Four of my framed pieces have been selected for the 2014 Photofest, a national juried exhibition hosted by the Quinebaug Valley Council of Arts & Humanities in Southbridge, Massachusetts. Photofest 2014 will feature the work of “twenty-seven artists from thirteen states” and I’m honored to be among the exhibitors. The selection of my photography that will be on display represent a diverse cross-section of my work: both color and black & white… both purely natural landscapes as well those that bear the mark of civilization.
One of my selected works, A Breeze in Tobacco Valley (above), is part and parcel to a new project I’ve been working on which explores the vistas, textures, absorbing farmscapes and nostalgic aura surrounding the “Tobacco Valley” region of Northern Connecticut. In this particular piece, we gaze upon three time-worn tobacco sheds that stand sentinel in an abandoned field overgrown with swaying, summertime wildflowers.
I invite you visit the 2014 Photofest exhibition, where you’ll see A Breeze in Tobacco Valley along with three more of my works, as well as a range of photography by other artists. However, the gallery hours are limited so I do recommend that you carefully review them before heading over to Southbridge, Massachusetts. All of the pertinent information can be found below.
Where? Quinebaug Valley Council for the Arts and Humanities, 111 Main Street, Southbridge, MA 01550
How long does the exhibit run? September 11 through September 28, 2014
When is the exhibit opening? Opening reception is Thursday, September 11 from 6PM to 8PM
When is the gallery open? Thursdays 4PM to 8PM; Fridays 2PM to 6PM; Saturdays & Sundays 12PM to 4PM
My Waterfalls of Connecticut collection is on display during the entire month of July at the Noah Webster Library Gallery in West Hartford, Connecticut.
My Waterfalls of Connecticut collection is on display during the entire month of July at the Noah Webster Library Gallery in West Hartford, Connecticut.
During the month of July, a selection of my prints will be on display at the Noah Webster Library Gallery in West Hartford, Connecticut. The exhibition theme is “Waterfalls of Connecticut” and you’ll enjoy 15 pieces that portray a range of waterfalls from diverse areas of the state. If you haven’t had an opportunity yet to see one of my finished pieces -a framed and matted print- then this your chance to see a wide range of them all in one place in a relaxed and especially quiet venue.
Although waterfalls represent only a portion of my subject matter, there’s little doubt that I have a special affinity for them. Over the course of more than four years, I’ve dedicated considerable time and creative energy to producing photographs that capture the unique sense of place that these waterscapes offer. Earlier this year I released a collection of images, also titled “Waterfalls of Connecticut“, which portrays thirty waterfalls from around the state and celebrates my aesthetic fascination with cascading water.
My Waterfalls of Connecticut exhibition at the West Hartford Library is based upon my earlier collection and incorporates some of the pieces that you may be familiar with already. However, I’ve also included in this showing a number of pieces that were produced in just the past 6 months. For that matter, some of the pieces on display feature waterfalls that weren’t included in the original Waterfalls of Connecticut collection.
So whether or not you’re familiar with my original Waterfalls of Connecticut collection, there’s still plenty to see at this exhibition. In addition, I’ve also hung all three of the pieces from my newest collection, Old Timbered Crossings, which features the last three historic covered bridges left in Connecticut.
Consider yourself invited to visit the Noah Webster Library at any time during the month of July to see my work!
When and Where
Location:
Noah Webster Library
20 South Main Street
West Hartford, CT 06107
Duration:
June 30 – July 31, 2014
Other Info:
The gallery area is located on the main floor. Don’t hesitate to ask the library staff at the front desk.
As part of J. G. Coleman’s Decor Series prints, all of the works seen at the exhibition are available at Fine Art America. You are encouraged to visit J. G. Coleman’s Fine Art America eStore, or see all of Fine Art America’s waterfall art.
I’m pleased to announce that my piece, Roaring Brook Autumnlands, has been selected to receive the Best-in-Show Award at the 2014 Our Natural World photography exhibit hosted by the Glastonbury Audubon Society during the month of February! Produced on an outing in Cheshire, Connecticut during a cool October morning last year, this piece is surely among my favorite works from 2013.
Since I already introduced this piece in my January 2014 blog post, Autumn Meditations, I’ve decided to take this opportunity to discuss how Roaring Brook Autumnlands came together and explain the methods I used to get the shot.
This piece grew out of an early morning trek into the woodlands of Cheshire. My plan was to set out from the trailhead well before dawn, make the 3/4-mile hike up to Roaring Brook Falls, then take advantage of twilight to capture some images that emphasized the exemplary autumn colors we enjoyed last year in Southern New England. Everything went according to plan, with the glaring exception of the light. Twilight conditions just weren’t offering up the subtle color tones that I had been envisioning. I experimented with a few perspectives of downstream cascades, eventually finding myself at the very base of Roaring Brook Falls just as the sun began to peek over the wooded hilltops behind me.
Within only a few minutes, the lackluster conditions were swept away as I watched a stunning scene unfold before my eyes. The sun had risen just enough to set ablaze the autumn canopy at the precipice of the falls, but was still low enough on the horizon that the glistening rock faces below remained cloaked in shadow. The contrast of vibrant, glowing color and dark stone made for a captivating moment that I knew I wanted to share.
Roaring Brook Autumnlands wins Best-in-Show at the 2014 Our Natural World exhibit, on display through February 28 in the Glastonbury Audubon Center.
From the standpoint of technique, a sturdy tripod was absolutely critical since the exposure ran for two seconds. But even with a stable platform from which to shoot, there were a few other considerations. The significant disparity in brightness between the falls and forest could only be tamed by calling upon two different filters. A circular polarizer helped to remove glare from the leaves and slightly deepen the tones of the blue sky. I also held a 2-stop graduated neutral density filter over the lens to dial back some of the the brilliant light of the forest canopy. The resulting exposure was balanced fairly well, ensuring that I kept detail in both the shadows and the highlights.
You can see Roaring Brook Autumnlands, as well as many other fine photographs, at the Glastonbury Audubon Center located at 1361 Main Street, Glastonbury. The exhibit runs through February 28 and many of the excellent works on display are framed and reasonably priced.
Two of my new prints will be among the many fine pieces on display at Lost Acres Vineyard in Granby, Connecticut this week for Arts & Agriculture, an exhibition of works inspired by the agricultural heritage of the Farmington River Valley.
The first of these new pieces, Talcott Mountain Rustic (at top), brings us to a belt of farmland in Simsbury at the foot of Talcott Mountain during mid-October. An old tractor sits parked in the fields, painted with alternating bands of shadow and light as the day’s end grows close. Talcott Mountain climbs prominently from the horizon, its broad slopes jacketed with bold autumn colors and its crest lined with bare cliffs of traprock.
My other new work on display, titled Forgotten Barn (not shown), portrays an old, sun-bleached farm building near Holcomb Farm in Granby. Overgrown weeds and shrubs crowd the walls of the aged barn, which sits nestled against the forest edge beneath an inviting expanse of blue sky and soft clouds.
The exhibition, fully dubbed Arts & Agriculture: Celebrating the Farmington Valley’s Natural Beauty, is presented by the Granby Land Trust and Granby Artists Association. The opening reception is scheduled this Wednesday, November 6, and all works will be on display and available for purchase through December 8, 2013.
Consider this your invitation to the show! The address is below:
Lost Acres Vineyard
80 Lost Acres Road
North Granby, CT 06060
Click here for more details about the show from the Granby Land Trust.
On November 1 at Lost Acres Vineyard in North Granby, the Granby Land Trust will be unveiling a range of new artwork featured in this years juried art competition, Places of Inspiration: Celebrating the Farmington Valley’s Natural Beauty. Among the fine works on display, you’ll find my piece “Carpenters Falls at Granby”, which features a truly exquisite waterfall found in the woodlands of the 4,800-acre McLean Game Refuge.
“Carpenters Falls at Granby” is heavy on texture and fine detail, from rough contours of water-chiseled bedrock and airy sprays of leaves to the wispy veils of the falls and the churning water below. The piece you’ll find on display is a 12″ x 18″ photographic print on Kodak Endura, matted with white-core black to 18″ x 24″ and framed with a dark-stain wood. If you’ve only seen my work on the computer screen thus far, this is a great opportunity to see how much more dramatic these pieces are in print!
For that matter, you’ll see a host of excellent works from several Connecticut artists, each of whom has found something truly inspiring in the natural splendor of the Farmington River Valley. And this isn’t just show-and-tell, folks… every piece is available for purchase.
Consider yourself invited to Places of Inspiration! And don’t worry if you can’t make the opening on November 1; you can drop by Lost Acres Vineyard anytime before December 1 and see the full display.
Lost Acres Vineyard
80 Lost Acres Road
North Granby, CT 06060
Want to know more about the Places of Inspiration show? Click here for more details from the Granby Land Trust.
I am very pleased to announce that two of my works have won awards in the 2012 Connecticut Forest & Park Association’s photography competition, a contest which seeks out imagery that is especially representative of the state’s natural landscapes, flora and fauna, trails and hikers.
Blackledge Falls in Glastonbury was the subject of my piece titled “The Falls of Blackledge”, which won 1st place in the Connecticut Wildlands category. I shot this photograph in Autumn of 2011 during my very first visit to Blackledge Falls Park and I still vividly remember the way that every facet of the environment seemed to come together perfectly to create a truly dream-like scene. It was a privilege to be in the forests of Glastonbury to see this vista unfold before my eyes!
Shooting this photograph involved using a couple filters in order to capture all of the color and detail in the landscape. For example, a circular polarizing filter was essential to bring out the warm colors of the leaves against the bold blue sky, as well as to remove distracting glare from the wet rocks beside the waterfall. But even more important was the use of a graduated neutral density filter which allowed me to hold back 3 stops of light from the brightly illuminated trees in the background. This went a long way towards balancing the exposure, allowing me to capture detail in the shadowy, moss-laden rocks without overexposing the forest and losing those deeply-saturated colors.
This next piece, titled “Life on the Nonnewaug”, won 2nd place in the Flora & Fauna category. I shot this photograph at Nonnewaug Falls in Woodbury, where the East Nonnewaug River drops about 15 feet into a shallow pool before meandering further into the woodlands. The real challenge with this photograph was being patient enough to wait for the scene to come together as I envisioned.
I had seen a couple of green frogs darting about the pool and decided that I wanted to portray them in the context of their idyllic waterfall environment. Of course, this meant that I needed one of these skittish frogs to perch in the water in a somewhat specific area of the pool and remain still for a long enough time for me compose a shot. From the start, it was clear that they weren’t interested in participating. Every time I approached them they would quickly dive towards the deeper water and surface in the shallows elsewhere along the perimeter of the pool. This went on for a couple of hours. In truth, I had just about given up and I packed all my equipment back into my bag and was making one last walk around the pool before hitting the trails.
To my surprise, one of the green frogs had surfaced in the shallow water just as I was walking by and I figured I’d give it one more shot. I slowly unpacked my gear and set my tripod up so that my camera was suspended just above the surface of the water. To my amazement, the frog sat motionless even as I delicately extended my camera to within 6″ – 8″ of his nose! I took a small series of photos with slight variations in angle and exposure before packing everything back up. Still, the frog remained motionless until I took my first step back towards the trailhead, at which point it quickly darted away to some other corner of the pool. I have a tendency sometimes to personify nature and as I made the hike back to my car, I couldn’t help but smile at the way these little amphibians had effortlessly played me for nearly two hours before finally giving in. It was as if the frog had seen me leaving and said,” Look… we were just messing with you, but you’ve been a good sport about it… I’m going to give you one shot at this… don’t mess it up!” I’d like to think that I made the most of the opportunity.
You can see both of these works, as well as many other winning photographs, online at the Connecticut Forest and Park Association’s website at ctwoodlands.org.
You can be among the first to see J. G. Coleman’s print, “Old Dish Mill Falls on Jim Brook“, a fine-art landscape photograph taken at Roaring Brook Nature Center in Canton, Connecticut. The work will be on display through the month of November at J. Vallee Brunelle Fine Art & Framing in Granby, Connecticut. “Old Dish Mill Falls on Jim Brook” is only one of many works that will be on display for Celebrating Art in Nature, the 2011 Granby Land Trust Annual Juried Art Show.
Celebrating Art in Nature is a small art show that features paintings, drawings, photography and 3D works inspired by nature and landscapes of the Farmington River Valley region. The opening reception for the showing is on Thursday, November 3, 2011 between 5:00 PM and 8:00 PM.
The showing will run from November 3, 2011 through December 1, 2011 and every piece on display is available for purchase. The Granby Land Trust will receive 40% of the proceeds for every work purchased at J. Vallee Brunelle, which will help them continue to preserve Granby’s natural heritage (a portion of those proceeds will also go towards supporting the event).
