12 months paintings
My love affair with the Arnold Arboretum in Boston began three decades ago while exploring the sylvan hills and dale. During that time, the Frederick Law Olmsted vision of the site has changed due to age and weather damage. This has created a change in visual perception of the grounds. Similarly I, too, have aged and weathered storms, creating changes in my visual perceptions.
The Arboretum is a treasure in my life. My relationship to the Arboretum began as a visitor, then a volunteer, then an employee, and culminated in two decades of teaching field studies on the grounds. Another long-standing relationship in my life is my experience as an artist. I began painting at age six at Munson Williams Proctor Art Institute in Utica, New York. Later, I studied art and painting at Kirkland (Hamilton) College, and Radcliffe Seminars. Now, I paint in my Natick studio, working mostly in oils, but also watercolors and acrylics.
The landscape paintings in this exhibit reflect seasonal changes at the Arboretum. I'm drawn to the wide, broad views of the land, so I used large canvases that reflect the time of year not only in the plants but also in the sky and foreground.
Each painting depicts a moment in the plants' life cycle at a particular season. Recollection of feelings; smells; damp snow clinging to the horizontal branches; the color of the apple blossoms set against a cobalt sky in May; and the late winter sun on twigs and swollen buds; these were the images, that inspired my palette and brush strokes.
Kate Cardamone
