EXETER — New Hampshire residents are looking forward to the flowers of spring, and they can find them at the Seacoast Artist Association in downtown Exeter.
“Winter is a time when I immerse myself into my art process, and ‘Burst’ was the result of that in the winter of 2023,” says Jane Zeeb McDonnell of Eliot, Maine, about winning best in show in this month’s themed show “Flowers” at the Seacoast Artist Association.
“This painting was named by a friend of mine who says it feels like spring bursting onto the scene,” says McDonnell.
A longtime painter, she needed a process that meshed with her personality and that had many different steps and features including some that could be done when she only had small chunks of time or was low on energy.
This led Jane to create a new process where she takes unframe-worthy watercolor paintings and transforms them by cutting these old paintings up and repositioning them onto other old paintings, creating new, much more exciting versions of the previous work.
Not quite a watercolor anymore, nor a traditional collage, she created the term “reconstructed watercolor” to describe both the process and the finished pieces.
The “Flowers” theme show will be on display through April 26, and all paintings are for sale.
In March, Ken Halle’s oil painting “Spring Glory” won Best in show for “Welcome Spring.”
The next Second Friday reception at the gallery is from 5 to 7 p.m. April 11, where attendees can enjoy refreshments while listening to The Real Deal Jazz Combo.
The Seacoast Artist Association invites all plein air artists to submit to their May theme show “In Plein Sight.” Drop off from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (only) Saturday April 26.
Label information and jpegs should be emailed by April 24 to themeshowsubmissions@seacoastartist.org. See details at www.seacoastartist.org. SAA members receive a discounted rate so now is a good time to join.
The Seacoast Artist Association gallery is located at 130 Water Street, Exeter, and is open 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday.