“Local Color,” a new exhibit at Old Lyme’s Cooley Gallery, is a clever play on words by gallery owner Jeff Cooley.

“It plays on the colorful people and personalities of the artists in the show, “ he says, “and also by virtue of the art and photography being so much about color.”

Another common theme of the show is that it’s hyper-local — the 13 exhibiting artists are all Lyme/Old Lyme residents.

“The exhibit highlights the talents of nationally and internationally recognized artists whose studios are within 10 miles of each other,” Cooley says.

“There are times when one might happily wonder if there are more easels per household in (zip code) 06371 than cars,” jokes gallery co-owner Betsy Cooley.

The show includes photography, sculpture, both landscape and abstract paintings, and large and small scale works. The exhibiting artists are Adrien Broom, Christian Brechneff, Helen Cantrell, Ashby Carlisle, Peter Daitch, Judy Friday, Time Lovejoy, Charles Marburg, Kym Monson, Mike Viera, Nancy Pinney, Brian Keith Stephens and Jerry Weiss. 

Artists’ response to color

Several of the artists in the show shared their thoughts about the role color plays in their work.

“Color changes everything,” states painter and printmaker Helen Cantrell. “What’s the difference between a little black dress and a little hot pink dress?” she asks. “It’s the same with my painting: black/white are dramatic winter contrasts, while hot, saturated pinks and reds are heat — the power of the sun — even in reflections. I use blues for winter shadows or sometimes a hot turquoise for infinite space, the sea or shimmering salt marshes.

“Green is hard,” Cantrell continues. “I try to use it sparingly in the summer — I look for those chartreuse yellows and purples in the shadows to get a good composition. Fall means yellow and gold, metallics, and deep aquamarine skies.”

Photographer Adrien Broom is all about color. She recently completed a two-and-a-half-year “Color Project,” which follows a young girl’s journey as she rediscovers all the colors of the rainbow.

“In (creating) the project I would research each color — the chakras each color is related to, how the colors are used in different cultures, but personally, how each color made me feel,” she says. “I would try to put that emotion into each world I created for the project.

“After being encompassed in these colors for all this time, color really seeped into all of my work,” Broom says. “I even changed my view on certain colors. I never really liked purple, but now I use purple in everything I do. I only use purple pens now when I write!”

Ashby Carlisle, who creates multi-media abstract wall sculptures, and Mike Viera, a narrative figure and landscape painter, both view color in their work in terms of of light and reflection.

“I am mesmerized by the luminous light that floats over the marshes and the backdrop of ever-changing skyscapes beyond,” Carlisle says. “The color in these atmospheres is where I begin to build each landscape. Color denotes a specific time and also describes the rhythmic passing of time through the day, the seasons, and the years, which connects nature and man.”

Viera refers to his painting “Shaded Shoreline” in describing his use of color. It’s part of a landscape series in which he wanted to construct a picture using the colors of an overcast morning.

“The reflective light of the gray day is interrupted by direct sunlight and its consequential cast shadows,” Viera explains. “The sunlight begins to reestablish forms to the ground and trees, and in turn disrupts the purity found in the reflective color alone. The areas not yet affected by the sun still retain their flat forms and chroma.”

“The theme ‘Local Color’ allows the viewer to see the art, artists, show and towns from a number of vantage points,” Carlisle points out. “How color is used — the pigment. How the originality of the work speaks of local color in the Lymes. How a work is colored — causing it to appear different from reality.

“I also look forward to the rich dialogue that will occur on the gallery walls when diverse styles are hung together,” she adds. 

The Lymes as artist magnet

“I think it’s the light, the beauty, the varied topography,” Betsy Cooley says.

“Lyme is an amazing place,” Viera agrees. “Its natural beauty and beautiful light has been inspiring artists for quite some time.”

Carlisle doesn’t find it at all surprising that so many artists have settled in the Lymes.

“With the history of Old Lyme as an art colony, an accredited art college on Lyme Street, and today’s efforts to preserve our art heritage, I’m not at all surprised that many artists live and work here,” she says. “As an artist, I can’t imagine living and creating without other artists nearby.”

Broom is no longer technically an Old Lyme resident — she now lives in Brooklyn, New York, and has a studio in New Haven — but her artistic roots run deep in the shoreline town. Two of her favorite Old Lyme artists are showing their work alongside hers in the exhibition.

“Jerry Weiss is my stepfather, and Brian Stephens is a dear friend,” she says. “It’s exciting in itself being in a show with the two of them — and I’ve always loved the Cooley Gallery. I’m very honored and very excited.”

“Painters seem to drop from the trees like acorns in Old Lyme,” notes Cantrell. “So I think it’s great that Jeff and Betsy are pulling together some of us in this show of contemporary work, especially since the Cooley Gallery has such tremendous depth in American Impressionism and other historic art.

“Old Lyme, where the big light of the ocean is never far, along with the brilliant reflections of rivers and salt marshes,” Cantrell observes, “is a constant presence in my work. Seeing what we do today, reflecting ourselves on those who came before us here, is a great meditation on color.”

IF YOU GO

What: “Local Color”; exhibition of works by 13 Old Lyme artists

Where: Cooley Gallery, 25 Lyme St., Old Lyme

When: Through Nov. 7

Info: Call (860) 434-8807 or email info@cooleygallery.com