As a professor of art at Northwest Connecticut Community College, Sue Berg’s artistic sphere could be described as a digital one for she teaches graphic design, web design, digital media, and digital photography, but she wanted her “alter ego” to work with recycled wood.  Now at her new studio in Whiting Mills in Winsted, Sue Berg uses her hands and her equipment to create beautiful, thoughtful and decidedly non-digital works of art.

A recent gift of “found wood” prompted the necessity of obtaining this new, larger workspace for her creative work.  “I received the gift of giant wooden parts for a pipe organ,” she says. “I was working in my basement and when I received the large sizes and so much of it, I said I need a bigger studio space so I can make bigger work.”

Her new studio is in the exciting Whiting Mills, a converted factory that is growing in studio space and membership.  The proximity to her college made it the perfect location for her studio but what closed the deal was the company she would keep for she was impressed by the level of artistic excellence at Whiting Mills. “There’s so many great professional artists here,” says Berg, “so it just made a lot of sense”.

At the entrance to her studio are two pieces she created including one entitled “Of Dovetails and Childhood”.  Ever the graphic designer, Berg gravitates towards geometric patterns and the patterns and craftsmanship found in old furniture are of interest to her, especially as she has an abiding interest in recycling and re-using “found wood”.  She enjoys items built with older construction methods because they used very little glue and were put together with mechanical aspects of construction and repeated form.

Berg recently held an exhibit of her work at the Harwinton library in December. She is scheduled to participate in a show next year at Manchester Community College’s Dehn art gallery and is “in the queue” for the prestigious Five Points Gallery in downtown Torrington.

For more information on Sue Berg check out her website http://www.barronvonberg.org/

There will be an open studio and “block party” on June 6th. Come see Sue and the other amazing artists at Whiting Mills in Winsted!