Above, “Bantam Barns”
Litchfield landscape painter Jim Laurino recently received an Award of Merit at the Lyme Art Association’s “Ship to Shore” exhibit and has three paintings in the show that continues through May 30.
The award went to his painting “Little Neck View” and the exhibit also includes “Monhegan Surf” and “Steep Hill Beach.” (Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Wednesday through Sundays, or by appointment.)
Among other recent honors, Laurino’s painting “Two Bridges Brook” was recognized with an honorable mention award in Plein Air Magazine’s October Plein Air Salon competition. The painting was done for the Adirondack Plein Air Festival and was sold at that event.
Also last year, he received the Artists Choice award at the Gloucester Plein Air Invitational in Virginia, and the Best Marine painting award at the 2023 Plein Air Easton competition in Maryland, as well as winning third place in the Adirondack Plein Air Festival in Saranac Lake, N.Y.
Laurino, who studied painting, design, and color theory at the University of Connecticut, has cultivated a bold representational painting style that balances the Impressionists’ influence with contemporary subject matter, according to Gregory James Gallery in New Milford, which represents him locally.
He also constructs frames for his paintings from reclaimed wood material, which provide a rustic window into each piece, subtly complementing his work.
The selection of his paintings at Gregory James Gallery includes a number of Litchfield scenes, such as “Creek – Milton.”
The painting depicts a split in the East Shepaug River that forms a marsh, and Laurino told Gregory James Gallery he liked the setting because of the movement in the water and the way the reeds bend, extending that movement. (Over the winter, he did a series of paintings in the Milton section of Litchfield.)
See Jim Laurino’s website to learn more. Gregory James Gallery is located at 149 Park Lane Rd. (Route 202) in New Milford and may be reached at (860) 354-3436.
Below left, “Little Neck View,” and right, “Monhegan Surf.”
