JUDY SCHUBERT

Ashley 2, oil on canvas, 10” x 8” 

Schubert captures the beauty she sees in the faces and places around her. Her works express vitality with notes of color and attention to light. After a real estate and sales career, she began sketching family members. She graduated to oils and continues to paint portraiture, along with figurative, landscape, and still life works. Commissions are a large part of her portfolio. Schubert, a Virginia native, raised her family there before living in New York City for several years. She now resides in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and paints in her Kittery studio. 

DOUGLAS H. CAVES SR.

Salt Marsh at Wells, Maine, acrylic on canvas, 24” x 36”

Caves is a lifelong fan of excursions into the fields, woods, and hills, and onto the coastal shores of states from Maine to Rhode Island. These journeys provide him with fresh insight and the simple joy of being in the moment. He explores how to reveal the sense of wonder he feels in a given place in a given moment through the act of applying a paint-loaded brush to a stretched canvas. He wants to share how the interplay of romantic and stark and dark and light flows in a constant mysterious dance of change and shifting balances that convey meaning.

ANNE HEYWOOD

Leaping Rabbit, pastel, 13.5” x 21.5” 

Heywood is known for creating moods and feelings with her realistic emotional style. She paints modern and traditional landscapes, still lifes, and pet portraiture. Her work is appreciated for its sensitive creativity and color transitions, as well as its energy, reflecting her New England roots and the 12 years she lived in Italy. Heywood works summers at her Waldoboro studio and gallery, Artwork by A. Heywood, where she also holds her annual one-woman show every August. During the year, she can be found in her studio in East Bridgewater, Massachusetts. Her paintings can be found in national, international, corporate, and private collections.

BRENDA CIRIONI

Barn Series: West Wind, mixed media, 36” x 48” 

The artist’s paintings are quietly energetic and thought provoking. Her family home burned to the ground when she was 16, and the event is inspiring her most recent work. Her barn series depicts structures smoldering and walls that barely contain the heat, while others glow with warm light. While capturing the possibility of utter destruction, her paintings are also celebratory, bursting with color and regeneration. Cirioni graduated from School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and has exhibited at Attleboro Arts Museum, Danforth Art, deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Fitchburg Art Museum, and Berkshire Museum.

ANGIE B. BLEVINS

Hurricane Irene, oil on canvas, 12” x 12” 

Originally from Nebraska, Blevins has lived in Maine for more than 20 years. The views from her woodland studio provide her with continual inspiration and contentment as she works with watercolor, acrylic, oil, and ink. When she steps into the studio, she says it’s as if the busy hum of the outside world stops at the door. The different types of Maine’s landscapes inspire her as she uses her imagination, different mediums, and tools to create a variety of artwork. She says that making her living as an artist is not something she does—it’s who she is.

JENNIFER LITCHFIELD

Blue Water 2, acrylic on linen, 30” x 30” 

After living and painting in Maine for almost two decades, Litchfield makes work inspired by the intersection of land and sea. She is fascinated by the water’s edge, including the tides, rocks, and reflections, as well as the constant change. Blue Water 2 is one of an ongoing series of acrylic and oil paintings depicting the patterns and reflections seen in the waters of Maine’s harbors and bays.

JUDITH SCHUPPIEN

Buoy Shed, Bailey Island, oil on canvas, 24” x 24” 

Oil painter Schuppien grew up on the coast of Maine, in the downeast town of Milbridge. Family members were fishermen and farmers, and she has kept the love of the sea and the land always with her. Schuppien left home at 18 and studied for a degree in fine arts at the University of Chicago. Now back in Maine, she lives on the Eastern River in rural Pittston. Schuppien constantly keeps an artist’s eye out for an unusual point of view or an amazing pattern of colors, but at its essence, her art is about loving a place. 

CAROL COLLETTE

Clear Winter Night, etching with aquatint, hand painted with watercolor on rag paper, 7” x 7”

Collette is an internationally known printmaker and painter. Collette began her journey as an artist by working on pen-and-ink and watercolor sketches, which served as the foundation for her early etchings. Soon she became fascinated with the delicacy of detail and richness that etching provides and then devoted her time to increasing her knowledge and skill in that difficult medium. Collette continues to create the familiar landscapes that she loves—and has become known for—and also finds joy in painting rural images with oil paints. In both her limited-edition prints and her paintings, Collette explores a fine line between control and spontaneity, creating images that capture the ephemeral combination of fleeting light and shadow, which make her art truly magical. She lives in rural New England, where familiar and favorite subjects surround her.

JOHN MICHAEL THOMAS SEITZER

Circumnavigation, oil on canvas, 23” x 25.5” 

Seitzer is a painter who works in oil, acrylic, watercolor, and pastel. He paints his impression of the play of light on or reflected off a subject such as a boat, rock, building, tree, or human form. A cast shadow creates new shapes used to define three-dimensional form. Everything Seitzer paints is a reaction to what he sees, and what he sees in turn elicits an emotional response. His color choices are admixtures determined by a select few: what he calls “local” colors, which replicate what he sees, and what he calls “found” colors, which are used for the sheer delight of their presence on the painted surface.

JANE CROTEAU

Big Yellow on the Mooring, acrylic on canvas, 18” x 18” 

Croteau has been painting since 2002. “As a stained glass artist for 35 years, I am captivated by the play of light. Painting with a brush allows me a freedom of line and direction not usually associated with the restrictions and mechanics of working in glass,” she says. An avid sailor, Croteau spends as much time on the water as possible and finds that sailing the Maine coastline provides inspiration for a great number of paintings. Her paintings of sky and water demonstrate her love of bold color as well as vibrant reflections and contrasting shadows. Croteau works in acrylic, pastel, watercolor, and printmaking.

SUSAN TOBEY WHITE 

Steppin’ in the Moonlight, acrylic on canvas, 36” x 36”

White defines herself as an artist and educator. Having taught elementary school art for 15 years, she has the ability to bring concepts to their simplest forms yet also gains amazing results from her adult students. Her acrylic and watercolor workshops are for beginning students as well as those with more experience. As an artist she is best known for her colorful, energetic paintings of dancers and oversized vegetables, and her series of decadent food. In contrast to her works featuring high-energy dancers, quieter paintings of figures, landscapes, florals, and interiors evidence her love of Maine. 

RICK DICKINSON

For Sail, oil on canvas, 40” x 32” 

Dickinson was born in Troy, New York, graduated from Indiana Tech with a degree in engineering, and enjoyed a successful career as an executive in the construction industry. He and his wife, Pandora, have lived in several Midwest and Northeast states. He now maintains homes and studios in Manchester, New Hampshire, and Southport. Rick studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Maine College of Art, and Ingbretson Studio of Drawing and Painting.

JON BYRER 

Morning’s Break, enamel and oil on canvas, 30” x 48”

A graduate of the Maine College of Art, Byrer lives and works in the midcoast area. His art is inspired by Maine’s raw natural beauty and the resourceful independence of its residents. He is interested in experimenting with alternative techniques, such as painting beyond brushes. One method he uses is pouring layers of enamel paints onto the canvas to create fluidity. The mixing colors become frozen in place when dry, and the dry paint leaves permanent eddies, whirls, and swirling images on the canvas. Byrer’s unique artistic vision of familiar scenes encourages the viewer to reexamine the splendor in the everyday. 

NANCY CLARK

Reflections #2, oil on canvas, 24” x 24” 

Clark captures the essence of a moment in time with her open and expansive landscapes and seascapes. She enjoys blending her paints directly onto the canvas with brushstrokes that move back and forth like a dance, continuing this process until the effect feels right. Her choice of color and use of light create serene and peaceful paintings that express her deep love for the ever-changing natural world.

PAUL BONNEAU 

Spring Thaw, acrylic on canvas, 11” x 14” 

In 2011 the American Art Awards awarded one of Bonneau’s painting the first place winner in the Impressionism Landscape category. Bonneau has been featured in Maine Home+Design’s “Canvas” (November 2012), and his work has been shown at the New Bedford Art Museum, Danforth Art, the Ogunquit Art Association, and at Maine College of Art. Bonneau has completed independent study at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Heartwood College of Art, and the University of Massachusetts. Bonneau participates in a number of benefit auctions including ones for PBS, Maine College of Art, Children’s Museum and Theatre of Maine, Cape Elizabeth Land Trust, Kennebunkport Conservation Trust, and the Animal Welfare Society. 

ELAINE MCMICHAEL 

Eats, acrylic on canvas, 14” x 11” 

McMichael is a contemporary acrylic painter captivated by and passionate about the creative experience. Her work is her impression of her environment. McMichael’s subjects range from landscapes, such as beaches, lakes, mountains, and urban milieus, to still lifes to figures. Each of her images focuses on the conditions that surround us and affect the way we live—the external factors influencing our lives, such as light, heat, wind, movement, and precipitation. McMichael’s focus recently has become an interpretation of natural forms as they evolve into abstract shapes. She uses an impasto impressionist technique with both brush and palette knife to express immediacy and textural surfaces, leaving the work open to interpretation. She invites the viewer’s participation and visceral interaction. 

MICHAEL J. CAUDLE

August Morning at New Harbor, watercolor, 8” x 10” 

Caudle is an educator and artist born and raised in Albemarle, North Carolina. He earned his BA and MA in art education from Southern Connecticut State University. His extensive continuing education includes courses at Utah State University, Southern Utah University, Fairfield University, University of Michigan, and the New York Botanical Garden, where he completed classes in botanical illustration. During his 25-year teaching career, he taught kindergarten through 12th grade. He also enjoyed an early career as a stained glass artist. Now retired, his focus is on creating paintings in watercolor. His is currently working on a series of small seascapes and landscapes inspired by his travels in New England, the Rocky Mountains, and Montana. 

BETH ANNE GORDLEY

Three Spirits, archival inkset print, 11” x 16” 

Gordley was always fascinated with the camera and pursued her passion at the Ohio Institute of Photography, graduating with a commercial degree. She continued her studies in fine art photography at Columbus College of Art and Design and Maine Media Workshops, and she also managed a commercial studio in Boston, which expanded her knowledge of graphic design, styling, production, advertising, and marketing. She enjoys portraits and photojournalism, though her primary focus is fine art. The design elements of commonplace items and the intrigue of organic life forms enthuse her. She aspires to create an aspect of intrigue and uses her technical expertise and artful visualization of style and composition to complete an image. 

ELLEN WELCH GRANTER

Wine and Roses, oil and gold leaf, 30” x 30” 

Granter’s paintings are an expression of her desire to capture her subject’s barest essence in a sparingly composed way by using a lush palette and rich textures. “I get inspiration from the changing colors, patterns, and atmospheres of the landscape around me, the excitement of watching birds in the wild, and the random idea generator that is my imagination,” she says. “When observing everyday subjects such as sparrows, I try to pay attention to the small spaces between them and the abstract patterns that are created by their own characteristic movements.”

FELICITY SIDWELL

Grimes Cove Fog, oil on panel, 9” x 12” 

Sidwell is known for her plein air work inspired by the joy she feels at being out in nature on the coast of Maine. The state’s differing seascapes and the moods they can convey depending on light and weather endlessly fascinate her. In Grimes Cove Fog there is an ethereal feel to the scene as the rocky shore recedes into the mist.

ED HICKS 

A Boatful of Flowers, oil on canvas, 12” x 12” 

Hicks’s paintings are inspired by living in New England all his life. Hicks always asks himself what he can bring to the canvas, considering what his take and impression are of a scene. What’s most important? “How it looks to me from within,” he says. In his studio he usually looks at the information he has gathered, then takes a second look to refine the composition. “Only then will the viewer feel that they are a part of the painting,” says Hicks. “Only then is there a true connection, artist to viewer.” At the same time, he tries to tell what’s essential to set the stage, but not too much more. “Let the viewer fill in the blanks,” he adds. 

WILLIAM B. HOYT 

The Return of Lucas Mason, oil on panel, 24” x 36” 

Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Hoyt grew up in Newport, Rhode Island, where his love of sailing took force. He attended St. George’s School, where his art studies were nurtured, then went on to Yale. There he came under the influence of numerous prominent artists and men- tors such as Jack Tworkov, Josef Albers, and Sewell Sillman. In addition, Hoyt’s composition and storytelling within large-scale artworks was influenced by his studies with photographer Walker Evans. Hoyt’s work is found in collections internationally. 

MARCIA BRANDWEIN FURMAN

In Her Garden, oil on canvas, 20” x 20” 

Furman graduated from Pratt Institute after studying illustration. She has been coming to Maine for over 30 years and is now splitting her time between Pemaquid and White Plains, New York. Her vibrantly colored paintings and drawings are inspired by the brilliant hues and patterns created by shadows and reflections. Her style is impressionistic and bold in execution, which is furthered by working in plein air. She uses each painting as a learning curve for the next.

PAULA RAGSDALE

Unknown Stream Reflection, mixed media, 22” x 26” 

Born in Levittown, Pennsylvania, Ragsdale first visited coastal Maine as a teenager. Finding the state’s pristine and natural beauty irresistible, she set a course to live there one day as an artist. She began her formal training as a visual artist at Pennsylvania’s Bucks County Community College, then following her 1981 graduation from Rhode Island School of Design, Ragsdale moved to Maine permanently. She has been working from her studio and gallery in Boothbay for the past 30 years. Her artworks are held in many private and public collections, including that of the Farnsworth Art Museum. 

SUZANNE ROBERTS

Monhegan Meadow, acrylic on board, 8” x 10” 

An artist and Maine native with a keen eye for color and light, Roberts interprets nature while engaging the viewer to make connections with her paintings. “Being able to paint outside in Maine is a treat, and I do so every chance I get,” she says. “After all, living in Maine is an artist’s paradise.” As a Plein Air Heads member, Roberts makes a trek to Monhegan Island to paint with 20 fellow artists for a week every year. She says the trip is “a great adventure.”

GEORGE GOEBEL 

Cirrus, acrylic on panel, 30” x 40”

A native of Catonsville, Maryland, Goebel spends several weeks each summer painting on the coast of Maine. His artwork has been shown in a number of Maine galleries, including Bayview Gallery, Dowling Walsh Gallery, Isalos Fine Art, and Art of the Sea Gallery. His paintings have appeared in national publications such as the Artist’s Magazine and National Geographic, as well as in The North Light Book of Acrylic Painting Techniques. Goebel is co-owner of Catonsville’s Staub Art Studio, where he teaches painting and drawing in the realist tradition to over 80 adult students. 

LIZ DONALD

Paris Apartment, acrylic on canvas, 24” x 24” 

After visiting the artistic community in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, six years ago, Donald became inspired by the vibrant colors of the area’s landscape and began painting. She enrolled in art classes and began creating her body of work in pastels, acrylics, and oils. Her vision is of colorful interiors that look outward at scenic places such as Paris or coastal Maine, and her works almost always include lush, colorful flowers. One can see the influences of Matisse, Bonnard, and van Gogh in her paintings. She has won several prizes for her artwork and has been accepted in juried shows, including exhibitions at River Arts in Damariscotta, the Bangor Art Society, and Brush Strokes Gallery in Marblehead, Massachusetts.

KATHLEEN WALSH BUCHANAN 

 Island Flock, collagraph, 31.5” x 34” 

Buchanan’s path to becoming a working artist is somewhat atypical: she was educated and employed as a biologist prior to becoming a full-time printmaker in 1999. Her training as a scientist has served Buchanan extremely well as an artist. Both disciplines require skill at observing the environment—not simply looking, but really seeing what is going on all around. Buchanan is constantly inspired by the coast of Maine with its ever-changing ocean and sky. “My connection to the natural world, my role as a mother, and my own sense of self all find expression in my images,” says the artist. “I enjoy looking at landscapes and their inhabitants, not only as appealing composition subjects, but also as metaphors for our human experience.” For her, the intricacy and subtlety of collagraph printing makes it a fascinating medium to use in the communication of these ideas. 

SHARI CIOMEI 

Jim and Nora’s View, oil on linen, 30” x 40” 

Ciomei is fairly new to the artist world. In 2007 she began painting just for fun, donating some of her paintings to different organizations for fundraisers. Mostly self-taught, the oil painter captures coastal scenes of the picturesque islands of Deer Isle and Stonington. She has lived there in a small fishing town her entire life, along with her husband and family. She has quickly become an artist whose work is admired and collected by individuals who love her style of bold, vivid, and vibrant colors that bring the warmth and beauty of the Maine coast into their homes. 

JOY SCOTT

Shimmering Purple Reflections, glass and polished granite base, 12” x 12” x 13” 

Scott’s desire is to draw the viewer into her works through the colors, design, and depth of her multilayered process. She wants the viewer to bring his or her own feelings to the experience. Scott’s goal is to push the envelope to an ever-increasing depth and dimension. Her unique work looks different with the shifting light, becoming an ever-changing experience. For her, success is achieved if the work evokes an emotional response in the viewer. Her work is in numerous private and corporate collections, has been given as a gift to foreign dignitaries, and is also owned by a former member of the U.S. Cabinet.

PETREA NOYES

Masquerade, archival inkjet on canvas, 30” x 30” 

Although her training and work was completely traditional for the first 35 years, Noyes now works with machinery and software—a laptop computer, a digital drawing tablet, several software programs, and an archival 44-inch archival inkjet printer—to make her art. She has developed a number of digital processes that she uses to make a painting on a digital canvas. The effect and visual feel is like that of oils on canvas, but she has the advantage of a totally portable studio contained in her laptop.

CRAIG MOONEY 

Basin Harbor, oil on canvas, 60” x 60” 

Born and raised in midtown Manhattan, Mooney developed a great sense of curiosity and appreciation for wide-open spaces as a young child. The artist currently maintains a studio in Vermont and focuses on creating large, semi-abstract landscapes. While Mooney does not paint specific places, his work seems to evoke a sense of familiarity in his viewers. 

STELLA MARIE SHERMAN 

Sailing Past Dice Head Light, Castine, oil on canvas, 20” x 16” 

Born in the central Maine town of Milo and raised in the richly natural country setting of a farm, Sherman went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in studio art from the University of Maine in Orono. Her artistry encompasses many types of commercial art including greeting cards of regional scenes, portraits, murals, and book cover illustrations for local authors. Eliciting a growing interest among her patrons over the years, her landscapes exude elements of classical atmosphere. Sherman has well-developed technical skills, while she adds new designs to her compositions and has created a style all her own. 

CAROLYN WALTON 

Penobscot Bay Clouds, oil on canvas, 30” x 24” 

Well-known for her rural and coastal landscapes, Walton finds inspiration in the play of light on her subjects. Whether it’s the sun and shadow on a farmhouse or the warm light on an evening cloud, she captures the moment. Having studied with plein air impressionist artists throughout her career, Walton learned to combine strong brushwork and energetic color with a soft touch in order to bring the viewer into her paintings. Although she travels through New England and France to paint, Walton’s favorite location is Maine, where she lives and has her studio. 

MONIQUE SAKELLARIOS 

Poppies in Provence, oil on panel, 14” x 12” 

“Through my paintings, I try to convey a feeling,” says Sakellarios. “I do not want the viewer to think, ‘How skillful that artist is!’ Rather, I want the viewer to dream and to feel peaceful, romantic, and nostalgic.” As Sakellarios starts painting, she tells herself stories. “Most of the time, there are people in my paintings. I give them names. Although they do not really exist, these people are very real to me.” The artist’s favorite subjects are fields. Painting them gives her a great sense of freedom. She has painted the same field over and over, yet, she says every time it is new because it is painted at varying times of day or seasons and the light is always different. Sakellarios always starts with a canvas primed with cadmium red. Besides providing her with a middle value, this underpainting gives her paintings a warm glow. 

SALLY BERRY GLENN 

Coastal Maine, oil on canvas, 16” x 20” 

A Maine native, Glenn grew up on the Cape Elizabeth coast and is a graduate of Colby College, where she majored in art. She has studied with many well-known artists through workshops for plein air and studio painting. Glenn paints in California and Maine, where she loves painting in oils en plein air on Monhegan Island and along the coast. She is a member of the American Impressionist Society and has been accepted in many juried art shows, most recently in the Fourth Annual PleinAir Salon, sponsored by PleinAir Magazine. 

JANIS SANDERS 

Pines and Roses, oil on canvas, 32” x 32” 

Sanders attempts to put his love of the outdoors into the tangible, visceral form of his paintings. He adores the buttery feel and spreading qualities of oil paint, particularly on wood panel. Sanders finds that the essence of a place can be translated and expressed, as spontaneously and directly as possible, through a smooth application of paint onto a board.

E KENDRA DENNY

Schooner Appledore II, encaustic on wood panel, 16” x 20”

Denny is an encaustic painter and sailor from Camden, Maine. Having grown up in the midcoast region, she has always been influenced by the rich tradition of craft in this area. She often dabbles with themes of history and cultural heritage while remaining tied to the sheer physical beauty of the region she calls home. Her love of the outdoors and work on schooners is a constant source of inspiration. Denny began working exclusively with encaustics after taking a workshop at Deer Isle’s Haystack Mountain School of Crafts. Both the history of the medium and the wonderful versatility of working in wax had an immediate sense of appeal. Denny studied sculpture and painting at Hampshire College and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She has received several awards for her work, including two fellowships from the Vermont Studio Center. Her paintings have been exhibited in Maine, Maryland, Ohio, and Washington, D.C. 

TOM STEWART

Sea Time, watercolor and cold wax on clayboard, 17.25” x 26.5”

From his lifelong immersion in the marine environment, Stewart works from memories to guide each painting through to completion. Because the sea is in perpetual motion, Stewart begins each new painting with a fluid process using liberal amounts of flowing water and pigment, which at times crests and breaks like actual waves. Multiple layers of watercolor, wax, and oil pastel are then used to give the paintings greater textural depth, energy, and an air of mystery. Finally, some realistic details are usually added to give an otherwise abstract image a frame of reference, perspective, and scale. 

 MARY BLUM

Simmer Down, acrylic and foil on linen, 36” x 48”

Blum exhibits internationally, and her work is held in many private collections. Her paintings and objects incorporate metal leaf, creating uniquely reflective surfaces that change with the light in their environment. “I am interested in color, form, and movement,” says Blum. “With simple form there can be an infinite number of associations and memories, which are always an invitation to the interpretation of the viewer. The reflective surfaces and mosaics in my work create movement and inspire me with the theme that solid matter is always energy in motion.” 

AXEL STOHLBERG

Sky on Fire, mixed media, 25” x 39” 

“With all of my art I try to tell a story,” says Stohlberg. “Art should make the viewer think as well as feel. I find everyone can relate to a shape, color, or object no matter where they are in the world. I’ve tried to find my own voice in my art that is unique, identifiable, and to the point.” Stohlberg’s mediums range from found objects and reclaimed wood to more traditional materials such as oil pastels and charcoals. 

 MIDDY THOMAS

Spring Sale, collage, 28” x 24”

“Art has been my gateway: an identity and a focus to the life around me,” says Thomas. After studying with several artists and attending university, she went to Maine College of Art in Portland. While Thomas works in sculpture, acrylics, oils, pastels, pencil, and ink, watercolor is her preferred medium. “I can take it anywhere, and traveling with paints is my favorite thing to do,” says the artist, who has painted extensively across the United States and Europe. 

RICHARD WILLIAM BLANCHARD

Sunscape with Tree Sphere #1, oil and acrylic paste on canvas with gold glaze on silver leaf, 48” x 30”

Blanchard’s series of contemporary abstract paintings using oil and acrylic on canvas and paper explore a visual language of fragmented landscapes, cartouches, and ruin-like structures that signify inner and outer realms. The series As Above So Below focuses on rural Maine as a metaphor of protection shown in images of sleeping cradled deer in a recurring theme of personal homage to birth and spiritual healing. All works reference Blanchard’s original concept of “Simultaneous Gravities” and chronicle the movement of imagination and fragments of memory as they become real, symbolized in rows of trees that blossom in one direction and decay in the other. With over 35 years of painting behind him, he has created a canon of techniques, from a luminous and subtle color palette to layered brushwork that bridges a unified vision of hemispheres, trees, houses, stars, heavens, and animals encompassing each other’s worlds. 

DON STONE, N.A.

Surf at Squeakers, Study, oil on canvas, 6” x 8”

Stone lives on Monhegan Island and in Exeter, New Hampshire. He studied fours years of fine art at Gloucester High School in Massachusetts and continued his studies at Vesper George School of Art in Boston. After graduation he was in the service and then returned to Vesper George as an instructor. Later, he studied privately with Paul Strisik, N.A., whom he credits with introducing him to the life of a plein air painter. He has had numerous one-man shows, and has been in several international exhibitions, including at London’s Royal Watercolour Society. His paintings are in many museums and prominent collections, including those of Dartmouth College, Marietta College, the University of New Hampshire, Berkshire Community College, and Maine Maritime Museum. 

SUE ZYLAK 

Stargazers, oil on linen, 28” x 28”

Zylak began drawing and painting at a very young age and took her first oil painting class at the age of eight. Soon afterward, she discovered pastel and was intrigued with portraiture. She tried and enjoyed various mediums and began learning about tonal effects and luminosity. Zylak finds it beneficial to learn from other accomplished artists, and she has studied the techniques of the old masters. She is focusing on making each piece better than the last, always trying to improve on the techniques that have helped her develop her own style. 

CAROLINE SAMSON

The Graveyard III, photograph, 20” x 30”

Samson became a photographer after a progression of career and life changes. Realizing that her morning commute was missing a sense of anticipation for the coming day, she took a leap of faith to follow her passion. She progressed from developing images in a darkroom to the instant gratification of digital photography. Samson’s passion for rural farm life is the main focus of her work, and many of her images are steeped in her roots of black-and- white photography. She believes that all objects exude emotional energy, and her goal is to transmit the energy and passion she feels to the viewer. 

 PENNY MARKLEY

The Wake, oil on canvas, 18” x 24”

A year-round resident of Winthrop, Markley is captivated by both coastal and inland Maine. She says painting enhances her own observation of the colors and light of the changing seasons. She prefers plein air to studio painting, but sometimes needs photographic references and memory for the scenes that just won’t stand still. An example of this is found in The Wake, which captures the view from the back of a ferry, bathed in her very favorite light: late-afternoon sun shining under clouds. 

LYNNE SEITZER

The Way Home, oil on linen, 14” x 18” 

 Capturing stories of humanity and transcribing them into images on canvas, Seitzer invites the viewer to witness moments in time in her figurative work. Although people are a frequent subject of choice, she is versatile in her painting styles and creates emotive, abstract “Emotional Landscapes,” which include streetscapes, depictions of ravens and seagulls, and more using oil, watercolor, or pastel. She continues to be inspired by her surroundings at home in Boothbay Harbor as well as the places she travels to and experiences around the country and in Europe. 

KATHI PETERS

The Pair by the Boat House, casein on canvas on board with varnish, 16” x 20”

With works in oil and watercolor as well, Peters is a master of the ancient medium of casein. Residing on the midcoast, her range of subjects includes her neighbors, the local landscape, Acadia National Park, and most important, horses. Peters’s works of art invite the viewer into her Maine world—not from the outside but from the inside. The Pair by the Boat House is part of her series depicting Acadia—her favorite part of Maine. 

JILLIAN SCHLEICHER

Through Tommy’s Eyes, acrylic on canvas, 40” x 30”

Schleicher lives and works from the water’s edge at her studio and home in Falmouth. Her paintings are visual meditations that speak to the entirety of life, inspired both by what we can see and what lies beyond our senses. She says that life is her muse. She finds inspiration from life’s seemingly mundane routines and its traumatic, heart-wrenching sorrows. Her paintings remind the viewer to connect with the peace, joy, and unconditional love that resides within us all. 

LAURA WALLER 

Top Island No. 3, oil on Belgian linen, 36” x 48” 

A Florida resident since childhood, Waller is familiar with waterfronts. In 2013 she selected the Port Tampa Bay, one of Florida’s major international marine hubs, as the subject for her new paintings. Access to the port is challenging because it is closed to the public, but her persistence prevailed and she gained access to conduct research. She explored each channel by powerboat, photo documenting the ships from a water-level perspective. She also researched the port’s history, industrial activities, and businesses. Visually documenting this part of America’s industry, with its global connections, is important to her. 

RANDY COLBATH

Walking Elm, elm wood, 20” x 16” x 8”

Colbath is a sculptor who works with salvaged wood. His work is abstract, figurative, and sometimes surreal. It reveals much attention to natural characteristics within wood and complements them with the strong use of line. He discovered wood sculpting in college before receiving a degree in marine engineering. Having retired from shipping in 2007, Colbath now works as a full-time artist. A strong vessel reference appears in his early work, while recent pieces are more figurative, including torso and full-figure projects. His machinery and metalworking experience is apparent in his art, evidenced by impressive surface and edgework. He works with hand and power tools to shape the wood, sometimes without having a concrete vision at the outset. He begins working in a way that resembles an automaton, he says, with wood grain and natural abnormalities providing the impetus, and then a free flow of ideas generates a result with unique character. 

DAVID WITBECK

Kendall, oil on canvas, 48” x 72”

Witbeck is surprised at how his idiosyncratic depictions of iconic Maine fishermen and lobstermen continuously strike a chord with so many people. These portrait paintings sprang from his fascination with commercial fishing coupled with a desire to create something completely original. His work has evolved into a vehicle for play with regard to color, shape, and composition. 

LEE BOYNTON 

 Windjammer Heritage in Her Glory, oil on canvas, 25” x 30” 

Boynton’s passion for art took root in his childhood experiences summering on the coast of Maine. He has always found beauty and inspiration in the colorful, textured lives of lobstermen and boatbuilders and their connection to the sea. He paints with a palette of colors that corresponds to the natural spectrum of light, following the artistic legacy of Monet. Boynton is compelled to capture the subtle and changing effects of light and mood in his work. He co-authored Painting the Impressionist Watercolor with Linda Gottlieb.