Having one’s artwork requested by a U.S. ambassador to hang in her official residence is something that most artists wouldn’t dream of, but that’s what happened to New Hampshire’s Pamela Tarbell.

Another New England-trained painter, Elizabeth Leone Holmes, prefers the outdoors as her studio, as opposed to warmed interiors, and both artists began exhibiting their work at the Dublin Community Center March 14.

At her studio in Concord, Tarbell endeavors to “create art that feeds the soul, tells a story, and always leaves you with something new to enjoy or discover” according to her artist’s statement, and explained how her work ended up in an ambassador’s residence in Burkina Faso.

“The ambassador saw it online and requested it,” Tarbell said.

As new administrations mean new State Department appointments, Tarbell’s work is coming home this spring, and might be something one could see in her Concord gallery. Wherever it is, her work is hard to miss.

“I like to hit people over the head with color,” she said Friday.

A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, Tarbell had a solo exhibit at the Arnold Arboretum in Boston in 2023 and in 2024 was commissioned to paint the awards for the New Hampshire Business Committee for the Arts 40th annual Arts Awards. Her Rhode Island roots sparked another dimension of her work, as her sailing days in the Ocean State resulted in many of her works depicting water scenes. In one corner of the DubHub, colorful paintings with the themes and images of bridges brighten an off-white wall.

“Bridges are important these days,” said Tarbell. “We need to reconnect with each other.”

She cites Russian artist Wassily Kandinsky, a pioneer of abstraction, as one of her biggest inspirations.

“He had lots of balance, and lots of rhythm in his work,” said Tarbell.

Holmes’ work is also at the DubHub, and a photograph of her painting while standing in a stream conveys the essence of her work.

“I am a plein air (outdoor) oil painter with a passion for nature,” she said.

Living on Deering Lake has provided her with no shortage of subjects for her canvases and panels. Holmes paints on both, and explained the latter.

“After I paint on the wood, I scrape the dried paint away to reveal other colors,” she said.

“We live in a pretty chaotic, challenging time,” Holmes said, citing a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson that keeps her grounded outside.

“Adapt the pace of nature - her secret is patience,” wrote the Concord, Mass., transcendentalist. She finds solace in nature, and spent a good part of January painting outside.

The Impressionist and Expressionist artists of Europe and North America are among her influences, including the Canadian “Group of Seven,” landscape painters from the 1920s and 1930s, along with California artist William Wendt.

Education is also a big part of who Holmes is, as she teaches plein air at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute of the University of New Hampshire, and previously was library director at New Hampshire Institute of Art. Her craft also allows her to be an invasive species monitor as part of her efforts on conservation causes.

The blues and whites of her strokes convey the winter that she braves to capture with her oils.

“I love painting in the wind,” she said Friday.

Tarbell’s and Holmes’ art is on display at the Dublin Community Center through April 2 during DubHub open hours and by appointment.