TORRINGTON — Paul-Robert Blackman is an arborist and an artist, felling trees for customers and then taking them home to create furniture and art.
He’s poised to open his gallery and studio, Artist’s Tree Inc., in the Still River Plaza on Winsted Road by the middle of March. The opening is a step forward in Blackman’s quest to bring people together in any way possible, using art and music.
The son of Paul and Venice Blackman of Torrington, the artist is a graduate of the Gunnery school in Washington, Conn. He attended University of Connecticut Torrington and Northwestern Connecticut Community College, taking classes while he worked a variety of jobs.
“I got into tree work, which is all part and parcel about growing up in Litchfield County,” Blackman said. “After 20 years in the horticultural and arboring industry, I got…