Janice Leitch

The Fletcher Memorial Library's The Top Shelf Gallery will feature work by Janice Leitch during March and April. Her show, "Awakenings", opens with a reception March 9 adt 11 A.M..

Leitch, who paints out of her "Little River Studio" in Hampton, attended the Massachusetts School of Art in Boston, but she put her art career on hold to raise a family. She resumed serious painting in 2010 at the urging of her daughter.

She paints exclusively in oils, mostly New England landscapes and water birds. She describes her style as realism with a hint of impressionism, reflecting her favorite artists, Claude Monet, Winslow Homer, and Frederic Remington. Her husband makes many of her painting frames in his home workshop.

Leitch's first show at the Lily Pad in Willimantic, was a complete sell out. Since then, her work has appeared in several regional galleries and in shows in Southbury, the Windham Regional Arts Council and the North East CT Artists Guild, as well as the Vanilla Bean Cafe, the Audubon Society, and area libraries.

She has contributed to the Hampton Gazette's annual calendar for the past four years and she exhibits each fall as part of the Artists Open Studios event.

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