(Peaks Island, ME) "It's Not So Black and White III" a new exhibit at Richard Boyd Art Gallery opens May 3 at 10:00 a.m. The multi-media exhibit explores works by artists using values of black and white to create variations in tone from deep hues of black to silvery grays. For artists shading is more than relative lightness and darkness, it's about the naunces of tone and the creation of form and texture. Works by Petrea Noyes, Pam Cabanas, William Steele, Kenneth Burns, Kimberleigh Martul-March, Julie Breau, Rick Boyd and Keith Weiskamp are on view 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily through May 30, 2013. Artists' reception Saturday, May 4, 12:00 to 2:00 p.m.

For more than 50 years Petrea Noyes has created art with a focus on the figurative, usually in a landscape or enclosed space. Through the years Petrea's creative process has changed but her focus on the figurative remains constant. Her current body of work includes the use of newsprint, gesso, large-format inkjet printer and an assortment of acrylic gels and glazes to create figurative works that depict scenes from by gone days in a thoroughly modern and captivating way. A trained fine artist Petrea's work is exhibited locally and nationally and is held in numerous corporate and public collections including the Federal Reserve Bank in Boston, Marriot Hotels in Hartford, Connecticut and Colorado State University.

A native of Long Island, New York Pam Cabanas attended Alfred University where she studied ceramic art at the famed New York State College of Ceramics in the 1970's. While at Alfred Pam "broadened her ideas about art and her place as an artist" and graduated with a BFA in painting and printmaking. Shortly after graduating she moved to New Mexico where she received an MA from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. After owning and operating several businesses in New York Cabanas purchased a home in Maine. An educator, entrepreneur and established fine artist for more than 40 years Pam's ink wash paintings and pastels focus on the islands, coves and ledges of her hometown in Friendship, Maine. These intimate pictures have been called "love letters" to a town that has given the artist an environment full of inspiration, rich in history and beauty. Pam sees her "paintings as self reflections of my awkward dance through life, love and Maine. I hope the work is evocative of mood and emotion. A soft spoken challenge to the tides, skies and seasons: reveal just a dime's worth of your mysteries."

William Steele's life is filled with art. An avid collector of art and a multi talented actor, director and professor of theater at the University of Southern Maine William didn't begin painting until about seven years ago. "In a life filled with art, whether acting, directing plays or painting my canvas has from the very beginning been heavily influenced by my early years hauling lobster gear in Casco Bay. Gulls, shore, rocks, trees, boats and of course water dominate my impressions of those wonderful younger years." These memories are the inspiration for Steele's impressionistic style paintings in oil on canvas depicting scenes of the Maine coast. When he is not directing a play or acting William can be found in his office at the University of Southern Maine Gorham campus where he has been employed as a Professor of Theater for 35+ years. Steele has held governmental appointments to the Maine Arts Commission, the New England Foundation for the Arts and the Governor's Advisory Committee on Public Broadcasting.

After a 40+ year career as a building engineer Kenneth Burns has been "getting a kick out of life" while searching for who he is as an artist. Although Burns has taken courses at the Art Student's League of New York he considers himself mostly self taught creating his own signature style. Kenneth's paintings capture the beauty of his study through the use of tone and subtle hues. A gifted artist working in a variety of media Kenneth creates works that span multiple genres: portraiture, coastal scenes and landscapes. Burn's inspiration comes from the "awesome beauty of nature" which inspires him to pursue his passion for art and life.

A native of Maine Kimberleigh Martul-March has a BFA in Studio Art and English. Before graduating from the University of Maine Kimberleigh traveled across Europe to introduce herself to Old World Art including works by Jan Vermeer, Jan Steen and Frans Hals masters of storytelling through portraits. After college Kimberleigh made her way across the United States supporting herself through commission work and building houses until she found her way back to Maine where she currently lives. Martul-March is a fine and commercial artist who has a weakness for portraiture and "sees the world in faces, how they differ, change and reveal to us everthing." Kimberleigh's portraits are stories waiting to be read. Each drawing is "comprised of a frenzy, a need to be born. Light, color and line struggle to convey a story, a moment, an expression. Whether they succeed is up to you."

A gifted fine artist Julie Breau has painted for around fifteen years. Julie's landscape paintings in oil on canvas are inspired by the different natural colors in nature. Breau sees beauty everywhere she looks whether it's in the character of an old gnarly tree or in the contrast of colors found in a stormy sky. Julie has taken courses with artist Claire Robichaud of Auburn, Maine for many years. A resident of Auburn Julie is employed as a court reporter and page designer at the Lewiston Sun Journal.

After many years working as a software engineer and publishing entrepreneur Keith Weiskamp decided to pursue a career as an artist working with glass. Weiskamp's work is a contemporary mix of traditional Venetian glassblowing and Japanese metal foil techniques. From the first time he used a blow pipe Keith was intrigued with the art and challenges of making glass. Weiskamp has used metal foil on opaque black glass or black and white cones in clear glass to create his current body of work which explores texture, shading and cold water finishing techniques. When not working in his studio in Arizona, Keith splits his time between his homes in Phoenix, Arizona and Peaks Island, Maine. Weiskamp's glass art is exhibited nationally and held in numerous private collections.

Rick Boyd a retired Nurse Anesthetist and potter for 40+ years continues to create ceramic art and pottery in his studio on Peaks Island, Maine where he has lived since the mid 1970's. Rick works with a variety of clay bodies from high fire porcelain to low fire earthenware creating original works of ceramic art and pottery. Boyd is "still amazed with the process of transforming balls of clay into works of art. It's about centering the human body and making a conection with the clay. My energy and the feel of the clay define the shape of the piece." All of Rick's work is wheel thrown or hand built. To ensure each piece is one of a kind no cast molds of originals are used and no commercial glazes are used in the creation of his work. Rick's ceramic art and pottery is exhibited nationally and is part of numerous private collections.

Richard Boyd Art Gallery is located on Peaks Island, Maine at the corner of Island Avenue and Epps Street, first building on the right. The gallery exhibits original 20th and 21st century works of art by established and emerging artist with connections to the State of Maine working primarily in the media of painting, sculpture, pottery and glass. The gallery is open 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily from April through October. November and December hours are by appointment and weekends from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Additional hours are by chance or appointment. For additional information please contact curator Pamela Williamson by phone at 207/712-1097, via email at info@richardboydartgallery.com or visit www.richardboydartgallery.com.

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