Tag: Housatonic River Valley

Seeking Jackson Cove

Post author By J. G. Coleman
Post date March 25, 2016

Seeking the Cove (Seasonal Brook near Jackson Cove, Oxford, Connecticut) — “Seeking the Cove”
Seasonal brook near Jackson Cove, Oxford, Connecticut
© 2016 J. G. Coleman

Bolstered by rains and recent snowmelts, a frenzied brook (photo at top) races down steep hillsides beneath a leaf-bare canopy. Warmer months lay ahead, but for now, resilient mosses are the only sign of life in this rugged forest.

Veil of the Housatonic Hills (Jackson Cove on the Housatonic River, Oxford, CT) — “Veil of the Housatonic Hills”
Jackson Cove on the Housatonic River, Oxford, Connecticut
© 2016 J. G. Coleman

Small streams, such as this one in the Housatonic Valley with empties into Jackson Cove (photo above), are termed “seasonal brooks” and possess such small watersheds that they nearly run dry between late spring and autumn. Only come late winter and early spring (and possibly after hurricane-level rains) do they snap to life with meltwater and rainfall, swelling to become spirited brooks that eagerly carve their way down from the highlands en route to low-lying river valleys.

Purchase a Fine Art Print or Inquire About Licensing

Visit my landing page for “Seeking the Cove”, “Veil of the Housatonic Hills” or “Housatonic Driftwood” to buy a beautiful fine art print or inquire about licensing any of these images.

Want to See More?

Be sure to check out all of my work from Jackson Cove along the Housatonic River.

Tags brook, Connecticut, fine art print, hills, Housatonic River, Housatonic River Valley, landscape photography, New England, Oxford, waterfalls

All Things Connecticut New Print Releases The American Northeast

A Crossing in Wintry Repose

Post author By J. G. Coleman
Post date February 23, 2016

A Crossing in Wintry Repose (West Cornwall Covered Bridge, Cornwall, Connecticut) — “A Crossing in Wintry Repose”
West Cornwall Covered Bridge, Cornwall, Connecticut
© 2016 J. G. Coleman

A jacket of snow-dusted ice clings to shallow boulders along the banks of the Housatonic River in Connecticut’s Northwest Hills. Further upstream, against a backdrop of foggy woodlands and steep hills, a long covered bridge faithfully spans the frigid gorge.

At more than 170 feet in length, the West Cornwall Covered Bridge is arguably the most impressive bridge of its type left in Connecticut. Given the cost of maintenance and increasingly heavier loads it was forced to endure since the mid-1800s, it’s nothing short of a miracle that the bridge has survived to the present day.

There were low points along the way, of course. In 1945, a tanker truck broke through the bridge floor and crashed into the river below. A couple decades later in the late 60s, state officials contemplated tearing it down, but were met with vehement opposition from the surrounding community. Instead, it was reinforced with carefully-hidden steel underpinnings, ensuring the bridge would stick around for several more generations to come. The project was a marvelous success, even earning Connecticut an award from the Federal Highway Administration for exemplary historic preservation.

Purchase a Fine Art Print or Inquire About Licensing

Click here to visit my landing page for “A Crossing in Wintry Repose” to buy a beautiful fine art print or inquire about licensing this image.

Want to See More?

Be sure to check out all of my work from the West Cornwall Covered Bridge and surrounding stretches of the Housatonic River.

Tags Connecticut, Cornwall, covered bridge, fine art print, Housatonic River, Housatonic River Valley, landscape photography, Litchfield Hills, New England, Northwest Hills, river, snow, water, West Cornwall Covered Bridge, winter

All Things Connecticut New Print Releases The American Northeast

Secret of the Autumn Hills

Post author By J. G. Coleman
Post date December 11, 2015

Secret of the Autumn Hills (Hills of the Housatonic Valley, Bridgewater & New Milford, Connecticut) — “Secret of the Autumn Hills”
Hills of the Housatonic Valley, Bridgewater & New Milford, Connecticut
© 2015 J. G. Coleman

Ethereal mist rises from the deep, rolling hills of the Housatonic River Valley as autumn tightens its grip upon the dark forests.

Bristling with wooded mountains and carved by scenic valleys, the northwest of Connecticut is perhaps an unlikely vestige of remote –even romantic– natural splendor in an otherwise crowded state which is increasingly consumed by the sprawl of civilization.

Connecticut’s Northwest Hills weren’t always so quiet, though. Mills and factories once clustered along its rushing rivers, iron ore was wrested from its mountains, vast forests were felled to fuel blast furnaces and make way for pastureland. But over the last two centuries or so, most of those industries vanished and agriculture deeply declined. Nature was obliged to beautify the resulting vacancies and did so with masterful skill.

Purchase a Fine Art Print or Inquire About Licensing

Click here to visit my landing page for “Secret of the Autumn Hills” to buy a beautiful fine art print or inquire about licensing this image.

Want to See More?

Be sure to check out all of my work from Connecticut.

Tags autumn, Bridgewater, Connecticut, fine art print, fog, hills, Housatonic River Valley, landscape photography, lookout, mist, mountain, mountains, New England, New Milford, overlook, scenic lookout

All Things Connecticut New Print Releases The American Northeast

Autumn Frost on the Fields of Southbury

Post author By J. G. Coleman
Post date November 3, 2015

Yankee Farmlands № 42 (Corn field during Autumn Frost, Southbury, Connecticut) — “Yankee Farmlands № 42”
Corn field during Autumn Frost Southbury, Connecticut
© 2015 J. G. Coleman

The Housatonic Valley awakens to a chilly autumn morning as sunlight dapples the brilliant woodland canopy in the distance. Before us, cornstalks rise defiantly from a field besieged by frost; an unmistakable chill in the air foreshadows the coming winter.

But when it comes to cold New England weather, the chill in “Yankee Farmlands № 42” (above) and even the most brutal winters of the past decades can’t begin to compare to the disastrous chills of 1816… a time which would come to be remembered as the “Year Without a Summer”. Freezes killed the fruit tree blossoms in May. Come June, there were still reports of snowfall and slabs of ice drifted steadily down the Connecticut River. Frosts persisted well into August. By September, a reverend in Northern Connecticut lamented in his journal that “no person living has known so poor a crop of corn in New England… as now.” Famine engulfed the American Northeast when it became clear that there would be no harvest.

At the time, nobody could explain this perplexing weather: a day of frost in June might be followed by a day of seasonably sweltering heat, just to be followed yet again by a day of snowfall! Scientists now believe that a volcanic eruption in Indonesia had cast massive plumes of dust and ash into the Earth’s atmosphere which periodically blotted out the sunlight and caused the bewildering conditions.

Purchase a Fine Art Print or Inquire About Licensing

Click here to visit my landing page for “Yankee Farmlands № 42” to buy a beautiful fine art print or inquire about licensing this image.

Want to See More?

Be sure to check out all of the work in my on-going Yankee Farmlands project.

Tags autumn, Connecticut, corn, fall, farm, farming, field, fine art print, forest, frost, Housatonic River Valley, landscape photography, New England, Southbury

All Things Connecticut New Print Releases The American Northeast

Autumn at Bull’s Crossing

Post author By J. G. Coleman
Post date October 30, 2015

Autumn at Bull's Crossing (Bull's Bridge over the Housatonic River, Kent, Connecticut) — “Autumn at Bull’s Crossing”
Bull’s Bridge over the Housatonic River, Kent, Connecticut
© 2015 J. G. Coleman

Bull’s Bridge, one of Connecticut’s few remaining historical covered bridges, is seen in my new piece (above) during a radiant sunrise as it weathers autumn for the 173rd time since it was constructed in the mid-1800s. But long before the current Bull’s Bridge was built –at a time when the trees that would eventually produce its heavy lumber were still just spindly saplings– the colonists of Connecticut had already been raising bridges at this spot on the Housatonic River. The first on record was constructed in the 1760s by the industrious Bull family in order to transport iron to New York from their Connecticut foundry.

I have visited Bull’s Bridge on numerous occasions over the past years, very much taken with the heritage bound up in this place and the striking beauty along this run of the Housatonic River. Of course, I am forever seeking new ways to interpret and express these qualities… striving to craft imagery that encompasses my own impressions of this centuries-old river crossing. “Autumn at Bull’s Crossing” is my latest interpretation, produced this October, and I felt very strongly about this piece from the moment that I visualized the composition and set to framing it up.

Purchase a Fine Art Print or Inquire About Licensing

Click here to visit my landing page for “Autumn at Bull’s Crossing” to buy a beautiful fine art print or inquire about licensing this image.

Want to See More?

Be sure to check out all of my work from Bull’s Bridge and the Housatonic River at Kent.

Tags Bulls Bridge, Connecticut, covered bridge, fine art print, Housatonic River, Housatonic River Valley, Kent, landscape photography, New England, Talcott Mountain