Woods, rocks, fields, and streams are the substance of the rural landscape in Waldo County, and they become the subject matter for Jeff Shula's new landscape paintings in "Close Encounters," at the Belfast Free Library's Kramer Gallery for the month of June.

Venturing outdoors in all seasons, Shula looks for the rhythms to be found in tree branches, the shapes created by rocks, the play of light on a field or stream bed, the colors in a sky. Those ingredients are rendered quickly in an impressionistic style using oils on canvas panels. The many hiking trails and back roads in Waldo County mean plein air painting opportunities are in abundance right outside our doors.

"That's what I try to capture when I go out," says Shula. "I look for something – or something looks for me. I immerse myself for an hour or two, and walk away with an experience and, sometimes, a successful painting."

A former journalist and high school English teacher, Shula began painting about a dozen years ago, prior to retirement.

The Kramer Gallery, located on the ground floor of the library, 106 High Street, is open during Library hours. More information at belfastlibrary.org.