Maine: When I was 9 years old, my parents bought an 1880s ship captain’s house in Deer Isle Village. I grew up summering there, and have continued to spend extended portions of my year in Stonington on Deer Isle. Our family moved a great deal when I was growing up. Maine became my bedrock. It was the place where I knew people and they knew me.
Inspiration: I’m inspired by observing nature, and merging with it. Painting plein air allows me to pluck moments out of a time sequence — using the most potent cloud configuration or geometry of light to make the best painting I can.
Medium: Oil paint is my favorite: it’s luscious, can be a transparent glazing or thicker, and can be rubbed out or sanded. There is a liveliness and invitation to surprise with oil.
Artist Heroes: Alice Neel, Lois Dodd, Marguerite Zorach, Joann Falbo, Jon Imber, Karl Schrag, Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso.
Studio: I work outside, going back to the same spot repeatedly until the painting is done. There is so much happening in the world that you cannot dream up: patterns, rhythms, junctures, unions, color, and relationships. Then I bring the painting home, hang it on walls and troubleshoot it.
Where in Maine: Stonington is a working fishing town. Its fishermen land more lobster than any place in the country. It also is home to the world-renowned Haystack Mountain School of Crafts. The island population is filled with artists, craftspeople, and young people who wanted to stay or return, as well as summer people and those who retire here.
Interesting Fact: I have given myself a lot of space to heal in the five years since my husband, Jon Imber, died. This year I decided to join an online dating service. It has been a fascinating pastime: writing about myself and reading how men portray themselves.
Education: I worked with Joann Falbo, an artistic mentor who went to graduate school at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. We met when I was in eighth grade and she became a lifelong friend. I went to the University of California, Santa Cruz, then I took classes at the New York Academy of Art in New York City. I was also married to a great artist (Jon Imber). That helps.
Dowling Walsh Gallery in Rockland is featuring “IDK,” an exhibition of paintings by Tollef Runquist that explores the intersection of personal reflection, archetypes, fantasy and play. Runquist’s paintings combine images and symbols drawn from lived experience, emotional landscapes and cultural influences, creating an intuitive dialogue between imagery and meaning. “My work explores a space where […]
Meetinghouse Arts in Freeport is presenting a full schedule of fall exhibitions and performances, including a members show, a collaborative exhibition by longtime artist friends Tim Sample and Linda Rowell-Kelley and several concerts. The gallery’s fall members exhibition, “Nature’s Palette: Art Inspired by the Season,” will remain on view through Oct. 18. Featuring paintings, drawings, […]
Local Color Gallery in Belfast will feature printmaker, collage artist and sculptor Jeff Wahlstrom from Oct. 19 to Nov. 22. An Art Walk reception will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. Oct. 23, with an artist talk at 5 p.m. Based in Bangor, Wahlstrom creates block prints and watercolor collages inspired by the natural […]
Women Eco Artists Dialog (WEAD), based in Berkeley, California, is accepting submissions for its 2027 members exhibition, “Prototyping Futures of Making: Water, Data, and Living Systems.” The exhibition will explore the relationships among water, data, ecological systems and emerging technologies, asking how artists can engage with living systems as sites of collaboration, construction and consequence. […]
Triangle Gallery in Rockland is presenting three exhibitions through Oct. 31, including an extended solo exhibition by Carter Wentworth, a group fiber arts show and a fall exhibition of work by gallery artists. Wentworth’s “Sound of Rain Crossing the Lake” will remain on view in the upstairs gallery through the end of October. “Interwoven,” a […]
Waterfall Arts in Belfast will present “Found in Translation,” a mixed-media exhibition featuring Maine artists Deborah Jellison, JoAnne Houlsen and John LeBlanc, from Oct. 23 to Nov. 28. An opening reception will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Oct. 23. The exhibition brings together three artist friends whose work explores familiar Maine landscapes, objects […]
Courthouse Gallery Fine Art in Ellsworth is presenting “Form Meets Surface,” an exhibition highlighting porcelain ceramics by potter Mark Bell and collaborative works created with painter William Irvine. The artists, both established in their respective fields, have worked together since 2015 to create porcelain vases and plates that combine Bell’s ceramic forms with Irvine’s painted […]
Barn Gallery in Ogunquit concluded its 2026 exhibition season Oct. 12, but the venue will continue to welcome visitors for two performances in the 19th annual Elizabeth Dunaway Burnham Piano Festival. Pianist, composer and vocalist Zahili Zamora will return to Ogunquit with her Afro Cuban Jazz Trio for a performance from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. […]
The Brunswick Guild Fine Craft Show will return to the historic Fort Andross Mill in Brunswick on Oct. 24 and 25, celebrating its 10th season with work by 40 juried Maine craft artists. Presented by Shop Maine Craft, the indoor show will feature basketry, ceramics, decorative and wearable fiber art, furniture, glass, jewelry, mixed media, […]
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