Courthouse Gallery Fine Art is pleased to present two solos shows: Joseph Keiffer: I Still Believe in Beauty and Philip Frey: Moment[um]. Also showing new work is Judy Belasco. The shows are on view at the Gallery through September 4, or virtually on the Gallery website at www.courthousegallery.com. The exhibitions are free and open to the public.

Courthouse Gallery is located at 6 Court Street in Ellsworth. Gallery hours are Monday – Saturday from 10am–6pm, and Sunday from 12 – 4pm. For more information, call 667-6611, or visit www.courthousegallery.com

Joseph Keiffer, Red Floor, oil on canvas,
Joseph Keiffer: I Still Believe in Beauty highlights recent work by Joseph Keiffer, who credits the artists of the Hudson River School for his inspiration. Keiffer looks for beauty wherever he goes, every day, and said the following in the exhibition catalog: “After a day sketching, I am often dismayed to find the most beautiful sight of the day happens during the last hours. My painting of Seal Harbor was one of those moments. Beauty is often an unexpected surprise.”

Keiffer has a personal affinity to Maine’s landscape and has spent the past twenty-plus years painting in and around the Acadia region. Last summer, he was given the opportunity to spend a marvelous week at a summerhouse on Great Spruce Head Island. The house is a brilliantly and gracefully designed cottage, and his show includes a number of paintings from inside and outside the house. He lives in New York City and splits his time between the City, Catskills, and Maine.

Philip Frey, Liquids and Solids

Philip Frey: Moment[um] highlights recent work by Philip Frey, who is best known for his paintings of Maine’s coastline, landscape, and working waterfronts. In the exhibition catalog Bangor writer Annaliese Jakimides said: “What surprises him most, so many paintings later, is still the mark making and color. Both are undeniably muscular and bold and Frey.” Frey studied at Columbus College of Art and Design and graduated with a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts in Painting from Syracuse University in 1990. Frey lives in downeast Maine where he maintains a full-time studio.

Judy Belasco, Coastal Schoodic, oil on canvas,
Judy Belasco: New Work Judy Belasco, who is know for her paintings of coastal scenes and estuaries, has followed the path of many artists, including Marsden Hartley, Carl Springhorn, and Philip Barter, to northern Maine. Belasco has made several explorative camping trips to Baxter State Park to sketch and photograph the region. Her painting Katahdin is beautifully subtle, yet majestic. Belasco holds a BFA from the Philadelphia College of Art. She later studied landscape painting with noted Maine artist Linden Frederick and fine digital print making with John Paul Caponigro at the Maine Photographic Workshop in Rockport, Maine. Belasco maintains studios in Philadelphia and Stockton Springs, Maine, and divides her time between two locations.