There are approximately 7,170 known languages in the world today. For artist Lyn Coffey, there are 7,171.

“Color has become a language of its own for me,” she says. “It’s something I’m always exploring, always refining.”

Coffey’s relationship with art began early, painting alongside her mother, and deepened through formal study at Parsons School of Design, where she earned a BFA in Communication Design. These experiences shaped not only her fluency in the language of color, but her ability to tell stories through it.

Though she continues to explore multiple mediums, including sculpture, Coffey is especially drawn to plein air painting, when she was immediately captivated during a Saturday painting group, by both the practice and the community. “I was inspired by how each artist interpreted the same landscape so differently,” she says. Coffey was so energized, she began keeping her paints in her car.

“One of the greatest challenges, and joys, of plein air painting is that the landscape is constantly changing,” says Coffey. “The same shoreline can shift completely within hours—quiet and grey, or bright and full of movement. The presence of people walking the beach or pausing by the waters edge adds to that unpredictability. I feel deeply drawn to that fleeting quality.” 

Few places embody that tension between permanence and change quite like Cape Cod, a recurring source of inspiration in Coffey’s work. She is drawn to its shifting coastline—the movement of the water, sailboats drifting in the distance, and the way those colors that she is so in tune with shift and intensify with the day. “The landscape keeps revealing itself,” she says about her subject matter. “That continual change keeps me looking, and it keeps me painting.”

The region’s rich artistic legacy also resonates with her; the drive to Provincetown is a particular favorite. Coffey often donates her work to local charity fundraisers—her way of giving back to the Cape and Islands community that so inspires her. As she puts it, “The Cape is a place we all share, somewhere we all return to.” 

Coffey’s process is both intuitive and responsive. “It’s a constant internal conversation for me,” she says. “Everything else just falls away.” For her, it’s about reacting to subtle shifts, adjusting constantly. “It can be exhausting,” she says, “but at the same time, it’s where I feel most engaged.” 

Coffey hopes that her work anchors the viewer in a specific light, tide, and atmosphere, while still leaving space for interpretation. “I want to leave room for memory, emotion, personal connection—so that each viewer can discover something of their own,” she says. “One of the things I love most is that a painting continues beyond the moment it was created.”

Over time, Coffey has cultivated what she describes as a “visual memory”—an internal archive of color, light, and special moments that underpins much of her work. It allows her not only to interpret the landscapes she encounters, but to translate their emotional resonance, offering viewers a sense of presence, and perhaps even a moment of pause.

“I reach to what’s in front of me. It’s about holding onto a specific moment in time, capturing what feels special about it,” she explains. “I love that there’s always more to discover—more to see, more to learn, more to grow into. Painting gives me the space to explore that, without needing words.” 

Or perhaps, with words that are all her own.  

Lyn Coffey’s work can be found at The Colors of Chatham at 402 Main Street, and in monthly shows at the Creative Arts Center in Chatham. See more at lyncoffey.com.

~Allyson Plessner