Contributors
Meet the teachers of our individual events.
Dick Ranlet
Dick Ranlet’s life has been centered around music and engineering. A lifelong musician, Dick plays a variety of instruments including guitar, mandolin, harp, flute & whistles, concertina, and harmonium. He spent the greater part of his career in the field of acoustics as a Sonar Transducer Design Engineer, supporting the Navy. After earning a degree in Physics, Dick moved to Rhode Island as the Sound Engineer for a rock band, “Small Wonder” (for which he later produced a CD). When the band disbanded after earning a moderate level of local success, Dick began his career in underwater acoustics, also pursuing and ultimately earning a Masters degree in Ocean Engineering at URI. During this time he continued to develop his musical interests, learning new instruments and pursuing a hobby in electronics, mostly focused on measurement systems supporting his sound and recording equipment.
After leaving the Defense Industry, Dick designed and produced an innovative line of acoustic and electric travel harps, offering them through his company “Wickford Harps.” Dick sees this harp building as a “labor of love,” and takes great effort to maintain a high level of craftsmanship in each and every harp. He feels that being a harp player himself allows him to pay close attention to the more subtle ergonomics of the harp’s design. Dick’s most recent creation includes the Ensemble Firefly II, an electric harp, and the Ensemble Hummingbird II, it’s acoustic counterpart.
Although Dick has now largely retired from harp production, he continues to “tinker,” and develop new ideas and hobbies.
Linda Marino
Linda Marino is a fine artist and live painter from Branford, CT. Linda works in both oils and acrylics in a “loose realism” impressionistic style, capturing the light and colors of the local landscape and coastal scenes. As a Live Event Painter, Linda is hired to paint at weddings, fundraisers, private parties, galas, and community events. Linda will bring her painting gear, set up, and create a painting as an event unfolds. The majority of the painting will be completed on location with studio time afterward to finesse and refine the painting.
Linda’s professional career began in marketing and advertising after receiving her Bachelor in Business Administration at Western New England University. For the past 30 years, Linda continues to work on her fine art skills by studying in Florence, Italy, Hartford Art School, MCC, West Hartford Art League, and independent online studies with New Masters Academy. Working in the education department at the New Britain Museum of American Art in New Britain, CT is where her love for art history and teaching art blossomed.
Her work has won a number of awards including Best Landscape and Honorable Mention in Wethersfield Academy for the Arts 2017 Biennial Fine Art Juried Competition and Best in Show in 2017 Visual Art Exhibition with the Cheshire Art League. She sells and exhibits her work in various shows and art festivals in Connecticut as well as online.
Linda has a passion for teaching art and takes great pleasure in encouraging her students of all ages to
discover their unique gifts and help them to develop their artistic skills. Linda currently teaches private lessons to students interested in becoming Live Event Painters.
Linda’s passion and joy for plein air or outdoor painting have led her to volunteer as President of the Connecticut Plein Air Painters Society and Paint-out Coordinator for Madison Art Society.
Painting outdoors allows me to be immersed in my surroundings, breathing in the fresh air, feeling the sun and breeze against my skin and hearing the sounds of the seashore or soft chatter of a conversation. I attempt to paint a small study in a few hours before the light shifts. These studies are then taken back to my studio as references for larger paintings, working to capture the feel of a time or place on canvas.
I strive to create paintings that communicate confidence in execution and exhibit a fresh, intuitive and unique perspective. Seeking to interpret the world in a way that will not only inspire others but to evoke a positive emotional response. For me, painting is a way of communicating, connecting with others and a never-ending journey of discovering and exploring.
@lindasmarinoart
Stephanie Marisca is the founder and intuitive director for Divine Harmony and has been following the path of the Way of the Gong and Holistic Resonance with Grand Gongmaster Don Conreaux since 2003. She has offered the Gong Bath, workshops, private sessions and other sacred sound events for more than 15 years.
Stephanie is also a professional Master Certified Coach, who intentionally weaves together her varied knowledge, talents and experiences, to offer her clients many tools for personal transformation to occur.
Richard Falco
Our Tai Chi instructor - more information coming soon.
-Lead Sponsor-
-Location Sponsor-
Katherine O'Neill
Certified Health Care Musician, B.M. Jacobs School of Music , Indiana University, J.D. Suffolk University, C.H.C.M. International T.H.T.P., NAEMT