"Chatham Harbor," which is my most recent painting...

... will be on exhibition at Maple & Main Gallery, 1 Maple Street, Chester, Connecticut.  Today is the last day of the current show there; it comes down at the close of business today.  On Wednesday, when the doors of the gallery open, a whole new show will be waiting to be enjoyed. 

"Chatham Harbor," original 10x30" acrylic on three linen panels, copyright Joan Cole

“Chatham Harbor” is a triptych, an art form used in early Christian art.  Triptychs were a standard format for altar paintings from the Middle Ages onwards.  Although this is not a religious piece, I chose this format, in part, because of my  reverence for the natural world.   Everywhere I look in nature, I am inspired to paint.  Albert Schweitzer is one of my heroes.  His book Reverence for Life says it all.  If everyone lived by Schweitzer's standards, the world would be a better place.

Be that as it may, this triptych offers the viewer a 180-degree view of Chatham Harbor.  At the same time, 

Panel 1

each panel,

 when viewed individually, 

Panel 2

provides its own unique perspective.   

Panel 3

I believe that beauty is a matter of perspective.  It surrounds us.  Beauty is everywhere we look—if we look.   

What do you find in “Chatham Harbor”?

"The Guardian" ...

... is one of the paintings that I have on display at Maple & Main Gallery of Fine Art in Chester. 

"The Guardian" is an original 16" x 20" oil painting.

          This is a plein air painting I began on a day in spring this past year.  That seems so long ago now, when the temperature here in Deep River is 18 degrees and ice is beginning to form on the lake.  All the wonderful greens that surrounded me then have been replaced by winter browns and greys. 

          I have worked on the painting randomly off and on since then.  Perhaps for some reason, I didn't want to let myself be done with "spring" and let it go.  No matter how long that tree has been there or how worn those rocks are that the brook flows over, "The Guardian" reminds me that the cycle of the seasons goes on whether I want it to or not.  However, just a glimpse of this view and I'm drawn back to that day when rain was in the air and life was beginning anew.   I look forward to the time when May apples--an indigenous wildflower--will again be in bloom, as they were then. 

          If you weren't able to make it to our opening party last Friday evening, I hope you'll stop in the gallery and enjoy all the beautiful work on display there.  If you do, when you see the original of this piece, remind yourself that we're one day closer to springtime!

     Gallery hours are Wednesday through Saturday 11 AM to 8 PM and Sundays from 11 to 5.

Miss Florence's Brook



Miss Florence's Brook, oil on canvas, 16 x 20

 This is the latest painting that I've completed.  I began working on it en plein air but  didn't finish it before the rain came.  Started on that raw and overcast day in springtime, I've been working on it very intermitantly ever since. 

It's hard to believe that we are in the brown version of autumn here in New England.  Most of the trees that had lots of color have dropped their leaves, and we are left with brown, brown, brown. The green in this painting is so far removed from the way the landscape looks right now.

I am working on two current paintings.  One is of the sunrise I saw two weeks ago when the world was glowing pink and gold.  Breath-taking.  I'm hoping to capture that glorious moment to share with my collectors.

The other painting I'm working on is a view of the lake from a couple days ago when the wind was wildly blowing the tresses of the willow and ruffling the water into small wavelets.  Time to set up outside & get to it!