On Wednesday, May 23, at 1:30 pm, The Society of Creative Arts of Newtown (SCAN) will have James Coe painting a landscape in oil.

The demonstration will take place in the lower level of Newtown Meeting House, 31 Main Street (at the flagpole). All are welcome to observe the interesting process free of charge.

James Coe is an artist with a passion for birds, nature, old barns, and relics of our rural heritage. Growing up in the suburbs of New York City, he was fascinated early on by the egrets and shorebirds he noticed in nearby salt marshes.

Mr Coe went on to Harvard, where he earned a degree in biology, with the goal of becoming an ornithologist, but he received little formal training in art until he attended Parsons School of Design in New York as a graduate student.

After earning his master's at Parsons, Mr Coe shifted gears again and immersed himself in the art of field guide illustration. He contributed work to several bird guides as well as an ornithology textbook.

In 1999, Mr Coe stepped back across the divide into the world of fine art after having spent more than 15 years painting only bird identification plates. He turned his attention to painting oil landscapes in plein air, focusing on the hills and streams, farms, and historic barns of New York's Hudson Valley region where he has lived for more than 30 years.

While he continues to paint on site for studies and reference, Mr Coe's artwork today is essentially a synthesis of the two styles: his studio paintings combine his passion for landscape with his detailed knowledge of birds and natural history.

Mr Coe is a signature member of Oil Painters of America, as well as the American Impressionist Society and Society of Animal Artists.

He currently is represented by eight galleries, including three in Connecticut: Cooper andamp; Smith Gallery in Essex, Handwright Gallery in New Canaan, and Gregory James Gallery in New Milford.

For his upcoming painting demonstration for SCAN, Mr Coe will paint an "inside plein air" landscape in oil paints. Working quickly and instinctively - exactly as he would approach a scene outdoors - he will use a previously painted field study and a photograph of the same scene as his reference material while he blocks in and establishes the foundations of a landscape painting in barely more than an hour's time.

Reservations are not needed for SCAN programs, but additional information is always available by calling 203-426-6654 or visiting SCANart.org.

[naviga:img class="aligncenter wp-image-320279" src="https://newtownbee.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/SCAN-program-pvw-by-James-Coe.jpg" alt="SCAN program pvw -- by James Coe" width="800" height="530" /]

Guest artist James Coe, who crafted the painting shown here, will work from a previously painted field study and a photo of the same scene to block and establish foundations for a landscape in oil during the next program hosted by The Society of Creative Arts of Newtown.

[mappress mapid="1364"]