Inns and Outs
Inns and Outs
by Joyce Marcel
Take a successful painter, a clever idea and the aftermath of a fierce tropical storm, put them together and what do you get?
Something just like the show called “Inn and Outs of Vermont,” from Vermont artist Phyllis Chase, at Gallery North Star in Grafton. It will run from July 14 through Aug. 12.
Chase has been a professional artist all her working life. She grew up in Washington, D.C., and studied art at Smith College. She moved to Maple Corner—just north of Montpelier—with her husband and young son from San Diego, California 30 years ago. She was so struck by the beauty of the landscape, the working farms and the strong sense of community that, “I felt I had to record it in the most heartfelt way I could,” she said.
Chase uses a palette first created in the 1890s in Paris, France by the Impressionists.
“I am a plein-air painter, which means I paint on location and not from photographs,” Chase said. “I love the adventure and immediacy of working that way. Like Vermeer and Matisse, I want to portray how we live, and like Monet and Van Gogh, I want to portray the landscape we live upon in an intimate, personal way. I hope my paintings make the viewer feel what I felt as I painted them, and therefore strike a common chord.”
That chord resonates with Chase’s many admirers, said Edward Bank, the co-owner, with his wife Kim, of Gallery North Star.
“We’ve represented Phyllis for many years,” Bank said. “One of her specialities is doing oil paintings of interiors. People find these paintings inviting. It’s like you want to go into her paintings sit down and have a glass of wine. Like the chair is askew, just waiting for you to pull it up and relax. For this show, Phyllis, Kim and I thought it would be interesting for her to do a series of paintings of various interior and exteriors of inns in the area. Sort of a southern Vermont thing.”
The show will include about 30 paintings Chase has done at The Grafton Inn, the Four Columns Inn in Newfane, the Windham Hill Inn in West Townshend and the Inn at Sawmill Farm in West Dover.
“We wanted to do something to highlight Southern Vermont’s remarkable recovery from Hurricane Irene, and to promote businesses in this beautiful section of the state,” Chase said. “And I love to travel. Edward and Kim arranged for me to visit five well-loved Southern Vermont Inns and create paintings, both inside and outside the properties. The result is a collection of original oil paintings showcasing my distinctive style, which features careful attention to color, light, and atmosphere… and romance.”
Chase loved the assignment.
“I was so impressed by the beauty of these properties… and by the innkeepers.” she said. “The innkeepers all see their jobs as not only to accommodate their guests in every which way, but to spoil them wherever possible. I had such a good time, and I feel like I made new friends.
A really great way to get to know Southern Vermont and all it’s many charms would be to travel from inn to inn, as I did, and spend some time at each. And a visit to Gallery Northstar is a must for any art lover.”
