FEATURED ARTISTS
DOROTHY FEELEY
An American living in Canada! I grew up in Pennsylvania. In my adult life spent 10 years full time living in Maine, raising my sons. Followed by summers in Maine, winters in Florida before moving to Calgary, Alberta in 2019 when I married my Canadian husband. I still make sure I spend as much time as possible in Maine every summer as it still feels like home.
I find inspiration in shapes and patterns in the sky peeking through the trees, light bouncing off water and distant landscapes. Close to home my garden, home and kitchen are places my creativity extends. I used to think painting and creativity just happened on a canvas, now I realize, it’s all creativity. When I am painting, I give myself full permission to be expressive in any way I feel will give me joy, and maybe that’s pushing the boundaries of what and how I’ve always painted, maybe I am making marks and love notes with pencils and crayons or using collage, or using finishing trowel to pull the paint across the surface. I have been known for my rich colors, I am beginning to break the rules with a sometimes more subdued palette. My focus right now is to paint feelings… this will be a lifelong pursuit.
I studied at Moore College of Art in Philadelphia and have been a life long learner at the canvas.
JUDY TAYLOR
Judy’s work consists of figurative and narrative paintings, labor-focused work, landscapes and portraiture. Her scenes of workers and nature found on the Island often incorporate island residents as models. Prior to coming to Maine she lived in New York City, transferring there from Chicago to study figurative art. She was accepted into New York Academy of Art on full scholarship and received her Masters certificate in their pilot program. She went on to study painting at the National Academy of Design with Harvey Dinnerstein and Ron Sherr. In 1996 she relocated to Maine and was an Artist-in- Residence at Acadia National Park. Since 2002 she has resided full time in Maine where she maintains her studio and teaches there and at workshops in Austin, New York, Italy and France. In 2007 she was awarded the commission to paint the History of Labor in Maine which took a full year to complete. Her work is in many public and private collections including: Johns Hopkins University, the United States Park System, Friends of Acadia, and the Jackson Laboratory.
J AARON MITCHELL, “JAMS”
Aaron is a Maine born Father, husband and artist that resides in Northeast Harbor. His main influences are Bruce Lee, Michael Jordan, and the B-52’s.
CAROL BERMAN
My people say that I see the world through watercolored glasses. The gathering clouds, the sun off the trees, the many moods of water; where ever I go I say to myself, “Now how would I paint THAT?” I am fascinated with clouds, shadows, light and the contrasts in color that nature provides. Mine is a journey of trying to capture these ever changing elements on watercolor paper.
I am especially drawn to the coast of Maine, where my heart and soul live. Each time I cross over the invisible line between the rest of the world, and Maine, my heart breaths a heavy sigh of relief that it is home.
KATIE BUSICK
Growing up on the North Shore of Massachusetts I began sketching, painting and taking photos as a young child and have never stopped. I attended the University of Maine Orono. This is where my love affair with Maine began.
As my children grew I started a photography business. I have become well known as a professional cycling photographer throughout New England. I have also done brand, wedding, senior portrait and family portrait photography. Recently I proudly became a shutterbug for Shutterbugs4Charity.
I try to bring my love of nature into the strokes of the paintbrush and the lens of my camera. My muse is the world around me. I am forever looking for color combinations and compositions around me. I hope my art brings you a bit of peace and wonder.
SHARYN PAUL BRUSIE
From my early childhood, I felt this need to create all types of art and that is what I’ve known to be true throughout my life. I’m a painter and a filmmaker and presently, all I do is paint! Well, painting has taken a hold of me, once again. I’m primarily interested in painting people and animals. Recently, I’ve been exploring abstraction, combining figurative with less of the literal and more of the mystery to life. Creating bold marks, texture and using mixed media excites me. I like leaving the viewer with the opportunity to wonder, to look within themselves and hopefully connect to the greater whole. There is often a depth and a lightness to my work.
In addition to my work as a painter, I’m also a filmmaker. I appreciate the similarities in both mediums. They broaden my awareness and my view of what it is to be human. It’s essential to stay open and to keep taking leaps into the unknown – in art as it is in life
I attended a summer session at the Rhode Island School of Design and graduated with a BFA in Jewelry and Photography from the Maine College of Art. I also received a BS in Art Education and taught art for several years.
LISA KYLE
As far back as I can remember, I have loved to draw and paint. I always wanted to be a painter. Even while I began practicing architecture, I studied painting. I took classes wherever my husband and I lived – at SMU in Dallas, at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah and at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Maryland. More impactful, I also studied privately with many artists including Scott Christensen, Jill Carver and Lori Putnam. My dream was always to paint full time, one day, some day.
I spent many years as a residential architect, squeezing in time to paint whenever I could: early mornings before going to an office, or on the weekends after chores. In 2006, I had a sort of rude awakening when I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I realized that a lot of the cliches are true: life is short, life can turn on a dime, you should follow your dreams, and there is no time like the present. After finishing cancer treatments in 2007, I began to make a plan: to live somewhere beautiful and to paint for a living. I now know that dreams can indeed come true.
It took a few years for my husband and I to get here, but we moved to Maine in 2016! We live in an old 1830’s farmhouse that we renovated and restored. Like most old houses, it is a work in progress, a never-ending project. In 2017, I began painting full time and have relished every moment of it! I love exploring the areas around our home in mid-coast Maine and also Acadia to find inspirations to paint! I love trying to capture the energy and emotion of a landscape in paint. I love knowing that I am finally where I am supposed to be.
I begin paintings with sketches, and often paint plein-aire or on-site. I have learned that I am a fair-weather painter though! In the winter, I paint in my studio, using sketches, on-site paintings and photographs as sources of inspiration. Whether they are created in the field or in my studio, I try to capture some of the beauty of the natural world –
the quality of the light,
the simple yet compelling forms of the vernacular architecture,
the subtle colors of the meadows,
the magic at sunset.
I am constantly stunned at the ceaselessly changing blues of the waters, whether they are the ponds, rivers, or the ocean.
The more that I paint, the more convinced I am that Art is Important – it feeds our soul. My calling is to lift up nature by creating beautiful objects so that others can live with the beauty and serenity of nature in their homes.
JULIE SPAHR
I prefer the inspiration of painting “en Plein aire” whenever possible. I am a colorist, energized to paint what I see, in a realistic, but impressionistic style. My deep connection with the natural world, in the past, and through my art, has led to my immersion in landscape painting. I am continually sharpening my awareness and “seeing” at new levels, striving to portray the light forms and magic before me in my paintings.
My subject matter is inspired primarily from the rolling Pennsylvania countryside and the rocky Maine coastline. I also love to paint on my travels, especially in Provence and areas surrounding Florence, Italy.
JIM NICKELSON
Based in Camden, Maine, Jim works as a fine art photographer, custom digital printer (as Nickelson Editions), bookmaker, and teacher. Before committing himself to the photographic life, he pursued the classic artistic career path of NASA engineer and corporate attorney (with a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from Univ. of Texas at Austin and a J.D. from Harvard Law School).
Jim has received numerous awards, including being honored as Artist-in-Residence at Acadia National Park, Chiricahua National Monument in Arizona, and the Baer Art Center in Iceland. He was also honored as Book Artist-in-Residence at Maine Media Workshops + College.
Jim has exhibited widely, including in museums or galleries such as the Boston Athenaeum, Photo Resource Center at Boston University, Danforth Museum of Art (Framingham, MA), Camerawork Gallery (Portland, OR), Center for Maine Contemporary Art (Rockland, ME), University of Maine Museum of Art (Bangor, ME), Michener Art Museum (Doyletown, PA), Bates College Museum of Art (Lewiston, ME), Three Columns Gallery at Harvard University (Cambridge, MA), Soho Photo Gallery (NYC), University of Wyoming Art Museum (Laramie, WY), 555 Gallery (Boston, MA), Davis Orton Gallery (Hudson, NY), Center for Photographic Art (Carmel, CA), Griffin Museum of Photography (Winchester, MA), Center for Fine Art Photography (Fort Collins, CO), Coconino Center for the Arts (Flagstaff, AZ), Gallery Photographica (San Francisco, CA), Carver Hill Gallery (Camden, ME), Cove Street Arts (Portland, ME), Garage Gallery (Beacon, NY), and Silvermine Guild Galleries (New Canaan, CT).
Jim’s work resides in museum, public, university, corporate, and private collections across the United States and Canada.
PATTY CORCORAN
Patricia Corcoran has spent her adult life working with students as a counselor and then a dean at the University of Vermont. She recently transitioned to higher education consulting in order to have more time to focus on her work as an artist. Having spent her career caring for her students’ well being and helping them find their spark and passion, her joy of life and appreciation of human nature and natural beauty now find expression through her life as a painter. Patty has painted her whole life. As she grew up watching her painter mother's work progress, she always felt her own truest self was that of an artist, as well. She knew that some day the artist would emerge as her primary identity. Patty's days are now filled with creating art, much of it derived from walking the beautiful trails of Hinesburg, Vermont where she lives with her husband, Andres Roomet and their bounding golden doodle, Pokey. Patty spends her summers painting in Northeast Harbor, Maine where she is inspired by the coast and landscape of Mt. Desert island.
NANCY MCKECHNIE
I can’t remember when I haven’t had a camera and a preoccupation with capturing images. Beginning in the days of “mail away” rolls of film that I would drop into the mailbox slot, tingling with anticipation of what my film would reveal I had seen.
My first “legit” camera was a Pentax P3, which I shot with for many years. I have never been inclined to learn the mechanics of the camera as the camera to me, is not the art, it’s my eye and what I am spontaneously drawn to capture. So I point and shoot for the most part. I like abstract blurred images as well as poignant, clear, black and white portrait photos. My preferred environment is an urban setting with lots of interesting people doing what they do. However, living on the coast of Maine with beauty all around is hard to ignore! I am continually inspired to create art from life. I think if we pay attention to what is around us, we find there is so much to be seen.
“Attention is a kind of energetic attitude. Don’t get used to being alive. Be astonished by what you see.” (Susan Sontag)
KRISTIE BILLINGS
Kristie Billings was born and raised on Deer Isle. Kristie comes from a long line of lovers of the sea. She is: a poet, a collector, and an observer. Kristie tends to gravitate to things others may pass by, and that some may find unsettling. "Life and art are sometimes uncomfortable. I like it when both make me take notice, hold my breath, and stand straighter."
Kristie has had her work shown at the Deer Isle Artists Association in numerous different shows, Ronald Harte's Art and Antique Gallery, solo exhibition at the Blue Hill Public Library, Shaw Gallery in Northeast Harbor, Friends of the Brooklin Public Library, and also was a featured artist for the Word Literary Arts Festival in Blue Hill, and others. Kristie also is the proud author of Sea Witch Photography and Poetry Forget-Me-Nots From a Mainer Growing Up published by Seapoint Books and Media LLC.
For more information on Kristie and her work check out her website:http://www.kristiebillingsseawitchphotography.com
DALE JOYCE
Dale has had a camera in his hand for over 50 years and has been making handmade prints for almost as long. After a long career in software development everything lined up for him to move to Swan’s Island Maine, where he spentmost of his summers growing up. He packed up his fiancée, Jennifer, and her kids and they made Down East Maine their home.Together they operate the Harbor View Studio gallery on Swan’s Island and Down East Photography (a commercial photography studio) in Ellsworth.In addition to creating art with film and digital, he hosts workshops at his studios and with Schoodic Arts For All.
LUC BERNAY
Luc, 30, French painter, studied Arts and graphic design in Paris, London and Princeton NJ. Signature member of the American Society of Marine Artists. Keen on painting landscapes and seascapes, documenting his travels with oils on panels boards en plein air. He discovered Maine 5 years ago and felt very inspired by a wide range of subjects, from Harbor scenes to rusted trucks and sunsets on Cadillac mountain.
SCOUT CURTIN
Scout Curtin, b. 1996, is a Brooklyn, NY based painter. Her work explores themes of memory, domesticity, and interpersonal, often familial narratives and pastimes. Through the use of distorted perspective, vague likenesses, and hyperfocus on elements of patterns and textiles, she captures the remembered qualities of interaction and space - challenging the viewer to look more closely at how the mundane moments in their past so fervently affect their present and future. Scout holds a BA from the NYU Gallatin School of Individualized Study with a concentration in Painting and Graphic Design. She has been an artist in residence at both The Watermill Center, Watermill, NY and The Canterbury Shaker Village, Canterbury, NH. Her solo exhibition, Lake Weed, opened in July 2023 at Ed Varie, New York, NY, and she has participated in group exhibitions at Fridman Gallery, New York, NY, the University of New England, Biddeford, ME, and others. She has given visiting artists talks at both the University of New England and Bowdoin College, Bowdoin, ME.
LYNN KARLIN PHOTOGRAPHY
Lynn Karlin is an internationally published fine art and commercial photographer. Originally from New York City, she was the first woman staff photographer for Women’s Wear Daily and W. Her life-style images graced the covers and pages of House Beautiful, Country Living, The New York Times Magazine, New York Magazine and major garden magazines. Since 2008, she has added fine art photography to the mix and her still-lifes have been exhibited in galleries from Paris to Barcelona to New York, in design shops and in private and corporate collections worldwide.
In 1983, Lynn moved to a farm on the coast of Maine previously owned by famous back- to-landers and authors Helen and Scott Nearing which led to her classic book, “Maine Farm, A Year of Country Life”, published by Random House. Later came “Gardens Maine Style” featuring some of the most beautiful gardens in Maine; “Gardens Maine Style ll” followed.
Lynn continues to win prestigious international awards and has been written up and featured in The New York Times, San Chronicle, London’s Sunday Telegraph and others. A 2024 fine art calendar of images will be published by Weingarten in Germany and available this year at booksellers in Europe and on Amazon.de. Fall 2023, the French magazine Jeux Délices will feature a selection from her body of work.