Xiaohong Song

The June July show at Fletcher Memorial Library's Top Shelf Gallery is An Eye for Beauty, works on canvas and paper by Xiaohong Song. The North Windham artist will be showing a variety of landscapes and floral pieces in oil and a series of still life and figurative pieces in charcoal and pencil.

Song received early art training in her native China. "When I was in elementary school," she says, "I especially enjoyed art class, I copied many portraits of Chinese mythological fairies, and was noticed by my art teacher, who recommended that I go to the Children's Palace to learn sketching systematically and build up a foundation. This played a very good role in my later paintings and drawings."

She paints rural landscapes and produces photographs of outdoor scenes as well as portraits of birds, amphibians, and a wide variety of plants and fungi. "I feel that I have a natural eye for photography," she says, "and do not use AI." Her photos have appeared in The Last Green Valley and the Franklin Agricultural Commission calendars.

As an adult, she says she loves all forms of art. "Anything that brings beauty to the world captivates me and is something I continuously strive for."

Her drawings are elegant and finished, but Song says she is still experimenting with her artistic practice. "I often find it challenging to convey a sense of three-dimensionality in painting," she says. "Although I can use light and shadow to enhance volume, I have always wanted to find a more intuitive way to express depth and space."

Her solution has been to experiment with using hot melt glue to bond strands of yarn together, creating double sided yarn sculptures. She will include two of these experiments in her show. A sunflower piece is a tribute to one of her favorite artists Vincent Van Gogh, while The Bright Moon over the Sea and The First Snowfall, hints at her Chinese artistic heritage.

When Song isn't painting, she enjoys writing, crafting, cooking, making videos and pictures for her editorial work, as well as walking, "where connecting with nature is often a source of artistic inspiration", she says.

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