The leaves speak

“Shrine” (oil on linen), by New England painter Nancy Friese, in her show “Eloquent Landscapes,’’ at Cade Tompkins Projects, Providence, through April 29. See this video.

An arborist's ecstasy

"Rim of Sunlight and Trees'' (oil on canvas), by Nancy Friese, in  her show "Arbor Views,'' at Cade Tompkins Projects, Providence.

A cold and heartless universe

"Night Sky," by  NANCY FRIESE, in the ''RISD Faculty Biennial,'' Feb. 20-March 22, at the Museum of Art of the Rhode Island School of Design.

River makes up in beauty what it lacks in miles

 

"September on the Lieutenant River'' {in Connecticut} (watercolor mounted on linen), by NANCY FRIESE, in her show "Encircling Trees and Radiant Skies,''  through May 3 at the Newport Art Museum, represented by Cade Tompkins Projects.

Gorgeous, but at this time of the year we'd prefer to visualize May on the Lieutenant River. That's even though September is perhaps consistently the prettiest month in these parts.

The Lieutenant River, best known as a venue for painters and photographers, is a 3.7-mile-long  tidal river in Old Lyme, Conn. It joins the Connecticut River in the estuary, just above the point where that river flows into Long Island Sound. This is a gorgeous part of the Nutmeg State. I'm surprised  that the hedge funders haven't bought much of it yet.

-- Robert Whitcomb