GALLERY NEWS
Sandra Huck at Local Color Gallery
in October and November
Sandra Huck of Caribou is the featured guest artist at Local Color Gallery in Belfast for the months of October and November. Huck’s “sculptures on canvas”, created with found objects, feature the gathered, work and eroded textures and forms created by nature. Each find—a rock, feather, driftwood, or a piece of rusted metal has its own unique beauty. When these finds are combined, or arranged, a dialogue emerges as the combination creates a new whole. Huck strives to allow the objects to speak for themselves, just as they were found.
Huck studied art at the University of Maine at Presque Isle and advanced sculpture at Teachers College in New York City. She has participated in several group shows and has had a solo exhibition of her work in the Reed Gallery at the University of Maine at Presque Isle. Huck’s work is in several private collections.
Huck’s work will be at Local Color Gallery from 1 October - 4 December, 2023.
#63, Found Objects on canvas,
28 1/2" x 16 3/4" x 3 1/2", framed.
Liz Prescott Returns as the Guest Artist at Local Color Gallery in September
Liz Prescott’s art is driven by a love of process and color. Her work often focuses on reflected images, particularly of boats and buildings—forming, dissolving, reforming. She is a graduate of Maine College of Art and Vermont College of Fine Arts. She teaches online courses at Winslow Art Center and leads several in-person workshops in Maine each summer. Prescott’s work is included in the permanent collections at the Portland Museum of Art, Colby College, Bowdoin College, New York Public Library, and the University of New England. She maintains a studio practice in Freeport.
Precott’s work will be at Local Color Gallery from August 28–October 1.
“Floating”, 36" x 36", Acrylic on Canvas
“What If”, 24x23, Acrylic on Canvas
Marli Thibodeau
at Local Color Gallery July 31 - August 27
Rockland-based painter Marli Thibodeau’s work is influenced by the natural world and is abstract or non-objective. Deeply influenced by the Abstract Expressionist movement and artists such as Helen Frankenthaler and Franz Kline, her paintings don’t reference recognizable form. Instead, the works are composed of opaque and transparent layers representing the ongoing dialog between painter and painting. She creates intense personal moments on the canvas by questioning what is here now, present within.
Thibodeau has studied both art and movement. “Everyone has a unique way of expressing the experience of who they are,” she says, “and I’ve discovered that mine is through un-choreographed visual and movement art.”
The landscapes of Maine infuse Thibodeau’s work with a sense of awe and appreciation. “I create my work to give voice to a wild sense of beauty, the excitement of discovery, and to
nurture the spark of what is possible.”
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“The Nature Of Life” 1, 24x18, Acrylic on Panel
“Sleeping in the Trees” by Karen Olson
at Local Color Gallery until June 25th
Belfast—Karen Olson, a self-described lens-based artist and sculptural photographer, is the featured guest artist. “Sleeping in the Trees,” is meant “to evoke a sense of well-being and contentment,” says Olson. “This work summons the feeling of just waking from a dream-like state.”
Olson’s work, on display from May 22-June 25, is concept driven and explores subjects such as grief, trauma, empathy, and forest bathing. Fibers, papers, and photographs are formed and sculpted, adding weight and texture. “I seek an open dialog with the materials and the subject, encouraging collaboration and interchange,” Olson says.
Olson’s work has been featured by the Griffin Museum of Photography, Maine Museum of Photographic Arts, Art New England Magazine, and One Twelve Publishing. She was chosen as an Rfotofolio selected artist for 2021 and was included in Maine Magazine’s “Shifting Sequences,” 18 Up-And-Coming Maine artists to watch.
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“Deep Secrets” Pigment print on photo rag metallic, 20.5” x 32” on 24” x 36” sheet
Print Day in May at Local Color Gallery
Saturday May 6th 11am - 3pm
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Three printmakers from Local Color Gallery will demonstrate the art of printmaking on Saturday, May 6, from 11-3, in celebration of Print Day in May. Leslie Moore (linocut), MF Morison (linocut/copper plate etching) and Nell Parker (woodcut) will join printmakers from around the world on this first Saturday in May to make prints and share their experiences on social media.
The Local Color printmakers’ subject will be turtles. They will give away prints and ask for donations to the Turtle Rescue Program at Avian Haven in Freedom, Maine. Leigh Hallett, Executive Director, says, “We treated 75 turtles last summer, and they tend to stay with us for many weeks and require a lot of care. Each year the numbers go up, as more people realize that there is something they can do to help turtles that are injured in the road. The peak time for car strikes in this area is the first two weeks of June.” Hallett will be at the gallery on Saturday from 12:30 -2. She’ll offer brief comments about turtle rescues and answer questions.
Local Color Gallery, 135 High St., Belfast, is open from 11-5 Monday through Saturday and 11- 4 Sunday. Visit localcolorgallerymaine.org for details.
Painted turtle woodcut in progress by Nell Parker (top)
Mixed-Media Textile Artist Catherine Worthington
Catherine Worthington, a mixed media textile artist, will be the guest artist from April 25-May 21, 2023. Inspired by walking in the woods and sailing the coast, Worthington captures nature’s color, texture, and charm in her art quilts for the wall. Working with textile paints on cloth, she creates colorful and highly textured one-of-a-kind pieces. She then cuts, stitches, and collages the painted fabrics to create her compositions, constructing a sense of depth, dimension, and line. “My textile quilts are interpretations of real places,” she says. “I hope to capture the attention of the viewer by creating a feeling or a familiar place to connect with.”
Worthington grew up on the south shore of Massachusetts and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in textile design from U-Mass North Dartmouth. In 1988 she and her husband moved to Brunswick, Maine, where they raised three boys. She worked as an artist mentor for adults with disabilities for over 20 years at Spindleworks in Brunswick. Her textile art has been shown in galleries and at arts-and-craft fairs, and may be found in many private collections as well as in three Maine hospitals and a church. She is a member of the Maine Crafts Association-guild level, Maine Fiber Arts, Designing Women, and the Lemont Block Collective.
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“Butterfly Garden” by Catherine Worthington Mixed Media Textile, 15” X 18” (above)
Artist Van Bankston shows at Local Color Gallery from March 28-April 23, 2023
Bankston paints big, bold, geometric abstractions. “My artwork is about being authentic,” he says, “editing the world, editing my life to what is the truth. Going beyond the things I have done or acquired, with my painting, I want to create and evoke a visual pathway to experience spirituality. I hope my art encourages others to self-reflect; that it makes them stop, pause, take a breath, and contemplate. I hope it is a respite that is lifegiving, empowering, and supportive of self-discovery.”
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Bankston was born and grew up in the Mississippi Delta. He has degrees in landscape architecture, education, and theology. He has also studied at the New York School of Interior Design and the Fashion Institute of Technology. After years in New York City as in interior designer, he returned to Mississippi and worked full time as an artist, which ultimately led to a call to the priesthood. He has served as an Episcopal priest since 2012. Bankston lives in Belfast, Maine.
“280705,” collage diptych by Van Bankston (above)
ARTIST SHEEP JONES SHOWS AT LOCAL COLOR GALLERY
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Sheep Jones is the featured guest artist at Local Color Gallery for the months of December, January, and February.
Jones, who works in oil and wax, says her paintings begin in layers. “Layers add extra interest, leaving swatches of colors in their wake. These are perfect tidbits for the imagination.” Jones always looks for “the puzzle pieces to suggest a narrative. The thing is, all people have stories. Often, they will look at one of my paintings and recognize in it their own story, their own past, their own dreams.” Some of the stories Jones’s paintings will tell are about bumblebees, birds, and botanicals, figures, fish, and root vegetables.
Born and raised in Waterville, Maine, Jones studied art at the University of Sothern Maine. She has exhibited her work in several solo and group shows and galleries in the US and Europe. In 2003, she was chosen as Artist of the Year at the Torpedo Factory in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia. She now lives in Belfast, Maine.
Local Color Gallery, 135 High St., is open six days a week in December, Tuesday-Saturday, 11-5, Sunday, 11-4. In January and February it will be open five days a week, Wednesday-Sunday, 11-4.