Who am I ?…

“I am an Impressionist painter who ponders patterns. Color, line, and design energizes me and creativity is what feeds my soul.”

Colleen studied painting and drawing continuously throughout the 1970’s in New York and Vermont, attending workshops and classes that nurtured her need to create.

From 1976 to 1986 Colleen lived in Boston, where she studied textile and jewelry design, eventually starting her own business wholesaling products across New England and New York.

Colleen moved to Ipswich, Massachusetts in 1992 and opened a shop called “Eliza Gray’s Goods” where she sold unique home furnishings as well as her own art work.

Cape Ann artist Caleb Stone became her mentor in 1998.  She studied with Caleb for five years painting mostly “plein air” using oil paints as her medium and developing a painterly style of her own.

Colleen participated in workshops with Caleb on Monhegan Island, Maine (2001, 2002) and continues to return to the Island twice a year to paint its idyllic vistas.

In 2002 Kidder traveled with Caleb and a group of artists to Tuscany Italy to paint the pastoral countryside. The Tuscan landscape challenged Colleen to broaden her compositions and see things from a new perspective.

Colleen closed her shop in 2003 and built a studio barn at her home so that she could pursue her passion for painting. The studio’s views of fields and farm life are a constant source of inspiration for her work.

For Colleen painting is a way of remembering a place or moment in time. With bold and lively brushstrokes and an unlimited palette, Colleen intuitively captures the light and evokes a mood in her land and seascapes.

Colleen’s work is presently represented by Valerie’s Gallery in Newburyport, Ma.  Her work can also be seen at the Gallery in her Studio in Ipswich, Ma. by appointment.