It has to be the beginning of a fantastic show at Maine Art Hill in Kennebunk. Celebrating the end of summer in style, The Gallery at Maine Art Hill opens a four artist show beginning Saturday, August 31. The show begins at 10 am with an Artist Reception that evening from 5 – 7 pm at the gallery on 14 Western Avenue.
Painters David Witbeck and Ellen Welch Granter join sculptor David Riley Peterson and glass artist Richard Remsen for this three-week-long coastal celebration. A multidimensional Maine mix of boats, water, and of course, lobster.
Glass artist Richard Remsen is featuring his stunning blown glass lobster claws. Remsen studied at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and received his BFA in Sculpture at the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, Rhode Island.
“Icons, like the lobster, are straightforward. People recognize what they are immediately, and they draw on the history of their memories. It gives an added dimension to the work,” says Remsen. “Trying to figuring out how the different colors will blend is unlike painting. With glass, I work with opaque color and translucent color. They all blend to give different effects. It is intriguing.”
The iconic lobster appears again with the painter, David Witbeck. Witbeck celebrates these coastal creatures, along with lobstermen or women and their fabulous fishing vessels. Witbeck, also a graduate of Rhode Island School of Design, morphed his job as a photographer into a successful career as an artist. Known for his creative angles and skewed perspectives, he captures Maine with color.
“When I was a photographer, I was limited by what is in front of a camera. Now, I can bend, twist, stretch, exaggerate, and simplify the things I see. I can even completely make things up,” says Witbeck.” I can paint how things make me feel instead of merely how they look. I’m most happy when my paintings evoke a smile.”
Sculptor David Riley Peterson is up for a smile or two as well. With a huge grin of his own, his love of what he creates in clay is evident and infectious. His past and present blend a love of boats with playing in the mud. Born in Beverly, Massachusetts, Peterson was always reprimanded for playing in every mud puddle now he makes his living doing just that.
“I was clueless about clay until I went off to college. My dorm at the University of Florida was across the street from the ceramics department. I was always curious about the group of students who entered and left the building. They dressed in dirty jeans or tattered shorts with every body part covered in clay; so I investigated,” says Peterson. “What I discovered instantly changed my life, and I could hardly wait until the next semester to enroll in my first ceramics class; ‘Introduction to Clay.’ I was not disappointed.”
Lastly, the lovely Ellen Welch Granter rounds out this ruckus group with her tranquil and soothing renditions of Maine boats, buoys, and beauty. Her colors and shapes represent the softer side of coastal life.
“These works evoke a sense of peace and calmness. Whether they are in the fog, in the sun, or a busy harbor, their curvy lines and sense of possibility are always an invitation to paint,” says Granter. “These works evolve from my own experiences and are not about fine details, such as ship rigging, but rather, the geometry, symmetry, and harmony of the floating boats and buoys.”
This three-week-long show, begins Saturday, August 31 and runs through September 26 at The Gallery on Maine Art Hill at 14 Western Avenue in Kennebunk. The public is welcome to enjoy the Artist Reception on Saturday evening, August 31, from 5-7 pm. FMI 207-967-2803 or maine-art.com. Galleries are open every day at 10 am.