Bristol artist Patti Bradley will be exhibiting a generous selection of her paintings and collages in the West Gallery at River Arts from through Dec. 11. This show of gentle light and beauty is a feast for the season.

Bradley retired from her career as an art therapist in private practice in 2010. Since then she has been concentrating on her art. She works in oils and pastels and recently has begun to explore collage using her own photographs and combining them with other media.

Her subject matter comes from a kaleidoscope of ideas, her photographs, remembered images from nature, old family albums and plein air sketches. As a child therapist, she experienced and participated in the unending creativity children bring to their art and play. She has two children and five grandchildren.

Patti Bradley has recently written a children’s picture book, “Me Inside Out,” which describes a young boy’s queries about skin colors. Bradley and her partner, Winslow Myers, share a studio and a gallery, Petrel Fine Art, located in their home.

River Arts is located at 241 Route 1 (north), Damariscotta, Maine. Gallery hours are Tuesday – Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Call ahead on snow days for open times. For more information, call 563-1507 and/or visit Riverartsme.org.