COMMUNITY GALLERIES

Sally Abbott: A Walk in the Swamp: Paintings Inspired by New Jersey’s Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge

Ann’s Place Gallery
April 11–May 31, 2026
Opening Reception: Saturday, April 11, 1–3 PM
A realistic landscape painting depicting a wide, open wetland or marshland scene beneath a dramatic sky. The upper two-thirds of the composition is filled with a deep blue sky and billowing white cumulus clouds. Below, a low ridge of dark hills runs across the horizon. In the foreground, golden-brown marsh grasses and shrubs with touches of rust and amber line the edges of a calm body of water that reflects the blue sky above. The muted earth tones of the wetland contrast with the vibrant sky, creating a serene, expansive mood.

Great Swamp Overlook, 2023, Acrylic on canvas, 30 x 36 inches

Through a lifetime of rich art experiences, Sally Abbott has evolved into an enthusiastic and prolific painter. Experiences as an art student at Purdue University, as a collector of regional art, as a curator dealing with New York galleries and museums, as a museum Board Member, as a volunteer and fundraiser for art, educational, medical, historical, and preservation organizations gave her the background to paint the world as she sees it.

The focus of her work, acrylic paintings on canvas, is threefold. The landscapes are based on her own photographs from exploration and travel experiences, focused on the natural beauty of the world. The still life paintings explore intriguing palettes, shadows, and surfaces. And for fun, there is her often rowdy Rooster Series.

From 2011 through 2024, Abbott had seven Solo Shows in the Lundt-Glover Gallery in Chatham, NJ. The Visual Arts Center of New Jersey’s Strolling Gallery II featured Sally Abbott: Land, Sea, and Skyscapes from November 2018–January 2019. Sally Abbott Paintings was shown in the Madison Avenue Gallery at Morristown Medical Center from September through November 2019. Throughout October of 2023, the Library of the Chathams featured a solo show of her Great Swamp paintings.

Abbott has been awarded prizes in Landscape and in Portraiture in the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey’s Members Shows. Her work has been included in group shows at the Morris Museum, the Paper Mill Playhouse, the Frelinghuysen Arboretum, the Library of the Chathams, and the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey. Since 2005, her paintings have been included in the Art League of the Chathams Member Exhibitions.

In 2024, Morristown Medical Center in Morristown, NJ, added more than 30 of Abbott’s paintings to its collection. Her work is included in private collections in California, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia.

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