Blog
Rye, A Quick Peek at Process – Artist Insights from Ryan Kohler
Wisteria, A Quick Peek at Process – Artist Insights from Ryan Kohler
Oyster, A Quick Peek at Process – Artist Insights from Ryan Kohler
Pear, A Quick Peek at Process – Artist Insights from Ryan Kohler for Maine Art Hill in Kennebunk, Maine
Ryan Kohler Solo Summer Show 2023
RYAN KOHLER
July 22 – August 16
Artist Reception July 22, 5-7 PM
5 Chase Hill Rd. Kennebunk, Maine 04043
“Collage. is not a streamlined process, and it’s not practical,” says artist Ryan Kohler. “The upside is that I have clean shapes of pure color and exactly the shape I want.”
Kohler’s solo summer show will be open on July 22 on Maine Art Hill, 5 Chase Hill Road, Kennebunk. The gallery opens at 10 AM, and this show is available every day through August 16. Please note the artist is attending the opening reception from 5 to 7 PM on Saturday, July 22. All are welcome.
Ryan Kohler is a young Maine artist who works with many mediums. Acrylic led to the addition of collage, and now he is trying his process with oil. Even though Kohler finishes with collage, he is still a painter at heart.
“I spend a lot of time painting the initial colors, making sure my value structure and color design is as good as I can make it,” shares Kohler. “I respond to the painting a lot during this process. Some paintings want to be more painterly and loose, and others more graphic.”
Once he begins with collage elements, they look more illustrative. Kohler leans into this and uses it to his advantage.
“Once I have a quality, almost finished canvas, I move to the collage. The process and results are a bit like palette knife marks, except I have much more control,” he explains. “If I don’t like the piece I’ve just added to the painting, I simply remove it. I have a window of time before the glue permanently adheres the paper to the canvas, and even if I am beyond that window, I still have the option to continue gluing more paper to cover up. ”
It’s easy to say “good enough” when he is in the painting phase, but he always regrets it when it comes to the second step, collage. Each component added is like a revelation, revealing something that wasn’t as defined as before—the hull of a boat, a bird’s wing, the shadow’s edge. Sometimes it is necessary to walk back and forth from the easel after each piece, carefully observing how the painting changes from a distance.
“Sometimes that leads to the most interesting results. When layers and layers of paper are added to each other, especially something with patterns, it can look like mixed paint from a distance,” says Kohler. “I am always amazed at what each small step adds to the finished piece.”
This show is a must-see in person, and all are welcome to Maine Art Hill to visit. Again, the opening is Saturday, July 22, at 10 AM, with an artist reception from 5-7 that evening. The show runs until August 16 and is open daily at 10 AM. FMI 207-967-2803 or maine-art.com/shows.
Click to see the VIRTUAL TOUR.
To see all available work from Ryan Kohler, click the link below.
To read more insights from Ryan Kohler, click the link below.
Ryan Kohler – INSIGHTS AND STORIES
Ryan also has a collection of videos, including Secretly.
Color and Detail – Artist Insights from Craig Mooney
“I have been pushing the boundaries of color,” shares artist Craig Mooney. “I am getting tired of grey paintings and grey skies. However, it has always been a challenge for me to be a creative colorist.”
“Some of my works in this show emphasize the strong colors in my palette, such as Prussian blue, Indian yellow, and alizarin crimson. There is a certain eclat, a sparkle, another French word,” says Mooney. “For many of these works, color is in my mind when these pieces are being created.”
When looking at Sumit Trail, you will find a looser brush stroke. It appears the paint has been applied very lithely, disregarding shape or proportion.
“I am always bouncing back and forth between a high level of definition to the other where it is loose. I use very wide brushes to convey a subject matter,” explains Mooney. “It forces the observer to distill what’s needed at that exact moment. The decision is made quickly as to what is not important.”
Sometimes the detail is necessary, so he returns with a palette knife or smaller brush to connect the piece to something broader.
“Generally, I do that with more abstraction,” shares Mooney. “However, when I tightly control it, greater meaning is attached.”
Again, Mooney’s 2023 Solo Show runs through Thursday, August 2. The Gallery at the Grand on Maine Art Hill can be found at 1 Chase Hill Road and is open from 10 AM to 6 PM daily. FMI visit www.maine-art.com or call 207-967-2803.
To read more about Craig’s process and past – Craig Mooney – Artist Insights.
To see Craig’s entire collection – Craig Mooney – Artist Page.
THE VIRTUAL TOUR OF THE SUMMER SOLO SHOW
The Painted Words of William B. Hoyt – A One-Man Show
Artists have been traveling to coastal Maine for decades, each trying to capture the land’s beauty and waters bordering it. William B. Hoyt is an artist who knows and loves this area and works and plays here frequently. Each of his canvases has an almost photographic quality. This attention to detail forces the viewer to lean in closer to experience every facet that forms the whole and becomes classic Maine.
Hoyt says, “There is a challenge and a joy in seeing something ineffably beautiful or moving and resolving to make a painting of it. The threads of the canvas, the sea, family, friends, and Maine have woven themselves inextricably into my psyche and my work.”
Hoyt has always been an artist. He is one of few who hasn’t ever been anything else. His medium may change from oils on canvas to film, digital photography, or even hammer and wood when he built his home and studio in Vermont. The need to create is always there, especially during the summer and when he is in Maine.
“When summer is here, it means en plein air, being outside and finding the next fascination. I spend my winters with studio work. Summer is about inspiration and collection,” says Hoyt. “Sometimes I go looking, often early in the morning before setting sail for the next harbor or toward the end of the day after we anchor and the harsh light softens. Other times a subject recommends itself unsolicited with the realization that a painting is staring me in the face.”
An artist sees the world through different eyes, and it is rare to find Hoyt without his camera close at hand. He is always collecting moments and has trouble not stopping at each scene with the possibility he may someday be committed to paint. “Images are everywhere,” he says. “Some wonder if my need to stop and snap ever gets in the way. I can’t help but find that funny. It doesn’t get in the way; it is the way.”
Hoyt is a wanderer and an adventurer. He has been fortunate in his life to be able to find and create and reproduce the beauty around him. He has more stories to tell than most and remembers them in details as vibrant as his canvases.
John Spain, owner of Maine Art Paintings and Sculpture and Maine Art Shows, explains the fusion of Hoyt’s story with his art, “I have been very fortunate to have had the unique experience of visiting Wimby’s home and studio. It is truly an insight. Where most have photographs of people and memories, he and his wife Kathy have paintings. On top of that, everyone has a story that can only be told by the master storyteller himself.”
To honestly share the man behind the art, we have coupled Hoyt’s pieces with his memories, inspirations, and insight. These stories highlight his work and share his thoughts. In addition, Hoyt has added private studies and family sketches (not for sale) to this one-of-a-kind show.
William B. Hoyt’s show opens at Maine Art Shows on Saturday, August 13, through Monday, September 5. As always, we will have an Artist’s Reception from 5-7 PM on opening night. This will provide an excellent opportunity to meet and talk with the artist. The show can be viewed on our website beginning Wednesday, August 10, at www.maine-art.com/shows.
Click to read more about Hoyt.
Click to see our entire collection of Hoyt works.
Click below to see the VIRTUAL TOUR
HOYT SHOW
Tempus Fugit – Artist Insights from Craig Mooney
“The Latin phrase, Tempus fugit, is interpreted as time flies,” shares artist Craig Mooney. “I have been thinking about it a lot lately and the ephemeral nature of life. There are a few of my paintings that truly grasp that idea.”
Mooney’s version of Tempus Fugit is personified as a solitary female figure gazing through a window.
“For most of my career, I have tried to make paintings that capture the essence of the passage of time,” he says. “Whether it’s a dramatic sky or a figurative piece, both reflective and contemplative.”
For Mooney, the choice of brushwork is always a conscious one. The brushwork in some of his works for this show is very tight. There is a high level of detail—much more than he usually does. Such as in Tempus Fugit.
Again, Mooney’s 2023 Solo Show runs through Thursday, August 2. The Gallery at the Grand on Maine Art Hill can be found at 1 Chase Hill Road and is open from 10 AM to 6 PM daily. FMI visit www.maine-art.com or call 207-967-2803.
To read more about Craig’s process and past – Craig Mooney – Artist Insights.
To see Craig’s entire collection – Craig Mooney – Artist Page.
THE VIRTUAL TOUR OF THE SUMMER SOLO SHOW
The Mind of an Artist – Insights from Margaret Gerding
Of all the questions about our artists, these three are the most asked. What goes through their mind before they begin painting, as they work, and finally, how do they know when they are done?
Margaret Gerding answered a few of these questions, at least for her.
“It’s all about the moments put down on the canvas to capture a portrait of the region,” shares Gerding. “My vision has been to capture these quiet moments in a way that exhibits their mood, along with the scene and its complex palette.”
As an artist who prefers to paint “on the scene”, her process can differ slightly from one who prefers studio work. En plein-air, meaning to paint outside, allows an artist to be in a place with all senses.
Gerding says, “Each piece is based on a real place, a moment I have experienced and been inspired by. There is something about being alone with nature—a quiet that connects me. Only this solitude, whether outside or in the studio, allows the landscape to reveal itself to me.”
Even the most diligent plein-air painters usually have a bit of studio time. For Gerding, this is usually where the finishing touches happen.
“My studio gives me more time to examine my work. It’s more intellectual, and the final pieces are polished. When I work en plein air, it is fast, intuitive, and exploratory,” says Gerding. “With both spaces as part of my process, I have the time to develop a piece and push my understanding of the atmosphere and abstract simplifications in the landscape.”
Margaret Gerding’s show will run until July 19 at Maine Art Hill at 5 Chase Hill Rd. Kennebunk.
Click the links below to learn more.
Read more about Gerding.
See our entire collection of Gerding’s work
See the Gerding Show virtually