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Jack Rosenberg curates a group show at The Silo Gallery featuring his own paintings and works by Judy Jackson, Ann Mallory, and Elizabeth Macdonald. by beth aviv

Up a concrete staircase in a glass building beside the Shepaug River in Washington Depot lies Jack Rosenberg’s studio. Leaning against a bookcase in a gilt frame is a classically painted, well built man, black hair flowing, chest bare, neck muscles straining, arm cocked, his hand gripping an apple he’s about to throw as an outfielder would throw for an out. It’s Adam, according to Rosenberg, hurling the proverbial apple at Eve. Next to Adam is a still life with oranges.

Jack is in the process of selecting paintings for a show at The Silo Gallery in New Milford. The theme of the show he’s curating is Art of Feast of Art. Susan Purdy, chef, cookbook author and the Silo’s last executive director, had invited Jack to mount a solo show. “The space,” Jack says, “felt more like a temple, there was a spiritual feel.” Because there is also a cooking school at The Silo, he thought, “let’s have a show on the human response to the ritual use of food and drink.”

Inspired by The Silo Gallery’s cathedral-like space, Jack enlisted three more artists to fill the walls and floor with art influenced by, well, the mission of The Silo at Hunt Farm, which is “to cultivate love of land, food and the arts.” Sculptor Ann Mallory, clay artist Elizabeth McDonald, and ceramicist Judy Jackson will join him in a group show. The show opens with a free public reception, complete with light hors d’oeuvres and refreshments, on Saturday, May 13, from 2 to 4 pm and continues through June 25th.

To get ready for the show, Jack has begun pulling out his food related paintings. He’s not sure yet which will make the final cut.  Next to the apple and orange painting is a painting in somber, muddy colors that looks like it belongs on an alter: There is Jesus with his hand up, fingers split bestowing a blessing. Above him are commemoration plates celebrating Kate Middleton’s and Prince William’s marriage. Jack roller-bladed with Kate Middleton when he lived in London and studied at the Prince Charles Drawing School. He met the future Duchess of Cambridge at a charity event where she served him doughnuts. “Not too many people get served donuts by the future queen of England!” he laughs. The title of the painting, April 11, honors the date of the royal couple’s wedding.

Kitty-corner are three enormous panels for Rosenberg’s Last Supper. Diners painted in shades of sky-blue and neutrals have barely sketched-in faces. He plans to place giant ceramic chalices glazed with silvery pastels—made during his very first art class—on a refractory table in front of The Last Supper.

Resting against another wall is a painting reminiscent of Manet’s Bar at the Folies-Bergère. In Rosenberg’s rendition, the Queen of England, herself, leans against the Carrara marble bar, arms spread with exhaustion. She wears a loose, cleavage-revealing black slip of a dress and stares directly at the viewer as if she’s seen everything.  That painting is titled, “WTF, I was Born This Way,” as if she weren’t born into royalty.

Rosenberg pulls out other paintings evocative of the foodie-art theme: In The Original Feast: Mother and Child a serene mother nurses her child who looks askance at the viewer. Sorting out the Guest List uses compositional elements of Caravagio’s Supper at Emmaus and makes reverence to Manet’s iconic Déjeuner sur l’Herbe in which a nude woman dines with well-dressed men in suits in the woods. Rosenberg’s painting portrays a group of well-dressed women in suits around a table, one at a computer, discussing a wedding guest list. Meanwhile, a nude man sits at the edge of his seat looking none-too-happy as he gazes at us, the viewer, with that WTF look. Rosenberg wants to talk about how men have become sex symbols instead of women.

Selecting paintings for the Silo show is difficult because 15 of his pieces, mostly portraits, are currently at the Denise Bibro Fine Art Gallery in Chelsea, Rosenberg’s first New York show. The show titled, “Iconic Vignettes” has portraits of Ruth Bader Ginsburg titled RGB—her face in triplicate, a lacy scarf under her chin; next to the judge’s portrait hangs a modern interpretation of a 15th century aristocrat—his face doubled—with a lacy ruffle around his neck—titled A Maecenas. There are also iconic, yet iconoclastic, portraits of Jackie, Maya Angelou, Queen Elizabeth, and the Pope.

Rosenberg hails from Oak Park, Michigan, a humble suburb just north of Detroit’s Eight Mile Road. He doesn’t remember much of his childhood, his time at Michigan State University, his time in dental school at the University of Detroit and then in a graduate program in oral surgery at Tufts, after which he moved to New York with his wife and two children and opened a midtown practice. Soon after, he was divorced.

In 1986, he began tinkering with computers and helping people set up their systems—which led to a brief career in computers, which then led to his building the British on-line fashion website, Net-a-Porter, in the US. When the company asked him to take over expansion into Singapore and Hong Kong, he quit, moved to East Hampton with his partner and eventual husband, John Michael Murphy, an interior designer.

Rosenberg took his first art class – a ceramic class in Amagansett – where he made the chalices that will complement The Last Supper in the Silo exhibition. He soon tired of “round” and pursued “flat” atelier training at the National Academy of Art in New York, the Florence Academy of Art in Florence, and then the Prince Charles Drawing school in London.

Prior to eleven years ago, Rosenberg had taken no art classes – not even in high school or college. With no training, he dove obsessively and passionately into painting. His work continues to evolve from the classicism he learned in Florence and London to the freer, more painterly style he’s developed. He pulls out six panels and shows me how he builds a canvas – the same lesson he gives when he teaches a painting class at the Washington Art Association. First the wood panel, then layers of gesso, then an application of an imprimatura – the prime middle value of the painting – for example, Vermeer used green; Rembrandt used a warm red. Next, he draws a grid and sketches an image in pencil, applies Graislle – a gray scale undertone painting of the image; and finally, layers of color. For Rosenberg, though, that’s not the end of the painting – but the beginning of the fun.

He keeps painting—distorting, amplifying, dissembling, doubling and tripling the faces, flattening the picture plane, integrating the foreground, blurring images, and adding whimsical elements – like bicycle handles for his raja or an inverted pop-corn bag holding up the mantilla of his Velazquez inspired movie buff or a Yankees cap on his Rembrandt inspired merchant.

Rosenberg’s studio reflects the meticulous care he takes with his paintings where windows cast shifting frames of light over the concrete floor. Everything is shiny clean, in its place. Brushes by size in stainless steel canisters on a stainless steel table. Paintings displayed and grouped in bins. A round table designed by his husband with fitted chairs that disappear under the table when pushed in. Rosenberg serves us espressos, black, in tiny glass cups. He talks about how he paints even when doesn’t quite know where he’s going. By diving in. At the end of a series he may step back and ask,  “What’s here? What does it mean? Where do I go next?”

And then he grows philosophical. “When you look back over life, there are glimmers of insight.” During his sophomore year at the University of London he took a break from organic chemistry, physics, and bio-chem to study literature, the humanities, and art history; he got “gob-smacked” going to the Globe Theatre in London and the Royal Shakespeare Theater in Stratford. He loved Europe and art and this new sensibility of culture. But he returned to his science major back in East Lansing.

After years leading a fairly proscribed life as a married man, a father (and eventually grandfather); as a dentist, and an innovator in the dot.com world, he quit, moved to the beach with Murphy and began making himself into the artist he has become. After a couple of years in East Hampton, Rosenberg and Murphy again moved, this time to Litchfield County.

Finishing his espresso he says, “You don’t know where the bumps and potholes are—and you don’t know where or when you’ll hit them. All of it’s been a surprise to me.”

“It all comes from the subconscious,” he says. He responds to what he sees and internalizes. Sometimes he gets lost. He was lost for a year and a half when he didn’t know what he was doing. But he just kept showing up, working and working. “That’s where magic happens,” Rosenberg says. “At the easel when you just show up.”

From May 13 to June 25th, art that evokes an edible feast will fill the space at the Silo. Jack Rosenberg’s paintings and chalices will be on display along with the three dimensional work of Ann Mallory, Elizabeth McDonald, and Judy Jackson. Ann Mallory is widely known for her hand-built and subtly glazed sculptural work – some resembling stones or wrapped bundles or monoliths. She’s also known for the dinnerware and serviceware she designed for clients like Neiman Marcus, Donna Karan, and Crate & Barrel.  Clay artist Elizabeth MacDonald creates tactile and atmospheric scenes out of glazed tiles; she also makes sculptural pots and bowls – perfect for filling with fruit or vegetables. Judy Jackson makes stoneware used for cooking and serving food, dinnerware, bowls, planters and vases in silky and lustrous tones: wheat, brown, mustard, olive, yellow, white, black, cream, gray, grape, periwinkle, sea green, weathered green and cobalt. Her work is created in her studio at Litchfield county and at Tribeca Potters in NYC; sold at food52.com, West Elm, and many other shops, and can be found at restaurants all over the country. Jackson’s vision translates to vessels that have simple, strong shapes and ethereal and earthy qualities.

Everyone’s talking about an indoor cycling barn called RIDE. Meet locals Julie Dobson and Diane Decker, the two high energy women behind the exciting new venture.

The simple red barn is located next to Community Table Restaurant on Route 202 in New Preston. It’s only 1,000 square feet, but there is ample space for a group of 10 cyclists and an instructor on the first floor, with more space upstairs in the loft where TRX training goes on. Owner Julie Dobson and manager Diane Decker came up with the concept for an indoor cycling space because they wanted to get an energizing, effective workout without having to drive miles to get to it. Both women are community-minded and very active, and being close to home was important to them. So they launched RIDE, a state-of-the art cycling barn where fitness is taken seriously, but the atmosphere is informal and fun. Find out what inspired them and how they did it.

Where are you both originally from and how did you end up in the Northwest Corner?

Julie:  I’m a native of Washington. I enjoyed time at Washington Montessori as well as the Washington Region 12 system. I went to college at University of Colorado @ Boulder, and loved every minute of being in the Rockies, yet the beautiful Litchfield Hills called me back to live and work in Washington for my family’s company.

Diane:  I’m originally from Virginia but I consider Connecticut my forever home since I’ve been here for 22 years and my children grew up here and I never want to live anywhere else. My husband and I moved here in 1996 when he took over a manufacturing company in Waterbury.

What inspired you to open RIDE?

Our inspiration came from “lack of time” mixed with “need for fitness” mixed with our deep-seeded friendship. We wanted a place to work out that we could tailor around our own schedule.

Julie has a two-year-old son and she works full-time for her family’s company, Dobson Pools; and also renovates old houses, so saying she’s busy is an understatement. She wanted the cardio benefits of cycling without a long drive to a cycling class because her days are always too short. Cycling is the most efficient workout there is.  Let’s make it happen, locally.

Diane’s youngest son left for college last fall so trying something new with Julie was not only timely, it was exciting. Both of us realized we found something in each other that could make this dream possible!

Were you both into exercising before launching the business?

Both of us have always been physically active. Julie was an all-star tennis player at Shepaug High School and Diane swam competitively in Virginia. Neither of us have had any professional experience running a gym but both of us are passionate about personal fitness and community connectedness. Having a business background, Julie worked out the logistics of running a new business and with Diane’s networking, writing, social media ability, and checklist punctuality combined into two people, we were able to get a new business off the ground. Literally, the things Julie forgets, Diane remembers and vice versa. We naturally work off each other so well. It’s been great. And fun!

Were you both cyclists before this? Indoor? Outdoor?

Strangely, indoor cycling was fairly unfamiliar to both of us. Julie attended a few classes  in NYC and it made her ponder and calculate instantly. This intense rush is the key. It’s quick, efficient, and gets major cardio burn done and it’s fun. Doing Pilates at New Preston Wellness with Amparo Sedito feels like heaven as you get super strong and toned, and yet cardio is not only good for your heart, it allows you to indulge in the things you love and not feel guilty about it because the calories literally disappear when cycling. The combination has been tenfold. Clients literally crave RIDE because the results are nearly instantaneous.

Diane’s cycling experience was only outdoors originally and entailed riding around Lake Waramaug at a snail’s pace. Diane has committed to core workouts along with swimming. Bootcamp with Deb Andrew in Washington Depot  has kept her strong and healthy. She has amped up her cardio since launching RIDE, which makes it possible to cycle in a group indoors and gain the benefits that one couldn’t otherwise if they were out on the road with a group.

What are the benefits of indoor cycling compared to cycling on the road?

Indoor cycling is an awesome cardio workout that burns calories (450 to 550 per class), increases stamina and metabolism, and helps a person develop a toned and strong body without putting too much stress on joints. Plus, no two rides are ever the same. A typical class involves fun music and each instructor leads riders through a routine that’s designed to simulate various outdoor landscapes such as hills, flatland and turns. A major advantage of indoor cycling is that each person controls his/her intensity level while continuing with the group’s simulated ride.

Does one have to be fit before joining a cycling class? Will a beginner be able to keep up?

An indoor cycling workout can be adapted to all fitness levels, and since each person can adjust his or her bike’s resistance level, everyone has a unique level of individual control. Our fun and energetic instructors are encouraged to be creative with their music, and they care about your goals. Whether you’re looking for a complete body workout or training for a race or looking for an emotional escape, RIDE is the place for you.

Do you have to bring special cycling shoes to use the bikes?

Stiff-sole athletic sneakers are fine and will easily fit into our bikes’ pedal cages; however, cycling shoes with SPD clips are recommended. RIDE offers a few cycling shoe sizes with clips for riders who want to try them (on a first come, first serve basis).

What is a TRX Training Station?

TRX is a suspension-type training system that uses bodyweight and resistance exercises in the form of compound movements aimed at developing strength, balance and flexibility. RIDE’s TRX stations are infinitely scalable and; therefore, a fun and effective total-body workout for anyone, no matter their fitness level, weight or height. We offer added on, at no charge, 15 minutes of TRX training post-RIDE upstairs in the loft. Diane is TRX certified and excited to launch RIDE Spring TRX Campaign (details on our website) for upper body “Summer Arms” and added lower body “Summer Bum”; a hard, Tabata style workout. RIDE is evolving into a complete body workout… humor and fun music are mandatory.

Can one combine cycling with other forms of exercise in their regimen?

Yes definitely.

Diane: I swim three mornings a week, and I cycle with TRX three days a week. Because TRX is “all core all the time,” it has helped me with all my activities and helped me run my first ½ marathon at the end of last year.

Julie: RIDE is my only go-to right now for fitness. I love to hike with my dog and I generally lope/sprint anytime (to save time and it’s in my nature). But to actually improve my health consistently,  RIDE is the main stage right  now that’s actually shaping my body and clearing my mind. I also am signed up for spring tennis at WMS just to be outside and it’s a time that works.

Do you have to join a group class or can you cycle solo?

RIDE offers cycling in the form of group classes but each person’s ride is totally individual because each rider is in control of gears and RPMs.  In other words, you’re in a  group class but you’re technically riding solo.

How many riders are there in a group class?

RIDE has 10 bikes so it’s the perfect mix of excitement and intimacy.

What’s in the future for RIDE?

Part 1: RIDE’s immediate future includes opening the barn doors during all our cycling and TRX classes. We also want to increase the number of classes offered as well as incorporate a few yoga and core training sessions in the loft. Plus, we’d like to see the barn used for private parties, with or without cycling (the bikes are easy to store which allows for a party-like room downstairs and/or upstairs).

Part 2: Our goals all along have been to encourage personal growth, energizing fitness and community connectedness in a unique and intimate barn-like setting. We believe our state-of-the-art Keiser bikes and our TRX training stations exemplify RIDE’s desire to be exceptional, and yet, our modest 1,000 square foot barn feels perfectly quintessential “New England.” And since this blend of simplicity and sophistication is exactly what makes Connecticut’s Northwest Corner so unique, we’d like to see more “red barn” RIDE studios in other small towns.

For current schedule and class offerings, go to the RIDE website, below.

RIDE Indoor Cycling
219 Litchfield Turnpike
New Preston

860-839-0334
info@ridelc.com
ridelc.com

Scott Bond, is the latest newcomer to the Depot, with the launch of Byrde + the b, a hair salon offering a blow dry bar, beauty services, a retail shop, and contemporary art.

Washington Depot has welcomed a few new businesses in the past year and recently a new hair salon has opened in the former Woodruff Garage building where Peter Talbot’s architectural firm used to be. Hair stylist Scott Bond has taken over the space with Byrde + the bee Salon and Dry Bar. Scott has been working as a mobile stylist, going to his clients’ homes, and to TV and movie sets. Travelling frequently between Los Angeles, New York, London, and Marrakech, Scott has had an impressive roster of A-List clients, including Meredith Vieira, Kim Basinger, Hope Davis, Martha Stewart, and Judith Light. A multiple Emmy award-winner and nominee, he has been in the beauty and hair industry for over 20 years. With the opening of his new salon in Washington Depot, he will continue his work as normal in New York City, but is now making time for his Connecticut clients from Friday to Sunday at Byrde+the b Salon and Dry Bar.

Scott Bond was born in Scottsdale, California. He attended beauty school while still in high school. At the age of twenty, he moved to NYC on a whim. He soon got a job in Trump Tower as an assistant at Pierre Michel Salon. From there, he went on to work at the Frederik Fekai salon in Bergdorf Goodman for the next 6 years. It was there that he first developed and tested his products. It was also the place where he began meeting celebrity customers.

After taking 2 years off from the beauty business to open a restaurant, he returned to the Bergdorf salon, working for John Barret. He met Meredith Vieira there, who still remains a client of his. Next, he worked at Elizabeth Arden as Color Director, then at Privé at the Soho Grand Hotel. 2 years later, he joined a co-worker in a freelance business called Hair in the City, and then opened Bond Street Hair. Scott’s work has been featured in popular magazines such as: Vogue, Allure, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire and Harper’s Bazaar even landing him a position as on-site colourist for photo-shoots with InStyle Magazine. He has been featured for makeover segments for NBC’s “Today in New York”, ABC’s “The View” and has also been invited to travel across the continent to work on many movies from “LA Confidential” to “X-Men”.

For the first 17 years in his career, Scott worked as a colorist, having trained under head colourist Constance Hartnett and at the prestigious L’Oreal Institute. Later, he went to Sassoon and trained in cutting. And although he is known as the ‘hair colorist to the stars’, he does everything from cut, color, and hair extensions to Brazilian blowouts.

Bond’s arrival in Litchfield County is a typical story for transplanted New Yorkers who are now full-time residents—beginning with a weekend visit. Four years ago, in the city, Scott met Steven Miller, his partner. On weekends, they began visiting a friend who ran a horse farm in New York state. Soon they bought a house in Kent. Now they live on a dairy farm in Goshen, where they have chickens, bees, and a dog. Scott makes his farm-to-salon products there. Free of toxic chemicals, the products are approved by PETA. His line includes shampoo, hair finishing, daily body wash, lip balm, and a body oil, and are available to purchase at the salon.

Byrde + the bee will have a grand opening on May 6. They are open for appointments now until the opening. There is a small staff in addition to Scott. Pilar does brow shaping and tinting, lash tinting, make-up, and women and men’s grooming. She is from Los Angeles where she was known for creating special effects for TV, music videos, commercials, and film production. At Byrde + the Bee, she also offers fruit acid peels.

In addition to color, cuts, and the blow dry bar, Scott offers conditioning treatments, Brazilian blow-outs, and de-frizzing treatments, extensions, but no up-do’s. In the summer, the salon will be open Tuesday to Saturday. If there is a demand, they will also open on Sunday. During the winter months, the studio will open Wednesday to Saturday.

Scott’s technique for highlights is Balyage, a no-foils, brush-on painting style that results in a graduated, natural-looking effect, which he feels is a more artful approach. The philosophy at Byrde + the bee is they want their clients to be comfortable, as if they were at home or a friend’s place. They want you to enjoy the space as well as the services.

In the retail shop, they sell ceramics made in the 30s, 40s and 50s from Sweden, Germany, and Denmark. Presently, the paintings  featured on the walls throughout the salon was created by Scott’s partner Steven Miller; other artists will also be shown at the space in the future. All are available for purchase. To see more of Steven’s work, go to his website: www.stevenwmiller.com

At Arethusa al tavolo, Chef Dan Magill’s creative dishes are made with a delicate balance of flavor, freshness, texture, and beauty. His passion for cooking is evident in every bite. by bill fore

Litchfield County is the fortunate home of several top Connecticut restaurants, restaurants that measure up to the best New York – and the world beyond – has to offer. They are all the results of vision, investment and talent, yet each possesses a unique story of how that beautiful meal made it to your plate. In the mind of a great chef, the creative juices are (almost) always flowing.

Dan Magill has a lot to say about the creative impulse, and it doesn’t take long to understand he is driven. The chef of Arethusa al tavolo in Bantam since its opening in 2013, Magill is precise, demanding, articulate, confident, focused, and passionate – and he’s playing the game at a very high level. His menus are intellectually engaging: grounded in classical detail, built on impeccable ingredients, executed with finesse, and suffused with genuine creativity. For example, tartare of yellowtail & yellowfin with watermelon radish, cucumber, avocado, tobiko, and soy-yuzu dressing. There is nothing on your plate that isn’t there for a reason, no pretense, no trendy culinary artifice. And the visual precision of his craftsmanship is high art.

Happily, we do not need to know any of this to enjoy the results but understanding the man behind the experience is illuminating. Working from the age of 14 as dishwasher, prep cook, and then line cook, Dan knew early on that food was his milieu. “My mother was a great home cook, and cooked for our family of six every single night growing up. It was my father who encouraged me to get a job washing dishes, and I’ve been in the kitchen ever since.” In high school Naval ROTC he thrived on the discipline and organization that, not coincidentally, also distinguishes a professional kitchen. Following a degree in restaurant management, Dan enrolled at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA), committed to becoming a chef.

At a rare loss for words, Dan strains to remember at what point he realized he’s a creative person. “Maybe in my twenties? People have always commented on my eye for detail, and I’m super-critical, mostly of myself.” It took the first ten years of his cooking career, he says, to begin understanding how foods, flavors and textures play off each other in a dish. “It’s the yin and yang – what I hope people notice about my cooking is that it’s balanced.”

The daily pre-meal briefing with his 15-member service staff is equal parts lecture, Q&A, and pop quiz, and it pays off at the table: the al tavolo servers are knowledgeable, engaged, and engaging.  Discovery and hospitality in equal measure are hallmarks of Magill’s pervasive influence throughout the restaurant; he touches every part of the guest experience. Asked where he learned to think like that, Dan replies without hesitation, “It’s the chef-owned business model, not just cooking and taking a paycheck.” Post-CIA, he worked stages (brief unpaid internships in other chefs’ kitchens to gain insight and experience) in some of the great kitchens of New York, eventually landing a coveted spot under superstar Chef Daniel Boulud. It’s this same proprietary attitude that fosters a bond of mutual respect between the chef and al tavolo’s owners, George Malkemus and Tony Yurgaitis.

“The kitchen window at al tavolo goes both ways – guests enjoy watching the kitchen while I monitor the dining room,” Magill explains. The flurry of orders from the kitchen printer bear time stamps, and the chef knows precisely how many minutes later each course “walked.” Occasionally, he notices a guest arriving when the host is away from the front door, and dispatches a staffer to meet and greet. All the while he’s actually cooking in the brigade (usually the fish station, a sentimental favorite having grown up on the north shore of Long Island), and setting the pace for his talented team of eleven.

“Hospitality is the entire experience.” For Magill, it goes far beyond a well-crafted meal in al Tavolo’s unpretentiously elegant dining room. “It’s seamless service, attentive and knowledgeable but unaffected, with sincere attention to personal requests.” He keeps it real with approachable menu descriptions, avoiding intimidating culinary terminology: seared Berkshire pork tenderloin wrapped in serrano, with sweet potato puree, red cabbage, romanesco, green apple, rosemary. No gimmicks.

The very directness that makes Dan’s cooking so fascinating also makes it hard to pigeonhole. There are certainly international influences from his training and his travels in Spain and France, but it’s not ethnically identifiable. Much better, it is highly personal, inventive and genuine.

Such mastery is the essence of professional hospitality, and Chef Magill leads by example, inspiring and cajoling his experienced colleagues while mentoring a young novice who persisted until he earned a chance as prep cook. Ironically, you never learn more than when you’re teaching. “There’s no radio, no drinking, no cursing. It’s all focus.”

Magill takes pride in his focus at work; he checks his civilian life at the door and gives the restaurant his full attention.  But that compartmentalization seems to go only so far. Asked his secret for stress detox, he confesses he depends on his wife, also a veteran of very sophisticated restaurants, for reflection and counsel. “I come up with a lot of ideas on my day off – quiet time is important.” The family recently purchased a home in Bethlehem. “Now we’re as local as the food we serve.”

The occasional creative block? “The red flag is when I find myself bored of plating a particular dish. We start bouncing ideas around with cooks and service staff.” Trials and variations ensue: one ingredient provides a savory note, but it lacks snap – add some acidity, a pinch of salt. A textural crunch, an aromatic grace note. The new dish is “built” on fertile creative collaboration. Menu changes are driven as much by the emotions of the season as by market availability. “March has a lot of the same feel to the menu as winter: root vegetables, squashes, hearty greens, citrus, and lots of braised meats. I always refer to March as winter’s last stand.”

“April is when you really start to see some early spring produce. Ramps are by far the one item that I personally get most excited for. We pickle the bulbs, and serve them with many things from our chicken liver pâté, to garnishing fish, and just about everything in between! The ramp greens are sweated down and turned into a crust for our prime strip; we also bake the greens in tarts with Arethusa Farm cheeses.”

Casually observed, it would appear that as Magill imagines it, the dish magically flows from his fingers. In point of fact, he’s achieved fluency in his medium that affords him the confidence to cook freely, with originality and artistic intelligence. The chef keeps a kitchen journal full of ideas, formulas, references and influences. He also sketches, often in the margins of the daily menu, developing a visual illustration of a dish simultaneously with its practical evolution in his mind. All his senses are ticking in sync.

Perhaps it’s that right-brain/left-brain tension that makes the process – and the product – so compelling. Discipline and inspiration. Imagination and order. Dan Magill wouldn’t want us to notice. Just sit down and enjoy the meal.

Local businessman Tony Vengrove has launched Makery Coworking, where makers, creators and entrepreneurs can rent space for a day or a year (or somewhere in between).

Tony Vengrove has a vision. He wants to build an entrepreneurial community that catalyzes innovation and instigates change in Litchfield County. It begins with a space on Bank Street in New Milford where freelancers, small business owners, and nonprofit professionals, can go to for business services and networking. The region has always been a haven for the creative economy—web developers, graphic designers, writers, filmmakers, artists, musicians, branding experts, and software engineers. The goal is to create a hub fostering creativity and innovation for people who work from home.

Situated in the former Harts Gallery building, the 5,000 square-foot-space is designed to be comfortable, casual, and inviting. The first floor has an open-concept style with groupings of tables and chairs at different heights. “Assuming that everyone already has a private office at home, we’ve kept it open to encourage engagement,” says Tony. “It’s like a start-up area. The seats at taller tables in the back are bar height for standing or sitting, and traditional tables and chairs are up front. The shelves and walls showcase works (which are for sale) by local artists, makers, and artisans.” There are temporarily loaned items in the front window area displaying symbolic items such as an incubator for chicks, an antique corn husker, and a barn hay carrier.

While the first floor is similar to sitting at a Starbucks coffeeshop, conversations are kept to a quiet level. More spirited conversations are held downstairs. On the lower level, there is another gathering area, a conference room, workshop area, kitchenette, and phone rooms for privacy. The conference room has a large computer screen, a white board, table and chairs, and room for serving food. Rolls of brown kraft paper are available for note-taking or doodling. Two sliding barn doors separate the conference room from the rest of the floor.

Born in New York City, Tony Vengrove grew up in Darien and was drawn to Litchfield County. He loves to fly-fish and hike the Appalachian Trail. Tony’s father was an advertising copywriter, who is known for the famous Toyota campaign ‘Oh, What a Feeling!’ Following in his father’s footsteps, Tony worked in advertising, first at Saatchi & Saatchi as a VP Supervisor in account management, and then at Grey Advertising. After switching to the corporate side, he worked at Boehringer Ingleheim, one of the world’s 20 leading pharmaceutical companies, and at UST in Greenwich, as Director of Innovation. Later, he and his family moved to Richmond, Virginia, where he continued to work for UST. While in Richmond, he also started Miles Finch Innovation a business specializing in marketing, innovation, and entrepreneurialism and became immersed in the start-up culture. Tony and his wife Kate Vengrove missed living in the Northwest Corner of Connecticut and decided to move back to Litchfield County in 2013, where he continues to operate Miles Finch Innovation.

Tony plans to hold ‘Lunch & Learn’ sessions with various speakers such as inspirational entrepreneurs and tech experts. Also in the works are talks on creative leadership. “We would like to create a hub that puts Litchfield County on the map and connects us to the rest of the ecosystem through state programs, and to share the stories of the creative people in Litchfield County—to start a trend in ruralism.” He speaks of a cross-pollination of advisors and mentors. “The purpose is to do this for the community.”

A launch party for Makery Coworking is being planned for early June and will be held at 19Main, an event venue located in the recently restored United Bank Building. The Launch Party called ‘19 at 19’, will feature a presentation by mostly local entrepreneurs, 19 of them, each with 19 slides, at 19 seconds per slide.

Some future goals for Makery Coworking are to hire a manager, install lockers on the lower level, gear up on events, open a satellite space in higher Litchfield County, and obtain a state grant.

Membership rates can be found on their website. The day rate is $25 and includes the use of the space, free coffee, snacks, printing, wifi, etc. Full-Time membership is $250 per month. Full-time members get unlimited monthly access, plus add-on services. Currently, there are  11 members. Tony’s goal is to have 25 members, full or part time in the first two months, scaling up to a reasonable level. While the amenities like free wifi, coffee and office supplies attract interest, it’s the networking potential that compels members to sign up. “It’s the community, not space,” he adds, “it’s a place where collaborations educate and inspire— a co-working culture.”

This March, local resident, musician, and composer David Grausman celebrates his 25th year at the piano in the Tap Room at the Mayflower Grace in Washington.

Where in Litchfield County can you go to listen to a soulful, live jazz performance in a low-key, intimate setting while enjoying a glass of wine and a delicious burger? Every Friday and Saturday night, the Mayflower Grace in Washington features virtuoso David Grausman on piano in the Tap Room. A well-known resident and fixture in the community, David has been playing piano at the Mayflower for the last 25 years.

The longterm gig began one summer when Grausman, a recent graduate of the first class of the New School’s jazz and contemporary music program, came from the city to visit his family. His father Philip Grausman suggested that David come along to see the Mayflower Inn which was under construction and almost completed. David saw a piano and inquired if they were looking for a pianist. The Minuchin family (the inn’s new proprietors) hired David to perform at a few parties and he got the job. It was serendipity.

David was born in New York and grew up in Washington, Connecticut as the only child of artists. His father is Philip Grausman, an American sculptor, best known for monumental size portraits. The Washington resident has received numerous awards including the Prix de Rome in Sculpture, and a Ford Foundation Purchase Award. David’s mother is Martha Clarke, an American theatre director and choreographer who lives in Sherman. She was a co-founder of Pilobolus, the internationally acclaimed collective, and is a MacArthur fellow.

David inherited a love for the arts and developed a love for music at a young age. His childhood was filled with art, dance, theater, and music. “It was an unbelievable way to grow up. I saw the world while traveling with my mother and drew live models with my father.” He remembers hanging around on stage as a little boy, watching dance rehearsals and posing at tech rehearsals (playing with his yo-yo on stage) while the lights were being checked. At a young age, he understood that his life was different.

His education was a hybrid of academic learning at school and a natural immersion of the arts with his family at home. He first went to a small nursery school on the Washington Green, and continued his education in Washington, eventually graduating from Shepaug Valley High School. David is close to both of his parents. From them he learned that hard work and dedication to a craft gives fulfillment and joy.

David’s musical career began at age 5 studying with Elizabeth Kiehl, a classical piano teacher from New Preston. His interest in jazz started by listening to his father’s collection of recordings. A few years later, David included lessons in drums, a bit of saxophone, and the vibraphone. At 14, he asked his parents for jazz piano lessons.

David attended Buck’s Rock Camp in New Milford, a well-known creative and performing arts camp, for 6 summers (see our past article on the camp HERE). “I had a jazz radio show at the camp’s radio station. Buck’s Rock was an extraordinary experience for me. I was introduced to so many creative art forms. Many of the friends I made at the time are still among my closest.”

When David was 16, he attended a summer program at the Berklee School of Music in Boston. In a professional music environment, he was inspired to work hard and continue to improve his skills. At Shepaug Valley High School, he was involved in the theater program taught by Doug Winkel. He continued taking lessons from Jeff McGill, a jazz piano teacher at the Gunnery. “I always loved theater, but decided to continue my education in music.” The year that he graduated from Shepaug, a new program in jazz was launched at the New School in Manhattan, created by Arnie Lawrence, a well-known saxophonist. David auditioned and was accepted in the program. It was a good thing he didn’t know that one of the judges was Tommy Flanagan — the pianist for Ella Fitzgerald — or he might have been too nervous.

The faculty of the 4-year program in jazz and contemporary music was composed of some of the greatest jazz musicians in the world. Legends like Art Blakey, Dizzy Gillespie, and Barry Harris would give lectures. Some of David’s teachers were Jacki Byard (jazz pianist), Bernard Purdie (soul funk drummer), Reggie Workman (jazz bassist), and Kirk Nurock (composer/jazz pianist). David’s new world was “jazz musicians hangin’ with jazz musicians”.

David also loves cooking. His uncle Richard Grausman, (his father’s brother) is the Founder and Chairman Emeritus of C-CAP (Careers through Culinary Arts Program) in New York City. When David was 12, he learned how to make a chocolate soufflé. Six years ago, David took an intensive, two-week summer program in cooking at the Natural Gourmet Cooking Institute. He loves the cross-pollination of all disciplines. “Music and cooking go together,” says David, “Both musicians and chefs improvise, coloring music with notes and cooking with flavors.” Asked if there was anything he would still like to do in the future, David replied, “Acting.” Perhaps memories of time spent on the stages at Shepaug and Buck’s Rock bring back good memories?

David’s maternal grandfather also played piano and composed music (later he became a lawyer). He wrote music for Fats Waller and Guy Lombardo, and his brother was a lyricist. The family influences run deep and are clearly evident in shaping the direction of David’s creative life. “The creative arts are an alternative universe, what’s not to like?”

Who are David’s influences? “Jazz artists from the 50’s and 60’s. For pianists, I love Thelonious Monk, Ahmad Jamal, Oscar Peterson, Bud Powell, Bill Evans to name a few… I’m into concepts: groove, space, feel, humor, directness, energy, touch, dynamics. I’m attracted to music that grooves — straight-ahead swing, old school r&b/soul, funk, rock, latin, Classical, blues, country, and flamenco. I love most music. I know a lot of tunes, and keep adding new ones. Each evening I look to see what kind of crowd I have, then play songs I think fit the current atmosphere best. I go with the flow. It’s different every night. Among requests from Tap Room guests are “As Time Goes By”, “Night and Day”, “Fly Me to the Moon”, “New York State of Mind”, “Imagine”, “Tiny Dancer”, and of course, “Piano Man”.

David has the ability to talk to people while playing music at the same time. His big smile and genuine interest in people is a testament to his huge following. “It’s fun and I like people,” he says, “Music embraces people and has its own kind of hospitality. I also enjoy observing people taking pleasure in the food and atmosphere of the Inn. Every week is like a movie. I never know what to expect!”

David splits his time between his home in New Preston and New York City. He loves being in the Northwest Corner, “It’s a jewel with small, rolling hills, beauty, and quiet. “I like being alone with my music,” he smiles, “And I enjoy talking to guests at the Mayflower about the area. I often give advice to people on what to see and where to go.”

We spoke with the management at the Mayflower Grace about Grausman’s 25-year stint. This is what they had to say:

When you combine great food with live music, you can expect a pleasant experience, but add to it the tremendous talent and charm of jazz pianist David Grausman in an intimate setting like the Tap Room at the Mayflower Grace and you’ve got an evening to remember. David will keep your toes tapping and your fingers snapping, and your heart will be singing.

As the new manager of County Wine and Spirits, Jamie Webb curates the shop’s wine and beer collection with variety, style, and value for its loyal, experienced clientele. by Bill Fore

Jamie Webb is not just the new guy at County Wine and Spirits in New Preston, he’s taking over after the ten-year run of the trusted and well-known previous owner. Like a Broadway play when the original cast retires, new actors have to make the roles their own. And it can be challenging to assert your style while you’re inevitably compared to the dearly departed.

Happily, for the many devoted fans of County Wine, Jamie Webb is more than up to the task. A gentle soul with an easy smile, a sly sense of humor, and a penchant for poetry (he earned a degree in literature and worked in books prior to his 25 years in the wine business), Jamie is a worldly wine guy. He credits Hans Bauer, the long-ago owner of Litchfield Wine Merchant, for the taste of burgundy that changed the course of his career. “It was delicate and complex all at once, and it seemed to stay in your mouth forever. I couldn’t describe it, but I knew it was like nothing I’d ever tasted. I was hooked.”

Jamie maintains a modest personal cellar at home, though he’s quick to quip he can’t afford cases of burgundy. Like many consumers, his priority is value, the inescapable ratio of price to quality. It now falls to Jamie to curate the County Wine collection, a standard of variety, style and unique interest that’s becoming clearer as he gets acquainted with his clientele. “They are very well experienced. The thing that makes me happiest is discovering an audience for something I love.”

“I recently added a Jacquàre (a white grape found mostly in the Savoie region of France). It’s obscure, but I like it, it’s not expensive, and I had a hunch it might fit in. Twenty minutes later a guy walks in and remarks, Jacquàre! That gives me a sense of what this shop has meant to the community.” Jamie’s unpretentious hospitality is natural and engaging. An “eternal student,” his formula for retail is disarmingly simple: share personal experience and build trust, rare and welcome skills in the complex world of wine.

Webb claims not to be creative himself, but his role models include artists and filmmakers. He likens the crafting of elegant wine to the precision of poetry and notes that one of the pleasures of age is finding beauty in so many unexpected places. Even when the tiny shop buzzes with happy chaos, he exudes a sense of easy-going calm, one of the hallmarks of a good listener. “My father’s family were all even-tempered and focused, but I have to work on being a good listener all the time.”

Though Jamie grew up in Darien, his affection for the northwest hills dates back to his years at The Taft School, and regular tennis and squash matches with Litchfield County competitors. He also coached and competed while earning his degree at Trinity College, making frequent day trips for hikes in Steep Rock, lunch at the Pantry, and shopping in New Preston. Working in New Preston now feels like a homecoming.

Jamie’s love of wine (and beer) is an extension of his love of food and culture. Wine is always representative of a place and an experience. Traveling in Italy, he recalls, one of the treasures of Emilia-Romagna is the aromatic cured ham Culatello di Zibello. He’d been baffled by the many sparkling, sweetish wines of the region until he tasted them with the ham, and then “it clicked.”

“As a wine guy,” Jamie notes, “I’m excited by the explosion of connoisseurship among beer lovers. We now routinely discuss nuances of particular varieties of hops with beer drinkers who quote reviews and ratings like wine scores from Robert Parker.” He organized his own early exploration of wine around Parker’s writing. “I looked for the highest ratings with the lowest prices.” From there he let his palate be his guide, especially when traveling in Europe.

How to stay excited when you sample 20 or 30 wines a week, some of which are of reasonable quality for their price, but few dazzle? “It’s easy to fall into a rut without noticing.” And then, a revelation – “Occasionally I taste something different, something very special, deftly balanced and unique. A wine that rises above the noisy crowd. The bar gets reset, and I remember why we do what we do.” Characteristically, Jamie adds, “That sense of professional refreshment also reminds me to stay alerted to those experiences of beauty in all parts of my life.”

Asked about how he hopes to move County Wine forward, Webb allows “There are wine shops in our area with good collections and strong knowledge, and everyone goes at it a little differently.” Focusing on an atmosphere of shared experience, personal attention, and mutual interests, he asks, “What are you cooking? Are you entertaining? What have you been drinking lately?” The goal is to keep the shop vital, reliable and fun.

Owners Laurie and Dennis White share a mutual appreciation with Webb. He’s a mature manager with ownership experience and a broad view of responsible business operations. To Webb, their trust allows him to focus on the shop’s collection and the customer experience, exactly where he wants to be. “We’re a well-matched team,” he says. “Laurie and Dennis have great spirit. They are not indiscriminate number crunchers – they’re committed to sustaining the traditions that put County Wine on the map.”

Like a child, Jamie Webb still delights in discovery. And as the father of an eighteen-year-old son, he tries not to forget what it was like. “I admire his energy and his willingness to change direction, trying one thing after another. He doesn’t make apologies when he has a better idea, and he is a force to be reckoned with.” Jamie brings that same sense of genuine joy to his new post.

Looking forward to a fresh start in 2017? Tal Fagin is a skilled  Certified Life Coach who can help empower you to define and reach your goals — and to stay on track.

For many of us the new year means making a list of resolutions that are unrealistic and unreachable. We start with good intentions and within months end up feeling like a failure. What if you had a coach who provided guidance and redirected you when you veered off-track? Life Coach Tal Fagin does just that. And she is really good at it.

Her business is called Tal Fusion — a nod to the combination of many skills and experiences that have shaped who she is today. A former corporate attorney, Tal works with clients to pin-point and solve problems. She listens and asks questions. She’s not judgemental. She understands. She’s been there. She is both direct in her approach and a compassionate listener. She helps you work through the obstacles in your life that are holding you back. She leads the way to clarity. Her simple strategies will enable you to lead a more balanced and joyful life.

Originally from New Rochelle, NY, Tal had an unusual up-bringing. Her parents were wildly in love, broke up several times, and kept getting back together. Her parents were archetypes. Her father was a salesman — a combination of Willy Loman and his son. Her mother was a rock. She kept it together for her children and gave them absolute unconditional love.

Tal Fagin majored in history at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. She also studied a little psychology and communications; the whole time she had her eye on Law School. Upon graduating from NYU Law School, she was hired at a large New York law firm. After 5 years there, she found that corporate law was not really right for her. She had been involved in some pro bono work on behalf of women who were victims of domestic violence, and those cases felt more meaningful to her. She moved on to work for the District Attorney’s office in Queens to prosecute domestic violence cases, but soon became pregnant with her first child. She had spent her whole life gunning for a legal career, and she found herself in a quandary. After an aha moment where she was interviewing a nanny, and communicating her work hours, she realized her baby would spend more time with the nanny than with her. She decided to stay home to raise her child, and her career was put on hold.

For the next ten years, Tal had two more children and spent time with her family while doing a variety of work from developing an app to legal pro bono work, to volunteering. She wrote a novel, a screen play, and a pilot for a TV show. Looking back, Tal says that all of those experiences have been helpful in the work she does with women and men now.

When coaching clients, Tal often turns to assuring them that they are not alone in their quandaries. Many of the concerns that they bring to her are universal issues. “Your inner voice tells you that you’re not doing enough. Often it is this voice that holds us back,” Tal asks “How self-aware are you? How open to experimenting and to change are you?” “How do your personal issues affect your work?”

Many people need someone to talk to about issues they have at work, and Tal offers insight beginning with this: The question often asked of you by strangers is “What do you do for a living?” which really means “What do you do for work?” Working is living — this is not a coincidence. Tal points out to her clients that there is a connection — your personal goals do affect your goals in business.

Tal helps clients to explore what their family or people did to them. “You either shut down or attack back. When you unpack it and unpack it again, it feels true.” Tal provides her clients with the pro-active tools to say to themselves, “This is where you are now. What can you do to improve that?”

Another area that she adresses is the physical toll of living with stress and anxiety. How you react physically and emotionally to your concerns affects your body, whether through a defensive posture, gaining weight, or with aches and pains. Sometimes you feel defeated and think “what’s the point?” Tal encourages her clients to use breathing and meditation to get through those difficult times. “When you learn the signals that your body is sending, you can pause, take a deep breath,” she says, “Meditation is great for calming down. From that place you can respond to everything as opposed to reacting. This is true of parenting, true of everything.

Tal points out that life coaching is not therapy. You go to a doctor if you are sick. You go to a personal trainer for better wellness. If you are suffering from anxiety or depression, you go to a doctor and get medication. If you are mentally sound and if you are relatively healthy, and if you don’t need a diagnosis nor medication, and just want to be listened to, having a life coach could be the answer. “My clients are mentally healthy, accomplished, highly functioning people who simply want more out of life — whether that be in their personal relationships, their careers, their health, or some combination thereof.”

After 10 years of raising her children, Tal studied with Martha Beck, Life Coach, author of eight books, and writer of a popular monthly column in O, The Oprah Magazine. Tal took the Martha Beck 9-month online program and became a Certified Life Coach. For her, it was a catalyctic event. After completing the program, she went through a training period where she practiced coaching, and then finally, she began coaching with a few regular clients.

Her business has grown over the years, and Tal has developed a few programs that can be implemented within groups or on an individual basis. She provides life coaching services to individuals, couples, business partners, or groups such as parenting groups. In addition to in-person sessions at her home office in Washington, Tal works with clients by phone all over the country. She guarantees absolute confidentiality.

When asked how she ended up in Litchfield County, Tal Fagin explains that she had ties to the area — as a teen she had spent time in a summer camp in Kent. Many years later, in 2006, when she and her husband were still living in Manhattan, they began spending weekends in Litchfield County. One weekend, they were staying at the Mayflower Inn and decided they wanted to live in Washington. They bought a home in Washington and by 2013, they made the move to Connecticut full time. Tal loves it up here— the scenery, the people, and the feeling of space.

The services Tal Fagin offers are on her web site, along with pricing: One On One Coaching, Parenting Groups, Special Programs, Workshops and Events. Here is a quick summary of the Special Programs she offers:

Love the One You’re With: This was developed after Tal realized that she worked out so much and was caught up with the idea of physial perfection instead of working out to take care of herself. She offers this program in person along with Dr. Alicia Zalker, a local dermatologist. It is a coaching program designed to liberate you once and for all from your harshest critic—your inner voice—so you can stop sabotaging yourself.

Lay Off, Love On: This is a program about parenting, about exploring  and helping you find a more effective and authentic way to parent your children. There are only two main emotions: love and fear. When you are parenting, you either act from one or another. We are afraid of losing that love. The result is fight or flight. Or walls go up, and you’re not communicative. If you go underneath that, and ask yourself “What am I afraid of?” “Why am I acting like this?” The answer is you want to help your children to survive, to be strong. “Parenting feels better to me from that place.”

Ready to Rev: This coaching program is intended to help you get honest about who you are, where you are, and what you want to do with the next chapter of your life. It is about empowering you to be your strongest, most authentic and best self.

And here are Tal’s Top 2 Tips:

1. Develop a meditation practice — even if it is just breathing deeply.

2. Develop a gratitude practice — whether it is telling yourself every day or writing about it.

With new coaching clients, Tal Fagin suggests beginning with a package of six sessions or to try it on an individual session basis. Six sessions is enough for some people, while others have seen her regularly for two years.

Tal Fagin concludes with this personal account of finding her true path here in Litchfield County: “I struggled for a long time to discover who I was. I tried yoga, dancing, hanging out at clubs, working as a lawyer — but I always felt like it wasn’t me. Everyone gets to be who they are in the Northwest Corner of Connecticut. Every day I tell myself how incredibly lucky I am, we are. I can’t express it enough. It’s my love-letter feeling to the community.”

With each new client, Tal asks, “Will you actually implement the tools that I have at the ready for you? Receiving coaching can be life-changing, yet it is so simple.” The work that Tal so effectively does is to spread hope and healing. “I have yet to encounter a problem I don’t feel compelled to help solve, or to at least try.” So, if you are ready to turn your life around, to restart and refresh, consider a coach to guide you through it — all you need is a little help. Tal Fagin is committed to helping you achieve your goals. “I have learned — through experience, introspection and coaching — how to get out of my own way, and how to live a life of my own design. And trust me, if I can do it — so can you.” As the tag line on her web site says: Let Your Life Shine.

Lakeville Interiors duo Ashley and Courtney reign over
their decorating emporium known for its customized products and inspired design services.

The Northwest Corner is filled with hidden gems and one that is getting a lot of attention these days is Lakeville Interiors, a decorating and retail business run by two talented sisters. Ashley Merz Marchand and Courtney Merz Saulnier, partners of Lakeville Interiors, have built their business with slow but steady progress over the years and are now enjoying the success that comes with hard work. Their lovely 10,000 square-foot store, showroom, and workroom is located on Holley Street, a small street just off of Route 44, also known as Main Street (or Millerton Road) in Lakeville. Hidden from view off the main thoroughfare, it is well worth the detour.

Lakeville Interiors is more than just interiors. In addition to a retail shop featuring housewares, accent pieces, furniture, art, rugs, and wallpaper, as well as a children’s section, and other delightful merchandise to keep you browsing for hours, the firm offers full interior design services. The partners take all kinds of projects from one room to entire homes, or from upholstery, window shades, and new pillows to outdoor furniture. Whether you need a kitchen to be updated or a new rug for your living room, Courtney and Ashley join together to bring their skills and creativity to your project. They have great sources for furniture and rugs that are unique and different from what you find in a Pottery Barn catalog. Vintage and re-used pieces are also part of their repertoire. Always committed to supporting the local community, Ashley and Courtney sell and commission beautiful things created by local artists and artisans, and they are happy to hook up their clients with them. They believe in creative people supporting each other.

Ashley and Courtney grew up in the town of Litchfield and attended the Washington Montessori School. The influence of their Montessori education would show up later when they became entrepreneurs. Both girls then attended The Loomis Chaffee School, a college prep boarding school located in Windsor, Connecticut. Courtney went on to Hobart and William Smith Colleges, located in New York state’s Finger Lakes region and she majored in Public Policy. She also took some art classes. Her years there were spent exploring her options. Ashley attended Union College, a liberal arts college located in Schenectady, New York and enjoyed Sociology and History. She started majoring in Civil Engineering, but switched because the focus was too much on computer skills. Ashley likes to observe, analyze, and make things. The sisters are two years apart, so while Ashley finished college, Courtney lived in Maui for 2 years.

The sisters always knew they wanted to be in business together. Originally, they thought they would open a shop in Litchfield, but upon doing research they realized that retail was not a viable enough enough business for them. Upon their father’s recommendation, they drove to Boston and spent 3 days immersed in Aptitude Testing. Courtney’s results pointed to a career in Interior Design. In fact, she got a perfect score on a part of the test to do with color (which was a first for the testing company). Ashley’s results pointed towards a career in Civil Engineering — she was destined to be a maker, constructing in a work room, instead of an office. Her skills in this area came in handy recently when the sisters designed and built a sleeper sofa whose back could be removed in order to get it through the window of the client’s home. Creating customized furniture is a popular service at Lakeville Interiors.

At first, as they were starting out, they rented space in a building in Lakeville where an interior designer had her business but was phasing out. They started out with three rooms in the building where they set up an area specializing in items for children, another room was a retail shop, and the third was an office. In order to learn as much as they could, Courtney did an internship with the interior designer for one year and Ashley took a training job in a work room in Massachusetts for 4 months making bedding, bedskirts, and window treatments. She perfected her sewing skills while she was there and gained invaluable knowledge about constructing these pieces.

After a year passed, in 2007-2008, Ashley and Courtney bought the business and the building. The previous owner/interior designer stayed on for another year and took the time to pass on to them her trade secrets. They turned one area of the large building into a workroom. Over the years, while raising their young children (Ashley has three, Courtney has two), they have slowly improved the building, room by room. They re-painted black ceilings white. They replaced the floors, and are still slowly updating each room, re-investing in their company.

Their roles within the business are well-defined — Ashley is the maker, sewing and constructing while overseeing the workroom staff, and she also handles the business side of things such as pricing and bookkeeping. Courtney is the designer and spends her time meeting with clients and designing, and choosing fabrics, textures, and finishes. They work in tandem, recognizing each other’s strengths and talents.

Sewing as a traditional skill has diminished considerably in the 21st century, and it can be challenging to find skilled staff to help with the construction of pillow cases, bedding, slip covers, drapery, and upholstery. Both Courtney and Ashley have always sewn. They took sewing classes when they were young and their mother sewed with them. These days Courtney spends more time overseeing than actually sewing because she is more involved in the design and visual aesthetics of the firm’s projects — she always gravitated towards art. Ashley, on the other hand, spends a large part of her time sewing and contructing. “Sewing is fun, quick and satisfying,” they both agree. “We enjoy creating something out of fabric.” The craftsmanship is evident in the finished goods. With access to the extensive textile library in their workroom which holds samples from fabric companies from all over the U.S. and abroad, their palette is plentiful.

In the beginning of their flourishing business, most of their clientele came from word of mouth. “It is a very personal thing to go into someone’s home,” says Ashley. “I am lucky that I have wonderful clients who trust me. They feel relaxed knowing their projects are in my care.” Many of their local clients originally hired them to help decorate their weekend homes in the country. Happy with the results, they then hired the sisters to work on their city apartments. Courtney even works in collaboration with their clients’ New York City designers. (She goes into the city about 2 or 3 times a month.) Often the big-name designers aren’t as hands-on, and don’t make things or install. Courtney quotes all the yardage, and even though Lakeville Interiors has an installer, she still goes on all of the installations. She also gets involved with construction and works with her clients’ architects on materials and laying out the interior spaces. “An electrician can be really skilled at what he does, but perhaps might not place the electrical outlets in the most discreet places.” Asked if there is a big difference between the country homes and the city dwellings, Courtney says, “The trend in the country is warm and relaxed, but also modern. People are more eclectic these days and tastes are always changing.”

Private residences aren’t the only projects the duo has worked on, they also have been hired for a few commercial jobs such as for The Sharon Inn, The Interlaken Inn, a hair salon, and window treatments for Sweet Williams Bakery. The partners recently hired a marketing person to join their team and are in the process of redesigning their web site, and updating Instagram and Facebook. This is the next phase of the carefully planned growth that Lakeville Interiors has enjoyed.

Courtney and Ashley concur the most challenging part of their business is also the best part: Every job is unpredictable and unexpected. Since no two projects are alike and every person wants something different, each job is new and exciting. Courtney interprets what people’s needs and choices are, and designs it; then Ashley makes it. Every day brings a new challenge and an opportunity to create something special.

Sherry and Eric Leitz have created a fabulous collection of leather luxury goods—from handbags and belts to wine totes and jewelry—that are handcrafted right here in Washington.

Eric Leitz has a natural gift for craftsmanship. He works with a piece of leather and turns it into a thing of beauty. He understands proportion and appreciates simplicity. He enjoys combining different materials such as leather with pearls, or leather with snakeskin and color beads, or copper studs and leather. His creations are a study in traditional with a touch of rebellion. In the handbags and wine totes, color shows up in unexpected places. Thin x-motifs connect handles to vessels, and patterns are created with silver studs. Belts and bracelet cuffs are timeless and one-of-a-kind. The whole body of work—the leather collection that he and his wife Sherry produce—has a language of its own.

Eric’s love for leather came from his grandparents, who lived in the countryside. Eric recalls fondly that his grandfather’s leather-soled shoes would make a sound as he walked. As a young boy, he was drawn to old and used leather. Later, he was into motorcycles and wanted to make a leather seat for his bike. He taught himself how to craft leather by watching video tutorials and researching techniques. After the seat came a belt, and eventually a handbag for his wife. With Sherry’s encouragement and direction, Eric honed in on a look and a style that would become their signature collection.

Both Sherry and Eric Leitz have experience working in the fashion industry. In fact, that’s where they met. Sherry worked at a men’s clothing business for 13 years. She worked with high-level executives. She was good at selling in a non-selling kind of way, and she ended up training new employees at her firm on how to sell. Early on when they were forming their leather business, Sherry took some of Eric’s belts to a client and he bought them all on the spot.

Eric graduated from F.I.T. and started working at Armani. He moved on to work for other designers, including Ralph Lauren. He sold high end clothing made in Italy for celebrities, politicians, and the film industry. Sherry and Eric met in New York City through their work and decided to launch their own custom clothing business for men. What came next was leather—and a move to Connecticut. They started spening time in the area on weekends, but 8 years ago, they moved here full time.

All of the leather goods at Leitz are handcrafted with bridal leather, dyed and stained, and saddle-stitched by Eric Leitz. The popular handbags are made using a single piece of leather and are available in a variety of color combinations with silver, copper, or gold studs. Sherry points out how the length of the handles is so important because the bag sits on the shoulder just right. As partner, she contributes ideas, handles the business end, and markets the brand.

As an avid motorcyclist, Eric used to sell his leather goods at bike shows. He constructs the bags and the belts to look beautiful and to last forever. A true artist, he spends time and thought on getting the details right. For example, he buries the belt buckles to get a nice patina. Belts can have inlaid snake skin with vintage glass beads that look like reflectors.

Almost all of the materials Eric uses are natural. He uses linen thread (the same as Hermes), unless it’s color. He works with harness needles (used for saddle stitching) that he orders from London, and he uses bee’s wax to thread. It protects the thread and keeps it from tangling and also conditions the thread at the same time. He rubs the leather with a leather conditioner. He weaves the seams with leather, punches holes and then weaves the strip of leather through them.

The necklaces and bracelets are made with leather and South Sea Tahitian Pearls in white, black, or dark grey. The wrap bracelets are closed with sturdy stud buttons and can be double or triple-wrapped. Cuff bracelets are decorated with embedded studs and snakeskin pieces.

Wine totes are made to order with bridal leather from one of America’s oldest tanneries in oak bark or black leather, or your choice of a variety of trimmed saddle tones. Each single bottle wine tote is made with a 4-inch base, its seams are whip-stitched, and the interior is brightly leather-lined in the color of your choice, and comes with a dust cover made of cream cotton flannel. There are also wine totes that hold two bottles of wine. You can have your wine tote personalized with a monogram of either 1/2 or 3/4-inch high letters. The intials are hot foil stamped in gold, silver, or they are blind stamped. Coasters can also be stamped for a personal touch.

Leitz is not a commercial entity. There is no website and no business cards. They operate out of their home. They don’t advertise, instead they rely on word-of-mouth. There is a wait list. Instagram generates some sales and pop-up shows have been a good method of selling their products and getting the word out. Once Eric was standing on Madison and 81st in the city and was stopped by a woman with a French accent inquiring about the leather bag he was holding. She ended up ordering one for herself. Loyalty is a big part of the relationship they have with their customers. 80% of their clients have ordered more than one bag. People even send pictures to them from their travels, in Paris with their handbags.

Custom orders can be taken by selecting an interior color, an exterior color, the style of the rivets, and more. Handbags come in 3 main sizes: weekender, mini-tote, and the work bag, but any size can be custom-made and ordered in a wide range of colors. Did we mention that they also make iPad and iPhone cases?

If you try to support local artisans and businesses, and you care that the products you purchase are handcrafted in America; if you value attention to detail and craftsmanship, originality and functionality, look no further than Leitz Leather Goods.