“The process and results are a bit like palette knife marks, except I have much more control, and if I don’t like the piece I’ve just added to the painting, I simply remove it,” shares Kohler. “I have a window of time before the glue permanently adheres the paper to the canvas, and even if I am beyond that window, I still have the option to continue gluing more paper to cover up any mistakes I’ve made. “
Category: *The Gallery at the Grand
The Paint Does All the Hard Work, and the Paper Gets All the Credit – Artist Insights from Ryan Kohler
Each component added is like a revelation, revealing something that wasn’t as defined as before—the hull of a boat, a bird’s wing, the shadow’s edge. Sometimes I walk back and forth from my easel after each piece, carefully observing how the painting changes from a distance.
Painting with Paper – Ryan Kohler’s Solo Summer Show
The result of this work is similar to palette knife oil paintings. Parallel with distinct planes of color and various shapes layered over each other. For Kohler, the paper’s advantage is the workability, clarity of color, and the ability to work in small areas without the risk of the muddiness that can sometimes come with an oil painting.
The Beach – Insights from Ellen Welch Granter
“These enormous and heavy snail shells, called moon snails, collect in specific places on the beach. I love their sun-bleached exteriors juxtaposed with their deep, darkly colored interiors,” shares Granter. “However, be careful picking them up. Hermit crabs also love to make their homes inside.”
Not Always and Artist – Insights from Ellen Welch Granter
Over the years, Granter’s need for change continues throughout her career as an artist. She explores from the love of her bird to turning an ordinary buoy into a work of art. She shares her childhood hatred of being on the water but the love being near it with each piece she creates, no matter the subject.
Ellen Welch Granter Solo Show 2022
“A walk on the beach is different from a walk anywhere else. The sky is big at the beach. I love to see what is coming, approaching fog banks, contrails of planes arriving from the Atlantic, or mad flocks of gannets diving for fish,” says Granter. “As a painter, I am torn between looking down at the random compositions of the snarled seaweed, driftwood, and shells in the wrack line and looking up at the surf and skies for birds and clouds.”
The Dory – Artists Insights from Craig Mooney
I painted this dory in third grade,” laughs Mooney. “It’s funny that I am still painting it. I am always trying to reimagine or revisit it.”
Isn’t It Grand – A New Show Gallery on Maine Art Hill
What better way to fill a “Grand” gallery than with solo artists like Craig Mooney, Ellen Welch Granter, Ryan Kohler, and Janis H. Sanders. Four solo shows in one fabulously redesigned gallery at 1 Chase Hill Road in Kennebunk.
Janis Sanders 2022 Solo Show – Save the Date
Janis Sanders is rounding out the end of the summer season on Maine Art Hill. Some will come searching for his classic blue and yellow palette, and others will be searching for the surprises Sanders always delivers.