The Canvas
Not the Bookish Kind
THE CANVAS - May 2013 Thinking Cap 3 (Math Bonnet for Ada Lovelace), 2013, handmade paper, letterpress, embroidery, handspun paper thread, old book pages, 12" x 7" x 8" (excluding display stand)
By Britta Konau
The work of Crystal Cawley, Kate Cheney Chappell, and Rebecca Goodale show that artists' books often transcend the traditional codex, becoming quite sculptural while still retaining the uses of elements of the book.
Crystal Cawley
Painter + Place: Katahdin, Stonington, and Monhegan
THE CANVAS - April 2013 Frederic Edwin Church (United States, 1826–1900), Mount Katahdin from Millinocket Camp, 1895, oil on canvas, 26" x 42"
By Carl Little
These icons of the Maine landscape cast a special spell on their artist admirers.
Portland Museum of Art, Maine. Gift of Owen W. and Anna H. Wells in Memory of Elizabeth B. Noyce, 1998.96
The Figure: Real & Imagined
THE CANVAS - March 2013
By Britta Konau
David Graeme Baker, Scott Kelley, and Devin Dobrowolski are highly skilled painters who depict the human figure realistically but not photo-realistically—observation and imagination play equally important roles in their work. Characters and the scenes they inhabit conflate reality and fiction to suggest ambiguous narratives of larger symbolic significance.
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Gestural Memories
THE CANVAS - February 2013 Emergence and Dissipation SW 2012-#1 (Asheville #1), 2012, graphite, crayon, and acrylic on canvas, 10" x 11". Collection of Carol Heft, New York
By Britta Konau
Painters Steven Aimone, Sandra Quinn, and Rose Umerlik use richly layered color and line for intuitive expression. Reflecting an idiom of gestural abstraction, each of the artists' works visibly contains its history of making.
The Stuff of Tales
THE CANVAS - January 2013
By Britta Konau
With painting styles that differ widely, Nancy Morgan Barnes, William B. Hoyt, and Tollef Runquist all consider still lifes to be important parts of their oeuvre. Their work in the genre is of a special kind: narrative and personal. Using objects of private significance in their arrangements, the artists tell more or less transparent stories but always leave enough interpretive room for viewers to imagine narratives of their own.
Writer's Block, 2012, oil on canvas, 16.5" x 18"
Nancy Morgan Barnes
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Material Permutation
THE CANVAS - December 2012
By Britta Konau
Diana Cherbuliez, Ellen Wieske, and Anna Hepler create sculptures using materials not usually considered art media in intriguing ways. Whether it is common plastic sheeting, human hair, or simple wire, the artists imaginatively transform the materials to express deep meaning.
The House as Painterly Opportunity
THE CANVAS - November, 2012 Out Back, 2012, acrylic on canvas, 16" x 20"
by Britta Konau
Exploring the symbolism of houses in the works of Paul V. Bonneau, Peter Poskas, and Mary Alice Treworgy.
Paul V. Bonneau
Basic Landscape Exquisitely Refined
THE CANVAS - October 2012
by Britta Konau
Lois Dodd | Martha Burkert | Jacobus Baas
Lois Dodd, Martha Burkert, and Jacobus Baas are largely landscape painters who simplify and condense what they see into refined, energetic compositions. Additionally, Dodd looks for geometric shapes, Burkert takes great liberties with local colors, and Baas reduces descriptive brushwork. In this particular selection of images, the artists reflect on the seasonal transition into winter. Melting Snow, 2011, oil on linen, 6" x 6"
Abstract Echoes
CANVAS - September 2012 Now's the Time, 2012, acrylic on wood panel, 14" x 14"
by Britta Konau
Painters Jaap Eduard Helder, George Lloyd, and Robert S. Neuman work in abstractions, and yet the world—and the artists' intuitive responses to it—deeply inform their images. Their works are profoundly personal art devoted to investigations of sensory and emotional experience.
Jaap Eduard Helder
Collecting Time
THE CANVAS - August 2012
by Britta Konau
Tillman Crane | Lisa Tyson Ennis | Claire Seidl
The word "photography" derives from Greek and means "drawing with light." Light, though, is not the only element essential to the medium, whether it's traditional or digital photography. The time it takes to gather light has become a major artistic focus for photographers Tillman Crane, Lisa Tyson Ennis, and Claire Seidl. For them, time becomes enmeshed with the representational subject matter—and, in some works, it becomes the subject itself. Photographer Claire Seidl
Ethereal Drama
THE CANVAS - July 2012
By Britta Konau
Kathleen Galligan | Craig Mooney | Holly Ready
Painters Kathleen Galligan, Craig Mooney, and Holly Ready follow in the footsteps of many highly accomplished landscape painters who have gazed skyward in search of inspiration. Most notably, the British artist John Constable (1776–1837) painted cloud studies from observation that have been interpreted as expressive studies of mood. While the three contemporary artists work from their informed imaginations, they too have imbued the skies soaring over their expansive landscapes with atmospheric emotional drama.
Sunset Valley, Craig Mooney, 2011, oil on canvas, 48” x 48”
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Eloquent Observation
THE CANVAS- June 2012
By Britta Konau
Barbara Applegate | Stephanie Bartron-Miscione | Tina Ingraham
The earliest known still lifes were found in ancient Egyptian tombs. The depicted objects were believed to materialize in the afterlife of the deceased. Over the centuries since, the still-life tradition has developed an intricate iconography of meaning and is still very much alive today. Painters Barbara Applegate, Stephanie Bartron-Miscione, and Tina Ingraham are part of a long line of artists working to reveal the secret life of objects.
Mixed Use
THE CANVAS- May 2012
by Britta Konau
Tom Butler | Ben Potter | Kate Russo
Tom Butler, Ben Potter, and Kate Russo are three young artists who use media, often of a non-artistic kind, in surprising ways. Their approaches include repurposing and appropriating found objects and mundane materials for their own creative ends. Russo and Butler are married, and—not surprisingly—their work shows some affinities.
Maine Too
THE CANVAS-March 2012
By Britta Konau
Melonie Bennett | David Brooks Stess | Thomas Birtwistle
Photographers Melonie Bennett, David Brooks Stess, and Thomas Birtwistle document what many people may consider the “true Maine” that often remains hidden from view. At the same time, their documentary impulse is tempered and strengthened by their aesthetic eye and personal involvement. The work of all three photographers is characterized by a deep empathy that is augmented by a great sense of humor and appreciation for community.
Melonie Bennet, Wyatt Watching Saturday Morning Cartoons with Jack, 2011, gelatin silver print, 13.5” x 19”
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Telling Stories with Style
THE CANVAS-Jan/Feb 2012
Mary Bourke | David Cedrone | Sheep Jones
Painters Mary Bourke, David Cedrone, and Sheep Jones draw on the worlds of nature, memory, and imagination to suggest narratives of universal appeal. Their highly individualistic styles make use of patterning and shallow pictorial depth to give their images a deliberately decorative touch.
Mary Bourke In the Garden, 2011, acrylic on birch panel, 30” x 30” Private Collection
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