Digitally painted landscapes on display at Gilford library

GILFORD — A solo exhibition of Marian Federspiel’s digitally painted landscapes is on display at the Gilford Public Library during the month of January.

The regional artist’s work reflects the forests, mountains and lakes of New Hampshire’s Lakes Region. She draws inspiration from kayaking, hiking and window views. The library exhibit has 20 of her prints, depicting what the artist describes as “narrow vertical or horizontal slices of the Lakes Region in all four seasons.”

Federspiel creates images in her studio by using digital pixels as her “paint,” a mouse as her “brush,” and her computer as her “canvas.” She describes her process as similar to brush painting. “When I am inspired by a scene I prepare sketches and take photographs for reference. I then draw the scene or image on the screen of my Mac.” Federspiel prints the image with archival ultrachrome pigmented ink, resulting in brilliantly-colored, serigraph-like graphic prints.

Federspiel has a bachelor of fine arts degree in painting from the University of Connecticut and a M.Ed. from Lesley University. She worked as a commercial art director and designer for 20 years before becoming a digital art teacher at Laconia High School, teaching for another 20 years. It was during her work in commercial design when computers took over the industry in the late '80s that she was introduced to the potential of digital painting.

Federspiel, now retired from teaching, works from her home studio. She displays and sells work in area shops and galleries including Artistic Roots in Plymouth, Artisans by the Bay in Oglethorpe in Meredith, Riverview Artisans in Bristol, and Squam Lakes Artisans in Center Harbor. For more information, visit mfederspiel.com. The library exhibit is on view through Jan. 31.