With practice and experience, it gets harder

SHARON — Colleen McGuire is different from the other artists featured in the upcoming show Second Acts, which opens at Noble Horizons on Sept. 23, with a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. (it will remain up until November).

Most of the other 11 artists featured in this show are retired from careers that weren’t centered around their art. 

McGuire, who is 53, is in many ways just beginning her professional life, after almost two decades at home raising four daughters (the two eldest are now at college). 

Art is and always has been her profession, but she had to find time for it in between domestic duties until recently. 

Somehow in the midst of it all, she found time to paint and to earn a master’s degree (which has paved the way for her new career as a teacher of art and art history at two of  Connecticut’s state colleges). 

McGuire is a fine artist in every sense, and although she does vary her subjects, her style is consistent. She works in oil on canvas, and typically paints scenes that relate to the home and to domestic comfort, whether it’s a vase of white roses or a pile of chopped wood waiting to be stacked.

“I’ve also done a series of paintings of gas stations,” she added. 

“I’m drawn to architecture, and to changes at different times of the day. The paintings I’ve done have always been about light and space and time.”

For the most part, in recent years at least, McGuire’s world has been limited to the home, the studio and the family. She’s drawn for that reason (no pun intended) to group shows, such as Second Act. (She was also in a group show at Noble last year, featuring all women artists.)

“I love the company,” she said. “And group shows take the pressure off a little. It’s hard to compile enough work for an entire show. 

“I paint slowly. And even though being a mother is wonderful, it also takes up a lot of time. Now that the girls are older, I’m painting more. I’m working on being more prolific.”

But, curiously, the more she paints, the  harder it gets (and therefore, the slower it goes).

“I take my painting very seriously, and I want each painting to be an improvement over the last one.

“But that’s the beautiful thing about it. It’s a challenge. It evolves and grows. It’s full of surprises.”

For the show at Noble, McGuire plans to share five large canvases, including some still lifes.

The other artists featured in the show are Kate Stiassni, Mark Liebergall, Faith Hochberg, Tina Chandler, Randy Orzano,  Mary Harvey, Norma Kimmell, Annie Harris, John Atchley, Janet Andre Block and Nina Mathus. The exhibit will be open weekends from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. through Nov. 6.