Henry Coe

Parkton, MD

2016, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026

I received a BA in English from Roanoke College and an MFA in painting from Maryland Institute College of Art. I began painting seriously on the eastern shore of Maryland while working as curator in Easton at The Academy of Arts and teaching at Chesapeake College. I was drawn to the low horizon and the big sky: a Dutch landscape quality of light reflected off of the water and back into the clouds. I spent seven months painting in China through a Maryland "sister state" relation with Anhui Province and accompanied a Maryland State Arts Council exhibit which included my work to Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan. I have done three artist's residencies in France and made many other painting visits there. Since 2016 I have participated in numerous plein air events, several times in Plein Air Easton. Over the years I have shown regularly in galleries in Chicago, Houston and Baltimore. I work in oils on a large and small scale and prefer to work en plein air as much as possible. I like to paint the lengthening shadows and lowering light that occur toward the end of day or the softer light of early morning. Ideally, I want my work to have a sense of light traveling through air in space. Having a palpable sense of air in a painting is important to me. The light and shadow define the mundane objects of a landscape I see as disappearing: family farms or the "rural industrial" look that was once representative of many small towns. I have worked primarily in the Mid-Atlantic region, coastal Maine, Texas and western France.

Best in Show: Wayne Plein Air, 2023
Best in Architecture and Art Award: Cape Ann Plein Air, 2023
Third Place: Harford County Plein Air, 2023
1st Place and Artists' Choice, Rivertowns Plein Air 2025
2nd Place, Quick Draw Cape Ann Plein Air 2025
Best Landscape, Smokies Plein Air 2024