Maine Art Gallery’s ‘Song of the Wild’ honors natural beauty and wildlife

Wiscasset’s Maine Art Gallery was humming with “good vibes,” as many said, from the art and music at the opening reception of “Song of the Wild: Honoring the Natural Beauty and Wildlife of Maine.” One couple walked around the upstairs room and said they felt “as if they were in nature.”

The gallery will offer events and classes designed to expand visitors’ relationship with the natural world during “Song of the Wild,” on view through July 26.

The 10 artists in the show — painters, sculptors and a photographer — have filled the spacious two-floor gallery with 90 works representing the forests, waters and wildlife of Maine.

Eric Hopkins, whose large-scale paintings of the ocean vibrate with lush color, told the crowd that he first came to the gallery as a boy in the 1960s.

“This show is full of great art, wild art, wild artists! Just what it should be,” Hopkins said.

Alice Smith Duncan, an Alna resident also familiar with the gallery’s earliest days through her mother’s involvement, said, “The gallery founder, Miss Mildred Burrage, would have been thrilled to see her vision still being so excitingly fulfilled.”

The 10 artists are Jane Dahmen, known for her large-scale paintings, often of her favorite trees, birches; Matt Barter, painter and sculptor of Maine’s bogs and wetlands; Barbara Sullivan, a 3D fresco artist of midcoast mammals; Katherine Shagas, whose abstract paintings reveal elemental energies; Sara Farragher, an impressionistic painter of glimmering waters; Lesia Sochor, sculptor of 3D animals made of birch bark; Liv Kristin Robinson, photographer of backyard insects; Emily Sabino, whose visionary naturalist paintings depict healing plants and night pollination; and Joy Vaughan, abstract painter of her South Bristol landscape. Dahmen and Sabino, her daughter, co-curated the exhibition.

Barter, a professor of art at Bowdoin who has shown at the gallery before, said, “How could any artist turn down a request to show work about their favorite biome? These walls are vibrating with life.”

Sochor was so thrilled she had sold two of her bark sculptures, a barred owl and a turtle, that she wrote a poem about the two creatures and nature’s interdependence and read it to the crowd.

The music of The Flying Seeds, a folk and Peruvian music-inspired duo of Sabino and her husband, Lenin, was another hit with the crowd. The duo played instruments ranging from a gigantic pan flute to a charango. Cindy McGurl, an artist who has shown at Maine Art Gallery, said the music was “uniquely beautiful.” Eenor’s Sonic Wallpaper also performed electronic and acoustic music.

Related events include a talk by Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust community science director Sara Gladu on “The Impact of Air” from 4:30 to 6 p.m. July 11, and a panel discussion titled “Nature as Muse” on July 16.

Jean Kigel will offer a free demonstration of gyotaku, a traditional method of printing used by Japanese fishermen in the 1800s that has evolved into an art form, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. July 9.

Originally used to record the size of a catch, gyotaku combines “gyo,” meaning fish, and “taku,” meaning rubbing or impression. The process involves applying ink to a fish, pressing rice paper onto it and pulling the paper away to reveal an exact impression. Refreshments will be served.

“Drawing and Painting our Feathered Friends,” a workshop led by Kat Logan, will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. July 8. The class invites participants of all skill levels to explore the beauty of Maine’s diverse birdlife through drawing and painting. Registration is due by July 3.

Jude Valentine will offer “Charcoal and Line: Drawing the Landscape” from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. July 11. The class explores charcoal as a forgiving and versatile alternative to pencil or graphite drawing.

Valentine will also offer “Composing with Color: Pastel & Mixed Media” from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. July 15. Valentine states that her intention in her classes is to create a visual connection to a quiet place. Registration is due by July 10.

Two free events bring together the worlds of creativity and science. Sara Gladu, naturalist and director of community science at Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust, will explore how air — and the things in it, including light, moisture and pollution — impacts the landscape around us at 4:30 p.m. July 11. A panel talk, “Nature as Muse,” will be held July 16, featuring an author, photographer and painter who will discuss how the natural world inspires them.

The gallery is grateful to First National Bank, sponsor of the gyotaku demonstration; Sherri Dunbar of Tim Dunham Realty, a season sponsor; Ames True Value Hardware, capital sponsor; and Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust, sponsor of the current exhibition.

The Maine Art Gallery is at 15 Warren St., Wiscasset. Hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday through Sunday. Visit maineartgallerywiscasset.org for more information.