After 25 years of framing other people’s art, Cindy Stevens decided to open a gallery and studio of her own. Cindy Stevens Fine Art, in downtown Clinton, celebrated its first anniversary this past spring.

Cindy, who has lived in Clinton with her husband, Gary, for 34 years, owned and operated Snow’s Block Frame Gallery out of her home beginning in 1989, when her children were very young.

“I had done picture framing for many years in my home,” she says. “My business was successful, but I was getting arthritis in my hands. About 10 years ago, I realized I loved oil painting. I had done watercolors for a while before that. I had been thinking about opening a studio someday, and my husband encouraged me to do it. I realized if I didn’t make it happen, it wouldn’t. I didn’t want to regret not doing it. It was time to shake things up.”

When a space became available on Main Street, she wasted no time scoping it out.

“It was the perfect location and size for me,” she says. “I love my space, and I love being downtown. When I go to work now, I focus on art, and I’m still excited every day to go to work. I love how each day is different.”

Cindy comes from a family of artists. Her brother and sister both paint professionally, and her mother, Shirley Price, worked with pen and ink.

“I always remember my mom drawing. She did portraits of friends’ children, woodland scenes, toadstools, Queen Anne’s lace...all kinds of drawings. She had three of us kids and usually a part-time job. I appreciated how hard that all was after I became a mom.”

Late Bloomer

Cindy’s own love for art and creative projects blossomed, she says, while she was raising her children.

“Years ago, I taught art after school at Jared Eliot Middle School. My son, Jeff, was in middle school at the time; he’s 33 now. I also painted sets for the Clinton Musical Theater and worked on sets with Morgan students for the high school plays. I always liked involving kids in the set painting.

“I discovered my love of oil painting a little later in life, after trying an en plein air workshop on Monhegan Island in Maine with my sister.”

Cindy has been returning to the island to paint every fall ever since. Her work focuses on landscapes and seascapes, and she’s particularly drawn to rocks, surf, and flowers.

‘Everywhere is a painting’

Scenes from Clinton are another personal favorite.

A devotee of Impressionist art, Cindy has done her own version of Claude Monet’s water lilies, which she will exhibit with fellow artist and traveler Donna Favreau in October. Maple and Main Gallery in Chester will host the show, called Ooo-La-La: Two Painters in France.

“I like the light in Monet’s work and the way he used color to get effects in the water. I really enjoyed Giverny when I was there, in June, seeing Monet’s gardens and his home.”

Cindy is also a huge fan of Van Gogh.

“I love his sunflowers, the texture and energy and color. I love color,” she says.

Cindy describes her own style as Impressionistic.

“I paint primarily paints with a palette knife, and I enjoy playing with color and light.”

She will be showing her most recent work from Monhegan Island at her own studio this fall, with an opening reception on Saturday, Nov. 14.

“I’m calling the show Impressions of Nature.”

Next on the Horizon

This December, Cindy Stevens Fine Art will host a holiday open house and participate in Christmas in Clinton, where children will have an opportunity to paint ornaments for servicemen and servicewomen.

“I enjoying supporting soldiers, veterans, and various groups in Clinton through my studio,” she says. “I’m doing a 2016 flower calendar, with $2 of each sale going to Families Helping Families. I sponsor PTA events, Friends of Joel [School] fundraisers, and other local civic groups when they approach me. I also coordinate care packages to our troops through Shoreline Community Women. I’ve been doing that since 2006.”

Care packages, which are sent as far as Africa and Afghanistan to members of every branch of the military, include toiletries, healthy snacks, and notes from kids.

“We started with local contacts, but have expanded to include everyone.”

Cindy is a member of the Clinton Art Society, Madison Art Society, and Guilford Art League. Her work—which includes oil paintings, mugs, prints, and notecards—can be found at Maple and Main Gallery in Chester as well as in her own studio.

Her studio offers summer art camps, painting workshops for children and teens, and evening paint parties for artists of all ages. For paint parties, participants bring their own snacks, beverages, and imaginations.

“I provide the wineglasses, aprons, plates, napkins paint, and glitter,” Cindy says.

Starting in October, Cindy will host a monthly Paint Night for Vets, which she coordinated with Clinton’s VFW post commander, James Norrie. The first of these will be Saturday, Oct. 19 at 7 p.m., at her Main Street studio.

“We will paint Van Gogh’s Starry Night,” she says.