NH Art Association to exhibit at Church Landing

MEREDITH — The New Hampshire Art Association is partnering with Church Landing at Mill Falls to exhibit and sell member artwork in the main lobby.

The new exhibit, “Portraits of Nature,” opens Tuesday, Dec. 17, and features the oil paintings of Laura Cassinari King and the prints of Margaret Merritt. Both artists draw inspiration from the New Hampshire landscape. The exhibit is open daily through March 15, 2020.

A music teacher for 20 years, King has always had an appreciation for all things artistic. As an empty nester of four children, she discovered a passion for oil painting six years ago and studied with area artists, from Meredith to the seacoast. King lives on Alton Bay and works in the seacoast area.

Between work and caring for her elderly mother, she finds creating art a soothing, meditative outlet. She paints en plein air, sometimes finishing pieces in the studio with photo references. Her work can also be seen at the Ceres Gallery and Robert Lincoln Levy Gallery, both in Portsmouth.

Merritt’s explorations of nature began in her rural childhood home in Ohio. She first studied printmaking in the 1970s at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts in Michigan. She worked for more than 40 years as a professional chemist, and retired in 2002 from the Wellesley College chemistry faculty and moved to Sandwich to pursue a full-time studio art. “I primarily use intaglio processes for my prints with a focus on contemporary ‘green’ methods,” Merritt said. “I love the technical details of printmaking: selecting the technique that best suits my imagined image, preparing the plates, choosing the inks and papers, and finally pulling each individual print by hand.”

Merritt is a member of Zea Mays Printmaking Studio in western Massachusetts. Her work can also be seen at the Patricia Ladd Carega Gallery in Sandwich, Artworks in Chocorua, and the Robert Lincoln Levy Gallery of the NHAA in Portsmouth.

Church Landing at Mill Falls is at 281 Daniel Webster Highway. Work in the exhibit is for sale by contacting NHAA at 603-431-4230 or nhaa.lynnkrumholz@gmail.com.