Wet Paint Tamworth

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.

Salmagundian, T. A. Charron is an accomplished artist who has taught drawing and painting for over 30 years. Charron is an elected member of many art associations and organizations and has received over 100 national awards. His artwork is in museums, institutions, public and private collections worldwide.

Charron has studied with world renowned wildlife artist Robert Bateman, portrait artistDaniel E. Greene, “The Boston School” classically trained painter Robert Douglas Hunter and the “Howard Pyle lineage” illustrator, Norman Baer, to name a few.

To discover more about this artist click here.

Daniel Faiella was born and raised in New Hampshire. His interest in landscape painting has its roots in the rocky, forested, and mountainous terrain of the Northeastern United States in which, as a child, he first became aware of his surroundings through exploration on long walks and hikes. Beginning his studies in art at the age of 16, with painter Paul Ingbretson, Daniel completed a 6 year atelier curriculum in classical drawing and painting before pursuing his BFA in drawing and painting at the University of New Hampshire. During this time he also worked as studio assistant to artist and illustrator Tomie DePaola. He lives and paints in the seacoast area of New Hampshire, within a short drive of the mountains, the ocean, and the woods he first explored as a child.

Jessica Fligg is an artist that works in oils in her studio and extensively en plein air. She paints throughout the year with winter being her favorite time to paint outdoors. Jessica’s Love for art started at a very young age when she would draw with her Great Grandmother. She went on to study painting at the New Hampshire Institute of Art where she was inspired by impressionism. Jessica continues to be inspired by the world around her and diligently works to capture life as it happens. She also stays involved in local, regional, and National shows and Galleries. To learn more about Jessica’s work please

visit her webpage at www.jessica-fligg-artist.weebly.com

Rebecca M. Fullerton has a passion for the forests and mountains of New England. When not painting the region's wild scenery in her home studio or en plein air, she is likely hiking, running on a trail, or out on a lake or river in a kayak. The grandeur of alpine summits, the intricacy of intertwining limbs in the deep woods, and sparkle of rushing water down a mountain stream inspire and inform her painting process. She thrives on being outdoors in the mountains and bringing those experiences back to her studio to record in painted form.

Within her practice, Fullerton specializes in landscape painting in the realist and impressionist traditions. She has been painting in oils and watercolors for over twenty-five years. Fullerton's focus is landscape painting in the mountains of New England, particularly in the White Mountains of New Hampshire and Maine. Each year she hikes in the backcountry, taking in the dramatic scenery of the wilderness, sketching, painting, and taking photographs for later use. She is continually trying to capture the special atmosphere unique to this area with its changeable weather, steep trails, and limitless views as a way to promote the unique and fragile beauty of places that deserve conservation.

Fullerton lives in Bethlehem, New Hampshire, on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. Originally from Vermont, she grew up in southern New Hampshire. After a long spell of living in Boston, she returned to the Granite State in 2018 to pursue her career as an Archivist and Artist and to live among the mountains she aspires to capture ever more authentically in paint. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Studio Art and Art History from Hartwick College, as well as a Master's degree in Museum Studies from the Harvard Extension School.

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. 

Christy lives in Newmarket, New Hampshire. She enjoys working in her home studio but has discovered a passion for painting en plein air. She earned a degree in Studio Art and Education from Denison University in 1997 and continues to love learning, while working with other artists on the Seacoast and around the country.

Christy paints quickly and loves to fill her canvas with bold colors. The subject of her paintings varies from landscapes and seascapes to figurative paintings but they all express joy and warmth. As a busy Mom of three daughters, she is often overwhelmed with trying to fit it all in. She would love to be able to stop time every once in awhile, “I think that’s what I like the most about painting, it gives me a chance to slow down and really focus on the beautiful moments in life that we are often too busy to enjoy...but I still have to paint fast ‘cause who knows how much time I’ll have before I’m needed elsewhere!”.  

Tom Hughes was born in Massachusetts in 1965. He was a staff artist at the Christian Science Monitor newspaper in Boston in the 1980’s, finally leaving to practice fine art, at which he’s been occupied for more than 35 years.

Once referred to as “a genius” by late, renowned artist and author Charles Movalli, Hughes has had solo exhibitions in galleries in the New England States, North Carolina, Lake Tahoe, San Francisco, and France. He is proficient in several painting media including oil, acrylic, and watercolor, with subject matter comprised of figure painting, portrait, landscape and the odd still life or genre picture.

Hughes’s work has been featured in American Artist Watercolor magazine, Fine Art Connoisseur, for which he painted the magazine’s publisher B. Eric Rhoads’s portrait, and Southwest Art magazine. An example of Hughes's watercolor painting is featured in Watercolor Painting by Tom Hoffmann (Watson Guptill, 2012). In 2019, Tom Hughes won the $15,000 Grand Prize for painting at the Plein Air Convention and Expo, held in San Francisco.

In 2018, Tom Hughes was made a signature member of the Plein Air Painters of America.

Hai-Ou Houwas born in Beijing where she studied painting and ceramics at the prestigious Central Institute of Fine Art and Design. She accepted a teaching post at the Hubei Fine Art Institute where she taught painting and design. After immigrating to the United States, she received her Master of Fine Arts from Towson University. Hai-Ou’s work has been widely published and exhibited both nationally and internationally and hangs in many museum, corporate, and private collections. She is the recepient of numerous fine arts honors and awards.

Learn more on her website

"It is most important to me that my paintings convey a certain mood", Eric says. "I want them to be felt by the viewer without his or her having to analyze or think about them. As a general rule, I try to find strong compositions in nature and then paint the scene accurately while leaving out any extraneous details which would only busy up the painting and detract from the strength of the piece as a whole. My painting process consists of finding a painting site and setting up to paint for a couple of hours, or until the light has changed. For larger paintings, I will return on consecutive days at the same time, under similar lighting conditions to finish a piece.”

2025 “Honorable Mention”, 9th Annual AIS Impressions Small Works Showcase,

Fallbrook, CA

2024 “Elizabeth S. Daly Memorial Award”, 25th Annual National Juried Fine Art Exhibition, AIS, Rockport, MA

2022"The Newcomb Award for Traditional Painting", Rockport Art Association & Museum, RAA&M National

2022 "The Boldbrush Award", Fine Art Studios Online, November

2022 "Artists Choice Award", Cape Anne Plein Air 2022

2021 "Second Place", Cape Ann Plein Air, Cape Ann, MA

2021 "First Place", AIS Online National Show

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.

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 Greater Haverhill Arts Association, New Hampshire Plein Air Painters, and The “Newburyport Ten” Plein Air Painters. Her work has won awards in both regional and national competitions.

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.

I am an accidental artist. While visiting my parents in 2016, a dreary dull day resulted in an offer by my mother, a lifelong hobby painter, to paint with her. I considered refusing, as I was convinced that I had no artistic abilities and didn’t relish the idea of creating something ugly, but I truly had nothing better to do. That day changed my life. I made a poor painting, but experienced a feeling of joy and focus while doing it. Upon my return home, I bought some paint and thus began my journey as a painter.

Since that time, I have studied with some wonderful teachers, including Sarah Sedwick and Timothy Horn. No one has been more surprised than I by my successes- I am the winner of the 2023 Art2Life International Art Competition, Artists Magazine’s 2025 Best over 60, a juried artist member of the Rockport Art Association, and have had my work shown in numerous prestigious national exhibitions and am the recipient of numerous other awards. My work is carried by some exceptional galleries in New England and across the county. I have received media coverage in Fine Art Connoisseur, American Art Collector, NorthShore Magazine, and Cape Cod Life and have been honored to have been the guest on numerous podcasts.

In my work, light and shadow are always the star players. Whether creating a still life indoors, or painting en plein air, I am always looking for interesting arrangements of shapes to create a compelling, contemporary work of art that conveys the sense of illumination.

I live with my husband in Durham, NH, and am the proud mother of three amazing human beings. When not painting, I work at Huggins Hospital at Wolfeboro Women’s Health as an OB/GYN.

Maria Nemchuk finds inspiration in the everyday. She likes to say "I paint things that look like things," highlighting her life-long dedication to representational art. She embraces the plein air practice year-round, whatever the weather, to capture the feeling of the season and connect with nature. Born in Saint Petersburg, Russia, Maria was exposed to the works of the great Russian artists from a young age, shaping her artistic vision. Though she initially pursued a degree in physics, her passion to create art remained constant and she sought out teachers to further those skills.

Maria has studied with some of the finest contemporary artists. She received foundational training in academic drawing from Nikolai G. Tereshchenko (1985-1988), and Don Karr (1998-2000) introduced her to the fundamentals of oil painting. Mark Hayden, CM (2000-2005), not only ignited her passion for portraiture but also instilled a lifelong love for plein air painting. She honed her skills in classical portraiture and figure painting under the tutelage of Tom Ouellette (2004-2009). Maria has further enriched her knowledge through workshops with renowned artists such as Viktor Butko, Tom Hughes, T.M. Nicholas, David Lussier, Karen Blackwood, Robert Liberace, Leo Mancini-Hresko, Donald Demers, Dennis Cheaney, and William Whitaker.

An active participant in plein air events, Maria was awarded the Best Seascape award at the Parrsboro International Plein Air Festival in 2023, 3rd Place at the Pemaquid Point Plein Air Day in 2024, and an Honorable Mention at the NHAA Annual Plein Air Paint Out in 2019. Her participation as a juried artist includes events such as the Adirondack Plein Air Festival (2024), Parrsboro International Plein Air Festival (2022, 2023, 2024), Hudson Valley Plein Air Festival(2021), and the Great Bay Plein Air Festival (2021). She participated in Ogunquit's Perkins Cove Plein Air (2021, 2022, 2023 & 2024) and was one of the Perkins Cove Artist-in-Residence in 2020.

Based in North Andover, Massachusetts, Maria keeps painting from life, finding beauty in the world around her. To see her work visit www.MariaNemchuk.com

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.

Deb Samia is a watercolor and pastel artist, mainly gaining her inspiration from nature. Deb was born in Woodsville, NH and grew up in Ashland ,NH, She now resides in the beautiful Mount Washington Valley with her family, where her love of art and the outdoors took hold.  Her art is always evolving as she is a fearless artist eager to try new things. Deb's style of art ranges from bringing pet photos to life on paper, sitting outside and painting the landscape which surrounds her.

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.

Liane Whittum (b. 1977) is an award winning artist living in Hill NH. She is a traditionally trained oil painter with an affinity for realism. Liane first began oil painting when she was eighteen years old and has spent the last 30 years researching and practicing with the medium. She studied at New England College where she graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BA in Studio Art with a concentration in painting.

Her inspiration comes from the wild beauty of the New England landscape. She is especially fond of the effects of light reflecting off of water and exploring the exciting world of painting sunsets and nocturnes. Plein air painting has been an integral part of Liane’s artistic journey and one that she feels extremely passionate about. She divides her time between still life painting, studio landscape painting and painting en plein air.

Liane has been in many international juried shows and has work in private collections nationwide. She has won numerous awards from some of the most prestigious art competitions including, Best Landscape from the National Oil and Acrylic Painters' Society, The Charles Pratt Award of Excellence in Still Life from American Women Artists, and a Staff Award from the Art Renewal Center Salon, which is the largest and most esteemed art competition for representational art in the world. In addition to being honored at Sotheby’s in NYC by the Art Renewal Center, Liane and all of the award winners from the 16th Annual ARC Salon had their winning pieces digitized and included in a time capsule on the Griffin Lunar Lander launched to the moon in February of 2024, where the collection will be kept perpetually.