Pop-Up Artist Christina Vincent

Featured Artist Christina Vincent is the guest artist for Pop-Up beginning August 27 to September 2. Read on to learn more about her inspiration, her process, and her work.

AUGUST 27 to SEPTEMBER 2

Designed and crafted beautifully to live beautifully. 

“My mission is to create innovative pieces coupled with artistic applications while highlighting the beauty of natural wood. I intend for each piece to be versatile; useful and lasting, while intriguing interest and engagement.  

Each piece is handmade in a small scale wood studio. I strive to use a palette of native hardwoods. Every piece of rough timber is hand selected for its unique qualities such as color, pattern, and texture. Embracing the unique characters and colors of each material is an integral part of the design.  

I draw my inspiration from the vast beauty of nature that surrounds me. This inspiration can be seen in the angles, tapers, and design details but also in the joinery, how each piece of wood meets to create form. These unique details make each piece truly original to enjoy for years to come.

For more info about Vincent and her work, follow this link to her website.

christinamvincent.com

Let us know if you’re coming to Christina Vincents’s show on Facebook!

Drawn to the Water – Insights from Artist Bethany Harper Williams

“I am drawn to the water. It is what inspires and energizes me. The colors, the sound, the smells, the calm and the movement – it overwhelms my senses and gives me energy,” says artist Bethany Harper Williams. “When I’m painting water, I get that same energy.”

Bethany loves what the Maine landscape has to offer, both the physical perspective as well as a visual perspective. The beautiful beaches and water provide an area to play and create beautiful memories while also inspiring to capture these memories and make them last forever.

“My work explores the shared emotion many of us have to our memories on the beach. As much as the image must feel real, I don’t want to get caught up in the reality of the image. I want the viewer to take a second, or third, or fourth look,” says Williams. “I want them to discover a shape or a pattern and see the whimsy in the painting that may not be visible at first glance or from a distance.”

The expanse of beach and water allows a play with texture, shape, and color while abstracting the elements. Then Williams uses the people or the boats to put it into context. She creates the unexpected, adding little circles or squares as a reminder that this is not a photo, but inspiration from a moment in time. “Sometimes when I’m painting I get too tight, trying to be too real and I have to step back and loosen up,” she says.

With the Beach Days series, Williams never knows where the people are going to be on the painting until she starts painting them. “I populate the canvas with these little gems of color following where my palette knife takes me,” she explains. “I intend to try and get the vitality and character of the people through very simple but deliberate brushstrokes. It is as if my hand dances across the canvas as I place each person, composing a rhythm of color.”

Bethany Harper Williams is part of a three artist show at Shows on Maine Art Hill. This gallyery is open every day from 10 am to 5 pm. It runs through Labor Day. You can find Bethany Harper Williams’s work year round at Maine Art Hill at the main gallery.

To learn more about Williams and her work  CLICK HERE

To see her entire available collection at Maine Art Hill CLICK HERE

To see the virtual show in its entirety CLICK HERE

By Land, Sea, and Sky a New Collection by Artist Claire Bigbee

Pictures are spiritual beings. The soul of the painter lives within them ~ Emil Nolde

“My show is about the sky, land, and water. It is an exploration of using color and canvas to create an expression of three of the four elements. These same elements influence so much of what we see and feel around us every day,” shares Claire Bigbee about her 2019 collection at Shows at Maine Art Hill.

Silverlining is the sailboat that charts out of Perkins Cove in Ogunquit. Bigbee is friends with Capitan, Jack Gordon and his wife, Marie Christine. It is the vessels 80th birthday, and this was an excellent reason to use her for these paintings. Over the years Bigbee has sailed with them many times. From just a friendly gathering to a wedding, this vessel always provides a memorable and enjoyable experience.

“My methodology in this body of work is about expressing my feelings while sailing on the Silverlining. Through the Push and Pull Theory and using color, I create ‘pulsating, luminous, and open surfaces that emanate a mystic light,'” shares Bigbee. “I studied the concept of Push and Pull or Plasticity of Color in Painting at a few workshops. I have also studied The Hans Hoffman Approach with Robert Henry and Selina Tariff at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown.”

Hoffman was one of the most important figures of postwar American art and renowned as an influential teacher for generations of artists. He aimed to create pulsating, luminous, and open surfaces that emanate a mystic light, following his most profound insight into the experience of life and nature. Hoffman was Bigbee’s primary influence and inspiration for this show.

“Plasticity is not an easy concept to wrap your head around. Color can exist and define space by way of its hue and intensity. Its relationship to the colors around it,” explains Bigbee. “This new collection of my work is about brooding seascapes, simplified shapes, extreme distance, and using a brilliant palette.”

For Bigbee, inspiration is less about the view and more about the spiritual presence. Her goal is for the viewer to feel something other than just another landscape.

“My paintings become evocative like a haunting awareness of a presence within the view,” says Bigbee. “I strive for the feeling of aloneness we sometimes feel in life. Yet there is also peace when we sense that we are not alone; that is what nature gives back to me; it’s a dialogue.”

 

Claire Bigbee’s entire collection can be found on Maine Art Hill year-round. Her summer show is at Shows at the top of Chase  Hill Road. It will run through Labor Day.  All galleries are open every day at 10 am.

Encaustic Art – Insights from Artist Kathy Ostrander Roberts

In addition to being thrilled to be a part of Maine Art Hill’s August show, Kathy Ostrander Roberts is excited to be reviving an ancient art.


”Encaustic paint is created by combining beeswax, resin, and pigment with heat. This ancient medium has been around since the fifth century with a renaissance of followers in the last decade,” explains Ostrander Roberts. “It is unlike any art ever experienced. I encourage viewers to touch the surface. It has a texture that begs a touch.”

She also encourages viewers to get up close and see the surface of the wax. Whether the canvas is carved, polished, raised, or smooth, each is delightfully dimensional.

Maine Waters I by Kathy Ostrander Roberts Maine Waters II by Kathy Ostrander Roberts

“Having worked for years in dry pigment in the form of pastels, I find using a blow torch very freeing compared to paint. It is not only rhythmical but can be meditative as well,” says Ostrander Roberts. “The outcome is never certain, and the result is always engaging.”

The goal is to capture the essence of Maine’s coastal waters. Kathy wants those hope who see her work to think of bodies of water and how they ebb and flow. Whether it is an exploration of the waters of a dark river like in Acqua Oscura or the surf crashing to shore like in Breakers and Waves, there is something magical in the movement of wax and resin.

“There are sometimes as many as twenty layers of wax in each painting. I use pottery tools to carve into the surface to lend a 3-D effect,” explains Ostrander Roberts. “I also try to embed a vintage piece of ephemera, ship captain’s letters, photos, mica, bark, or whatever inspires me into most paintings.”

These works replicate the movement of Maine waters, an element to which Kathy is inexplicably drawn.

 

 

 

 

 

We welcome you to wander Maine Art Hill in Kennebunk, Maine. All of our galleries are open at 10 am seven days a week. Shows on Maine Art Hill is featuring the work of Kathy Ostrander Roberts as well as Bethany Harper Williams and Claire Bigbee through Labor Day weekend. 

If you can not make it to the show, please see it online by click here and taking the virtual tour.

To see all of Kathy Ostrander Roberts available works visit her Artist Page.
Kathy Ostrander – Artist Page

Wind, Water and Waves – A Summer Show at Maine Art Hill

A woman is a full circle. Within her is the power to create, nurture, and transform. ~ Diane Mariechild

Shows on Maine Art Hill is hosting a three-artist show, featuring the works of artists, Claire Bigbee, Bethany Harper Williams, and Kathy Ostrander Roberts. This show begins Saturday, August 10 and runs through September 2. 

“Once again we have brought together three talented, local, female artists,” says John Spain, owner of Maine Art Hill in Kennebunk. “As diverse as these three women are in style, the culmination of color and beauty this show exudes is nothing short of stunning.”

Three rooms, three artists. Each has a distinct and separate space at the gallery on the hill where they are featuring their new works.  It is the inspiration found in the local landscapes that make a fluid connection between these artists. The blues and greens of their subjects bring the outdoors inside. Boats and buoys, water, wind and waves, the walls are filled with the fantastic beauty of the southern Maine coast. 

Bethany Harper Williams, an oil painter who splits her time between Toronto, Ontario and Biddeford Pool, continues to capture the beaches and harbors at their very best. 

“I love the Maine landscape and all it has to offer, from a physical perspective as well as a visual perspective,” says Harper Williams. “The beautiful beaches and water provide us an area to play and create wonderful memories. They also provide me with the inspiration to capture these memories and make them last forever.”

The local waters have also impacted artist Claire Bigbee. She lives and works in Wells, Maine and studied graphic design and painting at the Maine College of Art in Portland. Even though she is from Massachusetts originally, she quickly found solace in being a local Maine girl.

“My show is about the sky, land, and water and is an exploration of using color and canvas to create this expression,” says Bigbee. “The elements influence so much of what we see and feel around us.”

Kennebunkport artist, Kathy Ostrander Roberts takes one element even further. Water. She works in the ancient medium of encaustic. She is combining beeswax, powdered pigments, and dammar resin into her ocean-inspired paintings. She then applies this to birch wood panel. 

“I am trying to capture the essence of Maine’s coastal waters,” says Ostrander Roberts. “I hope that all who see my work, think of bodies of water and how they ebb and flow.”

If you love the coast and want to experience art that genuinely celebrates this area, this is the show to visit.

Shows on Maine Art Hill welcomes the community to a free Artist Reception on Saturday, August 10 from 5 – 7 pm to kick off this three-week-long show. Meet the artists and share in the beauty they have come together to create. Shows on Maine Art Hill at 10 Chase Hill Road in Kennebunk is open every day from 10 am to 5 pm. FMI 207-967-0049 or www.maine-art.com

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE SHOW

When Big Canvases Get Small – Insights from Artist Craig Mooney

When most of our clients think about Craig Mooney, they think big. He is known for his large canvases that barely can contain the New England skies and shores. When he showed up for this solo show with fourteen 12 x 12 pieces, we knew something fun was about to happen.

“The little ones are studies in reverse,” says Mooney. “They are complete paintings, just small.”

Usually, an artist makes a study to see how the colors are going to play out. Then they scale up. Mooney has taken a large painting he had already completed and scaled-down.

 Breezy Bay Islands 60x60

“Regarding the 12 x 12’s, most cases, I already know they work large, but what I don’t know is how they work small,” admits Mooney. “This was a real challenge for me. I paint large, it what I do. Even my brushes are large. When I have so much space, I can solve problems easily. Here, I am almost claustrophobic. I have to say a lot in a little space. The small pieces have to be as compelling as the large pieces. For me, that is hard to do.”

Breezeway 12x12

The islands in the big and beautiful 60 x 60, Breezy Bay Islands are found again in the smaller Breezeways. Likewise, is the Dory.

Dory 12x12

“I have been painting these boats since I was a child. They continue to reappear throughout my life and career,” shares Mooney. “Beach Shack is a return to that childhood theme. Whether the dory represents safety or escape, I am unsure. They are just always with me.”

Beach Shack 42x42

We welcome you to wander around Shows on Maine Art Hill up at 10 Chase Hill Road. It is a quiet and relaxed space that allows the viewer time and peace to absorb the work and the stories. Mooney’s Show runs until August 8. Visit from 10 am to 5 pm every day. FMI call 207-967-0049 or visit CRAIG MOONEY”S ONLINE SHOW to see the show virtually.

To read more stories and insights from Mooney, visit our blog posts that feature him by clicking this link.

CRAIG MOONEY – STORIES AND INSIGHTS

To see our entire collection of available works visit his Artist Page.

CRAIG MOONEY – ARTIST PAGE

Artist Julia M. Doughty

“I am a stone scavenger and an iron hound. Since I was a child, rusty iron remnants discarded by past lives, have lured me. Old beds and cars and other rotting, wonderful iron carcasses call out to me. They are rich in history and speak of, perhaps, a simpler way of life. I love the color and texture of the rust, especially when combined with stone and wood. I love that nature has changed these objects in its process of reclaiming them. After I find these special objects, I continue their metamorphosis in my studio. Sometimes I know right away how I will incorporate them into my sculpture and sometimes it takes years. “

“Mindful scavenging insists that I step outside of myself to immerse in and study nature. Its beauty and the patterns found in every living or dormant thing, never cease to spark within me, a deep and soulful appreciation. This solitary time feeds me with renewed passion and strength which sees me through my artistic process in the studio and thus, my journey as an artist. Each piece I create is unique. They continue to evolve alongside the artist in me. I am most passionate about my seahorse and lobster series. It amuses me that the lobster is also a scavenger.”

Originally from Nova Scotia, Julia has now lived in Maine for 15 years. Her art has always been impassioned by the sea and in its proximity, she feels alive and creatively complete. With a BFA from The Nova Scotia College of Art & Design, Julia’s journey in textile, graphics, and costume design has led her to the joyful discovery of ‘found object’ sculpture. Every aspect of her creative process, from scavenging the woods and coastlines to hours spent in her studio, brings her profound peace. Julia is drawn to the elements of iron (the rustier the better), copper, stone, and wood and strives to balance them in her sculpture. She has had several solo shows as well as group shows in Maine and in Nova Scotia. 

Below are several links to learn more about Doughty and see all of her available works.

Julia M. Doughty – Artist Page

Julia M. Doughty- THE BLOG – Artist Insights and Stories

THE CHOICE SHOW  2020

 

New Techniques and Tools – Insights from Artist Craig Mooney

Artist Craig Mooney opened his Summer Solo Show at Shows on Maine Art Hill on July 20.  In less than twenty-four hours, almost half of the show’s pieces have sold. 

John Spain, the owner of Maine Art Hill, says, “It was fabulous. The works Mooney brought to this event are spectacular. I knew it. He knew it. The question always comes down to if the public recognizes it.”

They did. Both collectors and people seeing Mooney’s work for the first time fell in love. The most intriguing and most commented-on part of this show is its diversity. From the size to the subject there is a fantastic variety of work. Each is, without a doubt, a Mooney, but all hold something just a little unique, including a collection works that he has created using a new technique. 

Both Sandbar Light and Shadow and Above it All are lovely examples of this. He has continued with his big brushes but has added in a trowel of sorts to his repertoire. 

“The tool is something I picked up at the hardware store, not from the art supply catalog,” says Mooney. “It is a large flat metal tool.  It reminds me of something you might use for bricklaying or plastering. I love it.”

Mooney uses this to create a more geometric design, both in subject as well as the paint itself. The windswept skies and seas and stunning green islands and marshes have a new and exciting appearance that forces the viewer to lean in. 

“With solid and smooth strokes, I can create movement with the trowel,” explains Mooney. “Done is successive strokes; it adds a little bit of texture that I have not been able to create with a brush.”

Earth Meets Sky is another example of this work. 

“When I work big, the paint has to be compelling. It can’t just be an object or a place,” says Mooney. “It is not about how well I can paint. I want to show something interesting, the history and the mystery.”

This show is full of Craig Mooney stories.  We invite you all to see it for yourself. Shows on Maine Art Hill is open every day 10 – 5. Mooney’s show will run until August 8. FMI call 207-967-0049 or visit CRAIG MOONEY SOLO SHOW 2019

To read more stories and insights from Mooney, visit our blog posts that feature him by clicking this link.

CRAIG MOONEY – STORIES AND INSIGHTS

To see our entire collection of available works visit his Artist Page.

CRAIG MOONEY – ARTIST PAGE

Pop-Up Lynn Ericson

Featured Artist, Lynn Ericson is the guest artist for Pop-Up beginning Tuesday, June 23 to Monday, June 29. Read on to learn more about her inspiration, her process, and her work.

June 23 to June 29

As a graphic designer, Lynn Ericson spent years capturing the essence of a product or service and communicating that message with immediacy. She has traded designing logos and advertising campaigns on the computer for acrylic paint, but the goal of her painting is very much the same: capturing the essence and making a connection.

She attempts to communicate the feeling of a scene that captures her attention. She is struck by the blueness of a coastal cove, the liveliness of a field of flowers or the intensity of a sky. Often it’s the memory of a color combination or the strong composition in a landscape that first attracts her.

Though she starts with photos, the painting takes on a life of its own, and the variety of the Maine seasons and the lushness of the French landscape are endless sources of inspiration. Lynn has a B.A. degree in English Literature from the University of Maine and an M.F.A from Rochester Institute of Technology. She lives in Hollis, Maine.

For more info about Ericson and her work, follow this link to her website.

lynnericson-fine-art

Let us know if you’re coming to L.K. Sleat’s show on Facebook!

 

New England’s Perfection – Artist Craig Mooney as Solo Summer Show

“It is a place only I have been. It is the epitome of New England’s perfection. It is a piece and a part of each beach, mountain, or ocean I have visited. It is where I am at peace, but it is wherever you find happiness,” says artist Craig Mooney.

We are happy to be hosting artist, Craig Mooney for his one-man show beginning July 20th at Shows on Maine Art Hill. This show will run for three weeks and contain, not only his classic seascapes and landscapes but also many fabulous new works. 

Born and raised in Manhattan, Mooney left the city in 1988 to attend Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts, where he received a fine arts degree in 1992. After so many years in the city, he has now found a quieter place to live and work, Vermont.

“All the places I have called home have inspired me, my native New York, the mountains and farms near my studio in Stowe, Vermont, and the beaches of Maine and Massachusetts,” says Mooney. “In all my work, it is always the sense of atmosphere I am after.”

In Mooney’s upcoming show,  he has a variety of newer themes as well as older ones. The romantic themes of weather and storms that were familiar to the 18th and 19th-centuries seascape painters have always influenced his work, but this show will be more. 

“In the past, I tried to capture a ‘moment in time’ which evolved into works more about symbolism. The sea and land, the sailboats in the distance, these are more metaphors for a more in-depth dialogue with the subject,” explains Mooney. “This way, the paintings can be entered by anyone.” 

All the works for this show are done in oil, and some pieces are quite large, exceeding sixty inches, which is classic Mooney. The hook this year, he is also experimenting with small 12 x 12 inch works.

“I want to capture the essence of my inspirations in smaller works. Can the vast skies and landscapes be felt in miniature? I have proven they can,” Mooney says. “There will be a few more surprises, though. I have departed from past shows with the inclusion of a variety of new subjects – seals, waterfowl, and different wildlife of coastal Maine. It is going to be fun.”

Mooney loves his studio in Vermont, but with all the time he spends in Kennebunk and the weekends spent with family on Cape Cod, he has become a “coastal painter.” He is not sure when it happened, but it is part of who is, so the new works are a fascinating new addition.

John Spain, owner of Maine Art Hill, notes, ”I am always thrilled to have a solo show with Craig Mooney. His talent and ability to capture Maine and its beauty never cease to amaze me. With the addition of small works and new themes, this show is a must visit.”

Mooney looks forward to discussing his work and his process during his Artist Reception on Saturday, July 20th, from 5 to 7 PM.  This show runs through Thursday, August 8th. Shows on Maine Art Hill is at 10 Chase Hill Road and is open from 10 AM to 5 PM daily. FMI visit www.maine-art.com or call  207-967-0049.

Virtual Tour will be available the evening of Friday, July 19th. Click here to view.

To read more stories and insights from Craig Mooney follow this link

To see our entire collection of Mooney’s work follow this link