Small Art, Big Party

Birches and Wildflowers, 8x8, Oil on cradled panel

I donated this piece, Birches and Wildflowers, to Art Wellesley’s (AW) Small Art, Big Party. I was amused that the painting ended up being about some of my favorite things; white birches, stone walls, wildflowers and farm ponds. I did not intended to paint a landscape, it’s what happened in the process of making. Part of the joy I find in painting is this unfolding of embodied experiences.

AW makes art-centered events happen in their community. It was a lively evening of catching up with old friends and participating artists. I had the honor of meeting some of the peeps who put the event together. Wellesley is lucky to have this group of dedicated individuals.

abstraction, nature, PaintingNoel DanforthOctober 3, 2026

Rite of Spring! The MassArt Auction 2026

**Before it all Came Together** or How the Tiger Got His Stripes, acrylic and mixed media, 16” x 20”x .25” board, 1.25” wood float frame (LOT: 207)

Growing up, I was captivated by a Henri Rousseau painting featured on an album cover for Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring. Although our style of painting differs, I believe my painting is influenced by memories of being immersed in Rousseau’s jungle scenes.

The bidding in MassArt’s Silent Auction starts online on April 4th! To participate, you can register and bid at Bidsquare.

My painting, Before it all Came Together or How the Tiger Got His Stripes, is in the Silent Auction, which runs Saturday, April 4th — April 12th at Noon EST.

Massachusetts College of Art and Design is the nation’s first public, independent art and design college. Be a part of this iconic event that transforms lives through the power of art and design!

abstraction, Painting, exhibitionNoel DanforthApril 1, 2026Massachusetts College of Art and Designauction

Patience and Permission

**Unlicensed Optimist**, 30” x 40”, mixed media on canvas

**Gold Fish**, 12” x 12”
mixed media on cradled wood panel

**Lifeguard Chair**, 12” × 12”
mixed media on cradled wood panel

Permission—Paintings by Noel Danforth

October 15th — November 15th, 2025
Bedford Free Library, Bedford MA
Reception: Sunday October 26th, 5-6pm

I’m excited to show this new body of work in the light-filled, and soon-to-be newly painted, atrium space of the Bedford Free Public Library in Bedford, MA, starting October 15, 2025.

It is fitting that the work will be on view at a Library, a place of quiet contemplation and reflection. I hope you have a moment to visit.

“We all have a lot in our lives that depletes us, so seeking that which is generative is an act of optimism about the future.”

— Krista Tippett, Journalist and Writer

exhibition, abstraction, PaintingNoel DanforthOctober 10, 2025Bedford Free Public LibraryPainting, nature

Attachment and Permission

Permission, 20” x 20”, mixed media on cradled wood

I am working on a body of work for the Fall and thinking about attachment and permission.

abstraction, PaintingNoel DanforthJuly 30, 2025

Concord Art MJ 1: Painting and Sculpture

In The Garden

40” x 40”

Acrylic on Canvas

In The Garden

40” x 40”

Acrylic on canvas

The opening for Concord Art’s MJ1: Painting and Sculpture Exhibition is tonight. The show will run through February 11th 2024. Jazzed to have my painting In The Garden selected to be in the show!

ARTIST STATEMENT
I paint abstracts because I find them beguiling. I will use the word liminal to describe the space in which I work because it is an unformed in-between place, a space that contains possibility. There is a flow.

Working with curiosity and embodied knowledge, my painting is a conversation with the canvas. I work quickly, but the process can take months. And like a conversation with a friend, the conversation gets deeper and richer as it develops.

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

I believe paintings are totems of conversation. Good paintings are beautiful because they can connect us—wordlessly.

“I cannot cause light; the most I can do is to try to put myself in the path of its beam. It is possible, in deep space, to sail on solar wind. Light, be it particle or wave, has force: you rig a giant sail and go. The secret of seeing is to sail on solar wind. Hone and spread your spirit till you yourself are a sail, whetted, translucent, broadside to the merest puff.”
— Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek

Painting, abstractionNoel DanforthJanuary 11, 2024

Solo Show

It’s a Wrap!

The opportunity to show my paintings was a full-circle experience—from the silent ‘creation conversation’ in the studio to these sun-filled walls. It allowed the paintings’ conversations to continue with others, making connections. Sweet.

Some images from the show:

Inspiration, abstraction, PaintingNoel DanforthJanuary 24, 2023exhibition

An Exhibition of Paintings

Possibilities | Paintings by Noel Danforth

There are so many possibilities lying next to the impossible. –Tal R, Artist

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

While painting, I cultivate space to experiment and let go of knowing. I trust the conversation. Each mark suggests a new question, each response holds an unfolding story. It is 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 life experiences to the artwork. By identifying with the gestural quality of a line, the ambiguity of a shape, and the emotion of color, we gain insight into ourselves and others. Engaging with art is an opportunity to glimpse our interconnectedness. And, with curiosity, the possibility that abstract art can unearth transcendent beauty.

PaintingNoel DanforthOctober 16, 2022evie salonabstract art, exhibition

Abstract Painting and Perception

Kennedy Center, Hamilton College

Alfredo Gisholt teaching

The fabulous light-filled studios

I’m a week back from my ANE workshop with Alfredo Gisholt entitled Abstract Painting and Perception and I am beginning to understand and see better the paintings I made there.

The Hamilton College campus has a beautiful collection of specimen trees and plants. Some of this beauty is part of the Root Glen, so there is much to inspire. I enjoyed many walks and took many photographs, my way of 'taking notes' while noticing. Now that I am home and taking a step back to look at the pictures I took, it's more apparent how my mind works when painting. While I do not work from photography or sketches, there is a connection to what I have photographed and sketched in my mind’s-eye.

abstraction, Inspiration, nature, Photography, PaintingNoel DanforthAugust 8, 2022workshop

Looking Again

Painting, InspirationNoel DanforthJune 18, 2022gestural, portraits

MassArt Auction 2022

**Something That Quickens the Heart**
6” x 6” x 1.5”, mixed media on cradled wood.

The bidding in MassArt’s Silent Auction starts online this Monday, March 21st at noon and runs through April 10th at noon. MassArt is the nation’s first public, independent college of Art and Design. The auction supports academic programming and student scholarships. Registration is now open at Bidsquare.

My triptych, Something That Quickens the Heart, 6” x 6” x 1.5”, mixed media on wood is in the silent auction. See the link below to participate!

Link To Auction

Painting, abstractionNoel DanforthMarch 17, 2022Triptych

Finding My Shapes 2021

At the end of each year, I create a small book. It’s a good exercise in seeing where I have been and where I might go in the new year.

abstraction, Glitr, Inspiration, Necklaces, Painting, collageNoel DanforthDecember 31, 2021charcoal, acrylic, goache, ceramic, enamal

Abstraction and Beauty

Beautiful thinking allows our imaginations a turn at the helm.

When I look at an abstract painting, I feel transported, given the gift of another way of seeing. When I paint abstracts, I let go of routine, rigidity, and process; I explore possibility, harmony, and beauty.

Abstraction is beguiling. When in the flow of painting, I am lost in solving the visual complexity of disparate forms, colors, and textures, searching for a framework with harmony. Leaning into the joy of painting abstracts, I find greater ease with complexity, I grow into new ways of looking and thinking.

When a painting connects with another person through its language of color, form, and line, it can be transformative. Like poetry which allows, in its abstraction, for multiple interpretations, abstract painting is a means to beautiful thinking*. By identifying with the gestural quality of a line, the ambiguity of a shape, the emotion of color, we get insight into ourselves and others, we allow for difference, and find a way to get comfortable with complexity.

*Beautiful thinking: Looking for the interconnectedness and interdependence of things. Describes transformative thought, an ability to glimpse our unfurling, growth, and interconnectedness.

abstraction, Travel, Painting, InspirationNoel DanforthJuly 22, 2021

Spring Feels

Feeling the desperate need for a change, for an awakening, a holding of disparate ideas and emotions, and the ability to bend before we break. Let’s vow to honor our best nature. Let’s not miss another opportunity.

Inspiration, nature, Photography, Painting, abstractionNoel DanforthJune 1, 2020

Jungle wrap

Noel Danforth

Jungle Wrap

My graphic designer hat is always looking for a way to play with paper and pattern. This jungle-like painting (A Different Conversation) begged for a wrapping paper application don’t you think?!

abstraction, nature, PaintingNoel DanforthAugust 20, 2019

Abstract Dress

Journey of a prototype— the cotton/linen jumper. Testing fabric, pattern and artwork. The wear test is next…

abstraction, Painting, TextileNoel DanforthJuly 31, 2019

Paintings on Fabric

I’m experimenting with having my paintings printed on fabric to create clothing as well as on my Studio Sneakers (see the previous post). First project off the blocks was a dress in chiffon. Working out the large repeat on the yardage in coordination with pattern was an interesting problem and am happy with the result. Next up a cotton and linen jumper…

Textile, Painting, Inspiration, abstractionNoel DanforthMay 31, 2019

Studio Sneakers for the little ones

Textile, Painting, Studio SneakersNoel DanforthAugust 28, 2018

Woodfleet Project 2.0 panels

Three panels from Woodfleet Project 2.0 an exhibition and sale to support Wellfleet's Preservation Hall. The last panel Flash sold at the event with half the proceeds going to the Hall. Sweet.

Dune

Glimpse

Flash

Painting, natureNoel DanforthAugust 20, 2018

To Begin

My nephew, at about 7 years of age, when asked "where are you going?' replied, " I'm gonna go see what I get up to." This response is dear to me in that it describes what happens when I go paint.

I believe it is this openness, this willingness to be a beginner that is needed to achieve the proper state of mind to paint.

"Insight preceded by humility". —Anne Truitt