Stanley Lindwasser wandered into our office one day last December with his little dog, Rembrandt, who he takes everywhere. Wearing his signature winter fur hat, Stanley looked around our place, wondering what it was. Where had he stumbled into? A Little Beacon Blog? Tin Shingle? "What are these things?" he asked. And with that began a beautiful friendship of us helping him complete his website design, and most recently, writing a press release for him to announce his first gallery showing in Beacon at Rhinebeck Bank's new Art Program, which he found out about through BeaconArts. The show is up now through November 3, with a reception on Thursday, October 12, from 5 to 6:15 pm at the Rhinebeck Bank's Beacon Branch (1476 NY-9D, Wappingers Falls, NY, across from the Family Dollar). (Shhh, don't tell anyone it's not in Beacon!) In keeping with this new program, all of the artwork is for sale. Get a feel for Stanley's artwork on his website here.

Stanley had just moved here with his wife Helen after decades of splitting their time between Forest Hills, Queens, and Hoboken, New Jersey. He had just joined BeaconArts and was preparing his new studio for Beacon Open Studios. Stanley spends most days painting in a pre-fab studio in the backyard. “It’s really nice; I had them put in skylights and glass doors,” says the artist, adding that the famous beauty of the Hudson Valley is inspiring his work. “The light here has certainly interested me. The skies are fantastic and the sunsets over Newburgh are really amazing.”

Color captivates Stanley, as you can see from his paintings. “My mother told me that my kindergarten teacher praised my finger painting, and it just took off from there. I’ve been painting very seriously virtually every day since I was around 12 years old,” recalls Stanley.

Enjoy the show now before it's gone. And if you see Stanley walking around town - you'll recognize him with little Rembrandt - say hi. He'd love to talk to you. :)