Plein air and studio artists, all showing at Camden Falls Gallery, repeatedly return to the Mid-Coast area. They have recorded on canvas what they found as their inspiration, muse, and challenges. Their paintings capture the essence of Mid Coast Maine and showcase their talents.
This body of work features paintings by some new artists to the gallery: Poppy Balser (Nova Scotia), Taddeus Retz (Upstate New York), and Scott Addis (Quebec). The range of mediums showcased includes watercolor, oils, and acrylic. With Camden as the nucleus, the artists travel and paint within a 50-mile radius that includes scenes from Stonington down to Port Clyde.
Poppy Balser captures the majestic beauty of the ketch Angelique in her oil painting “Rumpled Sails”, as the windjammer rests at the docks in Castine. Her watercolor “Bowdoin and Companions”, also painted in Castine, has the vessels ghosting along and into the active waters of the Bagaduce River. Poppy’s watercolors of Rockport and Port Clyde, as with her other watercolors, are sealed in a new watercolor treatment that avoids the use of protective glass (see special note).
Taddeus Retz spent a week here in early June finding inspiration and occasional sunshine. The gray spring weather is present in his work of either boat yards or coastal scenes. “The coast of Maine is one of my favorite places to be and to paint. The rugged quality and sense of quiet and peace is overwhelming. Every time I come up to Maine I try to explore at least one new area. This last trip I was fortunate to spend most of my time in new locations. I’m always drawn to scenes or things with character. I love old barns, old boats and all the rocks. I think this is the reason deep down that I keep coming back to Maine – it is full of character!”
Scott Addis’s Port Clyde series is about relationships. His work symbolizes themes of connection, solitude, and sometimes isolation. Boats are the centerpiece of his studies. The boats are generally highly contrasted against the islands, as they swing at their moorings. Yet the boats as an entity contain a sense of self, and individuality apart from the landscape.
From Rhode Island and Maryland, we have oils by Jonathan McPhillips and Kirk McBride. Both McPhillips and McBride make numerous trips to Maine. They concentrate on Camden Harbor- it’s Windjammer fleet and yachting scenes with a strong connection to our maritime history. Working in both plein air and from photos they fill a contemporary catalog of the harbor, its boats and its beauty.
“WHEN THE ARTISTS COME TO VISIT “ will run from June 28 through July 10 at Camden Falls Gallery.
The gallery is open from 10am-6pm daily; 12pm-5pm Sunday. Camden Falls Gallery is located at 5 Public Landing in Camden, ME 04843. For more information, please call 207-470-7027 or visit www.camdenfallsgallery.com .
SPECIAL NOTE – POPPY BALSARS’S NEW WATER COLOR TREATMENT
The treatment is a combination of soft gel UV protective acrylic medium and varnishes with multiple layered cold wax hand rubbed finish. The treatment enhances the rich depth of her work and produces a soft warm finish that protects the painting from UV and fading damage. It also protects against moisture and soiling caused by dust and air contaminants.
