We came to the Berkshires in 1985,
bought a
property with two falling down barns, the larger of which is now our
home and
which was built by the Tyringham Shakers in the early 1840s. For many
years we
spent weekends and summers in the Berkshires.
In 1998, moving from the
As a working artist, having a place where I
could show my work as well as that of other artists was very exciting.
The art
shown at the Naoussa Gallery looks at non-traditional approaches to
photography, works on paper, sculpture, ceramics, and jewelry. The
gallery has
evolved over the years. The addition of the sculpture garden the summer
of 2003
added a whole new dimension to the gallery.
The gardens are named after the late Ruth
Cowell, who took up sculpting at 70 years old in her retirement. Sculpting in stone for the next fifteen
years, she created dozens of pieces in marble and other stones and is
represented
in the gardens with an early piece “Don Quixote” as well as other
smaller
works. Her two passions were symbolism
and nature that can best be connected in our wonderful natural
environment
combined with great works of art.
Garden construction was done by Stephen
Cowell
using the abundance of wonderful stones dug up from the valley for
walls,
walkways and decoration. The flowers,
shrubs and other plantings were designed and planted by our son and his
wife,
Christopher Bradley and Kate Mulligan of