Exhibitions

I view my paintings as works of historical fiction. They hold memories of adventures and remnants of dreams, a plumb line to the unconscious.

My motivation to paint stems from a desire to create a space for contemplation and feeling. I tap into dreams, life experiences, and visual memories, distilling them into an encounter both intimate and relatable. For me, successful paintings are expressions of both an inner landscape and a universal experience.

The beauty of abstract paintings lies in their ability to invite you to step in and create meaning. Like open-ended questions, a response is hard to resist.

I hope my paintings offer you a space to wonder and a respite from this busy—nay complicated—world.

 Noel Danforth is an artist and designer based in Cambridge, MA. Captivated by abstraction and abstract figurative painting, Noel draws from her life experiences to inform her work. With a deep love for color and a willingness to take risks, she works intuitively, considering a successful painting one that allows for multiple interpretations. She defines working intuitively as finding a workspace (a flow) inaccessible to the analytical mind.

Noel grew up in the bucolic landscapes of Vermont, where she developed a love for the outdoors and an admiration for the artwork of Sabra Field and Woody Jackson. She appreciated their dramatic simplification of the landscape and interesting use of color. Living in Europe intermittently while growing up, she admired many European painters. In particular, the works of Pierre Bonnard, Henri Matisse, and Edouard Vuillard spoke to her for their bold use of color and imaginative perspectives. Living in Europe ignited her lifelong passion for art and travel.

Having worked as a graphic designer for over 30 years, she finds intriguing compositions everywhere and enjoys using the lens of photography to study the world, especially while travelling. Pilgrimages to places that celebrate their artistic heritage, rich in color, craft, and textiles, have influenced her palettes and shapes.

Working in acrylic and water-based mediums and with an eye developed as a graphic designer, she explores dynamic compositions, creating abstract paintings that invite contemplation and reflection. They also make her heart beat a little faster.

I paint abstracts because I find them beguiling. I use the word liminal to describe the space in which I work because it is an unformed in-between place that contains possibility and allows for not knowing. There is a flow, and there is also a conversation.

Working with curiosity and embodied knowledge, painting is my conversation with the canvas. Putting myself broadside to receptivity, I work with my susceptibility to color and form. And like a conversation with a friend, the conversation grows deeper and richer as it develops.

The viewer also holds a conversation with the painting. Connection happens, or it doesn't, but the ultimate joy in painting is when a viewer finds resonance with your work.

Paintings are totems of conversation. Good paintings are beautiful because they connect us—wordlessly.

Painting is my creative flow at the intersection of the left and right brain. Intuitive and attentive, it is a conversation.

When painting, I cultivate space to experiment and let go of knowing. I trust the conversation. I trust the conversation. Each mark suggests a new question; each response holds an unfolding story. It's this back and forth—this careful looking and listening— through which the painting emerges.

Living with art—abstract art in particular—can be transformative. It allows for gray areas, individual interpretations, and bringing one's own life experiences to the artwork. Abstract paintings allow space for curiosity and for meaning to unfold. By identifying with the gestural quality of a line, the ambiguity of a shape, and the emotion of color, we get insight into ourselves and others. It's an opportunity to glimpse our interconnectedness.escription text goes here