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Maine Art Hill welcomes all to visit and view their last summer show of the season. Saturday, September 4, is the opening of Water, a four-artist show featuring new works from William B. Hoyt, Ellen Welch Granter, Jill Matthews, and Kathy Ostrander Roberts.

“If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water.” — Loren Eiseley.

New England is home to many talented artists. We are incredibly fortunate to represent some of the best, including these four diverse artists.

Jill Matthews is not only represented in Kennebunk. She is one of the lucky ones who get to call it home. Matthews’ palette is soft and welcoming, and her depiction of water brings the same feelings.

“My oil paintings have always been a representation of how I interpret the world. They hint at an exaggeration of simplicity. The process is often removal of unnecessary elements, leaving strength to what remains,” says Matthews. “When the extra fades into the distance, it allows something stronger to move forward into clarity. So often, we have to quiet the noise to truly see.”

Like Matthews, Kathy Ostrander Roberts calls the Kennebunks home. However, when working with Water, Roberts chooses wax as her medium instead of oil. The result is still simple, simple, and stunning.

“My goal is to represent the essence of Maine coastal waters in encaustic painting by capturing scenes from Southern Maine’s coastline and translating them into vibrant representations of movement and color,” shares Roberts. “Through layering and sculpting of the medium, I create depth and intrigue. I hope to spark memories and longings for Maine’s rugged shores in the hearts and eyes of the viewer.”

Memories and longing are also perfect descriptors for artist William B. Hoyt. They put to words his incredibly realistic renditions of the Water. To most, these are landscapes, but to Hoyt, they are stories. He has more stories to tell than most and remembers them in details as vibrant as his canvases.

“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,” explains Hoyt. “I am a wanderer and an adventurer and have been fortunate in this life to be able to find and create and reproduce the beauty around me.”

Ellen Welch Granter is finishing off this foursome, which typically focuses on all that surrounds and relies on the Water, but not the Water itself. However, this time, it takes center stage, and boy, does it shine.

“Painting about Water is a bit like painting about paint. It is secretly about the effect of light on the Water. Sparkling or leaden, transparent or opaque, glossy or flat, the surface of the Water is always mesmerizingly beautiful,” says Granter. “With deeply saturated color fields, I tried to convey the sense of peace that the water surface inspires, and of course, the birds are always nearby.”

Again all are welcome to visit and view Water, a four artist show featuring new works from William B. Hoyt, Ellen Welch Granter, Jill Matthews, and Kathy Ostrander Roberts on Maine Art Hill at 14 Western Ave in Kennebunk. The show opens Saturday, September 4, and runs through September 22. The gallery is open every day from 10 AM to 5 PM. FMI call 207-967-0049 or visit www.maine-art.com/shows.

To see the show in its entirety, including the 360-degree virtual tour, click here .

Preview opens Wednesday, September 1. Virtual Tour is available on the evening of Friday, September 3.

To see our complete collection of each artists’ works, click below

To read more about the process, inspiration, and background of each artist, click below.

The Therapeutic Power of Water – Artist Insights from Ellen Welch Granter

“Painting about water is a bit like painting about paint,” says artist Ellen Welch Granter.

When viewing anything, it all breaks down into pieces of color. From there it is all in how you see it, or in Granter’s case, how you paint it.

“Secretly…it is about the effect of light on the water. Sparkling or leaden, transparent or opaque, glossy or flat, the water’s surface is always mesmerizingly beautiful,” shares Granter. “I tried to convey the sense of peace that the water surface inspires with deeply saturated color fields. Of course, the birds are nearby.”

Marsh wrens in the reeds are the subject of three paintings in this group. The flat pink water and gold reeds recede into the background so that the noisy wrens can sing their attention-grabbing song.

“In these paintings, I can get around the fact that in real life, deep in the marsh, wrens are usually very hard to see,” says Granter. “And seen this way, you don’t get mosquito or greenhead bites.”

Between her birds and her brushes, Granter found a piece of peace during a time when it was rare but so necessary.

“During the horrible months of isolation, I was delighted to have this painting challenge as an antidote to the meditative trance of that constant tech connection,” explains Granter. “Creating this series of paintings was my effort to remember to keep it simple but keep it beautiful. And it helped, as art always does.”

Granter truly celebrates water in this new collection of work. There are familiar aspects that assure you it is an original Ellen Welch Granter. Then, of course, there are a few surprises.

All are welcome to visit and view Water, a four artist show featuring new works from William B. Hoyt, Ellen Welch Granter, Jill Matthews, and Kathy Ostrander Roberts on Maine Art Hill at 14 Western Ave in Kennebunk. The show opens Saturday, September 4, and runs through September 22. The gallery is open every day from 10 AM to 5 PM. FMI call 207-967-0049 or visit www.maine-art.com/shows.

To see the show in its entirety, including the 360-degree virtual tour, click here .

Preview opens Wednesday, September 1. Virtual Tour is available on the evening of Friday, September 3.

To see our complete collection of each artists’ works, click below

To read more about the process, inspiration, and background of each artist, click below.

Big Water – Artist Insights from Jill Matthews

“I am so excited to be included in the WATER show. Painting the coast and the water is my favorite subject matter and what I feel most connected with,” shares Maine Art Hill artist Jill Matthews.

Matthews is one of four artists participating in WATER at the Shows on Maine Art Hill.

“I decided to work much larger for this show. It’s a bit of a challenge for me. I can’t focus on one spot of the canvas for too long. After all, it’s so large I have to constantly be backing up, taking in all in, and reworking things,” says Matthews. “I can move around a big piece differently than I can a smaller one. It’s free, but I still have to focus. So it’s a little mix of both.”

When she works smaller, Matthews tends to get hyper-focused on specific things.

“It is a bit looser with a larger canvas, but I have to see the big picture. I enjoy working with a bigger surface, especially when the ocean’s subject matter, with a focus on the sky,” she says. “I love the larger landscape spans.”

Matthews’s other passion is running. It is always lovely when two passions can support each other.

“I spend a lot of time outside. For example, I am training for the Boston Marathon this fall. Due to the heat, I am up in the early morning, getting in a run, and then again during evening hours. There is a great deal of inspiration on these runs,” explains Matthews. “They give me time to explore the coast’s landscape in a way I haven’t seen before.”

When water is concerned, weather plays a big part in what we see. Even for trained artists, it’s difficult not to let the weather influence the art.

“We have had a great deal of different weather this summer—a lot of rain. I wanted to focus on the sky and how it interacts with the rest of the landscape. I usually don’t focus on the sky and have preferred a foggy landscape,” Matthews shares. “That takes the sky out of it. I need to focus on what the sky is doing. It’s a new challenge. It gives me a chance to focus on color and texture differently concerning how the sky interacts with other elements. It has been fun.”

This show was a chance to explore what I love to do: paint water and connect with the coast. Yet this time, I was pushed to do it differently.

To see the show in its entirety, including the 360-degree virtual tour, click here .

Preview opens Wednesday, September 1. Virtual Tour is available on the evening of Friday, September 3.

To see our complete collection of each artists’ works, click below

To read more about the process, inspiration, and background of each artist, click below.

Kathy Ostrander Roberts – Insights and StoriesArtist

My View of the Water – Artist Insights from William B. Hoyt for WATER

After following artist, William B. Hoyt for years, there is no other that captures the light and love found in water. Hoyt is also quite famous for his storytelling abilities. With that said, we are fortunate to have him share a little insight into a few of the pieces he created for WATER.

Morning on Muscle Ridge

This view greeted me after a night in our Westfalia at the Lobster Buoy Campground in South Thomaston, Maine. As the fog burned off, it gradually revealed the islands. Muscle Ridge was named from the effort needed to row to and from these islands that had working granite quarries and hundreds of resident stonecutters.

The Nubble

This often photographed lighthouse in York, Maine, presented its stark rock-bound appearance on a bright day in April in the early afternoon. Not sure why it’s called the Nubble. Maybe before it had a lighthouse, the extension of the point, almost attached by an isthmus at low tide, was described as a “Nubble,” and the name stuck. I really enjoyed painting the complex rock formations and the sparkling water as well as the handsome lighthouse itself.

Moon Over St. Anne’s

At sunset on April 26th, the full super moon, The Pink Moon, rises slowly out of the still bare trees over St. Anne’s Church. This is seen from the western end of Gooch’s Beach. April’s full moon corresponds with the early springtime blooms of phlox, also called “moss pink.”

The Soft Sounds of Surf

High tide in the morning. Where’s the beach? At low tide, it’s a hundred yards wide, but this morning, we are awakened at sunrise to find it lapping at the cement retaining wall and the foot of the wooden stairs.

Reflections

Sunrise through clouds over the calm waters in the enclosed bay of Roque island. This is inside the arms of the mile-long curved beach and encircling smaller islands.

To see the show in its entirety, including the 360-degree virtual tour, click here .

Preview opens Wednesday, September 1. Virtual Tour is available on the evening of Friday, September 3.

To see our complete collection of each artists’ works, click below

To read more about the process, inspiration, and background of each artist, click below.

Water in Wax – Artist Insights from Kathy Ostrander Roberts

We love it when our artists take a few minutes to explain exactly what it is they do. Artist Kathy Ostrander Roberts breaks down how she works and how the magic happens.

Click to watch.

To see the show in its entirety, including the 360-degree virtual tour, click here .

Preview opens Wednesday, September 1. Virtual Tour is available on the evening of Friday, September 3.

To see our complete collection of each artists’ works, click below

To read more about the process, inspiration, and background of each artist, click below.