July shows at Dowling Walsh Gallery

Dowling Walsh Gallery is hosting three shows in the month of July: James Dodds, Guy Taplin, and Scott Kelley. Opening Receptions in conjunction with Rockland First Friday Art Walk, 5-8pm. Free and open to all.  Dowling Walsh Gallery is located at 365 Main Street in Rockland Maine, directly across from the Farnsworth Art Museum. We are open Tuesday through Saturday from 10am – 5pm, and by appointment on Sunday and Monday. For more information, visit us online at www.dowlingwalsh.com or call 207-596-0084.

James Dodds
July 7 – July 29
Opening Reception: Friday, July 7 from 5-8pm
Once a shipwright, James Dodds’ paintings illustrate the anatomy of boats, revealing the materials and curves that underwrite the finished vessel. Yet his paintings go beyond retracing the shipwright’s logic. Rich in color, tone and texture, they move beyond the literal and evoke sailing’s mythic and historic dimensions. Ethereal in light and tone, paintings of restored boats evoke a lifetime at sea, unearthing the layers of memory that shroud every vessel.
James Dodds, Barge Boat “Thalatta”, Oil on linen on canvas, 35-1/2″ x 35-1/2”

Guy Taplin
July 7 – July 29
Opening Reception: Friday, July 7 from 5-8pm
Taplin’s bird sculptures embody our longed for harmony with the natural world. His obsession with birds extends beyond their beauty to their endurance, intuition and symbolic loyalty. Mostly shorebirds of various species, each bird is composed to capture their specific habits and character. His simplified, stylized forms seem to breathe each bird’s very essence. Sculpted from found driftwood, which he forages from coasts and estuaries around the world, Taplin’s birds are therefore enriched by previous lives. Weathered by time and the elements, each piece of wood bears marks that enhance his design, suggesting the outline of a wing or layers of plumage.

Scott Kelley
July 7 – July 29
Opening Reception: Friday, July 7 from 5-8pm
Scott Kelley has distinguished himself as a visual storyteller of subjects including ornithology, whaling, and most recently spirit animals of the Wabanaki. His new paintings, inspired by the Wabanaki legends of Gluskap, create a narrative of personified animals decorated in traditional native clothing. His work is a constant lineage of exploration that creates immersive stories.