Consonant Compositions OPENING FIRST FRIDAY, 9/2 5-8 pm at Carver Hill Gallery

Carver Hill Gallery, 338 Main Street in Rockland, Maine, will open their September show, Consonant Compositions, on First Friday, September 2, 2016. There will be a reception with the artists from 5 – 8 pm.

This show illustrates how the artists use color, contrast, relationship, and arrangement to create successful compositions in five completely different styles.The artists in the show include Jill Caldwell, David Estey, Jeff Macdonald, Ron Rovner, and Suzanne Siegel.

Suzanne Siegel’s visual interest in rugged working harbors, post-industrial New England, and ever changing tidal environments roots her work in the sea. Suzanne works in mixed media painting and watercolor and mixed media collages. In her Guilford, CT studio, she searches inventively with line, shape, color, texture, and value as she suggests the spirit of her beloved locations. “I spend a long time looking.  I closely observe relationships of shapes, values, and colors along with the beauty of light, and how it influences and constantly changes everything. I begin by drawing random lines and shapes, and quickly erase or thinly veil most of my first marks, in order to keep myself and the work in flux as I build a history of layers. I aim to transport myself and the viewer into a moment of surprising and unknown beauty, as I work toward a strong, yet open arrangement of visual elements.”

David Estey’s work has evolved from realistic landscapes and portraits to abstract expressionism and now total improvisation. He is a skilled draftsman and painter, and has also been known to incorporate collage in his work, sometimes creating an obvious narrative of social or political subject matter. He starts his most recent work of the last three of four years without any preconceived notion or expected result and tries to create extraordinary, compelling new imagery, intrinsically based on the elements and principles of good design. Narrative references often emerge and remain, but they are subordinate to the aesthetic whole. David’s work has been in numerous gallery and museum shows, and has been exhibited at Carver Hill for 10 years.

Jeff Macdonald, who spent most of his years in the music business, has been an art appreciator and supporter for years. He has studied and experimented with painting and collage for some time, using interesting combinations of paint and collected textural material. Most recently, Jeff has exhibited his work near his local town of Brownville, Maine. His focus since retirement has been his art, and years of study and refining his craft has brought his work to a new level. His compositions range from minimalist to complex, while leaving the source of his inspiration ambiguous.

Ron Rovner’s work is meticulous, precise and intentional. He calls their creation “his meditation.” The “NachtMusik” series is inspired by the music of the early twentieth century serialist composers, particularly Arnold Schoenberg. The various elements represent one of the twelve notes of the musical scale. Each is given equal weight, and there are no repetitions in any of the rows or columns in which they appear. These constitute the “melody” or tone row providing a foundation upon which the rest of the composition is based. Counter themes comprised of squares of different colors are also present, representing the three variations possible in the context of Schoenberg’s principles: inversion (upside down), retrograde (backward), or retrograde inversion (upside down and backward). Other symbols provide harmonic structure, dynamic gradations ( crescendo/decrescendo). Many of these elements unmistakably evoke the Southwest (where Rovner spends time) in terms of palette and symbolism, thereby reconciling ancient and contemporary aesthetics.

Jill Caldwell shares her time between Rockland, Maine, and Key West, Florida. Her palette and typically soft compositions unmistakably reflect her muse – the Atlantic – and portray the change in the mood and color of the water from the North Atlantic in Maine to where the Gulf of Mexico meets the South Atlantic. Her use of line and shocks of bright color over the blue hues allude to sun, flora, and manmade structures on land and in the water. Her blurred lines successfully connect the radical changes in palette, making it easy on the viewers eyes; however, judicious details, frequently in the foreground, suggest rocks, fish and other natural elements that keep the viewers attention and curiosity to stay with the work.

Consonant Compositions is on view through Monday, October 3, 2016. For more information call (207)594-7745 or visit www.carverhillgallery.com