Julie Nixon and Kathleen Horst, both member artists showing at the Pemaquid Art Gallery in Lighthouse Park, Bristol, are watercolorists who share many similarities, above all in their subject matter.
They delight in sensitive depictions of the beauties of Maine, with landscapes of the rocky coastline, charming villages and quaint buildings, as well as still lifes, birds and flowers.
Exploring their differences opens up interesting insights into their unique approaches.
Horst is a traditional watercolorist, painting precise, realistic images but moving towards a dreamy, romantic quality in her landscapes with grand, luminous skies and soft clear colors. Her paintings can be dramatic but retain the transparent delicacy of watercolor. She is especially renown for her charming long miniature “montages” of typical buildings in area villages and similar groupings of lighthouses.
Nixon, on the other hand, often explores different mediums besides watercolor, including acrylics, oils, pastels, Asian brush and monotypes. Her style is quite varied and moves from careful realism to something close to abstraction in the patterns she depicts in landscapes and still life. She occasionally includes people in her landscapes and often tells a story, either deeply human or with a gentle sense of humor, as with birds interacting with each other in human-like ways.
Both artists make available printed reproductions of their paintings, ranging from small notecards to different types of larger reproductions, viewable on their websites: www.kathleenhorstart.com and www.judynixonartist.com.
Retirement to Maine allowed the two artists to finally focus on their own painting and both have trained with local and internationally known artists. Horst was a high school level family and consumer science teacher and a potter for many years. She grew up in Florida, then moved to Macon, Georgia, where she was not only a studio potter but created handmade, painted and glazed tiles of people’s homes, which made for an easy transition to the present house portrait side of her watercolor business. She has her own gallery and studio on the Bristol Road in Damariscotta and is a member of the Bristol Road Galleries, a collaborative of four nearby galleries. She has shown in multiple venues in the area.
Nixon was a professional business manager in the Worcester, Massachusetts, area prior to coming to Maine in 1999. She is a member of many local galleries and has shown in and had awards from many local organizations and galleries.
The other 2022 exhibiting members of the Pemaquid Group of Artists include Barbara Applegate, Debra Arter, Bruce Babb, Julie Babb, Stephen Busch, John Butke, Dianne Dolan, Gwendolyn Evans, Peggy Farrell, Sarah Fisher, Claire Hancock, Kay Sawyer Hannah, Hannah Ineson, Will Kefauver, Jan Kilburn, Barbara Klein, Patti Leavitt, Sally Loughridge, Alexandra Perry-Weiss, Belva Ann Prycel, Paul Sherman, Marnie Sinclair, Gary Smith, Cindy Spencer, Liliana Thelander, Kim Skillen Traina, Barbara Vanderbilt, Bob Vaughan, Candace Vlcek and Sherrie York.
Categories: Pemaquid Point
