A calendar is often seen as something purely practical—a way to track appointments, deadlines, and routines. But it can also become something quieter: a way of noticing the passage of time through light, atmosphere, and changing seasons.
Our upcoming 2027 Simple Moments calendar was created with that idea in mind. Featuring Catherine Breer’s newest body of work, the calendar moves through the year alongside painted landscapes inspired by coastal Maine. Rather than focusing on landmarks or dramatic destinations, these paintings linger in overlooked moments. Fleeting changes in light highlight the seaweed gathered along the shoreline. Shifting skies over dark water give motion to the rocky edges softened by mist.
This new direction in Breer’s work embraces larger canvases, looser brushwork, and a deeper attention to atmosphere. The result is a collection grounded in stillness, observation, and connection to place.
The coast of Maine offers an endlessly changing visual language. Ochre seaweed dries against granite ledges. Purples emerge in weathered rocky outcroppings. Dark green water shifts beneath brilliant blue skies one day and settles into a distinctly moody Maine atmosphere the next.
Walking and exploring are an essential part of Breer’s creative process. “I was inspired by the time I spend walking and exploring the coast of Maine,” where texture, color, and movement gradually reveal themselves through close attention. A patch of tangled seaweed or the shadow beneath a rock face can become the inspiration for an entire painting.
While rooted in the tradition of Maine landscape painting, this series intentionally moves away from postcard imagery. Instead, the work explores the emotional qualities that make the region feel so distinctive. The series reflects the rugged Maine landscapes that shape everyday life. These paintings are less about documenting scenery and more about experiencing it fully.
Breer’s paintings invite viewers to slow down and notice details that often disappear into the background of daily life.
One of the most significant changes in this series is scale. Breer began working on much larger canvases—some reaching four by five feet—which transformed both the physical process and emotional feeling of the work.
On a larger surface, movement became unbound. Rather than focusing on tightly rendered detail, the paintings began to prioritize atmosphere and feeling. The work became less interested in exact representation and more focused on evoking a sense of place. “While this can be challenging, I found that it was incredibly liberating. It allowed me to loosen up in a way that is freer than when I paint on smaller canvases.” This evolution expands on Breer’s earlier work while creating something more immersive. Shorelines dissolve into abstraction, water and sky blur together, and natural forms remain open to interpretation. That openness allows viewers to bring their own memories and experiences into the paintings.
This shift also changes the experience of the calendar itself. Each month feels less like a framed scene and more like an atmosphere to live alongside.
At the heart of this series is a simple idea: “Beauty can be found in places that we often overlook.” Shorelines become background. Familiar environments fade beneath routine. These paintings ask viewers to pause and look again.
Rather than presenting Maine through idealized tourism imagery, Breer focuses on intimate observation. Worn rocks, dark tidal pools, and moments of stillness often pass unnoticed, but there is something universal in these ordinary places.
A familiar coastline can hold memory, comfort, and reflection in ways that famous landmarks often cannot. By focusing on understated details of rugged Maine landscapes, the paintings become less about a specific location and more about shared experience.
Nature here is not something distant or exotic. It is lived with, walked through, and returned to season after season.
Underlying the series is a belief that humans and nature are deeply connected. “…we are a part of our natural world and it is a part of us.” Spending time outdoors, especially in quiet observation, can be grounding in ways that are increasingly rare.
The paintings reflect that restorative quality. Rather than seeking spectacle, they offer moments of calm and reflection. They remind viewers that meaningful experiences often emerge from paying closer attention to the world immediately around us.
“I hope that viewers feel the connection that we all share with nature and the healing that can come from it.”
That sense of connection is central to the experience of living with the 2027 Simple Moments calendar. Moving month by month through the seasons creates small opportunities to pause amid daily routines and reconnect with changing light, weather, and landscape.
The 2027 Simple Moments calendar, available in late May, was created as an invitation to slow down, observe more carefully, and reconnect with the natural world through the changing seasons.
Inspired by the quiet complexity of moody Maine landscapes, these paintings offer a year-long reflection on atmosphere, memory, and attention. They ask viewers to recognize themselves within nature, with the hope it will inspire a deeper love for the only planet we have.
“We need to take care of this world so that it can continue to provide us with these beautiful moments.”
Banner image: Winter Afternoon Art Print by Catherine Breer, cropped
