A solo show of Marli Thibodeau’s abstract paintings is featured from Wednesday, Nov. 18, through Wednesday, Dec. 2, in the River Room at River Arts in Damariscotta. Submitted photo

A solo show of Marli Thibodeau’s abstract paintings is featured from Wednesday, Nov. 18, through Wednesday, Dec. 2, in the River Room at River Arts in Damariscotta. Introducing her emerging body of work in a show titled “Innate Expression,” Thibodeau will be available in the gallery from 1-3 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 22, to discuss her process with visitors.

Thibodeau is a contemporary artist born in the Hudson Valley of New York and currently living in Rockland. Influenced by the natural world and the lineage of abstract expressionism, artists such as Helen Frankenthaler, Perle Fine, and Franz Kline have inspired her direction towards non-objective paintings. She has been immersed in the study of the landscape around her and the inner landscape of self-discovery through movement and visual arts. Studying painting, commercial art, and photography in high school, and later on, a nature-based martial art, she credits her early teachers for cultivating her love of the arts. For more information about Thibodeau see her website at MarliThibodeau.com.

Thibodeau says, “I believe that everyone has a unique way of expressing the experience of who they are, and I’ve discovered that mine is through un-choreographed visual and movement art. As I paint, I am continuously responding to what is here in the moment – to the instinctual connection of what is rising on the inside and how it is expressing in relation to what is on the canvas, creating a dialog between myself and my work.”

River Arts is located at 36 Elm St in Damariscotta and regular hours are 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday; and 11 a.m.-3 p.m., Sunday. For more information, call the gallery at (207) 563-6868.