. Artists like The Roots, Tracy Chapman, Phoebe Bridgers, and Old Crow Medicine Show have all cut their teeth performing on the street.
General Manager Carli Scolforo is a Berkshire native with a love of music and writing. She can often be seen roaming the streets of Great Barrington, making sure everything’s in order, and serves as the festival’s face on social media.
“This year is the fifth anniversary of Berkshire Busk!, and it’s been an amazing summer,” said Scolforo. “We were able to welcome back a lot of our favorite performers, and bring in some new experiences as well. After getting rained out last year, we were able to host our first outdoor movie night in partnership with The Triplex Cinema and the Boondocks Film Society.”
Scolforo added, “This summer, we also introduced our first Open Mic Night, hosted by local recording artist and music producer Jackson Whalan. We were really pleased with the turnout of talent. The sheer amount of talent that’s hidden within an hour or so drive of Great Barrington always astounds us.”
Local businesses sponsor various busking spots, like the Berkshire Money Management Stage in the parking lot between the Triplex Cinema and Mama Lo’s BBQ. Typically, buskers bring their own amplification, while there are few spots — such as Berkshire Mountain Distillery in Sheffield — provide power.
Berkshire Busk! will end its season with a fireworks display on its last night on Saturday, Aug. 30.
Berkshire Busk! is endorsed by the Select Board of the Town of Great Barrington and is entirely supported by sponsorship fees from companies and organizations, as well as philanthropic donations from granting organizations, individuals and the Town of Great Barrington.
It operates under a fiscal sponsorship agreement with the Nonprofit Center of the Berkshires and participates in Mass Cultural Council’s Card to Culture program — in collaboration with the Department of Transitional Assistance, the Department of Public Health’s WIC Nutrition Program, the Massachusetts Health Connector, and hundreds of organizations — by making cultural programming accessible to those for whom cost is a participation barrier.
For more information, visit: berkshirebusk.com
What if the dog onstage was played by a person? That’s the delightful twist in A.R. Gurney’s “Sylvia,” opening at the Sharon Playhouse on Aug. 29. In this clever and heartfelt comedy, the title character — a stray pup who disrupts the lives of a married couple — is portrayed not in costume but by an actor who brings insight, charm, and chaos to the role.
Stepping into Sylvia’s paws is Jen Cody, who is returning to the Sharon Playhouse in a starring role for her third year in a row, ready to bring this spirited dog to life. She’s joined by Jonathan Walker as Greg, the middle-aged man smitten with his new four-legged friend, and Jennifer Van Dyck as Kate, his wife, whose patience and identity are tested by Sylvia’s sudden presence in their home.
Directed by Colin Hanlon, this production balances elements of comedy and emotional depth. Gurney’s script may be filled with laughs but at its core, “Sylvia” explores loyalty, companionship, and how love sometimes arrives in unexpected forms. The play premiered Off-Broadway in 1995 and has since become an audience favorite for its wit, warmth, and originality.
Rounding out the cast is Sienna Brann, taking on a trio of roles that highlight the play’s comic versatility. The design team includes Christopher and Justin Swader (scenic), Kathleen DeAngelis (costumes), Bobbie Zlotnik (wigs), Wheeler Moon (lighting), and Graham Stone (sound), ensuring the story is grounded in a fully realized world, albeit one occasionally seen from a dog’s point of view.
Performances run through Sept. 7 at the Sharon Playhouse. For tickets and more information, visit sharonplayhouse.org.
Paul Chaleff’s exhibit at Mad Rose Gallery in Millerton.
The unofficial end of summer is here, and while some of us may mourn the shortening days and cooler nights, the culturally-inclined denizens of the Litchfield Hills, Berkshires and Taconics have plenty to look forward to.
During Labor Day weekend, visit one of the offerings below, and maybe even take home a watercolor, rug, or locally-crafted wooden bowl to ready your home for the indoor season ahead.
Kick off the weekend with libations and bites from legendary New York City importer Rosenthal Wine Merchant at Mad Rose Gallery (5916 North Elm Ave., Millerton). The evening will mark the end of Paul Chaleff’s ceramics exhibition, which closes at the end of the weekend. Ashley Gilbertson and Franco Pagetti’s photography exhibition “Fragments in Time,” which has been extended through Sept. 21, will also be on display.RSVP by emailing info@madrosegallery.com.
Head to the Cornwall Library (30 Pine St., Cornwall) for its seventh annual weekend-long Art Sale, and peruse an endless supply of prints, posters, watercolors, photos, paintings and more, with price tags ranging from a very reasonable $20 to much greater sums.
The Library has announced that this year’s selection will “run the gamut from the antique to the contemporary, from the jazzy and colorful to the classic black and white, from realistic to abstract.” Thanks to generous donors, the sale will feature works from notable artists such as Amedeo Modigliani, Enrique Chagoya, Marc Simont, Leonard Baskin, Ruth Gannett, Robert Andrew Parker, Nicole Eisenman, R. H. Quaytman, and others, as well as a special exhibition of vintage photos, paintings and posters from late artist Duncan Hannah.
For more information and hours, visit cornwalllibrary.org/labor-day-art-sale/.
Visit the Barn at the Pine Plains location of beloved antiques and décor purveyor Hammertown (3201 NY-199, Pine Plains) and find the coffee table of your vintage dreams this weekend. Up to 75% off home goods and furniture of all kinds will be available.
This year’s iteration of the biannual tent sale features a “Makers Market” with local artisans, craftspeople and food vendors.
Visit https://shop.hammertown.com/blogs/journal/hammertown-labor-day-tent-sale for additional details and hours.
The Berkshire Woodworkers Guild, a coalition of local woodworkers that supports the local industry and its craftspeople, is hosting its 25th Fine Woodwork Show at the Berkshire Botanical Garden (5 West Stockbridge Rd., Stockbridge) this weekend. Attendees will have the chance to watch 32 masters from around the Tri-Corner region demonstrate their trades, from woodturning and Chinese joinery to boat building and French polishing.
The event will also announce the allocation of $32,000 from its scholarship fund to support 9 aspiring woodworkers, and host a silent auction of guild member-crafted pieces to support next year’s fund. Works from the artisans will also be available for viewing and sale.
Pittsfield, Massachusetts’ Hot Plate Brewing will provide frothy, local ales for swilling, while SoCo Creamery of Great Barrington will be pedaling its handcrafted ice cream for sweeter options for the whole family. Great Cape Baking Co., from Dover Plains will offer a full breakfast and lunch menu, including donuts, while Pleasant & Main from Housatonic will be providing the caffeine and crepes.Further details can be found at berkshirewoodworkers.org.
Artists across Cornwall will fling open their studio and gallery doors to welcome Labor Day culture ramblers on Saturday afternoon. An eclectic lineup of ten participating artists will show their work, ranging from pottery to sculpture paths, allowing participants a chance to enjoy the fresh late-summer weather as they meander through Cornwall’s green valleys from studio to studio.For a list of the artists, a map, and directions to each studio, visit ornwallct.org/event/cornwall-open-studio-2025/.