Scott Rhoades

The Top Shelf Gallery's March - April show, New England and Beyond, landscape and genre acrylics by Scott Rhoades, opens Mar date /time with an artist's reception and demonstration.The precisely-done paintings feature New England farmland, the Maine wilderness and some animal subjects.

This is Rhoades' second show at the Top Shelf Gallery, having displayed well received paintings in 2022. Since that appearance, he has continued to show widely and, unusually for most of our artists, has appeared in several national publications. These include entry into several Richardson International 75 books, the Blanche Ames National Art Exhibition booklet, The Best of Acrylic in Artists Magazine, and the cover of Ribbons, a poetry journal.

A retired art teacher, Rhoades has been painting since he took his first art course as a junior in college. After graduating from Eastern Connecticut State University in 1973, Rhoades earned his MasterÕs degree in Art Education from Central Connecticut State University.

Although he continued painting, his main focus became his 35 year teaching career in Coventry, Connecticut. During that time, 400 of his K-8 students had drawings published in The Chronicle, and his school mural program was nationally recognized. He feels honored to have been able to experiment with and be creative with his 6000 students.

Rhoades retired from teaching in 2010, built an art studio in his back yard and since then has produced hundreds of paintings, including a number of commissioned works. Most of the commissioned paintings consists of pets and homes.

He continues to draw inspiration from regional rural life but also enjoys finding new locals and subjects. Baxter State Park in the northern Maine wilderness is a place he has visited most years since 1982. The preserved natural wilderness, with its moose, mountains and the waterways present an unlimited array of painting subject matter.

Rhoades takes many reference photos on his trips, using the photos as a basis for the award-winning acrylic on-Masonite paintings that appear in shows like The Blanche Ames National Juried Art Exhibition, The Mystic Museum of Art, The Northeast Fine Arts Exhibition in Ware Massachusetts, the West Hartford Art LeaguesÕs Ct+6 Exhibitions, Lyme Art Association exhibits, and Arts Center East shows in Vernon, CT.

The Top Shelf Gallery is at Fletcher Memorial Library, 257 Main Street, Hampton. Info at 860-455-1086.