Featured Artist: Connie Hayes!

On June 6, 2014May 31, 2014 By Barbara StroudIn ART, Featured Artist4 Comments

Six Boats, Vinalhaven by Connie Hayes Oil on Panel 9x12" — *Six Boats, Vinalhaven* by Connie Hayes
Oil on Panel 9×12″

Connie Hayes. One of my all time favorites. I’ll never forget the first time I saw her work at Dowling Walsh. I was floored. Speechless (which doesn’t happen often). Large, gorgeous paintings, one after another. It was magnificent!

Six Boats, Vinalhaven is a wonderful painting full of all the wonderful colors on Connie’s palette. She catches that perfect light which just POPS out at you against a dark background, so, so nice!

Connie is part of a show at Dowling Walsh Gallery in Rockland, Maine, along with artists Robert Pollien and David Vickery!

The show begins today June 6, 2014 with an opening reception this evening from 5-8PM. This show runs through June 28, 2014.

Room at Apple Farm #2 by Connie Hayes Oil on Muslin on Panel — *Room at Apple Farm #2* by Connie Hayes
12 x 12″ Oil on Muslin on Panel

I am a sucker for interiors, and Connie’s are stunning. Room at Apple Farm #2 is no exception, that wonderful light spilling in the window creating those dancing shadows. LOVELY! I still go back and look at older pieces that I love (but are far beyond my price point), its fun to dream, and I do have Connie’s book, Painting Maine: The Borrowed Views of Connie Hayes (STUNNING) – if you ever see that when you’re out and about, buy it!! It’s out of print now…

There is a surprise element to this show… some of the main paintings I have not featured… just so that you will be surprised! Go look…

Fabulous, right? Love them!

To preview Connie’s show, click HERE.

Read the artist’s statement from the Dowling Walsh website, click HERE to read more about Connie as well as to see a critique of her show!

My paintings currently involve flowers, brooms, rakes, and workspaces related to gardening. Colors range from high key to very muted. I continue to be interested in glowing light, believable space, and color surprises. Greenhouses, barns, sheds and the ways tools and supplies are organized or untamed offer interiors quite unlike domesticated interiors. Tools for digging, harvesting, raking, transplanting, and organizing nature’s elements bring outside chaos into shed and barn interiors, appearing to win the game of weeding and edging of garden rooms. Portraits of flower heads present the garden’s individuals. Subject matter gives this new group of work a narrative quality, but I still like to teeter along the same edge of abstraction. The visceral quality of paint itself invites departure from explicit depiction.

All images via DowlingWalsh.com with permission…

Catch you back here tomorrow!

F L A S H B A C K !

O n e Y e a r A g o: The Sugarberry Cottage by Southern Living

T w o Y e a r s A g o: Artist: James Richards

T h r e e Y e a r s A g o: Brickmaker’s Coffee Table

Featured Artist: David Vickery!

On June 4, 2014June 17, 2014 By Barbara StroudIn ART, Featured ArtistLeave a comment

Conjunction by David Vickery 48 x 42" Oil on Panel — *Conjunction* by David Vickery
48 x 42″ Oil on Panel

Those trees! That spectacular moon! The gorgeous blue sky with the twinkling stars, what is not to love about this painting? It is perfect in every way! It’s kind of like when you were a kid and you had the time and freedom to lie in the grass looking up at the stars. Ahhh, what a life, huh?

David is part of a show (along with fellow artists, Robert Pollien and Connie Hayes) at Dowling Walsh that runs this Friday (June 6) through June 28, 2014! There is an opening reception from 5-8PM. So… if you’re anywhere near Rockland, Maine I would hightail it to this show! Check out the Dowling Walsh Gallery online if you can’t make it!

From the Dowling Walsh website:

David Vickery is an artist based in Cushing, Maine. He has been working from his studio there since 1991. He is known for his precise realism.

ARTIST STATEMENT

My work is about the merger of nature and culture—an attempt to make sense of our place in the world. I look at interior spaces and our imprint on the landscape with an eye for the imperfect, quirky, and sometimes elegant adaptations we’ve made in order to live here.

Catch you back here tomorrow!

All images via DowlingWalsh.com used with permission…

F L A S H B A C K !

O n e Y e a r A g o: Port Clyde, Maine

T w o Y e a r s A g o: Artist: Marc Hanson!

T h r e e Y e a r s A g o: Funny church sign!

Featured Artist: Connie Hayes!

On December 16, 2013December 13, 2013 By Barbara StroudIn ART, Featured Artist8 Comments

Mullions in June by Connie Hayes — Connie Hayes, Mullions in June, Oil on canvas, 36″ x 36″

Stunning! Connie Hayes is an all time favorite of mine. Her use of color is intriguing and draws the viewer in. She’s versatile in her subjects, but one of my favorites are her interiors, they just blow me away! Her paintings make me want to be right there… in that sun filled room, looking out at the water. This painting is still available… I can’t imagine it will be for long! If you’re interested, contact Dowling Walsh at 207.596.0084 or email info@dowlingwalsh.com!

I received her book, Painting Maine: The Borrowed Views of Connie Hayes, as a gift one year. I treasure that book. It is full of amazing paintings. It’s now out of print, but you can still get it online at a few places (Amazon being one)… More about the Borrowed Views concept below…

Here is a review about Connie from the Dowling Walsh Gallery website, written by Stephen May:

Review

“In all respects, Connie Hayes is a fearless, intuitive painter. Her highly colorful, strongly stroked canvases look like the result of an orderly process of sketches, underdrawing and application of paint. In reality, although she sometimes uses such aids before she approaches the easel in her capacious studio, most of the time she starts work on a blank canvas, wielding a 3 to 4-inch wide brush to get going. Then, as she says, she “dives in,” composing the rest of the picture, much of which she may have thought out in her head, balancing images and colors to achieve a satisfactorily aesthetic final result. On some occasions, she says, “the paint speaks to me and I go off in unexpected directions. I like surprises.” This is an extremely intense exercise; Hayes says she gets into a “zone” until the work is finished or set aside for future amendments.

Her subjects range from boats and water to communities viewed from ships or roads, to backyards, house interiors and floral still lifes. “I like not being pigeon-holed, Hayes says.

Her brightly hued colors, which often have nothing to do with the actual look of the original building or boat, are chosen with deliberation, depending on what role she wants the painted object to play in the overall composition. Her radiant blues, blazing reds, and sunny yellows make ordinary scenes come alive and help draw viewers into the painting. Often of late she has utilized more muted colors to achieve the results she seeks.

After a long stint as a teacher and administrator at the Maine College of Art, Hayes has worked at the top of her game since moving from Portland to Rockland in 2005, about half the period covered by this exhibition. Much of her art results from her “Borrowed Views” project, in which she spends up to a week painting in and around the homes of friends all over Maine.

Ever trying new approaches to her art, mindful of art historical precedents and armed with a spirit of adventure, Connie Hayes has many interesting paintings ahead of her. Whether borrowing views or moving about on her own, it will be interesting to see what this thoughtful, gifted painter achieves in the years ahead.”

– written by Stephen May for “A Decade of Views” exhibition, Dowling Walsh Gallery, September 2009

Images via DowlingWalsh.com

F L A S H B A C K

O N E Y E A R A G O… Whoa! This looks like a Marc Hanson painting!

T W O Y E A R S A G O… Holiday Hint: Edy’s Peppermint Ice Cream!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

[featured artist] Alexandra Tyng!

On September 4, 2013August 27, 2013 By Barbara StroudIn ART, Featured ArtistLeave a comment

"Docksiders" by Alexandra Tyng — “Docksiders” by Alexandra Tyng

This is an amazing painting, by artist Alexandra Tyng. It’s entitled “Docksiders”… looks like a great Maine vacation, doesn’t it? Boats, easels, artists, dogs, family, swimming…. a cool cottage with wet beach towels drying in the sun. I love happy paintings, and this is definitely one of them! Alexandra has a show coming up at Dowling Walsh Gallery, located in Rockland, Maine – this from the gallery: Openings are 5-8pm Friday in conjunction with Rockland’s First Friday Art Walk unless otherwise specified. So look for Alexandra’s work if you’re in the Rockland, ME area… beginning this coming Friday through September 30, 2013. It’s going to be a fabulous show!

Read a blip about Alexandra from her website:

Alexandra Tyng is a realist painter whose work combines traditional methods with a contemporary viewpoint. Alex was born in Rome, Italy, and has lived in Philadelphia most of her life. Primarily self-taught, Alex chose an academic education over art school. She learned traditional oil painting techniques by examining the work of the old masters, reading about the methods and materials of other artists, and watching artists paint.

Alex’s portraits incorporate descriptive backgrounds and a uniquely figurative sensibility. Her non-commissioned figurative work focuses on people in the process of living and interacting in their own environments, rather than in formal poses. In other paintings the figures become distant focal points while the setting predominates. Alex’s landscapes range from intimate views of particular places to mountaintop panoramas to large-scale aerial views of the glacially carved land formations of coastal Maine.

Alex has had solo shows in New York, Maine, and Philadelphia. Her work is included in many public, corporate and private collections in the U.S. and abroad. Her figurative paintings and portraits have garnered awards from the Portrait Society of America, the Allied Artists of America, the Woodmere Art Museum, The Artist’s Magazine, and American Artist. In 2008 Alex was selected as one of Maine’s outstanding artists by Maine Home +Design; in 2009 an article on her landscape work appeared in that same publication. Her Maine landscapes have also been featured in The Art of Monhegan by Carl Little, and in art magazines including Fine Art Connoisseur, American Art Collector, The Artist’s Magazine, International Artist, and O&S (Poets and Artists). Alex leads workshops in Maine and Philadelphia, and teaches portraiture in the Philadelphia area. Alex is a member of the Maine Landscape Guild, and the founder of Portraits For the Arts, an ongoing philanthropic project that uses the power of portraiture to raise money for the arts in the Philadelphia area.

Catch you back here tomorrow!

F L A S H B A C K

O N E Y E A R A G O… MONZA… quite possibly the best pizza on earth?

T W O Y E A R S A G O… Sullivans Island Home Tour, Day 4!

Featured Artist… Shawn Fields! – Opening Reception this evening…

On August 2, 2013December 21, 2013 By Barbara StroudIn ART, Featured Artist1 Comment

"Honey's Room Study" by Shawn Fields — “Honey’s Room Study” by Shawn Fields

Shawn Fields, artist that paints the childhood imagination… Is this not a fascinating painting? Does it not conjure up wonderful childhood memories? The kinds of memories made from using your imagination (nothing in the world beats that, there is no video game that can beat a childhood imagination. Not. Ever). Do you recall the art of building a fort, riding a bike and make believe that seemed so utterly real it was hard to believe that it wasn’t! I truly think Shawn’s paintings bring us back to that happy childhood… it gives us a feeling of make believe so good and pure. Just honest fun. Fun that wore you out and made you sleep well at night! The way he captured this sweet little boy with his cape and his furry friends is nothing short of spectacular. His paintings make me smile. A big, wonderful, happy smile!

"Jousting" by Shawn Fields — “Jousting” by Shawn Fields

All I can say is… this painting brings back fabulous memories. The longer you look at this it, the more you see… this is a creative kid, who jumped on his bike, with his bed sheet as a cape. Keep looking and your mind will create stories. How wonderful is that?! Shawn’s paintings are so original. Pure amazement is what I feel.

Shawn’s show is at Dowling Walsh Gallery, in Rockland, Maine. There is an opening reception tonight with the artist from 5-8PM. If I could be there I would be! If you’re in the area, stop by the gallery, it’s located across the street from the Farnsworth Museum and it is a gorgeous gallery! Filled with paintings that will tempt you… big time! Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

Read a blip about Shawn from the Dowling Walsh Gallery website and check out his website:

Upcoming Show: August 2-30, 2013

Shawn Fields is a representational artist, telling stories of childhood with convincing detail. Shawn reminds us of the simplicity of a childhood full of resourceful, economical play. His paintings begin centered on a particular object – a “cabbage patch kid’s” bicycle, a bathing suit, a pillow case – familiar from his own childhood and echoed in his children’s. The object becomes embedded in layers of narrative until the picture is complete.

Using practiced color, composition and anatomy, Shawn amplifies his narratives with make-believe. He has been inspired by Pixar and Spielberg, as much as by Winslow Homer and the Wyeths, in their ability to tell a story. Shawn understands that a painting can seem even more real when it takes liberties with reality. He cleverly invents ways to weigh down the mattress beneath the feet of a feather-light child, allowing it to crease and fold in a way that our mind reads as true. He billows the cape of a young boy jousting on his bike, the ribbons and grasses blowing with vigor, capturing the speed the viewer and the child have imagined. Shawn’s paintings signal to our recollection of reality.

Shawn Fields grew up in a suburb of Baltimore and also in rural Pennsylvania. His early conception of art was formed by a monthly subscription to Mad Magazine, and the Wyeth family’s presence in the Brandywine Valley. Shawn studied drawing and painting at the School of Visual Arts, at the Water Street Atelier in New York, and at the New York Academy of Art. He now lives in the Berkshires, Massachusetts with his wife and three children.

Catch you back here tomorrow!

All images: DowlingWalsh.com

Featured Artist: Susan Headley Van Campen!

On May 1, 2013December 8, 2013 By Barbara StroudIn ART, Featured ArtistLeave a comment

Peabody House on March 8, Late Morning by Susan Headley Van Campen – Image: Dowling Walsh

When I received this art card in the mail from Dowling Walsh I was blown away. As simple as this is, it has everything in a painting that I love. The dark against the light, the warm lights on inside the house, a sky that is exactly the color it should be for this painting. It is perfection. Don’t get too excited… it’s also sold! I try to feature work that is still for sale, but had to show you this one… Love it!

Lucy on the Couch, April by Susan Headley Van Campen – Image: Dowling Walsh

You must check out the rest of her work. I didn’t feature any of the landscapes (and there are many), so that you would have the opportunity to look through and see which one you like the most. A gal can only make so many decisions this early in the morning!

Susan has her own website, which features some neat watercolors and a few of the landscapes that you’ll see at the Dowling Walsh website. Check them both out… and I’ll catch you back here tomorrow!

Read a blip about Susan from the Dowling Walsh website:

Susan Van Campen’s plein-air oil paintings are renderings of Maine in all its seasons. Susan paints in oil with the confident brushwork of a watercolorist, achieving bold impressions of Maine’s landscapes. These small impressions capture big moments – rapidly changing weather, vast landscapes, dramatic shadows, and heavy clouds. This exhibit celebrates Maine’s iconic landscape.

Susan Van Campen received her certificate of fine art from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadephia, PA.

“I like to paint what I see that strikes me at the moment. Things that don’t last long – like flowers and skies, water, the sunrise, clouds, approaching storms, a dandelion, an open tulip just before the petals fall off – a poppy bud before it bursts … as simple as possible, without laboring. I am trying to capture the color and shape the first time, that’s all.”

Susan Headley Van Campen and her family were interviewed by Britta Konau in the Free Press in March 2012: http://freepressonline.com/main.asp?SectionID=61&SubSectionID=172&ArticleID=18050&TM=52610.34

Susan was featured in Maine Boats, Homes and Harbors magazine’s April 2010 issue. Follow the link to read, “The Art of Flowers” by Carl Little: The Art of Flowers

Featured Artist… Connie Hayes!

On July 6, 2012December 8, 2013 By Barbara StroudIn ART, Featured Artist2 Comments

“Blue Scooter 1” by Connie Hayes

Image: Dowling Walsh

Connie Hayes is an icon. She is a wicked good painter. I would LOVE one of her interiors, they are beyond stunning… or any of the landscapes that she’s so known for, the way she can paint a house, dock or a winding road, WOW! This show is a departure from her normal painting subjects, this show entitled “Abandon, Absorption, and Entrancement” is at the Dowling Walsh Gallery located in Rockland, Maine (across the street from the Farnsworth Museum). If you haven’t been to the Dowling Walsh Gallery before, let me tell you what you are missing. A state of the art gorgeous gallery with some of the most famous names in the art business. Dowling Walsh is a high end gallery that spares no expense in promoting their artists. It’s one of my very favorite galleries, and I truly look forward to spending time there each and every year! (It’s a nice plus that you can walk next door for a fabulous lunch, treat, coffee or tea at the bakery, and walk across the street to the Farnsworth Museum and Gift Shop, or to dinner at Rustica just down the street…) I guess what I’m trying to say is that Dowling Walsh is in THE perfect location… Don’t miss Connie’s show, trust me, it’s one you won’t soon forget! Lucky you! Tonight is Connie’s opening reception!

The painting above “Blue Scooter 1” shows such determination in the child’s face. Connie’s use of bright colors and bold brushstrokes is what she is known for. The dramatic shadows from the scooter really sets it all off. Brilliant!

Information (and photo) from the Dowling Walsh website:

Upcoming Exhibition: July 6 – July 29, 2012

Connie Hayes will be exhibiting her new collection of paintings, “Abandon, Absorption, and Entrancement,” at Dowling Walsh Gallery in July 2012. The show will examine portraits, people and interactions. The opening reception will be held on Friday, July 6, 2012 from 5-8 pm.

Preview the show here: Connie Hayes July 2012.

Connie will be giving an illustrated talk at The Strand Theater, “Photography as Sketchbook: Exploring Gesture”, on Tuesday, July 17, 2012 from 4-5pm.

Connie’s show is highlighted in Maine Home + Design’s April 2012 art issue. To download a copy of the article, click here: Show Stoppers.

Biography

Connie Hayes is a painter living in Rockland, Maine. She received her M.F.A. from Tyler School of Art at Temple University in Philadelphia, and Rome; her B.F.A. from the Maine College of Art in Portland; and her B.A. from the University of Maine. She received a fellowship to attend the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in 1989. Born in Gardiner, Maine she taught at the Maine College of Art for 10 years, also participating in arts administration there for 15 years, including serving as their interim Dean of Faculty. In 2003 she was awarded an honorary doctorate in fine arts from the Maine College of Art. From 1992-1998 she lived in New York City and since 1990 her pursuit has been “borrowed views”, as she lives and paints in others’ homes as an artist-in-residence. While she continues that work, she has recently been developing a new group of figure paintings, exploring gesture and color.

Connie Hayes held an exhibition, “A Decade of Views” at Dowling Walsh Gallery in the fall of 2009. To view a copy of this show catalog, click on the following link: Connie Hayes Web Catalog

Connie Hayes gave a presentation, titled “Up Close”, at the Strand Theatre in Rockland, Maine on September 18th, 2010. To view the presentation, please click here.

Her work was featured in Maine Home + Designmagazine August 2010 Issue. Following is a link to a PDF copy of the article feature: Hayes Article Feature- Maine Home and Design August 2010 Issue.

I want to leave you with one more image… isn’t this fabulous?

“Green Table, Vinalhaven” by Connie Hayes – Image: Dowling Walsh

Did I mention her use of light? Fabulous! Catch you back here tomorrow!

Featured artist… Connie Hayes!

On February 22, 2012December 9, 2013 By Barbara StroudIn ART, Featured ArtistLeave a comment

Mullions in June by artist Connie Hayes, Image: Dowling Walsh.com

Connie Hayes, an artist from Rockland, Maine, is todays featured artist. You can recognize her paintings from a distance. They are bright, bold and powerful. Magnificent in composition, Connie’s paintings draw you in. Oh, how I wish we knew about PAINTING MAINE, (the book of Connie’s) years ago… We most certainly would have bought it! Those of you who possess it have a treasure. This painting, Mullions in June, is one example of her bold style. I absolutely adore this painting! You must check out her WEBSITE, also check out her work from the Dowling Walsh Gallery in Maine!

Her subjects range from boats and water to communities viewed from ships or roads, to backyards, house interiors and floral still lifes. “I like not being pigeon-holed, Hayes says.

written by Stephen May

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Artist to watch… Tollef Runquist!

On September 13, 2011December 9, 2013 By Barbara StroudIn ART, Featured ArtistLeave a comment

runquist-look2_rev — Image: DowlingWalsh.com

Tollef Runquist is an exquisite artist represented by the Dowling Walsh Gallery in Rockland, Maine. His bright, contemporary style is refreshing. This painting is entitled LOOK 30 x 48. LOVE. IT! LOVE the bright pop of red against the great blue water… wow! If you’re in the Rockland, ME area I encourage you to stop by the Dowling Walsh Gallery (then pop over to Atlantic Bakery for a chocolate croissant, or they’re mushroom soup, or a cookie, or… or… or…. OR pop across the street to the Farnsworth Museum!), it’ll definitely be worth your time. They represent some FANTASTIC artists!

Here’s a blip from the Dowling Walsh Gallery website:

Artist’s Statement

Painting is for me an undertaking of appreciation and inquiry. It is a means by which to engage the beauty and mystery of visual experience in an ongoing dialogue. This is a widening puzzle; as I partake in this conversation it continually refreshes itself, revealing unexpected angles and new understanding. I feel no particular loyalty to realism or my own past work. I set to draw out a particular vision as long as my experience with it is visceral, attentive and useful. I try to encapsulate the fullness of my experience of a moment; weight and stillness, burning edges, massive, calm. These move me towards a particular subject, I try to paint and honor them, and then move on.

Some visual artists who have affected me deeply have been Richard Deibenkorn, Monet, De Kooning, Gauguin, Bonnard, Rothko, Sargent, Gordon Grant, Gerhart Richter, Hopper, Homer, Klimt and Egon Scheile among others. I have been drawing and painting as long as I can remember. I received a B.A. in studio Art from Dickinson college in 2002 and have since been continuing my education through creation.

Another blip from the Dowling Walsh website:

Tollef Runquist will have a solo exhibition at Dowling Walsh Gallery from Friday, September 2nd through Sunday, September 25th with an opening reception on Friday, September 2nd from 5 to 8 p.m.

Tollef Runquist has been featured in Maine Home and Design Magazine’s April 2011 Issue. Click the link below to view the feature:

Tollef Runquist MHD_0411_CurrentWork_-Tollef

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Artist to watch… Colin Page!

On March 1, 2011December 9, 2013 By Barbara StroudIn ART, Featured Artist, THOUGHTS, TRAVEL6 Comments

: ColinPagePaintings.com

My husband and I met Colin Page several years ago while we were in Port Clyde, Maine. He was set up not far from Monhegan Boat Line and he was painting the ice cream shop. I still remember that painting, the colors, the composition… wow, all were perfect! Colin is someone who can pull off painting something ordinary like a street with a stop sign and a telephone pole AND make it look stunning! Whenever my husband and I see the white light on the water from the sun or a picturesque intersection, we always say… “ahhhh, a Colin painting!” so true!

Colin was one of the guys in the cottage down from us, in the PAINTAPALOOZA group, (I know I keep saying this will be a future story… I need to do it don’t I?) – it was so exciting to see so much awesome artwork in one house by all these amazing artists!

Colin gets an A+++ for keeping his website so updated! It cannot be easy to be an artist AND keep up a website, blog, etc. etc. You must check out his website AND his journal. Valuable information. This guy is good. We have a painting of his that we absolutely love, lobster boats and the white light from the sun. Simply amazing!

Colin is in several galleries, we’ve only been to DOWLING WALSH, very nice! If you’re in Rockland, Maine sometime, check it out!

Don’t forget to take a peak at my photo blog… http://almostdailypic.wordpress.com

Catch you back here tomorrow!