She played a large part and was involved in the wave of modern artists including Alex Katz and Yvonne Jacquette who explored the coast of Maine in the latter half of the 20th century.
"[10] As part of the wave of New York modernists to explore the coast of Maine just after the end of the second World War, Dodd helped to change the face of painting in the state.
Along with Fairfield Porter, Rackstraw Downes, Alex Katz, Charles DuBack, and Neil Welliver, Dodd began spending her summers in the Mid-Coast region surrounding Penobscot Bay.
The break from the city and its urbane art circles allowed them the freedom to explore new modes of painting, both landscapes and figures, that were anathema in the era of Abstract Expressionism.
[15] By painting her immediate circumstances, Dodd rejected the sources that others of her generation took as a given: mass media, popular culture, and the bright surfaces of a comfortable life.
Whether or not she intends her refusals to be a comment on the work of those around her, her paintings embody an implicit critique of those who believe acquisitiveness, possession, and leisure are integral to the pursuit of happiness.
They include views of New York City's Lower East Side as seen from her apartment windows and imagery from the woods and gardens of Maine, and some winter scenes by her family's home in New Jersey.