Maine. In 1980, my husband, Joe, and I sailed the waters of Penobscot Bay while vacationing with our family. I sketched while we sailed, inspired by the vibrant blues, whites and greens of the surrounding landscape. Back home in Concord, Massachusetts, I turned the sketches into paintings. I live here full-time now, but I still walk on our local conservation land and see paintings everywhere.
Inspiration. I am driven to bring a scene that inspires me to life filtered through my own sensibility: space, form, color and surface tension evolve as I paint. The wet colors look alive.
Medium. Twenty years ago I switched from oils to acrylic paints for health reasons. Being manmade, acrylics are versatile, and manufacturers are always coming up with new colors, new additives and new types of paint, such as shiny liquids and shimmery fluorescents.
Art Hero. While attending college, I’d visit paintings by Marsden Hartley every day in the school art museum. David Hockney thrills me with his outrageous expression in both design and color. I also became enamored with modernists like Henri Matisse, Paul Klee, Raoul Dufy, Joan Miró, Marc Chagall, Vincent Van Gogh and Pierre Bonnard.
Studio. My studio is in my home. I can paint late at night, or all morning in my pajamas if I feel like it. I have a large space with full-spectrum lights, seven windows, and high ceilings. My studio is my sacred space.
Where in Maine. I love where I live in Newcastle. The midcoast is important to my work. I resonate with the landscape here. Few places in my travels instigate my creative juices the way the Maine landscape does.
Fun Fact. I hold a series of artist conversations at the Lincoln Theater in Damariscotta called “Talking Art in Maine, Intimate Conversations.” We’ve hosted curators such as Sharon Corwin of the Colby Museum, Suzette McAvoy of the Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Mark Bessire of the Portland Museum of Art, and artists such as Alex Katz, Kathryn Bradford, Sam Cady, Lois Dodd, Yvonne Jacquette, Eric Hopkins and John Bisbee.
Education. Studying art history with professor James Carpenter at Colby College was formative. I have a huge collection of art books covering all kinds of artists. I also attended the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
See new work by Jane Dahmen online at https://portlandartgallery.com and onsite at Portland Art Gallery, 154 Middle St., Portland.
Join award-winning painter Terri Brooks for “Figures in Pastels,” a workshop designed for experienced pastel artists. Working from a live, costumed model, participants will refine their ability to capture the human form using layered pastel techniques. The class will focus on essential life-drawing skills, using light and shadow to define facial structure and form through […]
The Deer Isle Artists Association announces the March Artist-in-Residence Program on March 4 with artist David McBeth. McBeth is a potter, working primarily with porcelain that is high-fired and ready for the dining table. Additionally, he is a knitter, whose preferred material is wool yarn. A true renaissance man, lately McBeth is also a writer, […]
Established in 2010, The Maine Museum of Photographic Arts is the only museum in Maine dedicated exclusively to photography. Dear Friends of the Maine Museum of Photographic Arts, What a transformative year 2024 has been for MMPA. As we reflect on the past twelve months, we’re struck by the extraordinary level of artistry, scholarship and […]
The Center for Maine Contemporary Art (CMCA) presents its winter season with the unveiling of two new thought-provoking exhibitions and held an opening reception on Feb. 1. New exhibitions that opened Feb. 1: “The Sun, Trying to Disappear” is a show that speaks of entanglement. The images in this exhibition flutter between icons and mistrusted […]
Crescendo is about reaching new heights, riding the waves of life, climbing peaks, looking up to the zenith, witnessing the culmination of a project, peering over the crest, feeling the surge of emotions. 2025 is a 9 year in numerology, marked by a crescendo of power and experience, acclimation and completion, and new beginnings. Artists […]
Joseph Fiore (1925-2008) was a widely respected artist and active member of the Maine Art Gallery during the 1960s and ‘70s. In celebration of the 100th year of his birth, the gallery is partnering with Maine Farmland Trust (MFT) on an exclusive and overdue major retrospective, “Fiore at 100: Maine Observed.” The show runs June […]
The Midcoast Downeast Chapter of the Union of Maine Visual Artists, in collaboration with Waterfall Arts and Dark Sky Maine presented “Dark Skies: Artwork Honoring Dark Nights in Maine,” which ran from Jan. 17 to Feb. 28 at Waterfall Arts in Belfast. Not only did the exhibit gather a sizable crowd of over 280 people […]
In March the Roux & Cyr International Fine Art Gallery will host its first abstract contemporary artist as its featured artist of the month. Jeanne Maguire, a Maine-based abstract artist, will be the First Friday artist on March 7. Maguire’s show is titled “Feminine Archetypes” and her work is vibrant and expressive, capturing the emotion […]
Youth Art Month is right around the corner. Show your support and celebrate the young artists in this year’s youth show, “Healing Through Color,” on view March 6 to 9. Students from all instructional levels will be featured in the show, which emphasizes the importance of visual arts, creative expression, and access to the arts […]
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