Tag: Portland

Categories
All Things Connecticut New Print Releases The American Northeast

Ceaseless Waterfalls

Waterfalls of Connecticut
Graham's Secret (Carr Brook Falls, Portland, Connecticut)
“Graham’s Secret”
Carr Brook Falls, Portland, Connecticut
© 2016 J. G. Coleman

In “Graham’s Secret” (above), the latest installment in my Waterfalls of Connecticut project, the cool waters of Carr Brook slip over a forest-shaded cliff, descending into a ceaseless whirlpool at the bottom of a rugged ravine just a few miles east of the Connecticut River.

When I set about my “Connecticut Waterfalls” project back around 2010, eager to interpret the beauty of the Nutmeg State’s varied natural waterfalls, I’m not sure that I was thinking about how long it might take to see the endeavor through to its conclusion. And so here I am, after more than six years of work, and I’m still expanding the formal collection a couple times each year with imagery from new waterfalls.

Flume at Collins Hill (Carr Brook Falls, Portland, Connecticut)
“Flume at Collins Hill”
Carr Brook Falls, Portland, Connecticut
© 2016 J. G. Coleman

Of course, the core of the project came together a couple years ago in the form a dedicated website, “Waterfalls of Connecticut”, which I invite you to visit. But even as I was busy pulling together the body of work that would premier in the collection, an effort which might customarily mark the end of a thematic project, I knew that waterfalls had earned an enduring place in my subject matter for years to come. I also knew that there was, and still remains, a great many stories of cascading water left to tell in the wilds of Connecticut.

Purchase a Fine Art Print or Inquire About Licensing

Click here to visit my landing page for “Graham’s Secret” 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 Carr Brook Falls.

Categories
All Things Connecticut New Print Releases The American Northeast

Carr Brook Emerging

Carr Brook Emerging (The Cascade, Meshomasic State Forest, Portland, Connecticut)
“Carr Brook Emerging”
The Cascade, Meshomasic State Forest, Portland, Connecticut
© 2016 J. G. Coleman

Remote woodlands of Central Connecticut emerge from the grip of winter, channeling fresh spring rains through a sprightly brook which tumbles through the hills. The forest floor is obscured beneath a dense blanket of leaf litter, remnants of last autumn that have only recently thawed after several frigid months bound up in ice and buried by snow.

Depending on whose metric we use, there are anywhere from a dozen to as many as a hundred waterfalls in Connecticut. But because so much of the state is criss-crossed by roads, most of them are can be seen with a fairly short walk from the blacktop. Some are even visible without leaving the roadside.

“The Cascade”, a 15-foot horsetail on Carr Brook, is among the few that aren’t quite so easy to reach. This waterfall demands a ¾-mile drive down an old dirt logging road, then a mile long hike through the hills.

Purchase a Fine Art Print or Inquire About Licensing

Click here to visit my landing page for “Carr Brook Emerging” 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.

Categories
All Things Connecticut New Print Releases The American Northeast

Okumsett Fringe

Okumsett Fringe (Glen Falls near Okumsett Preserve, Portland, Connecticut)
“Okumsett Fringe”
Glen Falls near Okumsett Preserve, Portland, Connecticut
© 2015 J. G. Coleman

In my new release, “Okumsett Preserve”, Glen Falls glows with whitewater as it careens over a sheer, 20-foot ledge, plunging Cobalt Stream into a shallow, woodland oasis lined by mossy cliffs, gravel beds and swaying ferns.

As early as the mid-1600s, the lands surrounding the mile-long Cobalt Stream were firmly believed to be rich in various ores and precious metals. Connecticut’s first governor, John Winthrop, laid claim to some 800 acres in the area and legends tell of him camping out in the hills, assiduously mining gold and casting rings that he would carry back to his home in New London. The territory consequently received the nickname, “The Governor’s Ring”.

Generation after generation of enterprising men made countless attempts to mine the Governor’s Ring for about 200 years. Some sought gold and silver, while others set their sights toward cobalt and lead. Except for occasional veins of cobalt, most of these operations proved fruitless. By 1844, a Connecticut geology professor finally summed up two centuries of unproductive mining around Cobalt Stream: “it is a curious fact, that after all that has been done in this mine, very little is really known to the public as to the worth of the minerals located there, and whether it could be worked to any profit.”

Purchase a Fine Art Print or Inquire About Licensing

Click here to visit my landing page for “Okumsett Fringe” 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 Glen Falls and Okumsett Preserve.