NH plein air artist featured at Gallery 302 in Bridgton

BRIDGTON — Melanie Barash Leavitt is the featured guest artist at Gallery 302 through Nov. 8.
A reception for Leavitt and her art will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 11, at Gallery 302, 112 Main St. It is free and open to the public, who may meet the artist and ask about her work. The exibit begins Wednesday, Oct. 9.

Leavitt, who lives in Jackson, N.H., worked in the graphic design industry for more than 15 years and was part of the creative team for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. She spent a year living in Japan, which had a great influence on her life and her art. She has painted her whole life, but fell in love with plein air (outdoor) painting more than 15 years ago on Monhegan Island.
She continues to paint there in the summer but, more often, enjoys setting up her easel outside and painting the local landscape of the White Mountains, where she resides. Being outside in nature, taking in the scene and translating that beauty on canvas is her true passion. She paints in a loose impressionistic style with a brush or a palette knife and likes to focus on creating light and color harmony in her painting.
Leavitt also teaches painting and printmaking classes at her studio and runs art camps for children in the summer. Her artwork resides in the homes of many collectors throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe. She has exhibited her artwork in one person and group shows in New Hampshire and Maine, has been a featured artist on Boston Chronicle, WCBV TV and has been published in Boston Voyager magazine.
For more information, call 207-647-2787 or visit gallery302.com.

TOP PHOTO: A example of one of artist Melanie Barash Leavitt’s paintings. (Submitted photo)