On this episode of Where Art Thou? Ray and the crew visit the Farmington Valley. Their first stop is the (FVAC) to meet our guide, Carol Kaplan. Carol is a and the executive director of FVAC, a thriving artist enclave that once was home to a dynamite and fuse factory.
Carol introduces Ray to FVAC resident studio artists and ceramic teachers Erika Novak and Drew Darley. The couple met in a pottery class at Central ϳԹ State University and turned their passion for clay into a full-time business with . Drew Darley’s work is ethereal, with special attention to dramatic glazes. Erika’s pottery is firmly rooted in the arts and crafts style, with colors and patterns reminiscent of modernist artists like Sol LeWitt.
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Host Ray Hardman (left) interviews ceramic artists Erika Novak (middle) and Drew Darby (right) for CT Public’s original series ‘Where ART Thou?” Season 3 in their Farmington studio and shop on November 16, 2023. Erika and Drew are life partners and co-owners of Round Trip Clayworks.
Julianne Varacchi / ϳԹ
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Round Trip Clayworks ceramic artist Erika Novak works on a clay jar during filming of 'Where ART Thou?' in her studio at Farmington Valley Arts Center.
Julianne Varacchi / ϳԹ
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Ray Hardman interviews ceramic artist Drew Darby as he demonstrates with his pottery wheel.
Julianne Varacchi / ϳԹ
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Behind the scenes of ϳԹ's original series 'Where ART Thou?'. Left to right is crew Glenn Goettler, Ayannah Brown, and Dave Wurtzel, host Ray Hardman and ceramic artist Drew Darby as he demonstrates creating a piece on his pottery wheel.
Julianne Varacchi / ϳԹ
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Work of ceramic artists Erika Novak and Drew Darby displayed at their studio and shop Round Trip Clayworks at the Farmington Valley Arts Center.
Julianne Varacchi / ϳԹ
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Ceramic artist Erika Novak works on painting and carving a clay jar.
Julianne Varacchi / ϳԹ
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A detail of a small display wheel inside Round Trip Clayworks.
Julianne Varacchi / ϳԹ
Then it’s off to nearby Collinsville. The tiny hamlet, part of the town of Canton, was home to the largest ax factory in the world, . The company was in business from 1826 until 1966. Ray gives us an exclusive look inside some of the abandoned factory buildings, where vestiges of its proud past can still be seen.
Our second artist visit helps us think about how food can also be art. Ray meets Pastry Chef Kim Hoàng Wood, owner of Simsbury’s . Kim has combined her passion for Vietnam, her home country, with her expertise in French pastries to create artful and delicious cakes, cookies, croissants, tarts, and other treats, including Vietnamese coffee. Chef Wood tells Ray about her journey to becoming a pastry chef in the French tradition, and how each treat is a work of art.