Rita Maduro Frenkel New Preston artist Rita Maduro Frenkel offers a window on the colors of her world in her new exhibition of paintings, “Amistades,” running from March 8 through April 24 at the Good News Cafe and Gallery. Frenkel, a native of Panama and art graduate of Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., has created a diverse body of critically acclaimed works for many years at her studio in New Preston, Conn. She worked in lost-wax sculpture for two years in Rome before returning to the United States to join Grolier publishers. She served as art director of Encyclopedia International while continuing her artistic pursuits at her New Preston studio. In the artist notes accompanying her 2004 show at Skidmore College’s Tang Museum, Frenkel recalled the artistic journey that ultimately returned her to the medium of painting. “I did a lot of drawing and sculpture, but missed color,” she said. “After an absence of some 25 to 30 years, I started painting again. I have a passion for the figure, which has been a continuous theme since my years at Skidmore. It has continued to be my focus.” In selecting paintings for her new show at Good News Cafe, Frenkel observed that she has chosen works drawn from life experiences in her native Panama, as well as Connecticut and Maine. The title of her show, “Amistades,” evokes these experiences in its reference to the theme of “friendships.” “The paintings in this exhibition represent my reactions to the colors, volumes and shapes of these places, and of the people I have observed there,” she said. “I like the viewer to enjoy the colors of my work – the meaning is left to the imagination.” In addition to her recent appearance at Skidmore, Frenkel has previously shown her works at the Washington Art Gallery and the Anna Howard Gallery, as well as participating in various group exhibitions. The painting shown on this page, "Ashley in His Kingdom" (oil on linen), is one of 14 works by Rita Maduro Frenkel currently showing at the Good News Cafe & Gallery.