Paintings and Photographs of Ellen Kenny on display in March and April
CONCORD – March 2, 2016 – Whether she’s describing her eyewitness accounts of otters, beavers, minks, turtles or woodthrushes, Ellen Kenny often ends the tale by saying, “I can’t believe that I can watch all of this within minutes of downtown Concord!”
With her unusual patience and early morning walking habit, Kenny has not only seen an amazing variety and number of wildlife species in Concord’s pockets of conservation land, but she has photographed them with a talent for capturing her subjects during the most breathtaking of morning light. From there, she extends the experience further by painting the scenes of nature that inspired her the most.
A collection of her photos and paintings is on display during March and April at the Society for the Protection of N.H. Forests’ Conservation Center in East Concord. The center is just up the hill from the place that inspired much of Kenny’s work, the Merrimack River Outdoor Education and Conservation Area, where Kenny has spent countless hours in all seasons.
“The paintings are my homage to the spirit of place and those wild inhabitants who live beside us, going about the intricacies of their lives so close by, yet so utterly apart from the narrow focus of our human lives,” says Kenny. “The more you look, the more you see. The more you see, the more you appreciate the wonder and the mystery of the life around us, and the imperative to protect these spaces in our community that are still, amazingly, wild.”
Kenny is a teacher of English-language learners at Broken Ground Elementary School in Concord. Years of wildlife watching and keen observation skills have given her a wealth of knowledge about the natural world. This knowledge and celebration of nature comes through in her photos and paintings, which open a window for the viewer to experience and appreciate nature’s abundant beauties, too.
An opening reception for Wild Concord will be held March 11 from 4 to 7 p.m. The exhibit will be on display in the Conservation Center Conference Room, 54 Portsmouth St. in Concord, until the end of April. Exhibit hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The Conference Room is used for meetings, so please call (603) 224-9945 before visiting to make sure it’s open.