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

Rückenfigur

Visitation: Artist at the Window
Collage, 19.5”x 25.5” framed

In naming this collage for a juried show, I came across the term Rückenfigur (translated directly: back-figure). It's a compositional device that uses a foregrounded figure, seen from behind, contemplating the view before them. Often used in German Romanticism, it is a term I had never heard. For me, this collage represents my mother, an artist, at the picture window of her cabin, contemplating the view. Beside her is a messy work table. The work is ethereal in its brushstrokes, which create the window frame and view, and serendipitous that her clothing resembles a paintbrush. Even the messy work table is, well, messy, so ‘artist’ mom.

Other works I have created before knowing this term are, ironically, what I would consider self-portraits. Perhaps a subconscious way of communicating emotion, or drawing attention to my view.

And no, the collage didn't jury into the show, but I share it here with you. :)

collage, abstraction, InspirationNoel DanforthFebruary 22, 2026

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

26th Annual Frances N. Roddy Exhibition

My painting Sardines was accepted into the 26th Annual Frances N. Roddy Exhibition and will be on view through October 19th at Concord Art in Concord MA. It includes over 100 artists, in all media, and was juried by Sarah Montross, Chief Curator & Museum Director at deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum. Come see the show!

Reception:
Thursday, September 11 at 5:30pm

On View:
September 11 – October 19, 2025
Concord Center for the Visual Arts
37 Lexington Road, Concord, MA
Hours:
Tues – Sat: 10am – 4:30pm
Sun: 12pm – 4pm

Sardines, 30” x 30” x 1.5” Mixed Media on Canvas

abstraction, exhibitionNoel DanforthSeptember 7, 2025Painting

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

An Exhibition of Paintings at Evie Salon

My Exhibition of paintings and prints Finding My Lines will be at Evie Salon starting in March and running through the end of May 2024. The reception will be held March 16th, come enjoy art, nibbles and beverages!

To celebrate I have opened my online shop with seven monotypes that will only be available here online.

Finding My Lines—Paintings by Noel Danforth

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

Artist Statement

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 an 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.

exhibition, abstractionNoel DanforthMarch 6, 2024exhibition

Concord Art Members Juried 2

The opening for Concord Art’s MJ2: Collage, Crafts, Drawing, Graphics, Mixed Media, Photography, Printmaking 2024 is February 22nd at 5:30pm. The show will run through February 11th 2024. My collage Retablo: Music was selected as part of the show.

““Pursue, keep up with, circle round and round your life, as a dog does his master’s chaise. Do what you love. Know your own bone; gnaw at it, bury it, unearth it, and gnaw it still.””

— Henry David Thoreau

Artist Statement

I am launching into this statement with a Thoreau quote. We are in Concord after all!

The compelling part of this Thoreau quote is the idea of chasing down that which speaks to you. As an artist, it might be the meat of the endeavor. Taking risks and experimenting is a way to 'know your own bone.' Making this retablo collage started as something that caught my attention out of the corner of my eye in the process of printmaking. Retablos are usually devotional paintings of Saints. In the process of investigating what it was that had caught my attention, I made three mixed-media collage retablos, a trinity. I named them Music, Beauty, and Love.

The experiment to make these collages into retablos was probably seeded by my visit to El Santuario, a chapel in Chimayo, New Mexico. The artistry of the altarpiece, and other art in the chapel, have a beautiful and humble folkart-like magnificence in their use of wood and colorway. I was moved by the human devotion to craft and to beauty and to that which is transcendent. I am not religious, but I try to work with my own susceptibility in art. Back to Thoreau's words: "Know your own bone; gnaw at it, bury it, unearth it, and gnaw at it still."

My collage Retablo: Music is an exploration of human devotion to music over time. The beauty of abstraction is that it allows for multiple interpretations. I'm thinking tribal, religious, and music made on the back porch.

collage, abstraction, InspirationNoel DanforthFebruary 23, 2024Concord Art

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

Switzerland and Collage

Our ski trip to the Swiss Alps inspired a series of photo collage pieces.

collage, abstraction, nature, TravelNoel DanforthMarch 15, 2023

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

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

palette play

Inspiration, abstractionNoel DanforthApril 23, 2022

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

Key West

Inspiration, abstraction, nature, Photography, TravelNoel DanforthJanuary 31, 2022

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