Archipelago celebrates Maine’s coast with new gallery show ‘Visions’

Join Archipelago, the Island Institute’s store and gallery, for “Visions: Maine’s Coastal Edges,” on view in the gallery from Sept. 6 to Oct. 26, with a reception from 5 to 8 p.m. Sept. 6 during Rockland’s First Friday Art Walk.

The gallery shares recent works from Kaitlyn Miller, Randy Fein and Anne Stuer. These three artists share their sense of place through dynamic and different works in a variety of mediums — encaustic, pottery and acrylic.

Kaitlyn Miller, from a very young age, has been fascinated with the way color brings joy. “Nature voices itself in multitudes, and I paint as an act of translation,”she says. “Gardens, coastlines, rocks, even a simple birch branch against the sky all hold limitless beauty and call to be seen for their unique moment in existence. Interpreting the song of the islands is an act of honoring the gifts around and within me.”

In this show, Randy Fein exhibits a new series “Ode to Trees” using clay, her material of expression. Fein’s regular walks in the woods allows her a place of refuge to study the unending shapes and textures in the forest surrounding her. “My strong connection with trees is based in part, on the fact that trees and humans share similar physical characteristics. We stand upright, have limbs stemming from a central trunk and the pattern of the tubular branches (bronchi) in our lungs is somewhat similar looking to the root system of many trees,” she states. “On the spiritual level, I feel that trees help us become more aware of our connections with something larger than ourselves.” Fein works her material by pinching, pushing and pressing it to discover the life hidden within the clay. This collection of clay wall sculptures exudes the passion and tenderness that Fein has for both the forest and the material she uses.

Anne Stuer uses various encaustic techniques to articulate the attention to details in the ocean’s power, beauty and form that captures her attention. Stuer uses the ancient technique of encaustic painting to bring to form the smell and power of the ocean’s waves that move her soul at a very deep level. To achieve the churning foam in the ocean waves, Stuer adds a layer of white, homemade shellac, allows the alcohol to evaporate then melts and moves it using flame to achieve the look she wants. To achieve the velvety sky, she blends in pan pastels. “I have lived in New England my entire life and spend time at local beaches and the coast whenever possible throughout the year. Each wave is unique and the coloring of the water depends on the light of the day or the life within it…there are endless possibilities for creating the feeling of enchantment the ocean holds for me.”

Archipelago is at 386 Main St., Rockland. Call 207-596-0701 or go to www.thearchipelago.net for more information. For general questions regarding Archipelago or the gallery show, contact Archipelago director Lisa Mossel at 207-596-0701.