"Day's End" was juried into the 68th Annual Connecticut Artists' Exhibition....

.... at the Slater Museum in Norwich, Connecticut.  I am so honored to be included in this amazing exhibition of drawings, mixed media, sculpture, graphics, and photography--which continues until March 30.

"Day's End," 24x12" acrylic on canvas, copyright Joan Cole

Of the exhibition, Jeff Andersen, the Director of the Florence Griswold Museum, Old Lyme, CT, wrote:
"From the 18th century onward, Connecticut has a long and illustrious history as a place for artists to live and work.  Artists of the past found inspiration in the state's natural beauty, its towns and cities, and its people from many backgrounds.  This is abundantly evident in the permanent collection galleries of the Slater Museum.  The Connecticut Artists Exhibition ,,, demonstrates how artists of today share some of these same interests, and move in exciting new directions.


My assignment as Juror was to select approximately 120 works out of the nearly 400 submitted.  I was pleased to see such diversity of approaches across all media.  In the end, I tried to reflect that diversity with a representative selection of works marked by creative expression and proficiencies of execution.  I also found works with a "spark" of originality that I hope you will enjoy as much as I did.  I was struck by how many works showed a profound concern for the future of our planet, our natural environment, and our wildlife.  This was a reminder that artists can serve as a kind of collective conscience for our society, tapping into and expressing visually what is on our minds today."


If you haven't yet seen this exciting exhibition, I invite you to make the trip to Norwich to do so.  The Slater Museum is on the grounds of Norwich Free Academy.  Additional information can be found at www.slatermuseum.org.

I'm no Peter Poskas, but I do love Connecticut farms!

I am so grateful to Jay Babina of the Madison Art Society for introducing me to Peter Poskas yesterday.  Six of Mr. Poskas's landscape paintings are available for sale at the Cooley Gallery in Old Lyme, Connecticut, for $25,000 each--and I can see why.  They evoke the spirit of  typical Connecticut farms, which unfortunately seem to be growing fewer each year.  Here is the link that Jay sent me.  If you to visit this website, I suspect you'll be as overwhelmed as I with the incredible beauty of these landscapes: 

http://www.cooleygallery.com/american-paintings-new-acq.htm

I was so excited to see these paintings that I took Jay's suggestion to look up Peter Poskas's book, The Illuminated Landscape.  I found it on line at Amazon.com last evening and just got an email from them saying that it's been shipped already! I  can't wait till my copy arrives.  I know I'll be in for a treat!  

A few weeks ago I spent two days painting at Tiffany Farm in Old Lyme.  This is the result.

If you are interested in this 10" x 20" oil on stretched canvas, please contact me.

I'd like to go back to Tiffany's and repaint this scene after I have a chance to read Mr. Poskas's Illuminated Landscape.