The Making of a Mobile – Artist Insights from Mark Davis

Posted on by Maine Art

As sculptor Mark Davis works, two aspects come into play. One is each piece’s actual craft and engineering, and the other is the overall concepts behind the body of work.

“As to the making of each piece, each is a small universe, using form and balance as an identity to achieve a fully three-dimensional sculpture that moves and changes as it does,” explains Davis. “I am playing with many ideas, but there is always a tremendous debt to Alexander Calder. His love of playfulness, movement, and spatial relationships are the foundation of what I do.”

From that foundation of Calder, Davis has expanded the field by working with color and fully formed shapes instead of flat cut-out shapes.

“A lot of times, I will finish a piece and think to myself…I like the direction in that. I like the tone. I like some of the new things I tried. But I would like to try a different approach,” shares Davis. ” This leads to and often becomes my next piece.”

“My more mature work is inspired by painters and sculptors I admire and learn from,” Davis says. “Playing constantly with color and form is the greatest joy in my life. And it is endless.”

 

VIEW THE SHOW VIRTUALLY

 

Click below to see our complete collection of this artist’s works.

Mark Davis

Click below to read more about this artist, process, inspiration, and background.

Mark Davis

 

INSPIRE – A Fundraiser for Real Men Wear Pink of Maine 2022

Posted on by Maine Art

When October comes to Maine, confetti-like leaves and frosted pumpkins find their way into everyone’s hearts and minds. The colors red, orange, and yellow often take center stage, but not for John Spain and Maine Art Hill. For Spain and many of his staff and artists, it’s all about The Pink. 

“October, for us, is about breast cancer awareness and the Real Men Wear Pink Campaign sponsored by the American Cancer Society. Yes, I have donned a bright pink unitard completed with a cape and mask to become Real Man and raise money for this worthy cause. Yes, I have stood on red rock cliffs, crossed Lake Powell on a ferry boat, and spray painted the message in a mural in Texas,” laughs Spain. “However, my favorite part of my efforts is the annual art show featuring many of our artists who also support this incredible foundation.”

This year the show is called INSPIRE.

“It’s not about me inspiring others to donate or Real Men of Maine inspiring people to get involved and educated. It’s about them. It’s about the fighters, the ones who have conceded the fight, and the ones who still fight every damn day. These men and women are the inspiration. This show and this campaign is a thank you for being the amazing people they are and inspiring the rest of us to be better, to do better,” explains Spain. “We all need to inspire each other. Collectively it’s what makes us great.”

INSPIRE is just that, a collective way to make a difference. As always, the fabulous and talented artists who contribute to this show make it such a success. Twenty percent of all sales go back to Real Men of Maine. This campaign has come together to help fight this fight and often provides a bit of a rest when needed most.

“We need to do this in any way we can,” says Spain. “This is my way.”

Be it a purchase of a painting or sculpture, a five-dollar or a hundred-dollar donation, be it a wig, a ride to chemo, or a place to sleep near the hospital. Everything counts. Everything makes a difference. Inspire is a verb. Loosely, inspire means to fill someone with the confidence and desire to do. Let’s do.

INSPIRE – a multi-artist show with proceeds benefiting Real Men Wear Pink of Maine in conjunction with the American Cancer Society. The show will run the entire October at Pop-Up on Maine Art Hill at 5 Chase Hill Road in Kennebunk, Maine. Doors open every day at 10 AM.

CLICK THIS LINK  TO SEE THE SHOW IN ITS ENTIRETY

CLICK THIS LINK TO DONATE DIRECTLY TO THE CAUSE

 

Summer Silver Morning – Artist Insights from Jeffrey Fitzgerald

Posted on by Maine Art

“There is a lot of persuasion involved on each canvas,” says artist Jeffrey Fitzgerald.

“Some paintings begin with a drawing. Almost everything does or at least a blocked-out composition,” says Fitzgerald. ” I have been blocking in designs since I could draw a box. Some micro, others not, which means the scene in my head or now drawing begins immediately with a set of shapes; some are rocks, sea, or sky.”

Fitzgerald considers this a good group of his paintings. He uses the words “majesty unending” to describe this work and this show.  “For me, the canvas becomes energy, construct, and color,” he says. “Color is zenith and zeal. It’s my favorite luxury and workhorse.”

Fitzgerald is always stopping the water from breaching the dam with color. So he holds back, reserving with a limit. “Summer Silver Morning has just enough working brushstrokes, patterns that employ emotional charge and describe the landscape,” explains Fitzgerald. “It has color that’s evocative but local. I am building from life.”

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE SHOW VIRTUALLY

 

Click below to see our complete collection of Fitzgerald’s works.

Jeffrey Fitzgerald

Click below to read more about his process, inspiration, and background.

Jeffrey Fitzgerald

Something New – Artist Insights from Janis Sanders

Posted on by Maine Art

“Why is it that looking at old photos, the older they are, the younger you look?” laughs Janis Sanders when talking about creating new work. The relationship between painting and photography is tight—the more unique the artwork, the older the artist, and the more experience and skill we see come through in paint.

“The common denominator and unifying element of the works in this show are that each painting stands on its own due to the vastness of the number of new pieces I created for this significant event,” says Sanders. “In beginning a new painting, I frequently glimpse at a similar previous work for a quick slice of reference, an area of color I liked, or maybe a particular area of emphasis. But, with all good intentions, the new and young risk slipping quickly into the old—the highwire trembles.”  

From the start, Sanders very deliberately decided not to look back, not to look back at any paintings created, but for a determination that nothing is being repeated, at most the image at hand to be nuanced into a new view, a slightly different perspective from its now mere hours older cousin.   

“There is nothing to lose when you are living in the moment,” says Sanders. “I am liberated to put my best self, all of myself, into the path and story told in each new painting. It is like a story of the written word expressed in paint, in two-dimensional and near three-dimensional forms.”

So the intent was to stay in the moment, paint in the now, not in what he liked yesterday, to paint each new work as new as if he had never painted any other painting before this one.   

The Janis H. Sanders Solo Summer Show is at The Gallery at the Grand at Maine Art Hill, 1 Chase Hill Rd. The show runs through Thursday, September 29, and is open daily from 10 AM to 5 PM. FMI call 207-967-2803. The show can be viewed online at www.maine-art.com/shows.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE COMPLETE SHOW 

CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL AVAILABLE OF SANDERS WORKS

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT JANIS SANDERS

 

 

Finding Balance – A New Documentary About Mark Davis and His Work

Posted on by Maine Art

Click PLAY to watch this 7-minute video and learn more about sculptor Mark Davis and his process.

Davis is represented year-round at Maine Art Hill in Kennebunk, Maine. However, his show at The Gallery on Maine Art Hill runs from September 24 to October 13 at 14 Western Ave.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE SHOW VIRTUALLY

 

Click below to see our complete collection of this artist’s works.

Mark Davis

Click below to read more about this artist, process, inspiration, and background.

Mark Davis

 

Movement – A Two Man Show at The Gallery at Maine Art Hill

Posted on by Maine Art

Movement – A Two Man Show at The Gallery at Maine Art Hill

Two artists are coming together to celebrate movement in art, one in paint and one in sculpture.

This two-artist show features the works of painter Jeffrey Fitzgerald and sculptor Mark Davis. It opens at 10 AM on Saturday, September 24, for three weeks at The Gallery at Maine Art Hill in Kennebunk. The artists attend the opening reception from 5 to 7 PM on September 24.

“These two talented men capture movement in very different ways,” John Spain, owner of the gallery, says. “Fitzgerald uses acrylic paint on canvas to create the illusion of movement with broad strokes and organic shape. Where Davis bends and shapes metal to form three-dimensional mobiles that not only move with the slightest breeze but also have a feeling of flow that is felt even in stillness.”

Jeffery Fitzgerald, a Maine native, has his home and studio on the southern coast. Though his work leans toward the abstract, the ocean and coastline of his home are an integral part of his inspiration.

“I have been blocking in designs since I could draw a box. The scenes in my head, or now drawings, begin immediately with a set of shapes, whether rocks, sea, or sky, explains Fitzgerald. “My paintings are about the relationship between the marks and brushstrokes in color and its life on canvas.”

Mark Davis is a sculptor based near Boston. Like Fitzgerald, his work is abstract, with bits of realism dangling to create a familiar subject. However, two aspects come into play for Mark Davis. One is each piece’s actual craft and engineering, and the other is the overall concepts behind the body of work. As to the making of each piece, each piece is a small universe, using form and balance as an identity to achieve a fully three-dimensional sculpture that moves and changes as it does so.

” I am playing with many ideas, but there is always a tremendous debt to Alexander Calder. His love of playfulness, movement, and spatial relationships are the foundation of what I do,” says Davis. “From that foundation, I have expanded the field by working with color and fully formed shapes, as opposed to flat cut-out shapes. My more mature work is inspired by painters and sculptors I admire and learn from. Playing constantly with color and form is the greatest joy in my life. And it is endless.”

On Saturday, September 24, Mark Davis and Jeffrey Fitzgerald welcome you to visit this incredible show at The Gallery at Maine Art Hill. These two unique artists form a fabulous duo that shows through October 13. Both artists look forward to discussing their work and process at the opening reception from 5 to 7 PM on Saturday the 24th. The Gallery on Maine Art Hill is at 14 Western Avenue and is open at 10 AM FMI Maine-art.com or 967-2803.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE SHOW VIRTUALLY

 

Click below to see our complete collection of these artists’ works.

Jeffrey Fitzgerald

Mark Davis

Click below to read more about these artists, processes, inspirations, and backgrounds.

Jeffrey Fitzgerald

Mark Davis

 

When Color Changes Everything – Artist Insights from Janis Sanders

Posted on by Maine Art

“In my new process, the doors opened to experimentation with new colors, new color mixes, new color combinations, and bold, unusual perspectives,” shares artist Janis Sanders. “Daring. I was daring myself, daring the paint.”

“The work is full of colors playing with and within each other, layered, glazed as in Renaissance methods, in passages like jazz or blues riffs,” Sanders says. “Sometimes, one is small to another lacking. They need the tweak of some color in a particular place is the necessary gesture that completes and concludes this particular story.”

“There is no doubt that this approach evolved at this time for me from three distinct yet invariably interrelated sources,” explains Sanders. “First, as mentioned, this project’s vastness, scale, complexity, and diversity. From a slice of those old photographs, from the references of younger days, “Freedom’s just another word, for nothin’ left to lose.”

“The blank white canvas is nothin’. The freedom is in the paint, the application, the expression,” says Sanders. “My pictorial or visual intent is to show the range and intensity of what I see and perceive in Maine. One painting at a time, in a unified panoply panorama across time.“

The Janis H. Sanders Solo Summer Show is at The Gallery at the Grand at Maine Art Hill, 1 Chase Hill Rd. The show runs through Thursday, September 29, and is open daily from 10 AM to 5 PM. FMI call 207-967-2803. The show can be viewed online at www.maine-art.com/shows.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE COMPLETE SHOW 

CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL AVAILABLE OF SANDERS WORKS

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT JANIS SANDERS

 

Creating in Perfect Time – Artist Insight from Bethany Harper Williams

Posted on by Maine Art

Artist Bethany Harper Williams captures classic coastal settings in a way that leaves quite a bit to the imagination and the memory. She establishes a scene you have witnessed and more often been a part of.

“I am always looking for the abstract in nature – removing the details and using the large spaces to play with shapes, patterns, and colors,” says Williams. “I stay loose, not trying to recreate a specific place or person but to capture a moment or a memory. The viewer connects by relating to their memory.”

If there is one word to describe the work of Williams, it is joy. It is simple and real.  We hear it often as clients walk through the galleries, and she also hears it.

“People often tell me my work is happy or that it makes them smile. That is truly a reflection of me,” shares Williams. “I am in my happy place when I am painting, especially when I am painting memories of Maine.”

Many visitors also comment or question the completion time of a piece of work. Depending on the show, each artist changes this answer, which is often fluid. However, Williams has the perfect answer to this ongoing wondering.

“When asked about time spent on each canvas, I like to say it has taken me forty years of practice and experience to create each piece. This is true of pieces I’m proud of and still true of the ones that never make it, ” says Williams. “But honestly, time is something I’m never aware of when I’m painting. I often have multiple canvases at various stages on the go at once. Whenever I’m painting, I’m in my zone and lose all sense of time.”

There is still time to see this amazing show. The entire gallery exudes happiness and joy, and fun. Between Williams and the colorful characters of David Witbeck, it is hard not to smile while visiting. We look forward to seeing you. Remember, both artists are represented year-round at The Gallery on 14 Western Ave in Kennebunk.

 

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE SHOW VIRTUALLY

See our complete collection of each artist’s work by clicking the links below.

Bethany Harper Williams – Artist Page

To read more about each of these artists, click the links below

Bethany Harper Williams – Insights and Stories

 

The First Fisherman – Artist Insights from David Witbeck

Posted on by Maine Art

Artist David Witbeck has made many fishermen friends. He created them, literally and in art world terms, figuratively. They are his signature, whether it was the intention or not.

“When I started painting my fishermen fifteen or sixteen years ago, I made two sketches. One of a man holding a giant fish, and the other was of a man with a tiny fish in his gloved hands. At the time, I could keep the fish/fisherman thing going for fifty paintings, and then there would be a Last Fish painting,” shares Witbeck. “Several hundred fishermen later, I think I’ve said about all I can say about a guy holding a fish.”

“Slim Pickens may be a study for that last fish painting…although I still get requests for them, who knows?” says Witbeck. “Slim Pickens is also one of the very few paintings set on the deck of a fishing boat. So I may be able to play with that idea a little bit more. We shall see.”

So how does he keep it fresh? For Witbeck, it is all about the angle and perspective.

“Many people comment on my perspective, the low point of view. To change it up, I try to have a high point of view. We all know eye level can get a little boring,” shares Witbeck. “I can make a boring situation look dramatic by going low or high or using a wide angle up close.”

 

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE SHOW VIRTUALLY

See our complete collection of Witbeck’s work by clicking the link below.

David Witbeck – Artist Page

To read more about Witbeck, click the link below

David Witbeck – Insights and Stories

Evolving Into Blue – End of Summer Show with Janis Sanders

Posted on by Maine Art

 

As summer comes to a close, artist Janis H. Sanders remembers the sun and salt air through brilliant color and brushstrokes in his new show at The Gallery at the Grand at Maine Art Hill in Kennebunk. The show begins at ten in the morning on September 10. There is an artist reception from 5 – 7 that evening to meet and toast Sanders for his brilliant work, which celebrates the place we all love.

“Maine takes me by the hand and gently, quietly reaches in, touches my heart, my soul, tantalizing, whispering, seducing. She knows me, owns me,” Sanders tries to explain. “I watch the sunlight’s yellow dance tango on indigo waves and the seagulls floating free, suspended weightless on invisible air. I can hear the call on the wind. It is wild.”

Sanders is an accomplished oil painter who has won awards for his distinctive painting style, yet he continues to grow and change as an artist. He melds elements of American Realism with Modernism/Impressionism for a dramatically contemporary visual result.

“Funny, you’re evolving even when you think you’re not,” shares Sanders. “Each step is the destination. There is nothing bigger or grander. Color is still the fundamental, basic, and utmost expression in the tangible visual form of emotion and art.”

Sanders uses strong linear shapes of buildings and rooflines to stand solid in contrast to the natural curves of land and sea. All are illuminated by sunlight casting gently across the varied surfaces.

“Whether it be gentle waves rolling and lapping at the rocks where the lighthouse lights, in peril itself, though standing firm. It illuminates homeward for countless seafarers,” says Sanders,” to a pastoral seaside farm, a low tide sand beach, all are an open invitation for a warm summer afternoon stroll and suggest an idyllic life.”

Known for his vibrant blue, the dominant color in much of his work, a Sanders sky catches the eye and holds it. The other elements, be it the rocky coast of Maine or an old house at the water’s edge, are always added later.

“I begin each painting with the sky; to me, the most important element,” says Sanders. “The sky is light. We are immersed in it. It’s the key to determining the entire atmosphere of the painting. Visually and practically, it provides the backdrop for the other objects in view,” says Sanders. “I paint those blue skies, each new and fresh from the gut.”

The Janis H. Sanders Solo Summer Show opens at The Gallery at the Grand at Maine Art Hill, 1 Chase Hill Rd, on Saturday, September 10, at 10 AM. Again there will be an Artist Reception that evening from 5–7 PM with the artist in attendance. The show runs through Thursday, September 29, and is open daily from 10 AM to 5 PM. FMI call 207-967-2803. The show can be viewed online beginning Wednesday, September 7, at www.maine-art.com/shows.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE COMPLETE SHOW 

CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL AVAILABLE OF SANDERS WORKS

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT JANIS SANDERS