Just as thousands of artists have used the unique light of Provincetown as their inspiration and muse, so have painters on Massachusetts’ North Shore. Abstract painter Rose Olson, whose collection of “Bright, Cool and Hot” paintings will be featured in Kingston Gallery’s final show of 2017, channels the skies above the water at West Beach in Beverly, Mass.

“Living on the sea, the colors you see changing in the morning and night are so extraordi- nary,” Olson said. “It takes your breath away and probably has as much to do with my painting as anything. I used to watch the sun rise on the beach, then go home and try to paint those col- ors. You can’t help but try to replicate that.”

Early in her career, Olson said she went through a realist period, not only painting the ocean sky, but “my kids, my cats, everything.” As an abstract painter, she’s taken inspiration from everyone from Rembrandt to minimal- ist sculptor Dan Flavin, who utilized fluorescent light tubes in his work. “There are a lot of light artists out there, but he’s amazing,” Olson said.

When I spoke with her in mid-October, Olson hadn’t selected all the work that would be on display at the Kingston Gallery. The first paintings she chose, including “Up Across the Sun,” feature a variety of shades of pink, a color she said she hasn’t painted before, standing out in a series of boxes and one unique two-layered line. “Pink is a color I’ve always detested, but I loved it in nature,” Olson said. “It was too pretty for girls and I didn’t want to wear it.”

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