Featured Artist: Robert Pollien

Spruces on Great Head, Mount Desert Island by Robert Pollien
Spruces on Great Head, Mount Desert Island by Robert Pollien    –   Oil on Panel 24 x 36″

Robert Pollien has some wonderful work at the Dowling Walsh Gallery, and guess what? If you’re in the Rockland, Maine area you are in luck! There is a show including Robert Pollien, David Vickery and Connie Hayes that begins this Friday!

Spruces on Great Head, Mount Desert Island is a wonderful piece by Robert. His trees have such character, they take on a life of their own. This is a wonderful scene that really makes you wish you were there, snow and all!

UPCOMING SHOW at Dowling Walsh Gallery in Rockland, Maine: June 6 – 28, 2014. Opening receiption June 6 from 5-8PM!

Read a blip about Robert from the Dowling Walsh website:

Robert Pollien received his M.A. in painting from Trinity College and his M.F.A. from the University of Pennsylvania under noted Maine painter Neil Welliver. Following Penn, he attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture.

In 1992, Robert Pollien became the first Artist in Residence at Acadia National Park. Pollien was awarded a Maine Arts Commission Individual Artist Fellowship in Painting in 2001. And in 2004, he was awarded Carina House Residency on Monhegan Island.

Robert Pollien’s work was included in Art of the Maine Islands by Arnold Skolnick and Carl Little.

Robert lives in Bar Harbor, Maine on Mount Desert Island. He paints landscapes of the Maine Coastline, working from direct observation.

Artist Statement

“My paintings are generally small, compact and simple. My goal is not to portray the land in an overly picturesque manner, but to paint the landscape in a way that rings true.”

 All images via DowlingWalsh.com used 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:            Red’s Eat’s – Wiscassett, Maine

T w o  Y e a r s  A g o:         Charleston Gardenias

T h r e e  Y e a r s  A g o:    Benefits of Green Tea!

[ f e a t u r e d a r t i s t ]: H e n r y I s a a c s !

"Islesford Village" by Henry Isaacs
“Islesford Village” by Henry Isaacs

You can spot a piece of Henry Isaacs work a long distance away. With all the fabulous artists in the world its pretty cool when an artist develops a style that’s quite different and recognizable. Henry has done just that! Isn’t this piece wonderful? Henry has an amazing website, take the time to check it out!

Gleason Fine Art has an opening reception this evening from 5-8PM featuring Henry’s new work. If you’re in the Portland, Maine area stop in and check it out. If you’re no where near Portland… check it out via their website! Henry Isaacs exhibit runs through November 30, 2013, catch it if you can! This is going to be an amazing show!

Read a bit about Henry from the Gleason Fine Art website:

Cranberry Island artist Henry Isaacs paints with energy, passion, and self-assurance. His style—broken brushwork and a palette of delicate blues, greens, pinks, and yellows—marks him as one of the most recognizable artists painting in Maine today. In person, Isaacs is as engaging an individual as you will ever meet. He is both worldly and down to earth, both witty and self-effacing, generous with his time, and passionate about the dangers of the art world’s becoming overly commercialized.

 Isaacs and his wife Donna live in the village of Islesford on Little Cranberry Island, a small island located near the larger island of Mount Desert. But island living in no way inhibits Isaacs from going wherever he’s asked to paint. Recently, this was a commission to paint on the grounds of a large Namibian estate in southern Africa. “New Work” is Isaacs’ first one-person show in Portland, and for this special occasion, he has presented the gallery with nearly 20 paintings, some of very large in scale.

 Isaacs has had a varied and impressive education, including the Slade School of Art in London, the Rhode Island School of Design, and the Putney School in Vermont.  Isaacs’ teaching career is even more impressive and varied, with stints teaching anatomical drawing at Dartmouth, drawing and painting at the Massachusetts College of Art, and drawing at several European colleges.

 Freelance writer, and Portland Newspapers arts reviewer, Dan Kany uses high praise to describe Isaacs’ technique: “Isaacs’ approach to color is based in balancing warm and cool tones. He does this brilliantly with his ubiquitous whites and neutrals, and with his brighter colors as well. Like the French Impressionists, he doesn’t use black. [Isaacs’] handling of paint owes an unapologetic debt to the chunky boldness of the early 20thcentury Modernists and Fauves. The brushwork is strong, but primarily dedicated to the job of pushing paint around the canvas—an activity Isaacs clearly enjoys.”

 “Henry Isaacs: New Work” opens October 4 and runs through November 30.  Please join us Friday, October 4, from 5 to 8 pm to meet Henry Isaacs.  For more information, call the gallery at 207-699-5599, email us at info@gleasonfineart.com, or check out our website gleasonfineart.com. Gleason Fine Art, Portland, is located at 545 Congress Street.  Gallery hours are Wednesday – Friday, 11 am–6 pm; Saturday, 11 am–5 pm.

 Image: GleasonFineArt.com

F L A S H B A C K

O N E   Y E A R   A G O…       39 Rue de Jean, a fabulous Charleston restaurant!

T W O   Y E A R S   A G O…   Artist to watch… Betty Anglin Smith! October Skies Show (2011)

Catch you back here tomorrow!