Find Abundance! Martha Link Walsh Paper cuttings at Willoughby Wallace Memorial Library

Visitors to the Willoughby Wallace Memorial Library gallery are encouraged to find Abundance! a collection of new paper cuttings by Branford artist Martha Link Walsh, on display from Friday, October 26 - Tuesday, November 20. Walsh and fine art photographer Gaile Ramey will host an Opening Reception on Sunday, November 4, 4-6pm as part of this joint exhibit sponsored by the Friends of the Willoughby Wallace Memorial Library. Martha will also give an Artist’s Talk on Thursday, November 15 at 7pm to talk about her inspiration and process for the two dozen images on display.

The dictionary describes abundance as a relative degree of plentifulness, an overflowing of riches. It’s an apt title for Walsh’s collection of new works which burst from their frames with an exuberance of color and a depth of meaning. Anyone familiar with Walsh’s paper cuttings knows that they are layered in symbolism as well as texture and shadow, but the surprise in this new collection is the amount of brilliant colors used throughout. From the title piece, Abundance!, to her detailed renditions of flora and fauna, Walsh explains that “I hold deep gratitude for abundance – from the ever-present support of family, friends and loyal customers to the ongoing creative inspirations for my art. Color seems the most appropriate way to express that sense of plenty.”

The Willoughby Wallace Memorial Library is located at 146 Thimble Islands Road, Branford, CT 06405. For more information, please contact Martha Link Walsh, (203) 481-3505, www.marthalinkwalsh.com.

Cool Cats Jazz Brunch

The Branford Compassion Club hosts Cool Cats Jazz Brunch, a benefit emceed by News Channel 8 anchorman Darren Kramer, featuring the esteemed Jeff Fuller and the Premier Jazz Ensemble of the Neighborhood Music School.

The buffet brunch is Sunday, Nov. 8 at 11:30 a.m. at Pine Orchard Yacht & Country Club, 2 Club Parkway. There is a donation of $45 a person. Reserve by Nov. 1 by email at bccspecialevents32@gmail.com or call 203-444-0653. For more information, visit www.branfordcompassionclub.org.

There will be wine basket raffles, silent auction theme baskets and the chance to enjoy one of the Shoreline’s best brunches, not normally available to the public, at the club, with its stunning views of the Thimble Islands to a soundtrack of sophisticated jazz. Proceeds benefit BCC’s mission to rescue, care for and adopt out homeless felines and for operating expenses at its Feline Rescue and Adoption Center, 2037 Foxon Road, North Branford.

If Sundays mean football, you can kick back over a great brunch with hip music and be home in time for kickoff. Whether a jazz aficionado or a neophyte curious about the great American music genre, you’ll enjoy the cool and laid-back vibe.

The Yale School of Music-trained Fuller, an award-winning bassist and composer, has been a fixture

around the New Haven jazz scene for decades. He has toured worldwide with such luminaries as Dizzy Gillespie, Mose Allison, “Papa” Jo Jones, Gerry Mulligan and Clark Terry. A faculty member at the Neighborhood Music School, and ACES Educational Center for the Arts, he gets to pick from the cream of the crop for the Premier Jazz Ensemble, composed of NMS students and faculty.

Kramer, the popular weeknight anchor of WTNH News Channel 8, gives generously of his time for charities and has a large and faithful following on Twitter, where he is a prolific Tweeter of both wry commentary and news postings.

Branford Compassion Club is an all-volunteer-run non-profit organization founded in 1997. Its shelter, which opened in 2011, celebrated its milestone 1,000^th cat adoption on Oct. 3.

CT Stone Seen In NYC Landmarks

The Brooklyn Bridge in New York City, as well as the base of the Statue of Liberty, is made of a type of granite that comes from a quarry nearby New Haven, in neighboring Branford.  We can't tell you exactly how find it, or where exactly it is, but we can share these slides on a hiking tour along the Connecticut coastline.  Historically, the rock was shipped via freight train along a short route to the Long Island Sound, where the stone was then transported via boat to the New York City harbor.

Local painter Michael Angelis is currently working on painting a landscape of the quarry.

Pink/Orange Granite