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From a Sept. 6, 2009 article in the New Haven Register: McCarthy’s oil paintings address the interplay between the facts of life and the fiction of art, the works reflecting an accessible balance between reality and imagination.

Some of the landscapes, like "From a Distance" and "Morning Breeze," of tall trees, fields and sky, convey a literal sense of silence and serenity. Others, like "Distant Thunder," "Evening Light," "Morning Light" and "Spacious Glow," for example, comprised of more economical swaths of fresh crisp painterly passages of moving terrain, and rigorous textured brushwork in ever-changing skies, achieve a lovely expressive burst of spontaneity and immediacy.

These pieces, as well as works like "Fading Light," a small, square minimal work of clear, fresh color and loose fluid movement, really no more than a suggestion of narrative, abound with a visceral sense of the painting process, clearly pointing to the obvious delight the artist must have had in their creation. All the paintings radiate with a tangible sense of time, place and atmosphere, McCarthy’s keen ability to register nuanced variations in weather and subtle fluctuations in temperature and humidity, set a mood that invites one to perceive the simple essence of a given moment. Judy Birke of New Haven is a freelance writer and art consultant.