Sunset Behind the Hedgerow

Late June and the humid air is heavy with the smell of mown hay. It's dusk at the top of Crozier Hill and the sun has just set behind the hedgerow. A single deer browses it's way along the edge of the field.

- Nancy Boudreau


This is an acrylic painting on gessoed mat board, approximately 5" x 7"
signed and dated with the above comments on the back.

End of the Longest Day

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Sunset, June 21st, the longest day of the year, from the top of Crozier Hill in Sherman Connecticut, the sun puts on a little show before retiring for the evening. This time of year is not known for sunsets. During the humid, warm days the afternoon's cumulus clouds rise and dissipate in lingering twilight, filtering the sun's last rays to create muted colors. It isn't until November, when the trees are bare, the air is cold and the twilight brief, that sunsets present tropical hues. An ironic juxtaposition, but isn't it irony that makes the world go round?
- Nancy Boudreau

acrylic painting on gessoed mat board, approximately 5" x 7"
signed, dated and comments on the back

Reflections on Deep Brook

It's possible to get lost in dreaming while looking for trout in Deep Brook. Light plays on and in the depths of water like thoughts flickering through different levels of consciousness. Whether or not you find a fish, you will find calm and peace of mind.

-Nancy Boudreau

This is an acrylic painting on gessoed matboard, approximately 5" x 7" signed and dated with the above text handwritten on the back for sale directly from the artist.

Mink's Brook

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The real name of this waterway is not known to me, but I think of it as "Mink's Brook." Paddling beyond this stone arch, the water is flat, bright and clear. Trails wind up muddy banks disappearing into fields of fern and barberry. It was here that I can upon a mink swimming across the stream, carrying in it's mouth a fish as large as itself. It emerged, took a few steps up a trail, shook itself off, gave me a beady glare and disappeared into the ferns with it's limp prize.
- Nancy Boudreau

acrylic painting on gessoed mat board, approximately 5" x 7"
signed, dated and comments on the back

Painted Turtle

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I found a painted turtle one afternoon at Roxbury Falls, a beautiful turtle with bright markings and a perfectly formed shell, very healthy. Somehow it had safely negotiated the falls and escaped the attention of fishermen and curious boys. This painting shows the turtle as I found it, half under a rock shelf, underwater, quietly waiting for me to go away. Curious, I set my watch and sat by to see how long it could stay submerged. Ten minutes later, burned to a crisp by the sun and plagued by biting insects, I gave up. Next time I hear someone say "don't hold your breath" I'll think of this little guy. And so here I am on a Monday morning, the artist, a painted turtle, not quite ready to come out and take on the world yet, holding my breath as long as I can.
- Nancy Boudreau

acrylic painting on gessoed mat board, approximately 5" x 7"
signed, dated and comments on the back

Trout Pool

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This is a "toes-in-the-sand" view of the trout pool that was painted earlier.
- Nancy Boudreau

acrylic painting on gessoed mat board, approximately 5" x 7"
signed, dated and comments on the back

Rocky Bank

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The park just below Shepaug Dam on the Housatonic River in Southbury Connecticut has a wide grassy field for picnics. Here the river bank is rocky and currents are strong, not suitable for swimming, though there are very good places to launch your kayak or canoe. Creating a painting of reflections on the water was a challenge. The longer I looked at the image, the more abstract it became, until I could no longer see the thing it represented, like repeating a word over and over and over until it becomes gibberish.
- Nancy Boudreau

acrylic painting on gessoed mat board, approximately 5" x 7"
signed, dated and comments on the back

Mountain Laurel

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The heat of June coaxes mountain laurel, one of our most spectacular woodland shrubs, into bloom. Ordinarily the woods in this area of Connecticut look bare, deer having browsed the landscape clean, but when the mountain laurel's light pink flowers open, they brighten shady trails and make the woods seem like a garden.
- Nancy Boudreau

acrylic painting on gessoed mat board, approximately 5" x 7"
signed, dated and comments on the back

Mouth of the Still River

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Humid, dense air, water like syrup. It is June and the air temperature is 98˚F. Cottonwood trees unload their seeds like summer snow, coating the surface of the water with downy fluff.

- Nancy Boudreau

acrylic painting on gessoed mat board, approximately 5" x 7"
signed, dated and comments on the back

Cumulus Over Crozier Hill

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Wake early on a clear June morning and take a walk up Crozier Hill, across the fields of Hanson Farm, jewel of the Naromi Land Trust in Sherman Connecticut. Bring a picnic lunch and take time to listen to the songs of bobolinks and watch the appearance of cumulus clouds as the valleys warm in the sun and moisture rises to form the beautiful cloud shapes.
- Nancy Boudreau

acrylic painting on gessoed mat board, approximately 5" x 7"
signed, dated and comments on the back

Yellow Flag Iris

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In early June, wild iris blooms along Connecticut's waterways. This shoreline is the Shepaug River in Roxbury, a pleasant place to hike or kayak.
- Nancy Boudreau

acrylic painting on gessoed mat board, approximately 5" x 7"
signed, dated and comments on the back

Deep Brook

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Deep Brook is a class 1 trout stream, according to Trout Unlimited. This lovely spot, is hidden away in an industrial park in Newtown Connecticut. How lucky for those us that work in the area. Where better to wet some line during lunch?
- Nancy Boudreau

acrylic painting on gessoed mat board, approximately 5" x 7"
signed, dated and comments on the back

Phlox and Forest

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Late May and early June in Connecticut, wild blue phlox flowers appear in meadows and along roadsides. Never actually blue, the color varies widely, from white through pale blue to almost to violet. This stand of phlox welcomes the hiker to the Deep Book class 1 trout stream hidden away in an industrial park in Newtown. What was once considered wasteland, has been recognized by Trout Unlimited as valuable resource and is now being protected and nurtured. A lucky bonus for outdoorsmen who happen to work in the area.
- Nancy Boudreau

acrylic painting on gessoed mat board, approximately 5" x 7"
signed, dated and comments on the back