The Society of Creative Arts of Newtown (SCAN) will host Jane Penfield painting a landscape in pastel on Wednesday, February 26, at 1:30 pm. The program will be in the lower level of Newtown Meeting House, 31 Main Street.

The demonstration is open to the public and admission is free.

Jane Penfield is drawn to nature. She is especially attracted to elements that evoke light, drama, and emotion. Her work is an impression of light and life as she has experienced it through walking, travel, and direct observation.

Ms Penfield was inspired by the beautiful New England landscape of the Pioneer Valley — a place that nourished her intellectually and creatively, helped form her values, and started her on her artistic path.

Her paintings of nature and the human influence on it are symbolic of that lifelong thirst for knowledge, enlightenment, and creative expression.

In addition to being a visual artist, Ms Penfield has worked professionally both as a choral director and an administrator of nonprofit arts organizations. Now working as a full-time artist, her focus is on pastel and oil painting. She finds great joy in the creative process and in teaching.

“Like meeting a long-lost relative, I recognize the same elements familiar to me in music: composition, form, tonality, harmony, counterpoint, rhythm, and dynamics,” said the artist. “Good habits of study and practice are essential. Painting, like conducting a choir, involves starting from scratch, observing, identifying problems, fixing them, and always trying to make it better, in order to create and present something beautiful in the end.”

Ms Penfield earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Mount Holyoke College and a master’s degree from the Hartt School of the University of Hartford. She currently serves as president of the Connecticut Pastel Society and is a board member and past president of Arts Center East in Vernon.

Reservations are not needed for SCAN programs but additional information is available at scanart.org.