Jack Thor Ahlin was a much beloved and accomplished artist on Cape Cod, and I am honored to receive the prize that bears his name. This national juried show is my first with the Cape Cod Art Center.
The Cape Cod Art Center’s Autumn National Exhibit is on view October 20 – November 15, 2025 – this is a perfect time to visit this beautiful gallery in Yarmouth, MA.
To be Wild with Nothing to be Wild About
Watercolor and ink on paper, 2025
Framed and for sale through the Cape Cod Art Center
This is a real milestone for me. The New England Watercolor Society is, not surprisingly, an organization from which every watercolorist seeks affirmation. Once again, I expected one of my more traditional paintings to make the cut on this exhibition, and they surprised me by choosing this contemporary work. My hope is that the fuller context of this painting comes through – while much of my work has a whimsical quality to it, there are deeper messages in to be found for those who care to look. But the colors and shapes hold their own, I think.
The Exhibit will be at the Moseseian Center for the Arts, 321 Arsenal Street, Watertown, MA
Hours: Wednesday-Friday 12-6pm, weekends 12-4pm.
Reception and awards ceremony, Sunday, December 6, 4-6pm
This special series of events, “The Unfinished Woman – Who Am I Beyond the Roles that I play?” is inspired by Joan Anderson’s Book series, A Year by the Sea. This art show “honors a profound and often overlooked chapter in a woman’s life—the quiet moment after the roles of partner, best friend, volunteer, or caretaker begin to fade.”
Although I’ve created art of some kind throughout my life, I took up watercolor in 2017 as a way of expanding my skills while also hoping that my adult autistic son, who loves to draw primarily with markers, might also be interested in watercolor (spoiler alert: he’s sticking with markers). But I fell in love with watercolor partly because I was fortunate enough to find a teacher, Kat O’Connor, and a talented group of painters who have guided and inspired me.
I started out hoping to create work I thought others would consider proper watercolor, and while I still create traditional work, I’ve also reconnected with the artistic style that defined my youth, which leads me to explore all the memories that go with that. Now I’m rebuilding my artistic vision and my inner life.
This collage piece depicts my journey through media, styles and subject matter through the years as I work to break free of my own expectations and create work that celebrates who I am now while valuing the people and experiences that got me here.
I’m thankful that the Cultural Center of Cape Cod presented an opportunity for me to review my work and make something out of my paintings that have snippets that I love but were flawed in other ways – saving the good parts and cutting out the rest is a valuable process.
This incredible space in Cambridge, CAA@Canal, is hosting (and selling) a great collection of small works selected by Jurors Marc Gurton and Caitee Hoagland.
CAA’s Canal Gallery is by appointment only so please visit their page to get more details about how to see the work for sale. A word to the wise – this section of Cambridge is under major construction and I strongly recommend taking the T to the Kendall Station and walking over.
The Cambridge Arts Alliance has two other spaces that are open to the public without an appointment:
The Katherine Schultz Gallery at 25 Lowell Street, open Wednesday – Friday 12-4, and Saturday 10-2.
CCA @ University Place, 124 Mount Auburn Street, open Monday – Friday 10-6, and Saturday 10-1.
I am so pleased not just to be accepted into this lovely show but to have earned an Honorable Mention for this painting inspired by the autumn light on our pond. I really do draw wisdom from the evolution of the lily pads as they make the way through the season, from bright spring green to cool teal to green gold before they sink to sleep through the winter.
Juror L. Michelle Law explains that “artworks chosen for honorable mention are each outstanding examples of work in their respective mediums and show clear thought and creative vision in their creation.”
She says this small watercolor and gouache painting has “playful color and shapes that create a wonderful rhythm.”
This is a special show for a lot of reasons, particularly because the Falmouth Garden Club is creating floral arrangements that draw on the colors of the works that appear in the show. The arranges will be on view at the opening reception on Friday, September 12, from 5-7pm. I’m looking forward to taking photos and posting them next week.
The June Kershaw Open Exhibit includes some extraordinary works in a variety of media, so I’m especially pleased that we earned an honorable mention in the watercolor category. As party of this juried show of 50 works selected from hundreds of entries, judge Hillary Osborn called this Inception “very innovative” – it does stray from traditional watercolor and so I’m particularly glad to be to show it and be recognized.
Thanks to the Sandwich Arts Alliance for the opportunity to submit and share this work. You can visit the show in person until September 2, 2025, at the old Sandwich Town Hall or view it online.
I’m so pleased to have a chance to share this piece, which sprang from my imagination during a long winter emerging from COVID.
The Sandwich Arts Alliance is a wonderful creative resource for artists and writers on Cape Cod. It’s home is in the old Sandwich, Massachusetts, Town Hall, where you can view exhibits, take classes and browse their shop that’s full of books, cards, images and lots of original art.
The show opens on July 22 – the gallery reception is on July 31 from 5:30-7:30pm. The SAA is open Tuesday – Saturday 11 – 4.
We recently participated in the SAA’s Hydrangea Week art sale, spending a gorgeous July day in the shade sharing our work with people from near and far.
If you find yourself on Cape Cod in July, there’s lots to see in Falmouth, including a great show at Falmouth Art that includes this watercolor and ink piece that’s part of my post-pandemic evolution.
The Rhode Island Watercolor Society has honored me by including “Hockney Flowers” in the in it’s 2025 National Watercolor Show, running May 31st – July 3, 2025.
This is one of my favorite pieces and I am glad that it will be shown in a gallery where its true colors can be appreciated.
The RIWS is a wonderful place to visit in the summer, with a charming carousel just across the street.
sarah.connell. campbell.art 