(Portland, ME) Richard Boyd Art Gallery opens an annual group exhibition of visual arts depicting imagery of Maine on October 1st 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 Maineincludes original paintings by gallery artists’ Amy Bickford – acrylic based gouache and watercolor; Patricia Chandler - oil, cold wax medium, and mixed media; Kevin Daley – oil; Randy Eckard – watercolor; Jane Herbert – acrylic; Roy Perkinson – pastels; and Wilson Stewart - acrylic.

The exhibit is open free of charge between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. daily through October 30th, 2020.

About the Artists

Amy Bickford is a multi-talented artist and 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, landscape or scene from a pier; her paintings are a response to the experience and to 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.”

Amy’s ability to capture the timeless beauty and essence of the subjects she paints is coveted by collectors. Her art works are exhibited locally and held in numerous private collections.

Patricia Chandler’s career as a commercial and fine artist, spans six decades. She earned a BFA in Illustration 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 of working in the commercial field creating illustrations Pat moved to Minnesota, where she renewed her interest in printmaking and painting at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, 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, “My creative process and production inevitably refer to my geographic roots. Maine’s more remote regions inspired much of my artwork to the same degree that its landscapes informed my early life. 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.

The influence of those sensual memories emerges strongly when I work in the studio. My work includesrealistic 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–exercises.  The expressionistic, semi-abstract images touch the feeling associated with those wilderness regions of forest and ocean. The variety of Maine’s natural environment is sufficient for many lifetimes of an artist.”

Pat recently moved to South Portland, Maine where she continues to create paintings in a range of mediums and styles. Her work is widely collected and held in numerous private and corporate collections across the US.

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 am often drawn to subjects that evoke either a sense of peace or a sense of loneliness 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 unforeseen 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.”

Randy Eckard was raised in North Carolina and 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 his career as a fine artist working exclusively with watercolors spans more than three decades. 

Known for his use of light and shadow, with the subject of most of his paintings being light and how it defines and shapes the scene before him, Randy’s watercolors capture the timeless beauty and charm of Maine’s architecture and landscapes.

For the second year in a row, Randy was selected by “STATE 23 MEDIA staff in collaboration with a jury panel of art experts” as one of Maine’s most noteworthy artists for “Maine Home and Design Magazine’s artmaine Annual Guide.”  Winning over 190 awards for his paintings in watercolor throughout New England and the Southeast, his work is widely collected and included in numerous private and corporate collections.

When asked about his career as an artist Randy replied, “I am 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 or 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.

Inspirations pour in from the beautiful and dramatic coastline of Downeast Maine, where I have lived for the past twenty-seven years. The drawings, watercolors, and tempera paintings of Andrew Wyeth, have guided and fostered my sensibilities for most of my years as a painter. 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 backroads of coastal Maine.”

Eckard said, a recent meeting with a couple from Florida, who subsequently purchased one of my paintings, summed up the essence of my work in one short sentence. “It looks wonderful, so blissfully relaxing and inviting, with a hint of mystery.”

Jane Herbert is a year-round resident of Damariscotta, Maine whose traditional style paintings capture the picturesque landscapes and charm of her seaside village community. Her current series of paintings are a visual expression of life along the coast and reveal her observations of the beautiful but rugged coast of Maine. 

A gifted fine and commercial artist, Jane’s paintings capture the ever changing colors, life and mood of coastal Maine. Her unstructured approach to art and life has served her well. “Instead of earning a formal education I gathered my paint brushes and toured Europe in a micro-bus, painting and learning as I went.

Through the years, I’ve been inspired by the beauty I find in nature. There is wild beauty all around in Maine. Paintings like, ‘Late Summer Sunset’ are my response to the beauty of a particular place. I often drive past these 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, - 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.”

Jane’s paintings are widely collected and held in numerous private and corporate collections across the United States.

Roy Perkinson has a deep fascination for the visible 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 Deknatel 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 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 and New Hampshire. Weather permitting, he enjoys the challenges painting en plein air, capturing the ever-changing light and mood of his surroundings.                                                                                                                                      

About The Gallery

Richard Boyd Art Gallery is located on Peaks Island in Portland, ME at the corner of Island Avenue and Epps Street. The gallery represents a diverse group of established and emerging artists with a connection to the state of Maine, creating original works of visual art in a broad range of styles from traditional realism to contemporary abstracts.

During the months of April through October the gallery is open 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 can be scheduled by appointment.

For more information about the exhibit contact the gallery by phone at 207-712-1097, via email at info@richardboydartgallery.com or visit the gallery’s website www.richardboydartgallery.com .

To view images from the current monthly exhibit click on this link https://richardboydpottery.com/current-exhibit/ . Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RichardBoydArtGallery and follow us on Instagram #richardboydartgallery.

See you at the gallery!

Pam Williamson and Rick Boyd