Fall Favorites 2023 Week 6

Welcome to Fall Favorites – Week Six

David Witbeck, James Rivington Pyne

and Guest Artist Amailia Tagaris

 

We are featuring two or three artists in a weekly campaign. Any purchases of the weekly featured pieces are eligible for free shipping within the contiguous US or free local delivery when purchased by the end of the week. Join our email list to learn about the artists as they are announced! It’s on the bottom right of our home page. FMI call 207-967-2803 or info@maine-art.com.

Remember,  from October 1 to November 20, we are hanging all the Fall Favorites as a show in the Show Gallery at 5 Chase Hill Road in Kennebunk.

 

David Witbeck

First Light – Oil on Canvas 24 x 24 

My places and things have analogs in reality, but specifically, they exist only in my mind and on the canvas. They are irreverent fantasies of love of boats and the seacoast, respect and admiration for people who wrest a living from saltwater, and maybe just a little bit of envy or disappointment of never having been one of them. They come from years of observation, a good amount of imagination, and just a smidge of experience.

 

 

James Rivington Pyne

Nude 1 – Bronze, 14 x 5.5

In my work, I use wood, steel, found wood, and latex. I also do bronzes. I try to capture, in birds, for instance, either the subject’s extreme stillness (a heron fishing) or its opposite. The best way to express a bird’s edginess on a limb or briskness in flight is by rough, almost blurred outlines, similar to a sketch, rather than smooth finishes. My work is stylized, but the subject is never unrecognizable. A source of inspiration for me is the 18th-century animal miscellanies depicting creatures drawn by artists whose sole knowledge of their subjects came not from actual sighting but from hearsay, folklore, and, in some cases, a desire to amuse or terrify.

Guest Artist Amalia Tagaris

Click here to go to the website for details and individual images

The versatility of this ancient medium allows it to adopt various materials within its own skin to reveal an entirely new meaning. It also allows me to infuse bold, luscious colors and textures onto what would otherwise be a flat surface. The tactile property of the wax demands physical interaction during the process of scraping, incising, and smoothening its surface, layer after layer. There is a push and pull between spontaneous and intentional compositions as the molten wax becomes malleable when a heat source is reintroduced to bind its newly applied strokes to the existing ones. Quite often, something extraordinarily beautiful arises from these unplanned happenings, which makes working with encaustic very appealing in expressing my visual narrative.

 

To see all available work from these artists, click the link below.
To read more insights from these artists, click the link below.

Fall Favorites 2023 Week 5

Welcome to Fall Favorites – Week Five

Janis H. Sanders, Ingunn Milla Joergensen,

and Lee Gordon

 

We are featuring two or three artists in a weekly campaign. Any purchases of the weekly featured pieces are eligible for free shipping within the contiguous US or free local delivery when purchased by the end of the week. Join our email list to learn about the artists as they are announced! It’s on the bottom right of our home page. FMI call 207-967-2803 or info@maine-art.com.

Remember,  from October 1 to November 20, we are hanging all the Fall Favorites as a show in the Show Gallery at 5 Chase Hill Road in Kennebunk.

 

Janis H. Sanders

Sunset Trees Oil on Canvas 10×10
Beach Roses Beach 12×12
Seashore Roses 12×12
Shore View 12×12

I try to convey that moment of joy and presence through the scenes of my paintings without the intention of nostalgia or sentimentality. I realize, though, that those elements are inherent in those ancient subjects, giving our imaginations a bit of free reign to roam. I wonder who has lived and worked here and how their lives were along the way, how different and how the same as yours and mine.

Ingunn Milla Joergensen

Nest #2 10×10
From the Green House 20×20
Nest #2 10×10
For as long as I can remember, I have been fascinated with texture and aging objects, particularly simple everyday things with stories that are as important to me as the object itself.

Lee Gordon

Marsh View VIII, Blown Glass, 10" X 7.5"
Marsh View VIII | Blown Glass | 10″ X 7.5″
Marsh View VII, Blown Glass, 9.75" X 9.5"
Marsh View VII | Blown Glass | 9.75″ X 9.5″
Algae Rhythm V, Blown Glass, 10" X 8"
Algae Rhythm V | Blown Glass | 10″ X 8″
Touchstone Series 23 #8, Blown Glass, 5.5" X 3.5"
Touchstone Series 23 #8 | Blown Glass | 5.5″ X 3.5″

 

Sculpting hot glass is a pursuit that takes patience and perseverance. The connection I feel between mind, body, and the nature of glass challenges me to explore the medium with each piece I create. The act of glassblowing is meditative for me.

 

To see all available work from these artists, click the link below.
To read more insights from these artists, click the link below.

Fall Favorites 2023 Week 4

Welcome to Fall Favorites – Week Four

Alex Dunwoodie, Karen Bruson, and

Guest Artist Heather Fountain

 

We are featuring two or three artists in a weekly campaign. Any purchases of the weekly featured pieces are eligible for free shipping within the contiguous US or free local delivery when purchased by the end of the week. Join our email list to learn about the artists as they are announced! It’s on the bottom right of our home page. FMI call 207-967-2803 or info@maine-art.com.

Remember,  from October 1 to November 20, we are hanging all the Fall Favorites as a show in the Show Gallery at 5 Chase Hill Road in Kennebunk.

 

Alex Dunwoodie

Tumbled Stones 12×12
Sailboat West Island 12×12
Buoy 2 Camden Inlet 11×14

UPDATE 10/26/23 – Alex has brought us three more paintings! Details below

Oil painting by Alex Dunwoodie of a narrow boulder filled stream, the blue sky is reflected in the water
Blue Sky Above 12×4
West Island Stones 10×10
Oil painting by Alex Dunwoodie of the South Congregational Church looking from Kennebunk, in late winter, with blue sky.
South Congregational Church from Kennebunk 12×4

 

I’m painting what I love, what grabs my attention and makes me pause. Mornings and evenings are particularly inspirational because colors can be intensified, and light can make the ordinary interesting.

Karen Bruson

Breezy Day 12×12
Packe UP 10×20
I am inspired by the way light falls upon a subject, casting rich dark shadows, and I aspire to simplify the nuances within those darks. Starting with a luminous, warm ground, I seek to create a vibration of color by using compliments and deliberately leaving some areas untouched.

Guest Artist Heather Fountain

Glass Vessel 1
Glass Vessel 2
Glass Vessel 3
Glass Vessel 4

The glass woven vessels are constructed from individual pulled strands of glass that are laid down one at a time in five layers to create the woven appearance. Each vessel is constructed from 1000+ individual strands of glass. Colors are chosen, overlapped, and interlaced to create varied interests of color. The heat from a kiln is used at a specific temperature to allow the piece to become solid yet maintain the texture of the fabric, including a raw salvaged edge, which you find on raw cloth. Some pieces even contain an element that looks like a pulled thread. It took the artist five years to develop this technique, allowing her to create the essence of flowing cloth in the breeze out of a solid, sharp material.

Heather Fountain

 

To see all available work from these artists, click the link below.
To read more insights from these artists, click the link below.

Fall Favorites 2023 Week 3

Welcome to Fall Favorites – Week Three

Ryan Kohler, Trip Park, and Liz Hoag

 

We are featuring two or three artists in a weekly campaign. Any purchases of the weekly featured pieces are eligible for free shipping within the contiguous US or free local delivery when purchased by the end of the week. Join our email list to learn about the artists as they are announced! It’s on the bottom right of our home page. FMI call 207-967-2803 or info@maine-art.com.

Remember,  from October 1 to November 20, we are hanging all the Fall Favorites as a show in the Show Gallery at 5 Chase Hill Road in Kennebunk.

 

Ryan Kohler

 

Strawberry – Mixed Media on Canvas 24×48
Muddiest – Mixed Media on Canvas 36×24

Recently, mixed media and collage have become a significant element of my work.  Bits of colored paper, maps, album covers, posters, and found materials are collaged to the surface of my paintings, adding an extra physical presence to my work and enriching the viewing experience.

 

Trip Park

Slippy Ship 36×24 Mixed Media
Beach Saver 12×12 Mixed Media
Trip was drawn to advertising long before he illustrated and eventually painted.  Working with and hiring his favorite illustrators through the help of being an Art Director gave him an intoxicating look into their side of the creative world. He has illustrated several children’s books and helped develop characters for animated features and commercials.
 
 
 

Liz Hoag

Maine Summer 18×18
Off the Beach 18×18
Safe Harbor 16×20
Steams, brooks, and enchanting woods have all inspired this Portland artist. Each piece of Hoag’s work features nature and light interacting in a way that provides a new and different perspective on the everyday surroundings of the natural world. Mother Nature often illuminates her creations in a way only a few stop to notice. Hoag is one of those few.

 

To see all available work from these artists, click the link below.
To read more insights from these artists, click the link below.

Fall Favorites 2023 Week 2

Welcome to Fall Favorites

We are featuring two or three artists in a weekly campaign. Any purchases of the weekly featured pieces are eligible for free shipping within the contiguous US or free local delivery when purchased by the end of the week. Join our email list to learn about the artists as they are announced! It’s on the bottom right of our home page. FMI call 207-967-2803 or info@maine-art.com.

Remember,  from October 1 to November 20, we are hanging all the Fall Favorites as a show in the Show Gallery at 5 Chase Hill Road in Kennebunk.

Week Two

Bethany Harper Williams, Susan Bennett, and

Adrienne Kernan LaVallee

 
 

Bethany Harper Williams

A Breezy Day, Oil on Canvas, 16 x 16 in
Pretty in Pink, Oil on Canvas, 16 x 16 in
Rainy Day, Oil on Canvas, 16 x 16 in
Symphony of Movement, Oil on Canvas, 36 x 48 in

The beach especially inspires me – the calm and energy of the water and the playground it provides us to create lasting memories. These memories are unique to each of us and familiar to so many. My work explores this connectivity to the collective emotion, questioning what we see, what we remember, and the emotions these evoke.

 
 

Susan Bennett

Mondrians Grid, Stainless Steel with Solvent Dye, 5 x 7 x 6 in
Trillium Flower, Stainless Steel, 13 x 11 x 8 in Overall – 2.5 x 3 x 3 in Base

The excitement that I have felt in developing a creative avenue for intuitive feelings reminds me of dream discovery. The difference is that the symbols I make in art are tangible expressions of what is important to me at this time and place in my life.

 
 

Adrienne Kernan LaVallee

Easterly Bight, Oil on Canvas, 30 x 30 in
By The Light Of The Supermoon, Oil on Panel, 8 x 8 in

 

Distant Light, The Driving Force, Oil on Panel, 8 x 8 in

 


Autumn Splendor, Oil on Panel, 8 x 8 in

 

Zukes Eighth An Acre, Oil on Canvas, 30 x 30 in

I  love how I can push and pull oil paint around my canvas. Expressive, abstract explorations of the landscape, particularly that of New England and Maine’s coast, excite me.

Fall Favorites 2023 Week 1

Welcome to Fall Favorites – Week One

Ellen Granter, Kathy Ostrander Roberts, and Mark Davis

 

We are featuring two or three artists in a weekly campaign. Any purchases of the weekly featured pieces are eligible for free shipping within the contiguous US or free local delivery when purchased by the end of the week. Join our email list to learn about the artists as they are announced! It’s on the bottom right of our home page. FMI call 207-967-2803 or info@maine-art.com.

Remember,  from October 1 to November 20, we are hanging all the Fall Favorites as a show in the Show Gallery at 5 Chase Hill Road in Kennebunk.

 
 
Ellen Granter

Sparrow Moment – 12×12
Grass Sand Ocean Sky – 20×20
Garden Security System – 20×20
Path to the Beach – 16×16
Crimson and Cherry – 20×20
Layers of Summer – 20×20

What do I love about it? I love the possibilities of a few new tubes of paint, a handful of good brushes, a blank canvas, and the glimmer of what I hope might be a promising idea. Of course, then comes the hard work, all the decisions. Pale or dark? Thick or thin? Loose or tight? Flat or dimensional? Edges? Patterns? Lines? Textures? Shadows? Each painting is the accumulated result of a thousand decisions. What is my process? Don’t ask me; I only know that I love being up to my elbows in it. – Ellen W. Granter

 
 
 

Kathy Ostrander Roberts

Ode to Claire – 8×8
Porpoise Song – 10×10
Sequin Harbor – 8×8
Shore Walk – 8×10
Yet Unnamed – 24×24

My goal is to represent the essence of Maine coastal waters in encaustic painting by capturing scenes from the coastline of Southern Maine and translating them into vibrant representations of movement and color. 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 viewers.


 
 
 

Mark Davis

Afternoons by the Shore – 9x12x6
An Angel in the Garden – 13x16x16
Standing Guard – 5x6x6 Sterling Silver

Through abstract shapes, I play with the concepts of space and relationship. My ideas come from organic life, the human form, and the external landscape while deeply reflecting my internal landscape and dialogue. The work is playful, joyful, and constantly changing; that is how I see and experience life in all its complexities.


 
 
 

To see all available work from these artists, click the link below.
To read more insights from these artists, click the link below.

 

 

Fall Favorites 2023

Autumn is upon us, and we at Maine Art Hill are aware our visitors are changing their shopping habits as the weather gets cooler and folks start to snuggle in. We thought, “What better way to connect with you than having our well-loved artists share their favorite things.” More specifically, their favorite new piece(s) of their artwork.

So…

Every Monday, beginning on October 2 an email is sent to everyone on our email lists. This email features an artist or artists and their particular Fall Favorites. New this year, from October 1 to November 20, we are hanging all the Fall Favorites as a show in the Show Gallery at 5 Chase Hill Road in Kennebunk.

The bonus…

As we’ve done in the past, we are featuring two or three artists in each weekly campaign email. Any purchases of the weekly featured pieces are eligible for free shipping within the contiguous US or free local delivery when purchased by the end of the week.

Join our email list to learn about the artists as they are announced! It’s on the bottom right of our home page. FMI call 207-967-2803 or info@maine-art.com.

Follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

 

 

Pop-Up with James Mattison

Featured Pop-Up Artists

James Mattison

September 29 – October 29

Gallery at the Grand

1 Chase Hill Rd. Kennebunk, Maine

Open 10 AM

I’ve always admired artists that boldly use color. It takes confidence to view color as a choice. Light and shadow inspire countless possibilities and color arrangements, and it is with those choices between the lines that an artist proves their sense of certainty.

My paintings and their subjects are meant to invoke a feeling of relatability. Typically, my portraiture isn’t anyone in particular. But they are relatable figures. I’ve worked many jobs that required close reading of peoples’ body language and behaviors, and to me, it’s instinctive for an audience to look at someone with intention and try to understand an emotion. I think that instinct is crucial in how someone may interpret a painting. How do we read the expression on their face? What is their body language telling us? Adding these factors together will give the audience a sense of what the subject is expressing, and we, as the viewer, can relate that feeling to a time and place of our own experience. These emotionally charged portraits are an introspective take on moments of honesty with myself.

My landscapes generally have a sunny and warm disposition. They feel comfortable and, more often than not, come from a sense of gratitude. They may be places I’ve visited and found a striking or fabricated scene that feels more like a memory. When I paint, it’s an outlet. Whatever I feel at a given moment eventually reaches the canvas. Whether it’s a person, place, or thing, I hope to capture a sense of solitude. My work is technically unique and fused with a feeling of connective emotionality. That’s where the value lies. Painting is a means to express myself and to start a conversation with a sense of honesty and a feeling of togetherness through times of remoteness.

Reflection – Artist Insights from Claire Bigbee

Reflection is from a series from Salmon Falls River in Rollingsford, around the corner from artist Claire Bigbee’s studio.

“As always,” Bigbee smiles, “The reflections in the water of the sky and trees struck me.”

“I have spent a lot of time reflecting on my thirty years of marriage ending,” shares Bigbee. “Allowing the anger and betrayal to return and the hurt and disappointments.”

There is part of the Salmon Falls River that flows into a wider area where it slows down. It is more peaceful away from the rushing falls near her studio.

“Visiting it to paint this series taught me some lessons. First, to appreciate where I am. Second, how far I have come. Last, I am in a better place,” says Bigbee. “Without me realizing it, the river, this place, became part of my healing.”

This show is a must-see for locals and out-of-town visitors from September 2 to 27. Every day from 10 AM to 6 PM at the Gallery at the Grand at 1 Chase Hill Rd in Kennebunk. If you can’t visit the gallery,  see the show virtually at www.maine-art.com/shows. FMI 207-967-2803.

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Click for the  VIRTUAL TOUR 

To read more about this talented woman, click the link below.

Claire Bigbee – Artist Insights

To see our present collection from this artist, click the link below.

Claire Bigbee – Complete Collection

 

A Wandering Artist – Insights from Artist Claire Bigbee

This spring, artist Claire Bigbee traveled to mid-coast Maine and brought back a great deal of inspiration from the beautiful coasts of Camden, Rockport, and Monhegan Island.

“The Maine landscape inspires me as an artist. It has a wealth of inspiration to draw from. There is an inherent attraction within nature, which is what I aim to achieve in my work,” shares Bigbee. “The challenge in using landscape as my subject matter forces me to simplify what I see into forms, shapes, value of patterns, and texture. The brushwork expresses my emotional response to the view and how it makes me feel emotionally.”

Playing with scale and color intensifies what Bigbee sees.

“I paint what I want to see, not all the little details in nature, which can distract you and interfere with expression,” says Bigbee. “I am not necessarily ignoring traditional training but choose to break the rules and let the development of the painting lead me in one direction or another.”

 The ability to simplify means eliminating the unnecessary so the necessary can speak. ~ Hans Hoffman

This show is a must-see for locals and out-of-town visitors from September 2 to 27. Every day from 10 AM to 6 PM at the Gallery at the Grand at 1 Chase Hill Rd in Kennebunk. If you can’t visit the gallery,  see the show virtually at www.maine-art.com/shows. FMI 207-967-2803.

Click for the  VIRTUAL TOUR 

To read more about this talented woman, click the link below.

Claire Bigbee – Artist Insights

To see our present collection from this artist, click the link below.

Claire Bigbee – Complete Collection