This year’s First Friday in August was just as hot as 2023 – and not just because of the weather. Participating galleries – Boothbay Region Art Foundation, Gold/Smith, Studio 53, Joy to the Wind, and Gleason Fine Art – all had strong attendance – and sales to boot!
John Vander and Karen Swartsberg’s winter trip to Sicily is celebrated in John’s exhibition at Gold/Smith Gallery entitled “Postcards from Sicily.” Each of the 20 paintings on paper is mesmerizing and enchanting, inspiring and captivating the imagination. The reception featured Karen’s delicious appetizers, including a swordfish spread and a Sicilian cheese spread/dip, delicious Sicilian green olives served with prosecco or water. I don’t usually mention much about the food offerings at these receptions, but Karen created the perfect atmosphere with Italian music filling the gallery as we nibbled on our appetizers, sipped our wine, and traveled to Sicily with John’s art as our passport.
But back to the art. This exhibition… you will sigh and your soul will be content, if only temporarily, but while it lasts! My absolute favorite painting is titled “Grasses Siracusa.” When I first saw this painting, and it was the first one that really caught my attention, I wondered what was behind the tall green grasses growing in the water, a swamp perhaps? Bold black strokes layered over the grasses made me look at the orange sand area behind the grass – and quickly – as if I only had seconds to see what was behind that grass before darkness completely obscured my vision. I told John I could spend hours looking at this painting. And I could. And I want to. Strange how our souls can be influenced by an unexpected source.
“You can’t imitate nature. You look at a field of grass… it’s a universe,” Vander said. “You try to take some of the energy that comes from it and channel it through yourself to put it (on a canvas).”
It was a few weeks after returning to their winter home in Tuscany before he filled three notebooks with sketches, a few comments, or a color note or two. John never works from photographs. In fact, he made a few notes during this trip, but it was not until about two weeks after they returned home, when he filled three notebooks, that he made any sketches. The first notebook contains loose sketches, perhaps a color note or two; the sketches in the second and third notebooks become progressively looser, and in the third he also adds some color and memories.
“When I write something down, the experience actually comes back immediately, so I don’t need (sketches) anymore,” he explained. “I want them to be as spontaneous as possible, but you have to go through a process to get there.”
At this exhibition we talked about the first reaction you have to a painting when you look at it twice and move towards it completely mesmerized. For me it was “Grasses Siracusa” (yes, as if I had to say it again, right?) …
“It’s that first impression,” John said. “I like to keep it a little ambiguous on purpose. The content of a painting is very small. I was always impressed by (Willem) de Kooning, who said (and I found the exact quote), ‘…content is, if you will, a glimpse of something, an encounter, you know, like a flash – it’s very small, very small content.'”
When it comes to working with photographs, John said, “You’re not trying to imitate images, you’re trying to create a metaphor.” He also blends different locations together. “Images appear in dreams and you realize that your mind has created an amalgamation of experiences that are tied to the emotions of the experience.”
This captivating show runs until September 18th.
At Gleason Fine Art, artist Lyn Asselta was on hand to chat with art lovers while others began their art viewing in the room to the right of the entrance, which displayed paintings from centuries ago. This is one of the facets of Gleason that makes it so distinctive for “art time travel.”
Lyn has been painting with pastels for about 16 years and has made a fluid connection. In college she painted with oils but as she said, “It didn’t work out.” After college, Lyn worked as a calligrapher for 10 years, creating home designs using fine pens. When she unfortunately injured her neck, Lyn found an old box of pastels and began working with them on sandpaper.
“When I first tried pastels, I loved them,” she said. “It was perfect for what I wanted to do – landscapes.”
She returned to Maine from the Carolinas about five years ago and has thrown herself back into work. I have always been drawn to rocks and water and am fascinated by the way each artist sees/interprets these elements. Lyn’s paintings have such depth that they seem quite real on the canvas.
“The thing with the rock and the water is a big challenge: liquids and big solid objects. It’s always different no matter where you are,” Lyn said. “In the south, the water was calm. In a small boat, the water can feel like jelly. Here, it’s deep and cold. There’s something special about this space, this point where they come together.”
Lyn’s painting ‘The Breaker’ is a beautiful example of this. The details of the beautiful rocks and the water… you can hear this painting. Another painting in this exhibition that drew me in is called ‘Outgoing Tide’. It is a more tranquil experience, however, and it is the reflection of the sun in the water that I found captivating. I am on the shore, with a ‘Mona Lisa’ smile on my lips, feeling at peace.
Studio 53 Fine Art was pretty busy. It always is. It has that “hip” vibe, and if you’ve ever been there on First Fridays, you know what I mean. The featured solo exhibition: “Recent Paintings” by Jaap Helder of Round Pond no doubt had something to do with the crowds of people coming through the door. Jaap’s paintings will lure you into a “good story” of your own kind. And if you’re lucky enough to be in the gallery at the time he is, then… let the chatter begin!
I wrote about the exhibition in my column last week which featured the new painting ‘Watusi’ – which was sold during the event, no surprise. However, I forgot to include ‘Overture’. I love it. The story: a final release from the past; a past that one has carried with one for a veeeery long time. See the old rusty latches on the right? It reminds me of an old television (mind’s eye) that only ‘played’ reruns… Please, please, that rocking overture.
The Boothbay Region Art Foundation (BRAF) welcomed many art lovers. It is an eclectic exhibit, as many are there because the artists represented are so diverse in style and medium. I went upstairs to talk to Sarah Wilde, who has a solo show upstairs in the Harbor Room, along with Sue Henry’s “Reflections On Reclamation” in Gallery One. Sarah’s “Forest Canopy” practically jumped off the wall at me. The mystery within and without the trees – or is it a cornfield – spoke to me throughout my time with Sarah and her work. The exhibit also includes some abstract and spiritual explorations.
Unfortunately, I didn’t make it to the east side and Joy at the Wind Gallery. I just ran out of time – imagine that! Lynne and John Seitzer hosted a “nice, talkative crowd” of about 30 people. Lynne said, “There was a lot of speculation about what the ‘glyph’ paintings meant to them. Some said they had something to do with Mayan totem symbols, others saw them as human figures, while others said they were ‘like ancient writings’ on stone.”
