June/July 2015 - New Work from the Isle of Skye: Paintings by Sherry Palmer

The Rochester Public Library is pleased to exhibit new work by local artist, Sherry Palmer, on the first floor of the Library for the months of June and July.

Sherry has traveled to the Isle of Skye in the Scottish Hebrides for over 25 years, living there for 2 years on an artist visa. She returns to Scotland every year to paint en plein-air in the theatrical Skye light that continually redefines the structure of the land she loves. This exhibition shows new work in both watercolor and oil.

From her earliest memory Sherry has been drawn to nature - walking, hiking, and with a keen eye observing landscape. She works on site, returning to the same location again and again. She spends hours in solitude in one place responding to the landscape in front of her. Large shapes and calligraphy-like lines, not fine details, are her inspiration. Painting is, for her, a process of selection and simplification, a reduction to essentials.

When the weather keeps her in her studio, Sherry paints derivative and imaginary landscape studies from rocks, natural objects found on site, and continues a series of paintings of old pottery shards found on Skye. As a landscape painter, she has always loved fragments of things: mountains and islands partially hidden by mist and fields and sky framed like puzzle pieces between the trunks and branches of trees. Fragments of designs on shards have always intrigued her too; finding them for her is like finding treasure and painting them a joy.

She received a BA and MAT from University of New Hampshire, majoring in Painting and Drawing, under teachers John Hatch and John Laurent. She is a member of the Skye and Lochalsh Arts and Crafts Association, Isle of Skye, Scotland, and the Ogunquit Art Association, Ogunquit ME. Her work is in the collection of the Ogunquit Museum of American Art as well as many private collections in the US and abroad.

The Library exhibit runs through the months of June and July. The Library is located at 65 South Main Street, Rochester NH. For hours and directions to the library, visit the Library website, http://www.rpl.lib.nh.us.

Learn more about Sherry and her artwork at: http://www.sherryskye.com/