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.