Tuesday 207: Cast

Cast / 4" x 4" / 2016
Sale Price:$207.00 Original Price:$300.00
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There is no such thing as the perfect cast. There are only casts that catch fish and casts that do not.

- Kirk Deeter in The Little Red Book Of Fly Fishing

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207 Paintings post everyish Tuesday around 5:30am EST on both The Maine  and jessicaleeives.com. Save thirty percent on any 4x4 inch oil on panel painting by making your purchase within the first week of its posting. Instead of $300 pay just $207, a number which just happens to be the Maine state area code.

Tuesday 207 Paintings are exclusive to The Maine. They depict the land, the light and the people that make this state a state of wonder. Jessica is editor of The Maine and writes occasionally as The Outsider.

The Power Is With Images

I recently read a BBC news article by Will Gompertz and it made me want to stand up and cheer for figurative art, for painting, and for the landscape. Enjoy a few of my favorite excerpts below or read the full text here.


David Hockney thinks that over his lifetime art has become "less". He blames the art establishment (museums, galleries, art schools) for becoming over-enamoured with conceptual art: "It gave up on images a bit" the artist laments. By which he means that the artworld ignored figurative art: paintings, sculptures, videos and installations that aim to represent the known world: the sort of work Hockney makes: landscapes, portraits and still lifes. 

Instead he feels, museums and galleries have jumped too willingly into the unmade bed of conceptual art where lights go on and off in a game of philosophical riddles. But Hockney says "the power is with images", and in neglecting them the artworld has diminished the very thing it aimed to protect: art. 


"But they're wrong," he told me. "A camera cannot see what a human can see, there is always something missing." He talks about the inability of a camera to reproduce a sense of space and volume. 

He makes the point that a photograph documents only a split second in time. Whereas a landscape painting, portrait or still life might appear to be a moment immortalised in a single image, but it is in fact the culmination of days, weeks and in the case of many artists (Cezanne, Monet, Van Gogh, Gauguin and Hockney), years of looking at a single subject. 

It is a result of vast quantities of stored information, experience, jottings and spatial sensitivity that has eventually appeared in the colours, composition and atmosphere of a final finished artwork. 


When people told him that the "landscape genre was worn out" he thought it illogical. "The way of looking at it [the landscape] might be worn out, but the landscape can't be," he said. "It needs re-looking at…[to] look at it afresh."


Tuesday 207: Dwelling

A house is a dwelling. So is the body. Monhegan's Red House was the island's first home and because of excellent craftsmanship, great care, and unique character it has withstood time and the elements since 1790. The human body, likewise, is built to last. What can we do to take great care and express our unique character so that we, too, have a dwelling for years to come? 

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207 Paintings post everyish Tuesday around 5:30am EST on both The Maine  and jessicaleeives.com. Save thirty percent on any 4x4 inch oil on panel painting by making your purchase within the first week of its posting. Instead of $300 pay just $207, a number which just happens to be the Maine state area code.

Tuesday 207 Paintings are exclusive to The Maine. They depict the land, the light and the people that make this state a state of wonder. Jessica is editor of The Maine and writes occasionally as The Outsider.

Tuesday 207: Keep The Channel Open

Keep The Channel Open / 4" x 4" / 2016
Sale Price:$207.00 Original Price:$300.00

There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening, that is translated through you into action. And because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, you will never exist through any other medium. It will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is, nor how it compares to other expressions. It is your business to keep yours, clearly and directly, to keep the channel open.

- Martha Graham

(In the painting to the left are two hardy swimmers in Monhegan Harbor and the Hardy Boat at the dock in the distance.)

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207 Paintings post everyish Tuesday around 5:30am EST on both The Maine  and jessicaleeives.com. Save thirty percent on any 4x4 inch oil on panel painting by making your purchase within the first week of its posting. Instead of $300 pay just $207, a number which just happens to be the Maine state area code.

Tuesday 207 Paintings are exclusive to The Maine. They depict the land, the light and the people that make this state a state of wonder. Jessica is editor of The Maine and writes occasionally as The Outsider.

Rizzio, Bok, Brady

Besides the Carl Little curated "Wish You Were Here", there are two more shows in Midcoast Maine that, had I more time during my end-of-May visit, I would have loved to see. 

Margaret Rizzio's first solo show at Dowling Walsh has been extended through this month. Go see her colorful assemblages of "perfect woman" ephemera pop against the dark walls the gallery created to highlight her work. Margaret is a great friend and pop-up conspirator whose work I truly enjoy. Her mail art subscriptions make the best gifts!

Painting power-couple Gideon Bok and Meghan Brady have works on show at Perimeter Gallery (located in Chase's Daily in Belfast) through July 3rd. Please, go and see this "Two Part Invention" for me. I am a huge fan of Brady's subtle and precise color work! From the press release:

In one sense, the two artists--who are married and raising a family together in midcoast Maine—work at opposite ends of the painting spectrum.  Bok obsessively observes the migration of light and objects in his cluttered studio building, carving out simultaneous but often-conflicting records of time and space.  Brady’s abstract work fuses raw painterly gesture with geometric elements, making use of the friction between order and chaos, symmetry and asymmetry, transparency and opacity. 

However, both artists share an appreciation for the physicality of paint itself, and both navigate a path between balancing and unbalancing.  Whether it’s Brady’s abstract forms repeating and shifting in unexpected ways, or Bok’s description of interior space and its occupants from multiple angles all at once, the result for the viewer is the pleasurable experience of becoming oriented within something that might not immediately make sense.

Margaret Rizzio, Blended Mint and Molasses, mixed media, 2016

Margaret Rizzio, Blended Mint and Molasses, mixed media, 2016

Gideon Bok, Another Green World, oil on linen, 2015

Gideon Bok, Another Green World, oil on linen, 2015

Meghan Brady, Tussle, oil on canvas 2016

Meghan Brady, Tussle, oil on canvas 2016

Tuesday 207: Shaded Riffles

Shaded Riffles / 4" x 4" / 2016
Sale Price:$207.00 Original Price:$300.00

Riffle: A riffle is a rocky, shallow area in a stream where water cascading over rocks creates a noticeable surface disturbance. To identify a riffle, look for a choppy surface or whitewater spilling over shallow rocks into deeper water. A good riffle will fulfill all of the basic needs of a trout. The shallow, highly oxygenated water is a perfect environment for the aquatic insects trout eat. Boulders and rocks create plentiful hiding and resting spots. Deeper water downstream gives trout rest and security. All of these aspects make a riffle a great starting point when looking for trout.

From "Where's That Trout"

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207 Paintings post everyish Tuesday around 5:30am EST on both The Maine  and jessicaleeives.com. Save thirty percent on any 4x4 inch oil on panel painting by making your purchase within the first week of its posting. Instead of $300 pay just $207, a number which just happens to be the Maine state area code.

Tuesday 207 Paintings are exclusive to The Maine. They depict the land, the light and the people that make this state a state of wonder. Jessica is editor of The Maine and writes occasionally as The Outsider.

Artist Talk @ Courthouse Gallery Fine Art

Many thanks to all those who attended my artist talk at Courthouse two weeks ago! Were there 30 of us there? Maybe more? I was thrilled with the one-on-one conversations that followed about swimming, landscape painting, the body's fascial system, the science of aesthetics, and somatic-psychology. Wow! You were willing to engage with a less-than-conventional artist talk and some really exciting ideas and experiences -- well, I guess calling them exciting might be my bias! But I am excited. I'm excited about the intersection of visual culture and kinesthetic intelligence and imagination that I'm exploring. Thanks for diving in with me!

If you couldn't make the talk please enjoy the Youtube video of it to the right! Unfortunately the gallery had a short in their mic and so the audio is static-y at times. The transcript of my talk is available here -- I've highlighted the static-y areas in red so that you can still read what you might not hear.

Also, the great thing about the transcript is that I've embedded links to all the artists, books, ideas, and science that I reference. Enjoy!

If I Had More Days In My Maine Visit...

...I would have gone to see this show! I couldn't make it, but you still can. Carl Little has pulled together a fantastic group of artists to express a brilliant and beautiful idea.


Vintage Photos And Contemporary Art Come Together In Unusual Penobscot Marine Museum Exhibit

On view at PMM from May 28 through October 16, 2016

As part of its Wish You Were Here: Communicating Maine summer programming, the Penobscot Marine Museum will present Maine: A Continuum of Place in the Main Street Gallery, May 28 to October 16. An opening reception for the show, with Guest Curator Carl Little, is planned for Friday, May 27, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. The public is invited to attend.

Carl Little, author of Paintings of Maine, Art of the Maine Islands and other books, chose vintage photographs and postcards of coastal Maine from the Penobscot Marine Museum’s collection and paired them with images of those places by contemporary Maine artists. The photographs, which will have been enlarged, and the artworks will be displayed side by side.

“Pairing vintage photographs with modern-day paintings of similar subjects by artists active today was not only great fun, but also a way to highlight what I call the ‘continuum of place,’ ” says Little. “Maine’s landscape has inspired a remarkable sense of place over the past 150 years,” he notes, “and that vibrant tradition continues today.” The exhibition features the work of 17 artists from across Maine: Joel Babb, Susan Lewis Baines, Nancy Morgan Barnes, Mary Bourke, Sam Cady, Alison Goodwin, Philip Frey, Liddy Hubbell, Tina Ingraham, Ben Lincoln, Jeff Loxterkamp, Caren-Marie Michel, Linda Norton, Winslow Myers, Karen Spitfire, Jude Valentine, and David Vickery.

In honor of the 100th anniversary of “Maine Postcard Day”, Penobscot Marine Museum’s 2016 series of exhibits Wish You Were Here: Communicating Maine presents a hundred years of images which have been used to communicate the unique qualities of Maine to the outside world. Using postcards, photography, and contemporary art, these exhibits explore the changes which have taken place in the images which have we have used to communicate “Maine”.

Mary Bourke, Bathers, acrylic on birch panel, 2015, 18 by 18 inches

Mary Bourke, Bathers, acrylic on birch panel, 2015, 18 by 18 inches

Pairing PMM’s Three Bathers photo with Bourke Bathers

Pairing PMM’s Three Bathers photo with Bourke Bathers

Opening Of Fire & Water This Friday!


 

Courthouse Gallery Fine Art invites you to our spring reception

Friday, May 27, 5-7pm

FIRE AND WATER

Janice Anthony and Jessica Ives

Courthouse Gallery brings together two artists who approach human interaction with nature in much the same manner despite their dramatically different imagery. Anthony juxtaposes formal English gardens with raging wildfires, threatening our perceived ability to control nature, while Ives explores an active human experience of being immersed in water—wading, splashing, floating, making ripples—relishing the coolness and becoming one with nature.

Spring reception Friday, May 27 from 5–7pm
Courthouse Gallery Fine Art
6 Court Street, Ellsworth, Maine
207 667 6611


Artists talk with Jessica Ives
Friday, May 27 at 4pm 

Jessica Ives will speak about kinesthetic intelligence and imagination, mirror neurons firing in the brain, and the healing properties of water. She'll also speak about why she doesn't work en plein air and why, as a landscape painter, she believes it's important to picture herself and others in the landscape more. The event is free and open to the public. 


Swans Island Company Collaboration!

Swans Island Company is thrilled to introduce Water Colors, the latest in our annual Special Edition throw series.

This unique handloomed throw is made of certified organic Merino wool resist-dyed with all natural plant dyes, and then overdyed with indigo to create variegated, painterly shades of blue and green on each skein of yarn. When woven on our vintage looms, the dye patterns capture the nuance of light and movement on the waterways that define Maine’s interior landscape.

This Special Edition is presented in collaboration with artist Jessica Lee Ives, who created an original work, The Colors of Water, inspired by this year’s throw. Her rich colors and playful brushstrokes mirror the ethereal blue and green hues of our Water Colors throw. Together, these unique pieces represent the fluid exchange between materials, processes, and traditions that define life on the Maine coast.

The wool is resist-dyed with natural weld and logwood dyes, and then overdyed with indigo to create variegated, painterly shades of blue and green on each skein of yarn. When woven on our looms, this color pattern recreates the movement and light of the freshwater that defines Maine’s interior landscape.
— Swans Island Company

The Color of Water, exclusive hand-signed limited edition archival quality 16" x 20" giclée print.

Order Print Here.


Water Colors 100% Organic Merino wool throw with silk trim, hand loomed 50″ x 70″ and made in Maine.

Order Throw Here.


Tuesday 207: Waiting For The Ferry

Waiting For The Ferry / 4" x 4" / 2016
Sale Price:$207.00 Original Price:$300.00

"Are you ready?" Klaus asked finally.
"No," Sunny answered.
"Me neither," Violet said, "but if we wait until we're ready we'll be waiting for the rest of our lives. Let's go."

-- Lemony Snicket, The Ersatz Elevator

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207 Paintings post everyish Tuesday around 5:30am EST on both The Maine  and jessicaleeives.com. Save thirty percent on any 4x4 inch oil on panel painting by making your purchase within the first week of its posting. Instead of $300 pay just $207, a number which just happens to be the Maine state area code.

Tuesday 207 Paintings are exclusive to The Maine. They depict the land, the light and the people that make this state a state of wonder. Jessica is editor of The Maine and writes occasionally as The Outsider.

Tuesday 207: Looking & Feeling


Feeling For It / 4" x 4" / 2016
Sale Price:$207.00 Original Price:$300.00

What makes treatment with water so unique is that it is always as available as the nearest running water. Moreover, water therapy is painless, and hundreds of different health problems can be treated immediately, naturally, and at little or no cost. Water therapy can stop a cold before it starts, help overcome a sore throat, generate energy, relieve pain, vanquish nervousness, help induce sleep, awaken a fogged brain, reestablish internal good health, and even help us to feel sexier; in short, it can restore and tone the body. Water therapy creates circulation and overcomes sluggishness; it also unblocks an energy barrier so that the body can function in a freer and normal fashion. By acting to detoxify -- that is, to rid the body of any accumulated poisons or toxins that may be the start of disease, or linger after a disease -- water therapy increases our body's natural defense mechanisms.

--Dian Dincin Buchman, Ph.D. in The Complete Book Of Water Healing

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207 Paintings post everyish Tuesday around 5:30am EST on both The Maine  and jessicaleeives.com. Save thirty percent on any 4x4 inch oil on panel painting by making your purchase within the first week of its posting. Instead of $300 pay just $207, a number which just happens to be the Maine state area code.

Tuesday 207 Paintings are exclusive to The Maine. They depict the land, the light and the people that make this state a state of wonder. Jessica is editor of The Maine and writes occasionally as The Outsider.

Three Paintings in the "Portland Show" at Greenhut Galleries

I'm thrilled to participate in the 8th Biennial “Portland Show”, an invitational show of artists interpretation of the city of Portland at Greenhut Galleries. A reception will be held tomorrow, Saturday April 9th from 1-3pm. Visit www.greenhutgalleries.me or call 207 772 2693 for more information.

In addition to artwork, each artist was asked to write a statement about the subject matter they chose. With an exhibition opening so close to opening day, how could I not choose baseball? For me, any local stadium will always offer a unique glimpse into the heart of a city and its seasonal rhythms. Thanks for the inspiration, Sea Dogs!

I learned how to collect baseball cards in the first grade. My dad taught me. His dad, my Grandpa Pete, played for the Brooklyn Dodgers organization. I remember stories about the different cities he traveled to and played in — places with memorable restaurants, places where he and Grandma Lou went out dancing, places where team brawls happened — cities and places each with their own character. I have a newspaper clipping with a photo of Grandpa Pete, Jackie Robinson, and Pee Wee Reese at spring training.

Baseball is amazing in its capacity to connect people over time and distance. Generations pass down their love for the game and team rivalries keep tension in a connective web of place. The dimensions of a diamond may point to infinity, and sports writers may wax poetic about echoes of eternity, but on opening day we are all right here and right now. Pride of place causes the tree in right field to bloom at Hadlock Field just as much as the season. Heaven is at hand.
Double Play, 5" x 7"

Double Play, 5" x 7"

Full Stands, Full Count, 5" x 7"

Full Stands, Full Count, 5" x 7"

His Spring Training, 10" x 22"

His Spring Training, 10" x 22"

Tuesday 207: The Home Team

The Home Team / 4" x 4" / 2016
Sale Price:$207.00 Original Price:$300.00

Root, root, root! April 14th is the first game of the season at Hadlock Field.

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207 Paintings post everyish Tuesday around 5:30am EST on both The Maine  and jessicaleeives.com. Save thirty percent on any 4x4 inch oil on panel painting by making your purchase within the first week of its posting. Instead of $300 pay just $207, a number which just happens to be the Maine state area code.

Tuesday 207 Paintings are exclusive to The Maine. They depict the land, the light and the people that make this state a state of wonder. Jessica is editor of The Maine and writes occasionally as The Outsider.