Kathleen Robbins has been a member of Button Factory Artist Studios in Portsmouth NH for nearly 20 years. Its location in Portsmouth NH, provides an opportunity to study the beautiful scenic coastline of NH and Maine. Her work navigates the line between abstraction and figuration. Working directly from life she distills the elements of the landscape to an economy of mark-making and random shorthand. The loose abstract quality of the paint conveys the mood and sense of place. By stripping away explicit details and embracing the fluidity of abstraction, the work becomes a visual dialogue between the physical world and the emotional interpretation. It was her first visit in 2019 to the Marginal Way walking trail that set her work in motion to follow a new direction inspired by the dramatic landscape where land meets sea. A new color palette emerged that was more restrained with emphasis on strong contrasts and bold shapes. Working in acrylic paint she can work and layer quickly and this opens the painting process up to new possibilities. Her love of drawing unrestrained appears in the form of oil crayons, graphite pencils, and scratch marks on the surface of the paintings. Kathleen has a Master’s Degree from Massachusetts College of Art. She will be featured in Art Studio magazine, Volume 52, courtesy of juror Francine Weiss Newport Art Association, Newport RI.