The Hilltown Calendar 2024

This region was chosen by settlers for the Connecticut River valley’s rich soils. The town of Hatfield on the alluvial plain was one of the first settled European communities in the area. The town’s large wooden mill and dam in Power and the Factory witness both the amount of waterpower and the funds from surrounding soil-rich farms of the region. The soil was less rich uphill, though the massive barn in the Ashfield painting Corn and Soil (sadly, now demolished) testifies to farming success. Even as farming has gone large-scale, there remain active serious agricultural enterprises, like the Chester dairy barn in Still Milking.

Before there were many settlements in the hilltowns, the region was simply on the way between Boston and Albany. Such was the function of the Lafayette Trail, a very old road named for the Revolutionary War French hero, a portion of which is now downtown Chesterfield.

Two of this calendar’s sites are related to the floods from reservoir dam breaks. The 1874 reservoir failure into the West Branch of the Mill River wrought human death and the ruin of buildings and topsoil in Williamsburg and communities downriver. The field in After the Flood survived and is still being planted. In another remnant of a reservoir failure, the Middlefield mansion in The Big House stands proud, but the fledgling town lost its wool processing factory village just downhill.

Large structures populate this year’s calendar, and the grandest of all is St. Stanislaus in Adams. This magnificent church remains open because of the devotion of its mostly Polish congregation whose people sat vigil in the church 24/7 for two years.

Both guest artists have given us intimate experiences of nature. June Ferrin shows us the flower garden that has contributed to her many floral still-life paintings. Peter McLean’s Swamp Logs brings us up close and personal to a streambed, making mucky messiness beautiful. Both these artists have been highly valued as teachers by many of their hilltown neighbors.

The Artists

Kathryn Jensen, the creator of The Hilltown Calendar, has deep affection for old buildings, painting some just before they are pulled down. She loves the medium of watercolor for its luminosity and inconvenient spontaneity. She lives at the top of the watershed in Plainfield. Her work can be seen at kathrynjensenart.com, where additional copies of the calendar can be purchased.

Peter McLean of Worthington has worked in a number of media over his 50-year career, including printmaking, sculpture, drawing, and painting. His work often embodies social commentary. For many years, Peter was a faculty member at the Hartford Art School. For breaks from his day job as an artist, Peter built and piloted gliders. His website is petermcleanfineart.com.

June Ferrin (1930–2023) moved to Cummington from New York in 2006. An art major at UCLA, she had her first show in 1992 and later helped to found an artist cooperative in Katonah, NY. In recent years, she taught watercolor painting in Pittsfield and Cummington. She was a mother figure to many, including her devoted students. She created a world of beauty wherever she was.

Order The Hilltown Calendar 2024.