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Landscape painter Charles Thompson’s exhibit, “Maine’s Four Seasons,” will be shown at the ��ݮ��Ƶ Campus Center in Biddeford from Sept. 1 through Oct. 31.  

A professor of art in the ��ݮ��Ƶ School of Arts and Humanities, Thompson has taught art for 40 years and has shown his work in over 30 solo exhibits and over 100 group shows around the world. 

Thompson works exclusively en plein air in all four seasons in southern Maine, painting during the academic year when he’s not teaching, and eight hours a day during the summer months. His recent exhibit includes only paintings created over the past year. 

Thompson started his painting career on the streets of Philadelphia, where the crowded bustle on sidewalks and activity in city parks taught him to economize the tools and work habits he brought to plein air painting.  

It was in Philadelphia, Thompson said, that he fell in love with the process of perpetual painting in the environment where he lived. His goal was to reflect in his paintings the landscape where he lived and to complete every painting on location.  

Thompson, who holds an M.F.A. from Philadelphia’s Tyler School of Art, said he attempts not to copy nature, but, rather, to respond to it. He described the spirit of plein air landscape painting as the patient art of trying to capture “nature's inner light and searching for God through nature.”  

“I have always attempted to capture the ephemeral atmosphere of ever-changing landscapes,” Thompson said in an artist statement. “While casting light on the human experience, illuminating the world through faith and imagination, I attempt to express man’s suffering and the torture of the human spirit. 

“After teaching for 40 years and painting for 50, my passion for both art and education continues to grow,” he added. 

The ��ݮ��Ƶ Campus Center is located at 11 Hills Beach Road in Biddeford. The hours during the academic year are 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday, and 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on the weekends.