Author: Elizabeth Gleason
-
Cardinals at Rest
In Cardinals at Rest, Merrill Coffin captures a serene winter moment where color, light, and life coexist in quiet balance. Two brilliant male cardinals and a female cardinal perch gracefully among the branches of a birch tree, their scarlet and tawny feathers glowing against the pale bark. A fourth male…
-
Winter Companions
Created in his later years, Merrill Coffin’s Winter Companions reveals the artist’s enduring gift for capturing both the beauty and quiet resilience of the natural world. In this painting, two pheasants stand together in the left foreground, their bodies angled toward the right as though poised to step forward. A…
-
Night Flight
Merrill Coffin’s Night Flight captures the quiet splendor of an autumn sunset over a familiar rural landscape. A white farmhouse anchors the left side of the canvas, taking up nearly half the width. Its two chimneys release faint wisps of smoke, a gentle sign of life and warmth inside. Bare…
-
Harvest in Gold
Merrill Coffin’s art often captures the quiet poetry of everyday life, and Harvest in Gold is no exception. In this painting, he turns his gaze to a golden autumn field where the changing season comes alive in color and story. To the left, dried corn husks lean in the field,…
-
Encampment on the Hill
Merrill Coffin’s Encampment on the Hill captures a rare and intimate view of the Civil War—one not of battle itself, but of the human moments that unfolded between conflict. Set on a rise overlooking the hills, the scene depicts nine Union soldiers gathered in quiet preparation and recovery, each figure…
-
Harvest Shelf
Merrill Coffin’s Harvest Shelf is a quiet meditation on the textures of rural life, a still life that speaks volumes about memory, work, and the poetry found in ordinary objects. The composition is anchored by a rustic planked wooden wall, its weathered surface telling its own story of age and…
-
The Lois C
Merrill Coffin’s The Lois C is a tender tribute, not only to the maritime traditions he often celebrated, but also to his wife, for whom the piece is named. This painting captures a moment of stillness on the water, where work and devotion meet in a scene of quiet beauty.…
-
Dockside Stillness
In Dockside Stillness, Merrill Coffin captures a quiet maritime scene filled with balance and reflection. A white sailboat rests peacefully against the dock, its image mirrored in the calm surface of the water. Overhead, two seagulls sweep across the sky, adding a sense of gentle motion to the otherwise tranquil harbor.…
-
Loon and The Loonlet
In his later years, Merrill Coffin’s eyesight began to fade, but his passion for painting never dimmed. Loon and Loonlet is a poignant example of this period—less detailed than his earlier wildlife portraits, yet filled with warmth, balance, and emotional depth. The scene is set in a quiet inlet surrounded by towering…
-
Portrait of the Quail
Among the many wildlife portraits painted by Merrill Coffin, one stands out for its quiet grace—a quail perched confidently on a weathered log. Behind the bird, soft hills dissolve into a light grey horizon, offering a muted backdrop that places full attention on the subject. The quail’s plumage, rendered in…