“Saw Whet Owl” is one of award winning artist Julie Babb’s recent efforts at precisely rendered bird paintings currently on display at the Pemaquid Art Gallery.
“Saw Whet Owl” is one of award winning artist Julie Babb’s recent efforts at precisely rendered bird paintings currently on display at the Pemaquid Art Gallery.

The Pemaquid Art Gallery in Lighthouse Park, Bristol, showcases approximately 30 artists during the summer season. Now in its 88th year of continuous operation, it is a popular destination with tourists and locals alike. Two of its member artists are Peggy Farrell and Julie Babb, who share a love for water media, in particular the opaque medium known as gouache, which allows for great control, and is often used to depict animals, flowers, birds, and so on, subjects these artists particularly favor.

Julie Babb was a hobby painter until moving to Maine in 1992. She joined the gallery in the following year. In 1994 she began painting birds, which has become her specialty. Her very precise and beautifully rendered images include some of the environment in which the birds are found, often on a gray or tan background, which highlights the colors and values she employs. She most often uses gouache watercolor, but also draws in graphite and some of her work is done on scratchboard.

Not surprisingly, Babb has received many ribbons and awards from wildlife shows, and has shown her work throughout the area including the Pemaquid Watershed Association offices, and in juried shows at River Arts in Damariscotta. Her work is featured at Ducktrap Bay Trading Company in Camden and she teaches gouache painting for Adult Education. With her husband Bruce, who is also an artist, she will be exhibiting at Miles Memorial Hospital in October. See her work also on www.covehousestudios.com.

New Harbor painter Peggy Farrell s gouache painting “Chickadee in Forsythia” can be viewed at the Pemaquid Art Gallery.
New Harbor painter Peggy Farrell s gouache painting “Chickadee in Forsythia” can be viewed at the Pemaquid Art Gallery.

Peggy Farrell began showing with Pemaquid Gallery in 2008 and is the current Gallery Manager. Although she has studied and used many other media, she gravitates to the watermedia, both transparent and opaque watercolor. Most recently she has studied with Julie Babb and become skilled at animal and floral portraits in gouache, an opaque medium that allows for precise brushstrokes and luminous color. The quaint Maine seacoast also inspires her watercolor landscapes.

A member of the New England Watercolor Society and an avid gardener, her works are most often seen at the Pemaquid Gallery and in River Arts juried shows in Damariscotta. Farrell has also participated in area group shows and has had solo exhibitions. Her work can be seen online at www.thepottingshedstudio.com

Visit the Pemaquid Gallery of Art this season to see the work of the following member artists: Barbara Applegate, Debra Arter, Bruce Babb, Julie Babb, Stephen Busch, William Curtis, Dianne Dolan, Peggy Farrell, Viola Glendinning, Claire Hancock, Kay Hannah, Jean Harris, Hannah Ineson, Will Kefauver, Jan Kilburn, Barbara Klein, Patti Leavitt, Sally Loughridge, Marlene Loznicka, Nancy MacKinnon, Judy Nixon, Paul Sherman, Liliana Thelander, Ernest Thompson, Bob Vaughan, Bev Walker, and guest artists Mark Chesebro, Sarah Fisher and Kathleen Horst. 

Artists all reside within the Pemaquid peninsula area. The Gallery is situated within Lighthouse Park at Pemaquid Point, Bristol and online at www.pemaquidartgallery.com. The gallery is open daily through Columbus Day, from 10 AM until 5 PM.