"Into the Blue" is a peaceful painting for any home.

"Into the Blue," 10" x 20" acrylic on canvas, copyright Joan Cole

I painted "Into the Blue" last summer after a similar, smaller acrylic of this scene titled "Clearing" had been sold to one of my long-time collectors in Atlanta.  She had received my postcard invitation to the summer opening at Maple & Main Gallery in Chester, Connecticut, and she had fallen in love with the image of it on the postcard.  She had to have the painting. 

That's what buying an original piece of art is like.  You see it.  It speaks to a place inside you--your heart, your soul, your mind.  You have to have it.  My husband and I have bought many pieces of original art through the years because we have fallen in love with each one.  We may or may not know the artist at the time of purchase, but we already feel we "know" some part of that person.  Some artists whose work we have collected have become friends.  That is an added blessing.  Every original work of art is one of a kind, just as are the artist who created it and the collector who purchased it.  I suppose in that way, it's like a marriage.

Another collector loved "Clearing" too!   She had written to me about it, and I explained that it had been sold.  I suggested she might like "Into the Blue."  I hope it strikes the same chord for her.  

If it doesn't, that's OK.  I know that some day "Into the Blue" will speak to another viewer's heart, and he or she will have to have it!  

Heading Upriver To Goodspeed's Landing...

"Heading Upriver To Goodspeed's Landing," 10 x 20" acrylic on canvas, copyright Joan Cole

...is my most recent painting.  I finished it just this morning and thought you might like to see it.

The Haddam-East Haddam bridge over the Connecticut River is viewed on a quiet, "softly" rainy day.  Done in subdued blues and greens, it's a very peaceful, meditative painting.  To be fully appreciated,  look closely to see the more impasto brushwork in the foreground on the river.

Now I'm heading back to the studio to three other paintings that are calling for my attention.  Have a beautiful day, everyone!