Dory in Shadows by Kevin Beers

Today’s featured artist is Kevin Beers. Many know Kevin as an artist that primarily paints Monhegan Island, Maine. Gorgeous paintings. Many of them are very large plein air (painted outdoors). Kevin and his wife Amy has recently moved to Maine, and Kevin has painted some wonderful spots around where he lives, so be sure to check out those paintings!

Dory in the Shadows has such an elegance to it, doesn’t it? The simple curves of the dory – the light on the grass – the light on the dormers – beautiful!

If you’re in the Boothbay Harbor area, be sure to check out Kevin’s show!

Here is the show information from Gleason Fine Art:

Gleason Fine Art Gallery  |  JUNE 23 — JULY 26, 2016

KEVIN BEERS: The View from Here

Paintings of Monhegan and the mainland by the popular landscape artist who made the move to become a full-time Mainer last year.

Reception: First Friday, July 1, 5 to 7 pm

For Kevin Beers’s 2016 summer show, his 15th solo show with the gallery, Kevin has not only given the gallery more than a dozen of the elegiac Monhegan Island landscapes and panoramas for which he is famous, but also a half-dozen dazzling paintings of Pemaquid in both full sunlight and at sunset, paintings of Thomaston’s “painted ladies” (fancy Victorian mansions), paintings of Hendricks Head and Kitten Island on Southport, and a pair of his majestic truck portraits.

Read a bit about Kevin, from Gleason Fine Art’s website – what a great bio!:

In the Fall of 2014, Kevin Beers did something he had long dreamed of doing—he packed up his Park Slope, Brooklyn, apartment and moved to Maine to become a full-time resident. Beers and his wife Amy rented the Rockland home of a Monhegan friend and spent the winter of 2014-2015 hunting for their dream house. They found it on a Thomaston side street—an antique white farmhouse with a barn big enough for two studios.

For his 2015 summer show, Beers has given the gallery not only his typical Monhegan Island  panoramas and landscapes but also a half dozen sparkling winter paintings done on site in Rockland as well as several dazzling sunset views of Pemaquid. For Beers’ many fans of his truck and car paintings, this year’s show contains a special treat—“Stars and Stripes,” a majestic rendition of a familiar Rte. 90 sight, an old truck painted with red, white, and blue stars and stripes.

In mid-July, Beers heads out to his beloved Monhegan Island once again, but come fall, instead of facing the 7-hour drive back to Brooklyn, he will step off the ferry, drive less than half an hour, and be home—Maine at last! 

All images via GleasonFineArt.com , used with permission…

Images are not reproduction; they are property of the artist.

Catch you back here tomorrow!

I-684 by Jean-Pierre Jacquet

Jean-Pierre Jacquet. I know I’ve mentioned before… that I love darkness in paintings, especially near an area with light. It makes the painting more dramatic. I love these trees (and their shadows), they have such life, and you only see a small portion of them!

Easel Does It by Jean-Pierre Jacquet

Interior paintings are so fabulous, yet you don’t see many of them. Is there anything better than a painting within a painting (or in this case, several paintings)!? Jean-Pierre is an interesting guy (from what I’ve read), with great paintings, be sure to check out his work!

Read a bit about Jean-Pierre, from his website:

I am a French-American painter. And an occasional film animator (some of my film animation work is viewable at http://www.jeanpierrejacquet.com). For many years, it was the other way around. I devote most of my painting activities to “plein air” painting, or, as the French say, “peinture sur le motif”, i.e on the spot painting.

I like to paint what I see, rather than what I know, and try to uncover the hidden designs in my subject matters, be it straight nature scenes or urban landscapes. I am partial to free and bold brushstrokes which help me keep a certain sketchiness to my paintings.

My influences are eclectic so I will spare you a useless enumeration.

Under the Awards & Distinctions portion of Jean-Pierre’s About the Artist page is this, a sense of humor, I love it!:

I am not dead yet but 2 of my films are part of 2 museums: Flagrant Délit is part of the MoMA in NYC, and Contrapunto is part of the Tanz Museum in Düsseldorf in Germany.

Continue reading HERE…

All images via JPJacquet.com, used with permission…

Images are not for reproduction, they are property of the artist.

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Floating Giants by Aaron Cordell Johnson 36×36″

Aaron Cordell Johnson. Wow. His paintings are show stoppers. Just look at these clouds against that brilliant blue sky. Floating Giants is a great name for this painting. The landscape is the perfect setting beneath these majestic clouds, don’t you think?

Jupiter Ascending by Aaron Cordell Johnson 18×18

When I ran across this painting I almost fell out of my chair! The sky is on fire, the horizon is dark, but shows distance. The reflections from the light are magnificent. Aaron nailed this sky. It is absolute perfection. You see wonderful paintings of skies quite a bit, but this has more detail and depth, the lighter yellow strokes, and then the thin strips of wispy cloud and the shadows on the clouds. WOW.

Read a bit about Aaron, from his website:

I am searching for the sensation of the subject.

I am interested in finding an authentic experience through the act of creation. My work involves physical interaction and passion for the subject. The paintings I create are the result of time, searching for just the right cloud formations, watching the colors, and experiencing what it means to be in an environment. Through these experiences I use color, brushstrokes, drawing and texture to express the lay of the land and its affect on me.

My studio works are based on paintings done en plein-air (works done on site).  In my studio I work to keep the spontaneous feel of a plein-air painting, I do not simply enlarge the plein-air work but translate and evolve the idea of multiple experiences of being on site into a new studio piece.

Throughout history images of sacred figures have been placed within magnificent frames to create an icon, these icons are used to show the importance of an idea.  In some of my work I craft frames to create a new kind of icon, an icon of the humble landscape.

As an avid outdoorsman and passionate painter I hope to use my work to heighten our awareness of the significance of our surroundings, such as the way a cloud floats across the sky, how a dead trees branches pierce the sky, or the brilliant complementary colors of fall.  Each painting is the culmination of absorbing, listening, feeling and observing my surroundings.

All images via CordellArt.com, used with permission…

Images are not for reproduction, they are property of the artist.

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Pond Cove Light by Cooper Dragonette 16×20 Oil

It’s so hard to pick just two paintings… I love them all. The vertical slice of fabulous light on the rocks drew me in, my eye went to it, then slid down into that fabulous water – FABULOUS! Then my eye traveled up towards the rock formation in the water and back to the rock on land. Around and around. It’s a stunning painting that you just don’t want to give up. I would like to be sitting there looking at this very sight, maybe with some cheese and crackers and an iced tea! Beautiful!

Studio View by Cooper Dragonette 8×10 Oil – SOLD

I swear, Cooper can paint clouds like you just won’t believe! Check out his work to see what I mean. The cloud paintings on his website are all sold and they are all out of this world!

Look at these trees… THAT LIGHT! I am into paintings with snow right now because it’s just so darn hot here. This painting with the light colors in the foreground and the darker colors of the tree line is stunning! It’s that magical time of day when the light makes anything and everything look beautiful! What a fabulous studio view Cooper has!

Are you looking to take a workshop? Cooper will be teaching a fabulous workshop in July (7/16-7/17/2016) with the Maine College of Art’s Continuing Studies program, click HERE for more info! He also has a fabulous WORKSHOPS page – a lot of good information, so if you’re interested, be sure to check it out!

Cooper also has some larger works hanging at Tree Place Gallery in Orleans, MA!

Read a bit about Cooper, from his website:

Inspired by the coast of Maine, Cooper Dragonette has devoted himself to painting the landscape since 2000.  His influences consist of notable artists such as John Singer Sargent, Edward Hopper, and Andrew Wyeth. Dragonette primarily paints in oils and has an affinity for painting ‘en plein air’, but also enjoys creating studio works using his outdoor sketches for inspiration. “Painting is often an experience in memory for me. On site I am trying to record the moment, but in the studio I am trying to get back to the place, to the feeling, to the experience.”

Mr. Dragonette is a full-time landscape painter, teacher, father, and husband (though not necessarily in that order) living and working in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. Read more HERE…

All images via CooperDragonette.com, used with permission…

Images are not for reproduction, they are property of the artist.

Catch you back here tomorrow!