“Plein Air Travels” by Thomas Adkins, an exhibit of recent works by the Southbury landscape painter, opens October 5, 2025 at Southbury Public Library and runs through Tuesday, October 28, 2025.
Adkins, considered one of the finest landscape artists in the Northeast, is showing plein air and studio paintings of Connecticut and New England scenes along with travels to South Carolina, Italy, and Montana.
The exhibit finds Adkins at another high point as a painter. He has won numerous awards at The Lyme Art Association, Rockport Art Association, Wayne Plein Air Festival, Hudson Valley Plein Air Festival, Adirondacks Plein Air Festival along with many others.
His artwork has been exhibited throughout the U.S. and is included in prestigious collections, including those of the New Britain Museum of American Art and Mattatuck Museum of Art, as well as many private and corporate collections, including those of Aetna Insurance, Timex, Webster Bank, and the Hilton Hotels Private Collection.
Lyrical, evocative, and quietly rhapsodic, Adkins’ paintings capture evanescent moments in time when the atmospheric conditions and lighting bring a bit of magic to the landscape.
“The moods, mystery, and atmosphere, along with inherent design of nature, intrigue me, and I seek to unveil and express those qualities in my paintings, trying to document a specific place and time,” the artist says. “Every good landscape painting should have a sense of what the artist is feeling to a particular location. Every day and every hour there is a different reaction nature has on our senses.”
As a plein air painter, Adkins begins his paintings on location, typically with sketches and small studies that develop into larger final compositions in the studio.
Adkins is a member of many prestigious artist organizations, such as, Oil Painters of America, American Impressionist Society and the Connecticut Plein Air Painters Society. He is an Elected Member of The Lyme Art Association and Rockport Art Association and a board member at the Hudson Valley Art Association.
A graduate of Paier College of Art of New Haven, who also completed graduate classes at the School of Visual Arts of New York, Adkins has worked as art director and creative director for some of Connecticut’s and New York’s most prestigious advertising agencies. His designs and illustrations have been used by Black & Decker, Kraft Foods, GE, IBM, Minolta, Nestlé Waters North America, Wendy’s and other major corporations.
In addition to Gregory James Gallery, New Milford, CT Adkins’ paintings can be found at the Susan Powell Fine Arts Gallery, Madison, CT. Bayview Gallery, Brunswick, ME, Powers Gallery, Acton, MA, Bryan Memorial Gallery Stowe, VT.
To learn more about Thomas Adkins and his work, see the artist’s website at thomasadkinsfineart.com. You can also find him on Instagram @thomasadkins1441 and on Facebook.
The exhibit will be open during regular library hours which are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9:30am to 5:30pm, Tuesday and Thursday 9:30am to 9:00pm, Saturdays 9:30am to 4:00pm and Sundays 12:00pm to 5:00pm. A sample of photos will be posted online in the virtual gallery.
Please visit us at www.southburylibrary.org to view a sample of photos virtually and for any updated hours and information. Or you may call us at 203-262-0626.
Thomas’s Bio: https://www.southburylibrary.org/using-the-library/spaces/art-gallery
The full gallery: https://www.southburylibrary.org/gallery
