Fountains artists featured in calendar

Fountains artists featured in calendar
Len Weiss, a resident of The Fountains at Millbrook, shows off his wood sculpture, featured in the Watermark Retirement Community 2023 Expressions calendar for the month of October. 
Photo by Judith O’Hara Balfe

MILLBROOK — The Fountains at Millbrook has again been honored with one of its artists featured in the Expressions calendar — published annually by parent company Watermark Retirement Communities — chosen from among hundreds of submissions from more than 70 communities across the country. Len Weiss has had his art appear in the calendar previously; he paints, sculpts, and carves wood. Weiss has been at the facility for 10 years with his wife, Terry Sawall, who also paints. Weiss’ submission was a wood carving, featured for October, a whimsical creation with tiny lights and fairy tale-like buildings.  

The 2023 Expressions calendar, featuring the work in color of 12 artists, also gives honorable mentions to many more artists. Other Millbrook Fountains artists mentioned were Shirley Fernekes, Ed Schurig and Roger Sweeney. Fernekes and Schurig both submitted painted works, and Sweeney created a lifelike hawk, which is pictured in the calendar. 

Joked Weiss: “The construction might not be up to safety codes, but it just made sense to me in the moment. I suppose it’s funny to create something like this, but when I sit down to work on a piece, it’s as if the whole world could end and I wouldn’t notice until I felt satisfied enough to put it down.” 

Weiss has created almost 400 pieces in his time at the Fountains. He has worked with oils, charcoal and other mediums besides wood-carving. He also writes.

His love of art began early. “When I was young, about 13, I was in a body cast for about nine months and I couldn’t even walk up and down the stairs,” he said. “So to entertain myself, I started doing table photography by creating dioramas of lighthouses or sculpted clay figures to take pictures of.” When the cast was removed, so, too, was his interest in delving into art. 

When coming to the Fountains, he rediscovered his early love of art, even though it was close to 60 years later. The art studio at the Fountains, the company of like-minded artists, and the guidance of teacher Elllen Metzger O’Shea brought all that inspiration back to him, and he has joyfully been creating art ever since.

While enjoying the art classes, Weiss worked with Millbrook instructor Dave Carrier, who is also president of the Hudson Valley Wood Carvers Association. Photographer Lori Adams documents the artworks through her photography and submits the photos to the calendar.

Weiss also acknowledges Executive Director Deborah Slocum’s support.

Weiss’ artwork as well as that of fellow artists Fernekes, Schurig and Sweeney are displayed in the calendar and can be seen at www.-watermarkcommunities.com/why-watermark/expressions-calendar/. Copies of the calendar can be found for free throughout Watermark communities and can be downloaded. 

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