Honoring Dan's North Fork Cover Artist: Isabelle Haran-Leonardi

The March 31, 2023 issue of Dan’s Papers North Fork features cover art by Isabelle Haran-Leonardi, who creates her paintings at the Nova Constellatio Gallery in Greenport and has won awards in the annual Dan’s Best of the Best North Fork Artist and Art Gallery contests on numerous occasions.

Here, she discusses her stunning spring painting “Cherry Orchard,” series she’s working on and seasonal inspirations.

A Chat with Isabelle Haran-Leonardi

What inspired this issue’s cover art, “Cherry Orchard,” and how did the initial concept develop as you painted it?

I love the feeling of being in an orchard. It evokes feeling of abundance and happy memories apple picking with my family. My open studio, Nova Constellatio Gallery, is located Greenport, a village blessed with an abundance of cherry trees.

I associate the cherry blossoms with the joy I felt when I first opened the gallery in May 2012, when the cherry trees coating the streets of the village with pink flowers.

This painting is based on a real orchard, but I painted the trees as cherries to express the happiness those pink flowers bring me at winter’s end. I exaggerated the path to bring the eye to the center of the painting, to rest there, in the center of the orchard.

What upcoming art events, painting series or other projects are you working on now?

I have been working on a small series of trees, favorite stands of white birch in different seasons and some of the local farm animals seen resting in their shade. I’m currently working on a painting of very young lambs that I saw under an enormous tree with white flowers.

These paintings will be part of a small opening at Nova on Memorial Day weekend.

What are you most looking forward to about the spring and upcoming summer on the North Fork?

I’ve been loosely working on a theme this year of all the life around us. After focusing on trees, I’ll be turning my attention to painting water subjects and the life in our local waters. Later in the summer through fall, I hope to paint the wildlife and domestic animals I see throughout the North Fork.

Would you like to share any closing thoughts or additional information?

Please check the Nova Constellatio website novaconstellatiogallery.com for updates on dates of show openings.