Will Sillin’s Painting of the Connecticut River Valley

A wide view of a rocky prehistoric lakeside with sparse vegetation and tiny grazing dinosaurs under a cloudy sky

Will Sillin, The Connecticut Valley in the Early Jurassic, 2006, oil on canvas, 96 x 48 in., Beneski Museum of Natural History. Photo by the author.

Introduction: Visualizing Deep Time and Weather

Will Sillin’s painting The Connecticut Valley in the Early Jurassic integrates scientific reconstruction and artistic expression, offering a compelling visual narrative of prehistoric weather and ecology. Commissioned by Amherst College’s Geology Department in 2006, the work portrays a landscape from the Jurassic period in what is now the Connecticut River Valley. While it draws from fossil and geological records, the painting also foregrounds interpretive choices that complicate and enrich our understanding of how weather and climate are represented.

Paleoart as Scientific Reconstruction

Paleoart, as a genre, blends scientific evidence with imaginative reconstruction to visualize ancient ecosystems. According to Lisa Alter, fossil records in Connecticut reveal long-term climatic patterns embedded in sediment and fossil formations.1 Sillin leverages this geological memory to emphasize not short-lived meteorological drama, but enduring climatic conditions. His visual choices underscore the influence of climate on landscape, vegetation, and life itself.

Foreground: Volcanic Memory and Resilience

The foreground presents jagged, volcanic rock rendered with thick, textured brush strokes. Four small theropods, likely Coelophysis, move across the terrain. 2Their sparse placement amid the rocky terrain suggests the tenacity of life in the wake of geologic upheaval. These choices echo the work of paleontologist Paul Olsen, whose studies of the Connecticut Valley Rift Basin emphasize how volcanic activity shaped ecosystems during the Early Jurassic.3 Olsen’s research gives scientific grounding to Sillin’s landscape, situating it within known climatic and geological transformations of the period.

Middle Ground and Climatic Subtlety

In heavy contrast to the foreground, the middle ground features a calm lake fed by two winding rivers. Here, Sillin’s brushwork becomes lighter and smoother, suggesting more stable surfaces shaped by erosion over time. The yellow-green tone of surrounding vegetation hints at an instance of drought, indicative to the conditions that would have characterized the valley’s subtropical environment. The absence of flora and fauna around the lake draws attention to climatic adversity, reinforcing the painting’s central theme: climate as an enduring force, rather than a fleeting spectacle.4

Background and Sky: Weathering and Atmosphere

The mountains in the background continue this narrative. Painted in grays and browns, which reflect the slow processes of weathering. Their visual stillness expresses the extended time period of geological change. The sky above, occupying nearly half the painting, features soft clouds drifting from left to right. Yet, the scene lacks any markers of immediate weather: no rain, no wind, no storm drama. Instead, the painting conveys climate through absence, encouraging viewers to consider how long term environmental conditions shape ecosystems quietly but profoundly.

Educational Function and Public Understanding

These choices place Sillin’s work within broader currents in museum display and scientific visualization. Paleoart serves an educational function, translating scientific findings into visual stories that resonate with general audiences.5 In this context, The Connecticut Valley in the Early Jurassic is not merely decorative; it teaches. Through Sillin’s restrained depiction of weather the painting aligns with strategies aimed at fostering public understanding of Earth’s ancient climate systems.

The painting also prompts reflection on interpretation and artistic representation. Sillin’s restraint—the absence of dramatic weather events and the limited inclusion of flora and fauna—highlights what is left out as much as what is shown. These omissions raise questions about representation. What does it mean to visualize climate without using catastrophe? How does one portray atmospheric conditions that are persistent but not periodic? Sillin challenges viewers to engage with the subtleties of climate, its gradual shaping of terrain and its quiet, enduring presence.

Contextualizing Sillin’s Practice

Though little direct commentary exists from Sillin regarding this specific piece, his broader body of work shows interest in reconstructing geological and ecological histories through art.6 By comparing The Connecticut Valley in the Early Jurassic with other paleo-landscapes he has created, it becomes clear that Sillin consistently emphasizes subtle atmospheric conditions over dramatic spectacles. These works function not only as visualizations of Earth’s prehistoric past but also as tools of environmental imagination, asking viewers to reflect on climate as a slow, shaping force. While this painting was commissioned by Amherst College’s Geology Department for educational purposes, its aesthetic invites more than scientific interpretation. Sillin’s work challenges viewers to reconsider how climate (past and present) is visualized, understood, and felt, positioning the painting as both an object of instruction and interpretation.

Conclusion: Bridging Science, Art, and Climate Understanding

Ultimately, The Connecticut Valley in the Early Jurassic functions as both artwork and archive. It is a record not only of Earth’s deep past but of how contemporary artists and scientists collaborate to make that past legible. Through its synthesis of geology, paleontology, and artistic interpretation, Sillin’s work contributes to our evolving understanding of climate’s power, not as a dramatic event, but as a quiet, continuous force shaping the world we inhabit.

Footnotes

  1. Lisa Alter, “Fossils and Past Climate,” in Geology of Connecticut, Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute, 1995,  https://teachersinstitute.yale.edu/curriculum/units/1995/5/95.05.01/6. ↩︎
  2. Paul E. Olsen, “Origins of Dinosaur Dominance in the Connecticut Valley Rift Basin,” field trip guidebook organized by the Keck Foundation and Wesleyan University, 2017, https://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/~polsen/nbcp/Olsen_17_keck_ft_guidebook.pdf. ↩︎
  3. Olsen, “Origins.” ↩︎
  4. Olsen, “Origins.” ↩︎
  5. Karen A. Rader and Victoria E. M. Cain, Life on Display: Revolutionizing U.S. Museums of Science and Natural History in the Twentieth Century (University of Chicago Press, 2014). ↩︎
  6. Will Sillin, “Will Sillin, Fine Art and Illustration,” https://www.willsillin.com. ↩︎