Archipelago celebrates Summer in Maine with new gallery show ‘Ah, summer!’

Join Archipelago, the Island Institute’s store and gallery, for its summer gallery show, “Ah, summer!,” on display through Aug. 26. “Ah, summer!” shares works of six local artists using lobster rope, porcelain, acrylic collage, encaustic watercolor, wood and wool as their media. Celebrate the coming of summer with vibrant and varied work on display.

An artists’ reception will take place from 5 to 8 p.m. July 7, during Rockland’s First Friday Art Walk, at Archipelago, 386 Main St., Rockland. Meet the artists and share good food, drink and conversations. Ice cream, cookies, lemonade and white wine spritzer will be served.

The featured artists include Christina Blank of West Durham, Pam Cabanas of Friendship, Eric Darling of Appleton, Kelly Desrosiers of Unity, Michelle Leclerc of Brooks and Leecia Price of Camden.

Darling shares pieces from his “Drift Rope Project” in this show, which started by collecting abandoned lobster pot warp from the midcoast area. “There is a cultural and historical connection between the rope and the livelihoods of many coastal communities of Maine and beyond, which has inspired me to start this project.”

Cabanas’ large, multi-pieced sgraffito porcelain art is both intimate and dynamic, depicting flora and fauna from Maine’s coast. She is always out and about wandering the coast’s coves and inlets admiring and gleaning subject matter. 

Blank gathered many of her favorite, faithful woodworking tools to spend hours upon hours crafting exquisitely special pieces for this gallery show. Pieces like a Bunchberry Dogwood flower with spring peeper balancing on a mahogany base are breathtaking in the level of craft and beauty.

Price’s encaustic and watercolors with cold wax portray a textural view of Maine’s coast with soothing colors of the summer sea and leaves. Sometimes using close-up perspectives or grand landscapes, she brings viewers right into the scene. 

Leclerc uses wool to felt Maine vignettes that bring joy and vibrancy to any space. She layers color on color, mingling textures to create interesting and intriguing works of art in 2- and 3-D.

Layering is a shared element in Desrosiers’ collage paintings that show bold and slightly magical views of Maine’s coast. And that’s just it — isn’t Maine’s coast magic all summer long?

Archipelago features artists who work with natural, coastal and working waterfront themes inspired by living and creating art in Maine. Archipelago is at 386 Main St., Rockland. Both the store and gallery are currently open Tuesday through Friday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. To learn more about the artists and work featured in the gallery, visit the Archipelago page on Facebook or the Gallery page at www.thearchipelago.net. For general questions regarding Archipelago or the gallery show, contact Archipelago sirector Lisa Mossel Vietze at 207-596-0701.