05 November 2009

 

Newbury painter Carol Baum offers a nontraditional take on landscapes in her one-woman show, "All Vows," opening this week in the McCoy Gallery at the Rogers Center for the Arts at Merrimack College in North Andover.

Baum describes her work as a personal iconography of flowers and star constellations in strongly colored oils and watercolors. The 26 paintings on display explore landscapes that feature overlay ground views over a star field for a simultaneous look up and down.

Baum grew up in Beverly Farms and later central Massachusetts, where she developed her love for the natural universe, changing seasons and New England terrain, a connection that continues to be seen in her paintings.

She studied English literature and painting at the University of California at Berkeley and then spent a decade in Europe before settling in Newbury in 1992. Her work has been shown locally at the Firehouse Center for the Arts in Newburyport, as well as elsewhere in the state.

Her exhibit at Merrimack College runs through Nov. 20. An opening reception is Sunday, Oct. 18, from 2 to 4 p.m. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Call the gallery at 978-837-5000 or Baum at 978-463-3359 for more.