Tatyana Geneste approached Stamford artist Robert Wilson during a recent opening reception and asked him to sign a featured work. Not his — hers. The 13-year-old had been inspired by Wilson’s paintings to make her own creation.

Wilson, for whom black is a signature palette, likes that his choices inspire budding artists. “I like chunky, I like dark. Black is my favorite color.” Like him, youngsters don’t see black as a limiting hue, he says. “They see the colors coming through. They don’t see black as dark and moody.”

Wilson’s abstract expressionist works

Read More

A performance of Oscar Wilde’s “Salome” in Stamford in 1993 drew attention because of the intriguing work by the actor playing King Herod — it was a guy named Al Pacino. But Rainn Wilson was there, sharing the stage and watching Pacino work from the wings. “I played a page of Herod’s,” said Wilson. “It was fun because I had some acting to do.”

These days, Wilson is doing more than “some acting.” Every week, he can be seen on the hit NBC-TV sitcom “The Office,” playing the irascible Dwight Shrute. He left California earlier this month to pay a visit to

Read More

When Fernando Alvarez was in eighth grade, he got thrown out of art class. “My art teacher kicked me out of class because I wouldn’t do what she would ask me to do. I wanted to do my own thing. I was very rebellious,” said Alvarez, who at the time was a student at Western Jr. High School in Greenwich.

Not to worry. The abrupt exit from formal training didn’t faze the budding artist. It only helped reinforce his independent streak. In fact, Alvarez later was named school artist of the year. One of his supporters was the vice principal. “He still comes to my shows,”

Read More