Past Exhibitions

“Paint and Clay”
Paintings by Laura Paradiso and Pottery by Jill Kaplan

Art Show October 7 - November 16, 2022

The Sherman Library is pleased to announce “Paint and Clay,” a dual show featuring paintings by Laura Paradiso and pottery by Jill Kaplan. The show will be on display from October 7th to November 16th, 2022 both in the Library and at www.ShermanLibrary.org.

“When I pick up a brush and put the oil paint on the canvas I go into another zone,” says Paradiso. After retiring from a career in interior design, Paradiso started painting, with most of her work inspired by nature and travel.

Paradiso started painting, clay sculpting, and making collages at the Venice Art Center in Venice, Florida, and studied painting with Alex Shundi at Arts on the Lake in Putnam County, New York. In addition her continued affiliation with these organizations, she also belongs to the Sherman Artists Association. Paradiso has resided in Sherman for almost 50 years, now splitting her time evenly between Sherman, Connecticut and Florida.

Kaplan’s pottery and embellished wares reflect her previous careers as an Interior Designer, Chef, and Caterer. Her work is predominantly made of stoneware and is functional for serving or as tabletop decor. Her work entails both throwing and hand-building, slab work, and piping as well as the use of underglaze and overglaze transfers and various methods of adding texture to her designs.

Kaplan has taken classes at Anderson Ranch Art Center in Snowmass, Colorado, Arrowmont Art Center in Tennessee, and the Marlene Meyerson JCC in Manhattan, New York since 2004. Kaplan now splits her time between Manhattan, New York and her private studio in Sherman, Connecticut.