(Portland, ME) Richard Boyd Art Gallery opens an annual group exhibition of visual arts depicting imagery of Maine on Wednesday, October 2 at 10:00 a.m.

The exhibit features works that exemplify the diversity of subject matter in Maine which has long been a source of inspiration for artists. The show is comprised of paintings in a variety of mediums and styles depicting scenes from the interior, to the islands, coves and working waterfronts in Maine. Each work is the artist's interpretation of a scene in Maine.

Scenes of Maine includes original paintings by gallery artists' Amy Bickford - acrylic based gouache; Patricia Chandler - oil, cold wax medium, and mixed media; Kevin Daley - oil; Randy Eckard - watercolor; Jane Herbert - acrylic; Roy Perkinson - pastels; and Wilson Stewart - oil, and acrylic.

The exhibit is open free of charge between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. daily through October 30, 2019. For more information about the exhibit contact Richard Boyd Art Gallery by phone at (207)-712-1097, via email at info@richardboydartgallery.com or visit the gallery's website at http://www.richardboydartgallery.com . 

Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/RichardBoydArtGallery . Follow us on Instagram at #richardboydartgallery . 

About the Artists

Amy Bickford is a multi-talented artist and a 1983 graduate from the Maine College of Art (MECA) who creates paintings in a traditional style portraying the timeless beauty and essence of Maine. Whether depicting a cityscape, landscpae, or scene from a pier; her paintings are a response to the experience and everyday life.

When asked about the inspiration behind her work Amy replied, "Since graduating, I've held a variety of jobs while continuing to create works of art for individual clients, corporations, and small businesses. The abundant and often random beauty throughout the state of Maine has been a constant source of inspiration for my work. The unspoiled beauty of Maine's wilderness and coastal settings has a calming effect on me. Vincent Van Gough wrote in a letter to his brother Theo, "I study nature, so as not to do foolish things, to remain reasonable." I can relate to that sentiment, painting is therapeutic for me. I can forget the ugliness and atrocities and focus on the beauty and wonder this world has to offer."

Patricia Chandler is a fine and commercial artist, and educator whose career spans more than five decades. She received her BFA in Illustartion from Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, Rhode Island and MFA in Painting and Printmaking from Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York. After several years working in the commercial field creating illustrations Pat moved to Minnesota, where she renewed her interest in printmaking, moving back to Maine in 1971, later becoming an Adjunct Professor of Painting and Drawing at the University of Maine from 2005 to 2014.

When asked about her creative process and style Pat said, "One of the infinity of things is art. Another is science. I thought in art school, and forever after, that there is no difference between the fields. I work in my studio with the smae love of questioning, labor, study and discovery as the scientist in the laboratory. We both know the questions we ask are unanswerable. We both dedicate our lives to the exploration of what we can sense in the universe and of the world where we have our feet for the moment. In these dedicated people a great struggle goes on with a life-giving satisfaction that is its own reward. That is, a great flight of spirit comes out of the struggle. So we have to do it again. It is life.

I am happy to be represented by a gallery given to the appreciation of the natural landscape. Ever since I can remember, the trees and woods, mountains , lakes and fields of Maine have been where my mental, physical, and emotional balance could be restored; there I went as a child whenever i craved alone-ness and mental silence, and it is still the same. I have found in the oceans and coastal regions, the peninsulas and islands adjacent to Blue Hill and North of Ellsworth to Canada. Because they are unspoiled, there is a strong sense of character and history. The same is true of another place alive in memory, Baxter state Park and the wilderness west and nort of it. I explored that large and gorgeous area on foot and in canoes as a camper and counselor until I left Maine for art school. Thanks to Governor Baxter, it remains fiercely protected as a "forever wild" wilderness region. The beautiful Mount Katahdin, the Northern end of more than 2000 miles of Appalachian Trail beginning in northern Georgia, is my favorite place in the world. My father and I also often canoed and fished still more reomote lakes when living in the northern tip of Maine.

The influence of those sensual memories emerges strongly when I work in the studio. I am still interested in Realism. The realistic paintings that seek to record places and certain senses of space and color in sites more visited in the summer by people from other places. Those are more meditative in practice- exercisies. The expressionistic, semi-abstract images touch the feelings associated with those wilderness regions of forest and ocean. One feels, "No one has ever been here before."

Kevin Daley is an educator and gifted fine artist, who creates paintings on location and in his studio in West Paris, Maine. Whether depicting an old barn or a quiet cove, Kevin's traditional style paintings are a visual and poignant portrayal of that place in time.

When asked what inspires you to paint? Kevin replied, "I'm often drawn to subjects that evoke either a sense of peace or a sense of lonelines or isolation. Maine, particularly, offers an abundance of landscapes and buildings that catch my attention. I love the process of discovering a subject that interests me and then digging in to see what exactly will happen. Will the creation of this painting be smooth, or will this new work generate unforseen problems and become a learning experience?

What emotions do I have about the subject as I spend hours studying it or working with it? Can I communicate some of these emotions to the viewer? My most successful paintings are those that seem to "paint themselves" from the moment I begin them. These are particularly joyful occasions when I feel both totally relaxed and completely focused. The final products of these nearly mystical experiences are always paintings that I value greatly. I have found, over time, these are also the works that other people seem to like the best."

Raised in North Carolina, Randy Eckard studied at the Ringling School of Art in Sarasota, Florida and the Haywood School of Craft in Clyde, North Carolina. A trained commercial and fine artist living in Blue Hill, Maine Randy's career as a fine artist working exclusively with watercolors spans three decades.

When asked about his career as an artist Randy replied, "I'm closing in on forty years of working with watercolors. For several years I was fascinated by the versatility and wonder of drawing with pencil, and pen and ink. An HB pencil, a kneaded eraser, and a sheet of bristol board, opened up a world of exploration in black and white. At the urging of a friend I tried adding watercolor to the early stages of my drawings, and I was soon painting more than drawing. My love of drawing never diminished, and continues with quite detailed drawings in preparation for painting. Reading about the techniques of drybrush and glazing, brought to the forefront by Wyeth, revealed a method of working with watercolor where my love of drawing could be paired with my new-found love of watercolor.

As a young boy growing up in the Piedmont area of North Carolina, I began noticing and responding to the warm glow and cool, contrasting shadows of late afternoons. Those early observations of light would become the focus of my paintings. Light reveals the character, color, and texture of objects, whether man-made or natural, and the alternation of lighted and shadowed planes produce powerful repeated patterns and are an important element of design.

Early on I realized how quiet observation would most always reveal the life of a subject, and I learned to pay attention to sparks of inspiration, often arriving unexpectedly during my solitary wanderings along the backraods of coastal Maine."

Jane Herbert is a gifted fine and commercial artist living in Damariscotta, Maine who has created visual art for more than four decades. Her paintings are a response to the ever changing colors, life and mood of coastal, Maine.

When asked about her painting style and the inspiration behind her works Herbert replied, "My painting style is born out of my experiences. I have an unstructured approach to art and life that serves me well. Instead of earning a formal education I gathered my brushes and toured Europe in a micro-bus, painting and learning as I went. 

My paintings are a response to the beauty of a particular place. I often drive past scenes, catching nothing more than a flash of landscape in a break of roadside trees. Upon reflection, I wonder if this is my work - to witness changing light, rising mist, flowers blooming, a pair of mallards feeding, a muskrat swimming from one hummock to another - not a slower pace, but a timeless one. There is something sacred in the untamed life that endures amid the structures of progress. These paintings exhibit my respect for the ways of nature and personal affinity for tranquility and beauty, where I see it."

Roy Perkinson has a deep fascination for the visable world and how it works. He studied physics at MIT, art in a private art school and at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and art history at Boston University. Subsequently he trained in paper conservation under F.W. Dolloff at the Museum of Fine Arts, eventually becoming the head of the Museum's Virginia Herrick Deknatal paper Conservation Laboratory.

When asked, what inspires you to paint? Roy replied, "There is an instant of recognition that something I've observed could and must become a painting. These instants come as unexpected gifts, as if I suddenly found a pearl lying on a beach. I've come to realize that what arrests my attention in this way has several ingredients, but most important is a quality of light that evokes an emotion akin, perhaps, to feelings that can come from poetry. Also, I am drawn to a scene that has an underlying sense of geometry and combination of colors that I judge to contain the possibility of delicious harmonies.

Then comes the process of distilling and refining these elements while trying to use the special properties and personalities of the medium itself, whether oil, pastel, or watercolor. In making a painting I want to allow the medium to have its own voice, but I try to imbue the medium with the moods, memories, and visual delights I found in that original instant of recognition.

I grew up in Texas so it is not surprising that many of my pictures try to convey a sense of open spaces and often include attention to the sky, with its various moods and atmospherics."

Wilson Stewart is a visual artist and a retired Licensed Land Surveyor living on Peaks Island in Portland, Maine. Influenced by his grandmother, a gifted sketch artist, Wilson has drawn on and off again since childhood.

Mainly self-taught, Wilson began painting later in life. His primary artistic interests include landscapes and figurative studies. Many of Wilson's paintings are his interpretation of nature and scenes of daily life. His current series of paintings are inspired by his exploration of neighborhoods in Maine. Weather permitting, he enjoys the challenges of painting en plein air, capturing the ever changing light and mood of his surroundings.

About the Gallery

Richard Boyd Art Gallery is an owner operated fine arts gallery located on Peaks Island in Portland, Maine. The gallery represents a diverse group of established and emerging artists with a connection to the state of Maine, creating original paintings in a broad range of styles, from traditional realism to contemporary abstracts; limited edition bronze sculptures, and  works in clay.

During the months of April through October the gallery is ope between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. daily. From November through the end of March the gallery is open every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.  Additional days and times by chance or scheduled by appointment.

Copyright(C)2019 Richard Boyd Art Gallery All Rights reserved.