Monique Sakellarios' Romantic Scenery

The painter specializes in local landscapes

“Mine Falls Park,” Oil, 16 x 20 inches, $1,400

Monique Sakellarios considers herself an impressionist. Indeed, in just a few brush strokes she is able to build a luminous landscape with billowing color-ripe clouds, fields of flowers and a distant, but distinct tree line. Sometimes there is also a simple suggestion of a building or a person, but Sakellarios says, “They are not the focal point.” People especially are added almost as an afterthought.

The vibrant landscapes evoke romantic scenes of France or Italy, but many are also locally inspired. She has scenes of Mine Falls in Nashua, the old Benson Park in Hudson, beach scenes, and something she says is “off of Exit 5,” but probably it’s just a rendering conjured in her fertile mind.

Sakellarios paints everyday at her studio/gallery Maison de l’Art on Temple Street in Nashua, using her trademark red ground canvas. The colorful background makes starting a painting easier for her. “At least I am not faced with a blank white canvas,” she explains. She uses oils in a transparent manner, and allows the red background to peek though here and there to give the composition extra sparkle and life.

She also paints on 12-inch tiles, saying she loves to dab the brushes on the smooth surface, sometimes creating a pure abstract with just the interplay of color and light. She has also experimented with painting on copper and aluminum, with each ground giving the overlaying oils its own character.

Sakellarios’ work is available both online and at her studio gallery in Nashua. Prices range from $200 to $3,000 for originals in sizes ranging from 4 inches square to 16 x 20 to 40 x 50 inches. Most are set in gold-painted wood frames that say, yes, these paintings belong to the Romantic period.