Meet the Staff – Trisha Winslow

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Trisha Winslow came to Maine Art quite by accident.  She didn’t apply or submit a resume or even inquire about an open position. She just wandered down the stairs from the second floor and found a quiet niche that suited her. That was three years ago. Now, she is the voice behind our blog and the face behind the desk at Maine Art Shows.

“I never thought my love for the owner of the gallery would transcend into a love for the gallery itself,” says Trisha, who is also John Spain’s significant other. “However, just being around the staff and the artists and the customers, it was easy to get sucked in.”

Born and raised in Waterboro, Maine, a little town just inland from Kennebunk, Trisha is very much a Maine girl. Graduating from Massabesic High School, she moved on to the University of Maine at Orono to obtain her degree in Elementary Education. Family and career took her from Boothbay to Houlton and then back to the southern Maine coast.

“This state is an incredible place to grow up. I was a ‘free-range kid,’ and only came home at night when the fire whistle blew,” says Winslow. “In turn, I loved raising my own daughter, Amanda, in the same atmosphere. She is now a very well-adjusted, happy adult, who has also found her own home in Maine. There is just something innately good about being from here.”

Trisha is the first to tell you she has no art background. A fourteen year veteran language arts teacher, she took a jump with a serious career change when she joined Maine Art. Writing was always a passion, although never for a public audience. Yet, her interview skills and love of words helped to give the artists and gallery something we didn’t have, a voice. Although truth be told, she claims it wasn’t the job she gave up teaching for, it was the boss.

“Five years ago, if someone would have asked me where I would be today, this never would have been my answer. It’s a bit crazy and surreal,” says Winslow. “John and I travel all over the country seven or eight months out of the year – in an RV! I keep the blog up and help with social media. For him, I’m a sounding board and often devil’s advocate. I stuff envelopes or edit copy, whatever needs doing.”

Of course in their down time, they are hiking, climbing, and wandering all over this beautiful country. With almost thirty National Parks and over thirty states covered in the last few years, these two don’t sit still very long in the winter.

“I had never hiked before a few years ago. I’m now on my third pair of boots. I have slept on a rock under the hoodoos in Canyonlands National Park in Utah, dangled off a rope in a waterfall in Maui, and shared a trail with a gigantic elk in Colorado,” says Trisha. “ This country is so beautiful and wild. I am truly blessed to be able to travel and see such wonders.”

As much as she loves the adventure, Trisha is always happy to trade in those hiking boots for sandals once summer comes around. Kennebunk and Kennebunkport have certainly become her home. During the day, she can normally be found up on the hill at Maine Art Shows. Not only is she an expert on the resident show artists and their work, she is a wealth of local knowledge about where to eat and what to do while staying in the area.

Please stop in at Maine Art Shows this summer and say hello. The gallery at 10 Chase Hill Road opens in June 2017 with our first of four summer shows. Click here to find show dates and details.

As always you can visit on-line at www.maine-art.com.

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