Clark Point Gallery exhibits original collages by artist Ashley Bryan 

The Clark Point Gallery will be showing the original collages for “Blooming Beneath the Sun: Poems” by Christina Rossetti by beloved children’s book author and artist Ashley Bryan (1923-2022) of Islesford. The exhibition runs July 1 to Sept. 2.

Bryan’s collages for “Blooming Beneath the Sun” (2019), his final illustrated book, highlight the genius of his technique. Responding to 13 nursery rhymes by the renowned Pre-Raphaelite poet Rossetti (1830-1894), he created brilliant compositions.

Bryan turned to collage for his illustrations late in life, in the early 2000s when he was in his late 70s. Using his mother’s dressmaking scissors — Olive (Carty) Bryan was a seamstress — he mastered the art of cutting paper and arranging it in remarkable designs. The 2003 Beautiful Blackbird, his first collage-illustrated children’s book, won great acclaim, including a Coretta Scott King Book Award for illustration, and became one of his most treasured titles.

“Ashley Bryan was a remarkable composer, an intimate of multiple materials,” writes art writer Carl Little in an accompanying catalogue. “The collages in this show, among his last works of art, redouble our awe and admiration.”

The Clark Point Gallery is located at 46 Clark Point Road in Southwest Harbor. Gallery hours are noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.