As the result of growing up in an urban area of NJ, Sharon developed a love of nature and all things not concrete and blacktop, and fell in love with NH on her first trip here in the 1960s. She jumped at the chance to make the move here with her family in 1988. She has been painting en plein air since 2002 and her passion for plein air painting led her to found NH Plein Air Artists in 2004. The group has grown from just a handful of members to over 300 members throughout NH and the region. Sharon exhibits in local shows and galleries and her paintings can also be found in private and corporate collections throughout the US as well as in Australia, Germany, and Russia.
Discover more about Sharon by visiting her website.
My most memorable early encounter with art was at the Boston Museum
of Fine Arts loving the Monet Haystack Paintings while standing by my
Mother’s knees and in awe of such beauty! Museums were always my
Mother’s and my favorite past time together! It was just the beginning of
my love to visualize art at the museums, outdoor art shows and
participating in painting in my own creative way!
Even though I graduated Lesley College (now University) studying for an
Education degree, I partook in all the art classes available to me. I
continued my graduate education with classes from University of
California, Berkeley and the California College of Arts and Crafts.
Returning to the East Coast and getting married, I taught art classes to
young children and their parents at The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum in
Hartford, CT. I also owned one of the earliest American Crafts Shops, “the
collage”.
Thereafter, I only dabbled in painting but began weaving for years. I loved
the texture and colors of the fabrics. I also later started designing and
making jewelry which I continue to do today.
I returned to painting when I became a cancer survivor in my late 40’s. I
participated several years in a juried show at the New Britain Museum of
American Art for survivors of cancer. I also spent many years painting
under the tutelage of a wonderful abstract artist, Ilona Levitz. My favorite
period of painting then was Abstract Impressionism and Fauvism with
bright colors and shapes.
My goal through Plein Air Painting is to take my love of nature, the ocean
waves, and the bucolic scenery surrounding my every day life, not to
realism, but to feel the soul of my environment through texture, colors and
strokes of my brush and palette knives!
Jan
My paintings derive from an emotional response to what I see. Painting primarily in oil and influenced by the great Impressionists, nature I love to paint en plein air. Finding unlimited inspiration in nature I strive to capture light and atmosphere in every painting. I am inspired by the many designs and patterns that nature presents. One of my favorite subjects is water of any kind; I am always drawn to the reflections, color and movement.
I have a BS from Northeastern University and studied painting and graphic design at Massachusetts College of Art. I have also studied with many talented artists including the late Frances Weston Hoyt who was a Frank Vincent DuMond student. I am a juried member of the New Hampshire Art Association; a member of the Kittery Art Association, the Center for The Arts, New London; and Library Arts Center, Newport; and the Rockport Art Association, Rockport, MA. My work can be found in many galleries, art shows and private collections.
Artist and curator, T. A. Charron is a native New Englander. Charron was born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island and was brought up on his grandparent’s farm, in South Attleboro, Massachusetts.
Charron studied with painters Norman Baer, Walter Marks and Murray Wentworth, at the Art Institute of Boston and graduated in 1972. He did additional studies in sculpture at Providence College and with sculptor Veryl Goodnight and stone lithography at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. He has studied with some of North America’s prominent artists; portrait painter Daniel E. Greene, Canadian wildlife artist Robert Bateman, watercolorist Nita Engle and Boston School eminent senior member Robert Douglas Hunter.
Nationally, he has received over 100 awards for excellence in both painting and drawing. Charron has been elected into many American art societies and organizations including the Salmagundi Club in New York, the Copley Society of Boston, the Lyme Art Association in Connecticut, and the North Shore and Rockport Art Associations in Massachusetts.
His artwork is in the permanent collections of museums and other public and private collections worldwide. His commissioned painting of Dr. Martin Luther King and other significant portraits have been unveiled to thousands of people. Charron paintings have been published in five historical books, and his art has been featured nationally on PBS and on regional and local cable programs.
As curator, Charron put together “New England Impressions, Painting from Life” - 1989, for the Attleboro Arts Museum and was asked by the Harvard Club of Boston to curate the exhibition, “New England Painters of Today” - 1999. He was also the advisor for the exhibition, “Hounds of Heaven” - 1996, a series of paintings by R.H. Ives Gammell held at the Attleboro Arts Museum. At the Rockport Art Association in Rockport, Massachusetts, Charron was on the exhibition and book committees for the W. Lester Stevens – 2003, Harry A. Vincent – 2006, and the A.T. Hibbard – 2012 national exhibitions. Presently, Charron is on a committee working on a 2014 exhibition and catalog for the North Shore Art Association.
Charron served three years as President of the Board of Trustees, of the Attleboro Arts Museum, in Massachusetts. Besides being President of the Attleboro Arts Museum, Charron has served as Vice President of the Rockport Art Association and presently he is Recording Secretary for the National Society of Painters in Casein and Acrylic and is on the Acquisition and Exhibition Committee, at the Cape Cod Museum of Art. Charron is one of the two founders of the New England Plein Air Painters (NEPAP) formed in 2005. Charron has also served on the board of the Attleboro Land Trust.
T. A. Charron has conducted workshop classes and painting and drawing demonstrations for over 30 years, teaching students both on location and in the studio.
Charron paints in a north light studio in southeastern, Massachusetts and on location throughout the eastern parts of the United States.
To discover more about this artist click here.
Jessica Fligg is an award winning artist and juried member of the New Hampshire Art Association. She works primarily in oils. Jessica studied painting at the New Hampshire Institute of Art in Manchester. She works from her studio in Ashland, NH and paints extensively en plein air. She started drawing at a very young age with her Great Grandmother and her interest and passion for the arts has grown over the years. Jessica studies how lines, positive and negative spaces, lights and shadows work together to create space and visual pathways. She is currently working on another round of “A Year In Plein Air Painting.” She paints at least one plein air painting a week throughout the year. In this series Jessica captures the world around her through each of the changing seasons. Jessica also enjoys working on still life paintings and mixed media pieces in her studio. She takes great care in seeing each piece from start to finish by hand crafting her own paint panels from select birch and building her own frames.
She is passionate about art and enjoys sharing her knowledge of the arts with others through teaching workshops and lessons.
Jessica also teaches art class on a volunteer basis at a local private school and for other community programs. To learn more about Jessica and her art please visit her webpage at www.jessica-fligg-artist.weebly.com.
Artist. DIYer (yes, I can fix a toilet). Master procrastinator. Creative cook - bad at housework. Lover of gardens, but sad owner of a black thumb. Passionate about animals in general, dogs in particular, with a thing for moose.
I did take art classes in college, but pursuing a career in art wasn’t practical, so I got my degree in Psychology (yup – definitely practical!) Worked in that field for a few years and then became – wait for it- an accountant. Do not ask. Eventually the need for a paintbrush took over and I never looked back.
I need color. There are no beige walls in my house. Everything I have is decorated with (at least) a dab of paint. This includes all of my family members.
I paint whatever catches my eye. Plein air in the spring, summer, fall. Not winter - even though I’m a hardy New Englander I don’t paint outdoors when the temperature dips below freezing (well- actually – below 50), so then it’s time for still lifes. Treasured objects, memories, Happy Meal toys.
I am a juried member of the Oil Painters of America and a long time member of NH Plein Air Artists. My paintings like to travel and have found homes across the country and are making their way overseas.
To discover more about this artist click here.
Michael Graves, winner of the 2018 Best in Show at Wet Paint, is a nationally-recognized landscape artist based in central Massachusetts. As a plein air artist, Graves paints on location, braving the elements, to capture the many moods and temperaments of the natural world. Over a 30 year career, Graves has received over 70 awards and medals, been featured in a variety of books and publications, and inducted into numerous national art associations.
Although Graves has taken painting trips throughout North America, and parts of Europe and Asia, his favorite subjects continue to be of the simple farms, bucolic vistas, and rugged coasts of his native New England. His artwork is and has been exhibited in dozens of galleries throughout the U.S. and is included in the permanent collection of the Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, Ohio. His paintings have also been selected eight times for inclusion in the national Arts for the Parks competition of the Top 100 Paintings of National Parks.
Born in 1952, the son of a local tree warden, Graves grew up with a love of painting and a deep appreciation for the outdoors. In the late 1970s, Graves met the renowned Cape Ann artist Bernard Corey (1914-2000). Corey became a lifelong friend and mentor and the two painted together nearly every day for over two decades. Michael Graves is a member of the Rockport Art Association, the Guild of Boston Artists, the Hudson Valley Art Association, and the Old Lyme Art Association. He is a friend and frequent painting companion of some of the most well known plein air artists of New England.
Mike lives in Millbury, Massachusetts with his wife Pam. He has two sons.
A lifelong resident of New England, Margery Jennings grew up in northwest Connecticut and since the 1970s she has lived in the seacoast area of New Hampshire, Massachusetts and southern Maine.
She was one of 32 artists juried into the 2018 Parrsboro, Nova Scotia, plein air event and a participant in the 2018 a Tamworth (NH) Invitational Plein Air Events.
Her work has won awards in both regional and national competitions. These include:
• Best Pastel, 2018 Newburyport Art Association Fall Members Juried Show II
• Award of Merit, 2018 Regional Juried Exhibition, The Guild of Boston Artists, Boston, MA
• Best Oil and Best in Show, Newburyport Art Association Winter Juried Show I 2018
• First Honorable Mention, Laumeister Fine Art Competition, Bennington (Vermont) Center for the Arts 2009
She got her first set of oils at 13 and has been painting most of her adult life. Following a long career as a graphic artist and designer, Margery turned to full-time fine art in 2007. She is a member of:
• The “Newburyport Ten” Plein Air Painters
• The Newburyport Art Association
• The Greater Haverhill Arts Association
• New Hampshire Plein Air Painters
Melanie Barash Levitt graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1990. She currently resides in Jackson, NH with her husband and is the owner of Jackson Art Studio & Gallery. Melanie is an award winning artist who paints in a loose, impressionistic style with a brush or a palette knife in oils. As a plein air artist, Levitt paints outside on location braving the elements to capture the mood of the scene.
Her favorite subjects are the mountains, rivers and the small farms of NH and the rugged coasts of Maine. Her artwork resides is in the home of many collectors through the US, Canada and Europe. She exhibits her work in galleries and shows throughout NH, ME, VT and NY and has been featured in Boston Chronicle (WCBV TV, ABC), NH Chronicle (WMUR 9), and has been published in various newspapers and magazines.
She also has received awards for her paintings in regional shows and juried events and is a member of the Salmagundi Club in NYC.
Hi! My name is Carrie Pill and I am a painter and an outdoor adventurer.
For as long as I can remember, chasing curiosity in art and the great outdoors have been my life’s most fulfilling endeavors.
Nature provides me with solace and sparks my imagination. Art is a place of endless possibility and self expression.
By painting I hope to encourage outdoor exploration and creative expression...and I hope to put a little light into our world.
More about the me: I grew up in Northern New York State. I graduated from Green Mountain College with a BFA in Studio Art. My work is in private collections predominately here in the United States. For the last two decades I’ve made Central Vermont my home with my husband Justin.
Most of my work is painted in my home studio but I do love to challenge myself with plein air painting. I have had illustrations published in Northern Woodlands Magazine as well as murals installed at the Long Trail Brewery and Vermont Institute of Natural Science(VINS). I am an active member of the Brandon Artists Guild. I currently live in Rutland, Vermont.
My passion is plein air painting while spending my time learning, looking, studying, hearing, admiring nature and then trying to put as much as I can on canvas or board. Painting is more important to me than bread. The people I meet and all that I am learning in the production and display of the art work is a very positive part of the process. After successfully growing flowers in my garden I realize that is what I want to share with people, I want them to see beauty all year long.
Frequently I return to the lady slippers because they are natures’s gift to us. When people stand in front of my “Fields of ladies” painting and see the lady slippers, it often sends them back to a simpler more pleasant time. I was inspired to start painting ladies slippers because I love the beautiful greeting of these orchids when I take my much loved walks in the woods. My greatest inspirations have been from the woods in the North East area. I am a nature lover and organic gardener. The forest floor and how it is changing reflects what is going on with the environment. The more we encroach on nature, sadly the more the “sous-bois” are disappearing.
Using oil paints and the palette knife allows me the spontaneity of happy accident. Amazing to see a square centimeter of the painting and be able to identify more than 10 colors in the background or the floor of the forest. I make some of my tools with handles and other things like snipped aluminum and the head of a nail. I usually prefer to work on a board because I am afraid to get overzealous and rip a canvas with a palette knife.
Standing in total admiration in the Museum of fine Arts a few years back in front of Monet’s and Vincent’s painting has left me desiring more and more to learn how to go in the direction of impressionistic painting and using no brush has facilitated this in leaps and bound.
Occasionally I work with other medium, like pastel. I love the softness and I allow my work to be more realistic, but I really don’t want to even try to compete with photos. I want to master the feeling of being there.... Life is short, make the moment count by doing what you love and loving what you are doing. A picture is worth a thousand words and I wish for my pictures to bring you a thousand bits of happiness, day in and day out.
I live in a lovely spot of New Hampshire where the Contoocook River runs in front of my house. I am surrounded by the beauty of farm and conservation lands. The change of seasons and light inspire and challenge me.
I attended Philadelphia College of Art (now University of the Arts) studying illustration and graphics. I spent 31 years as a graphic journalist and illustrator for the Concord Monitor.
I studied painting and drawing at the New Hampshire Institute of Art under James Aponovich, Beth Johansson, Stan Moeller and Sean Beavers.
I retired from the newspaper business in December of 2016 to become a full-time painter, devoting part of my time to painted sketches in plein air and part to studio work. I am addicted to the detail and satisfaction of studio pieces but love the immediacy of a sketch, forming a memory of a moment not yet gone.
I am a member of Plein Air Painters of Maine, New Hampshire Plein Air Artists, the New Hampshire Art Association and the Boothbay Region Art Foundation.
I like to paint still life and landscapes in New Hampshire and scenes in Boothbay Harbor, Maine, my other favorite place in the world.
George Van Hook was born and raised in Abington, Pennsylvania, a northern suburb of Philadelphia. He began painting very early and was able to participate in the vibrant artistic culture of the region. The family owned a farm in Bucks County, home of the Pennsylvania impressionists, and he became heavily influenced by their fine academic training coupled with a love of the prosaic landscape. Another early local influence was the “Brandywine Tradition”, the illustrative work of Howard Pyle and the generations of Wyeths. This was further enhanced by a close association with coastal Maine. George has spent many summers painting in the mid-coast area of Rockland and Rockport Harbor, and on North Haven Island where his wife’s family owned property adjacent to the famous Boston artist Frank Benson.
Van Hook’s love of the European tradition also began early. He spent two summers during high school filmmaking throughout France and England. This allowed him to visit many of the great museums, and further increased his commitment to become a professional artist. Following college, he left for Paris and spent nearly a year copying at the Louvre and travelling through France, Italy and Holland making numerous paintings “en plein air”. He returned to California, where he continued painting the landscape and figure out of doors. After marriage and the start of a family, George returned to the East Coast, eventually settling in Cambridge, NY, a beautiful nineteenth century village in the Hudson Valley. His wife is a Mycological Consultant for Ecovative. Their three daughters, often models for his paintings when younger, are now grown and successfully independent.
Van Hook thinks of his paintings as primarily a visual response to the selected environment, be it landscape, figure or still life. “I want the color to be beautiful and the drawing firm and secure”, he says. The paintings are a marriage of external and internal forces – what emerges on the canvas should be a reflection of both the beauty of the world and the artist’s most inner response.
For the last five years, Van Hook has been involved in Plein Air competitions, and has won numerous awards.
Discover more about the artist here.
Anthony Watkins was raised on a farm in northern Virginia, where he began drawing at an early age and completed his first oil painting at age twelve. Before becoming a full time artist he worked at several engineering positions including that of design for Rockwell International’s B-1 Lancer Strategic Bomber for the U.S. Air Force.
He studied drawing and portrait painting with Lawrence Gluck in Los Angeles and with Yves Brayer at the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere in Paris. In his studies he learned how to match skin tones, how to render facial features and how to produce the illusion of skin and hair texture, all of which contribute to achieving a likeness of the sitter.
In his landscapes and marine scenes, Watkins presents a vision of the natural world seen under sunlight and modified by atmosphere. “I want the viewers of my paintings to feel they are seeing people whose images have been captured under dramatic conditions of light and shade as they go about their daily activities. In my landscapes and marines I want to make the viewers aware of the warmth of a summer day or the ceaseless motion of waves or clouds.”
Info to come
Tamworth Visitors Council / tamworthnh@gmail.com / 603-323-6169
