BELLOWS FALLS-Canal Street Art Gallery, 23 Canal St., presents solo shows by Kathleen Kathan and Marianne Shaugnessy. Both exhibitions are open through July 13.
Kathan, based in Acworth, New Hampshire, uses oil paint and realism to express the importance to the artist of rural backyard agriculture and wildlife. Kathan's paintings of agricultural life, such as "Three Jerseys Grazing" and "Heifers On Summer Pasture," show the landscape and domesticated animals who live on it.
In artworks "In from The Sea" and "Gray," the artist uses muted colors with subjects of wild animals to show how unknown and out-of-our-control the wilderness really is.
"I see things I'm not sure I will see again, and so I paint it to remember, not knowing how long or short it may be before it is changed or gone," Kathan said in a news release. "I hope to bring awareness to my viewers of the disappearing rural agricultural life and wildness hiding behind it."
Shaugnessy, based in Athens, Vermont, shares new watercolor paintings of intimate and overlooked subject matter from the Lot-et-Garonne area of southwestern France.
A writer by profession, Shaugnessy has maintained a drawing practice throughout her life. The artist says they are now most attracted by the translucency and challenge of watercolor painting in artworks such as "La Porte Bleue" and "Red Shutters."
"My work has focused primarily on landscapes from places where I have been and love - Ireland, France, Scotland, the Cape Cod shore - or here at home in Vermont," Shaugnessy wrote. "Of late, I have narrowed my focus from the broad view to tighter images or ones that might be overlooked."
For more information about the Kathan or Shaugnessy solo shows, go to canalstreetartgallery.com, call Mike Noyes at 802-289-0104, or email [email protected].
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