“I’m trying to work both sides of the room for this series of work. Some of the work is more detailed than I typically do, and some are more abstract,” explains Mooney. “What ties them together is the need for the painting to have some drama and mystery.”
Tag: Artist Insights
Janis Sanders – Three Views of Maine
“Maine takes me by the hand and gently, quietly reaches in, touches my heart, my soul, tantalizing, whispering, seducing,” says artist Janis Sanders. “She knows me, owns me.”
Bethany Harper Williams – Three Views of Maine
“I have always been captivated by lobster boats, and lobster boats are ubiquitous in Maine, providing me with lots of inspiration. There is a charm to the shapes and bright colors that give each boat a unique personality. I should call these collages portraits as I’m trying to portray the character of the individual boats.”
Liz Hoag – Three Views of Maine
“This piece is more of a study of undergrowth. But, again, it’s the late afternoon sun of late winter/early spring, which I love. The darks and the golds against each other are a great vehicle for showing depth in the seeming tangle of branches, and the dark greens offer a soft and subtle background to the brighter happenings in front. I enjoy the complex movement of the branches and how typical it is of what I see off to the side of any path I walk in Maine. There’s so much going on right off the path.”
Ellen Granter – Three Views of Maine
“When choosing three images for this show, I thought of how variable any day in Maine can be. Crystal clear, sunny, and hot one day, then foggy and mysterious the next. So I decided all three of my submissions could be beach-based and still represent how I see Maine.”
David Witbeck – Three Views of Maine
“There is a misty painting with some buoys in the foreground in this piece. Bouys are one of the staples of Maine clichés. It’s impossible to avoid clichés, but I think if I’m going to succumb to them, I should try to improve on them. The first buoy-in-the-foreground-boat-in-the-background painting I did was 72 x 48 and was the client’s idea. I thought she was nuts at first, but she was insistent. I was surprised how well it came out.”
All of Maine – Artist Insights from Liz Hoag
“I also like to interact with local scenes; wooded paths, Maine’s beautiful coastline, or working waterfronts. Whether it’s a coastal scene or a woodland scene,” she explains. “I love the peace that my painting style brings.”
A One Woman Show – Artist Liz Hoag at Maine Art Hill
“I use the woods as a starting point for an abstract idea. Then, by intentionally cropping the view, I consciously retain a substantive structural focal point within the composition,” shares Hoag. “I use other elements that guide the audience to look around the space and return to the focal point. The forms from nature I choose to retain are weighted and colored in a way that makes the viewer feel sure of their footing, feel balanced, feel comfortable.”
The Therapeutic Power of Water – Artist Insights from Ellen Welch Granter
“Secretly…it is about the effect of light on the water. Sparkling or leaden, transparent or opaque, glossy or flat, the water’s surface is always mesmerizingly beautiful,” shares Granter. “I tried to convey the sense of peace that the water surface inspires with deeply saturated color fields. Of course, the birds are nearby.”
Big Water – Artist Insights from Jill Matthews
“I decided to work much larger for this show. It’s a bit of a challenge for me. I can’t focus on one spot of the canvas for too long. After all, it’s so large I have to constantly be backing up, taking in all in, and reworking things,” says Matthews. “I can move around a big piece differently than I can a smaller one. It’s free, but I still have to focus. So it’s a little mix of both.”