My introduction to the field of photography was working for Marvin Richmond’s Color Lab processing business on Harvard St. in Worcester.  I learned how to process slides for color correction.  I really enjoyed working there but life had other plans for me. 

I married my husband who was in the military and spent the following 14 months in Germany where he was stationed.  During that time, I bought my first 35 mm camera, a “gently used” Agfa.  I photographed mainly landscapes and local architecture, so I’d have memories of my time there. 

When I returned home, I bought an Olympus camera and a Canon Power shot which were ideal for taking casual, everyday photos, many of them focusing on family life. 

    Originally from Rhode Island, Carol Hawkins enjoyed drawing and painting from a young age. But growing up with twelve siblings, it was not until first grade that she received her first box of watercolors, waiting for her in her school desk. She describes her Hawkins studied Fine Art at Rhode Island College which helped hone her natural talent. She works in many mediums including watercolors, pastels, and acrylics. Pet portraits are a specialty of hers.

     Psychologist and author Jack McClintock moved to North Brookfield from Worcester a decade ago with his wife Kathleen. He’s quick to say that while you can’t pick your family, you do get to choose where you live, and he’s never regretted exchanging the anonymity of urban life for the small town warmth of a real community. He proudly says that he started working at age 9 delivering copy for a local newspaper, and he’s still working part time to this day, offering mental health services online for a large international corporation. If you give Jack a chance, he’ll tell you that work is the core of a meaningful life, but he’s quick to point out that all jobs aren’t equal, some can be dangerous, while others are simply toxic. Writing, he says, “isn’t a job, it’s a safety valve.”

Susan Lyons, is originally from Washington, D.C. and currently resides North Brookfield, MA. She has been playing music since she was a small child. Her father, Lynn Lyons, Sr. was an attorney by day with the U.S. Government in Washington, D.C.  and a union pianist during the evenings accompanying orchestral big bands like the Dorsey Brothers, as they toured through the Metropolitan D. C. area.

As a result of her father’s influence, Susan began playing percussion, drums, at age 10. In her late teens and 20’s she accompanied her father playing jazz and also played with rock bands in the Maryland/D.C. area…

When did you first realize you wanted to be an artist?

My brother gave me his used 35 mm camera when I was 14 and I started first by taking pictures of landscapes and nature scenes.  Later I experimented by taking candid portraits of my friends and family.  Once I set up a darkroom in my parent’s basement and started to develop and print my own black and white images I was hooked. From that point I studied photography whenever I had time and planned to someday have a career in photography.