Farm to Easel
Invitational Art Auction September 23, 2018
Featured Artist Profiles
www.wolfesneck.org
Live Auction Highlights Frank Hackett, Auctioneer Frank Hackett is the chief executive officer of the National Auto Auction Association, a position he has held since 2004. His prior experience includes 20 years in law enforcement, serving three terms as sheriff of Kennebec County, Maine. He has also served as president and CEO of Volunteers of America Oklahoma and executive director of the American Society for Law Enforcement Training. Despite all of these amazing accomplishments, his main claim to fame is that he married Mary Ellen Matava, and is Jeannie Matava Mattson’s brother in law.
Auction Highlight: Seasonal Seafood Dinner
By renowned chef Barton Seaver Dinner for 10-12 guests prepared in your home by celebrated chef, author and internationally recognized speaker on sustainable seafood, Barton Seaver. Seaver will develop multiple courses in consultation with the host, featuring local seafood, vegetables, and wine.
Paddle Raise
For our future Farm Discovery Gardens Let’s inspire the next generation to care about the future of food and agriculture by giving them meaningful, immersive experiences where they can get their hands in the soil. Make this vision a reality by raising your paddle to support our Farm Discovery Gardens. We have raised over $62,000 toward our $75,000 goal and need your help to reach the finish line.
Live Auction Artists Margaret Gerding Wolfe’s Neck Farm Oil, 30x30
Throughout my career my goal has remained the same, to capture a moment in time. As an artist my job is to observe as much as to create. With every second that passes light changes, color adjusts, and the slightest physical shifts occur in nature. Each painting I do represents a real place, a moment that I have experienced and been inspired by. There is something about being alone in nature—a quiet moment that connects me. It is this solitude, whether outside or inside the studio, that allows me to let the landscape reveal itself through the paint. Wolfe’s Neck Farm represents numerous places to inspire any artist.
Catherine Breer One Lane Bridge
Acrylic on canvas, 30x40 I am always looking for that moment when the light hits just right, the shadows lengthen and ordinary objects become something quite extraordinary. Reflections appear on the water, light dances on the side of a building, bottles line up in a window just right. It is these moments in time that I want to capture. The landscape of Maine is a never ending source of inspiration for me. The rocky coast, the dark green ocean, verdant valleys, the harbors, and the coastal towns.
2018 Invitational Art Auction
Wolfe’s Neck Center
Live Auction Artists
Live Auction Artists
Winky Lewis
Claudette Gamache
Photography, 13x20 (19x26 framed)
Pastel, 10x10
Winky Lewis is a Portland based photographer specializing in kids, fine art, portraiture, education, animals, agriculture, and home and garden photography.
Claudette is a pastel artist who is drawn to light and atmospheric conditions that create a magical moment. Her definition of creativity is to enter the unexpected, the mystical and informational creating a dialogue with her inner intuitive voice. She finds that working with subjects that she is passionate about, layering pastels, brings a dialogue which becomes her meditation for soul expression creating a relaxation response. Her wish is for the viewer to experience the same.
Lindsay Hancock
Sarah Beard
Oil on canvas, 19x25
Oil on canvas, 18x24
Queen Anne’s Lace, Wolfe’s Neck
Island Walk
Maine’s coastal trails are providing people with bold vistas and glimpses of the unique flora and fauna inhabiting rocky outcrops, meadows that meet the sea, and spruce and fir woodlands. It is a pleasure to share my appreciation of these natural wonders in a painting.
Low Tide Fox Island from Popham Beach
Greenhouses
My painting focuses primarily on landscapes of coastal Maine, where I live and work, and its people. I am strongly moved by the beauty that surrounds us and want to share this through my painting. When I’m not in the studio I spend as much time as possible outdoors, hiking or snowshoeing with my camera to take notes for the next painting. I am drawn to the interplay of light, shadow and patters of color. I invite the viewer to stand with me, to share the mood, the beauty and the story. I often include a foreground to give the viewer the sense of being right there at the scene.
2018 Invitational Art Auction
Wolfe’s Neck Center
Live Auction Artists Ted Wengren Whaleboat Island Oil, 24x39
“Picasso is reported to have said that the artist’s job is to find God’s secret hiding place. So, we look: so far without success, but we are persistent.”
Live Auction Artists Jack Montgomery Portrait Sitting and Print Ink Print, 17x22
Jack is a portrait photographer living and working in Freeport. Photo to right is a representational piece for his auction item: Together, you and Jack will coordinate a time and place for a scheduled portrait sitting.
Catherine Worthington
Linda Bail
Textile, 20x20
Oil, 9x12
Coastal Maine Island
A lot of my textile art reflects the beauty of Maine’s landscape from the gardens to the sea. Inspired by Maine’s natural beauty I am compelled to create and capture it’s rugged charm. Using textile paints on cloth I create colorful textured and patterned fabrics to use as my palette for composing my wall pieces, adding stitching to give them depth and dimension. As I explore the medium of textile painting I am often discovering the balance between abstraction and representation. My textile art quilts are interpretations of real places and I hope to capture the attention of the viewer by creating a feeling or familiar place to connect with.
Fall Bunganuc Field
The enjoyment of creating art is in the journey, not the destination. The fascination and the curiosity connected to the process - from the idea to the finished painting give me the opportunity to use discipline and learned and practiced skills. To quote Ed Whitney, “Plein Air painting is combining what you see with what you know to express the way you feel!” I was brought up in Maine and after living all over the country for 45 years, I was delighted to return. What a wonderful place to pursue my passion for painting!
2018 Invitational Art Auction
Wolfe’s Neck Center
Live Auction Artists John Bowdren Small Shoal
Carved wood, gold & palladium leaf, 27x27x6
Live Auction Artists Liz Prescott
Farm Fields, Wolfe’s Neck Acrylic on panel, 20x30
I grew up in Connecticut and went to the School of Visual Arts in New York City. My wife Tamara and I settled in Maine in 1992. I enjoy wandering the Maine coast, sketching, painting and exploring. The coastal landscape is a wonderful subject, the contrasts and tensions of light and weather along the waters edge, the movement and interaction of water, land and sky, between manmade and natural objects catches my interest. I paint in oils, acrylic and watercolors. I also work with wood, in sculpture or woodblocks for printing. My emotional reaction to the subject suggests which materials to use. The main thing is to convey the quality of the light, seeing in the landscape how light reveals aspects of composition and how color and light can carry that Ah-Ha moment of discovery and emotion to the viewer.
My current body of work is a mediation on reflections. My interest lies in the echoing of images: the perfect reflection, the breaking apart and reforming of images, dissolution of form, partly or completely. How wind and water and current stretch and remake what we see and know.
Anne Ireland
Diana Johnson
Oil, 24x24” “My paintings are the result of observation informed by imagination – A place where the iconic is seen in the emotional context of mystery and surprise. I’m after a certain atmosphere, a feeling of place, derived from the relationships of color and a singular composition.” Ireland’s recent solo show at the Maine Jewish Museum, highlighted her work as a colorist and as an abstract landscape painter. Her work is found in many private and corporate collections and has graced the cover of two LLBean catalogs. In an article by Bob Keyes in a July 2017 Portland Press Herald , curator Nancy Davidson describes Ireland’s work as “unique and expressive, including the creative use of many colors that add everlasting exuberance.”
Oil, 12x24
Hidden Cove
Meadow to the Sea
Diana paints Maine’s colorful peaceful places. Her focus is the landscape and her first impression of a scene becomes a lasting impression when she paints it. She says that,”The beauty that surrounds us here is magical. Painting is my way to share what I notice about the world we live in.” Diana’s works are exhibited in Maine galleries, Wiscasset Bay Gallery and Yarmouth Frame & Gallery and have been included in New York exhibitions at the National Arts Club.
2018 Invitational Art Auction
Silent Auction Artists
Wolfe’s Neck Center
Silent Auction Artists
Greta Bank
Ellie Barnet
Oil on panel, 24x12 Orange Blaze references the language of color, specifically the universal code for safety. The use of safety orange utilizes many perceptions and allowances. Orange Blaze may also reference fire as we have witnessed typically with climate change. Greta Bank is a mixed media installation artist residing in Southern Maine. She was the recipient of an Emerging Artist Grant from the Joan Mitchell Foundation in 2015. She is a featured artist in The Fall 2018 issue of the Maine Arts Journal, and is preparing new works for 2019, specifically (a group invitational) at Greenhut Galleries and (a faculty exhibition) at the ICA at Maine College of Art.
Oil on mounted board, 12x12 Ellie Barnet grew up in Midcoast Maine. Raised at an Inn specializing in art workshops and surrounded by an artistic family, she knew from a young age she wanted to be an artist. She received her education in Fine Arts at Boston University, majoring in Painting. Since graduating Barnet has studied with Knox Martin at The Art Students League in New York City, and attended workshops taught by Lois Dodd and Joel Janowitz. She currently lives and works in Portland, Maine.
Amy Kustra Barksdale
Kate Bergquist
Oil on board, 12x16 Painting is a way through which I express gratitude, as well as a way to enjoy the beauty I see in the natural world and in people. I am drawn to subjects that are vibrant in color and graceful in form and generally paint plein air landscapes, live still lifes and the figure. I have a deep appreciation for the natural world and enjoy taking the time to observe and contemplate the subject while I am painting. As a past family physician, I had the opportunity to appreciate and explore the human spirit and the resiliency and innate grace of the human body. Now, I draw and paint regularly from the figure and am currently working on a series or portraits about new immigrants. I paint in oil and gouache and work in Freeport and Portland, Maine.
Pastel, 8x8 (13x13 with frame) My work is an artist’s impression of nature, not a realistic depiction. I strive to create quiet paintings that interpret my immediate surroundings - marshes, abandoned fields and forgotten woods - in changing light and weather. I prefer to work with simple compositions, muted tonalities, and soft edged forms to suggest the inherent spiritual mysteries of nature. My goal is to actively engage the viewer to pause long enough to complete the painting with their own memories and emotions.
Orange Blaze
Summer Bounty
Wolfe’s Neck Greenhouse
Behind the Goat Barn
2018 Invitational Art Auction
Wolfe’s Neck Center
Silent Auction Artists
Silent Auction Artists
Mary Berry
Emily Blaschke
Oil on stretched canvas, 12x12
Mixed media, 24x48 I was born and raised in Southern California and received a BA from UC-Berkely in 1992. I have made my home in Maine for the past 8 years. My approach to art has been influenced by a number of factors, with one in particular being especially impactful the American folk art and antique painted furniture that my mother collected. I utilize layers of different textures, exploding colors and collages in my paintings - similar to a quilt maker. I also incorporate mundane items used in every day life to explore a wide variety of themes and issues confronting society. My mixed media pieces combine enduring American icons along with political messages from across the political landscape. My art seeks to address the world we live in and challenge the viewer to consider alternative realities worthy of pursuing.
On the Ridge
Images and landscapes that catch out aesthetic senses are everywhere in Maine. Mary looks for the color, pattern and design that make our places unique… and seeks to bring those elements into a pleasing composition. Form and color are also part of her working career. After graduating from Michigan State University, with a major in Interior Design, she practiced design in Portland architectural offices for 25 years. Mary has exhibited her oils and acrylics at galleries across the state.
Harvest Moon
Keren Bitan
Sharon Culf-Gorman
Acrylic, 46x46
Oil, 14x18
Morning
I’ve always been drawn to open sky and water. Time spent on the shores of Maine, Hawai’i, Washington, and California inform my pieces. In my paintings I look for light and space, letting the paint and canvas guide the journey. I hope to contribute beauty and peace to our world through my art.
Annabelle
I hope to bring attention to the potential of organic farming and humane care of animals.
2018 Invitational Art Auction
Wolfe’s Neck Center
Silent Auction Artists
Silent Auction Artists
Sukie Curtis
Haden Gooch
Oil on canvas, 30x30
Photography, 18x22
Farm to Table Fantasy Number One
Sweet Face
Every painting is a small journey into territory that is both familiar and strange, the final destination unknown at the start. Most of my paintings begin in response to things that intrigue or delight me: the colors and forms of fruits, vegetable, or flowers; kitchen utensils,fabrics, and pots; the sights, scents, and sounds of a walk outside; or the shape-shifting of clouds across the sky. Then comes exploration and moving paint around until I sense where I’m going or decide that that paint and I have “arrived somewhere.” Painting is for me largely a celebratory act: using the sensory language of paint to express my curiosity, fascination, and gratitude for life, the natural world, and color!
As a dairy farmer, I enjoy using photos to give people a true perspective on farming - both the dirt and the beauty. As much as possible, I try to reflect the reality of the day-to-day, especially from the perspective of the animals in our care. In my down time, I have picked up woodworking as a hobby and try as much as possible to create objects that marry utility and creativity. This piece brings together two important modes of expression in my daily life.
Torrie Dorsey
Kari Herer
Acrylic, 24x30 Her work is shown at Elizabeth Moss Galleries.
Photography, 16x20
Herring Gulls
Untitled
Kari Herer is a Maine-based professional photographer. Since founding her company in 2009, she has been a featured artist on Martha Stewart Weddings, Etsy, Design Sponge, and Click Magazine, while she is a regular contributor to several publications including The Press Hotel, ZEST magazine, and Sotheby’s International. Her vivid portrayals of botanical specimens have landed her collaborations with Anthropologie, IKEA, Land of Nod, and Restoration Hardware. She has conducted photography workshops and been a featured speaker at conferences throughout the world. Today Kari lives with her two daughters in Yarmouth, Maine.
2018 Invitational Art Auction
Silent Auction Artists
Wolfe’s Neck Center
Silent Auction Artists
Judy Kane
Lesley MacVane
Oil, 15x18 framed (11x14 canvas) I love to paint all kinds of subject matter: still life, the figure (human or otherwise), the landscape en plein air, interiors, even portraits. So this scene grabbed me as it is a combination of all of the above: a “portrait” (check out those faces) of the “figure” (chickens) in the landscape (by a summer barn). And chickens are fun to paint as they’re always so busy pecking away at anything, fluttering those feathers, yet having “unflappable” facial expressions. This composition worked well with the barn’s dark interior against the brightness of the golden beaks, the red combs, and the beautifully-textured feathers. The authentic barn board wooden frame complements the scene and highlights the character of these girls ready to fly the coop!
Photography, 12x18 I love the way nature and places create their own still life scenes, which change and evolve over time. This one from the barn at Wolf’s Neck grabbed my attention. I took several photographs of it from different directions. I narrowed it down to this one, which resembles a formal portrait. I first became interested in photography by looking at faces of people, those I knew or passers by. Now when I do my photography, whether of a person, a place, a thing, I consider each photo a portrait. Wolfe’s Neck is full of wonderful little portraits of life on a farm!
Hey Girls, Let’s Fly the Coop!
Still Life #2 Wolfe’s Neck Farm
Jennifer Kimball
Marissa Mastors
Acrylic, 12x18
Ceramic, 4 nesting bowls Marissa is grateful to be working in her dream job, as WNC’s Digital Communications Manager. She and her husband decided to root back in New England and make the Portland, Oregon to Portland, Maine move in 2017. To survive her first Maine winter, Marissa took up a new hobby, taking weekly ceramics classes at Portland Pottery. She immediately fell in love with the medium, and has been an avid learner and craftswoman ever since. She finds nothing more enjoyable then eating a homegrown meal out of a vessel she made herself. After less than a year as a dedicated potter, she is excited and proud to share her art with the greater Wolfe’s Neck community!
View to Bustins
I love getting inspiration from the beautiful landscapes of Maine. Color and light both interest and challenge me.
You Are What You Eat
2018 Invitational Art Auction
Silent Auction Artists
Wolfe’s Neck Center
Silent Auction Artists
Kerry Michaels
Arthur Nichols
Archival Photo Print, 21.5x28
Oil on canvas, 18x24
The Herd
Power of Earth
I love the evocative nature of black and white photographs. Not as literal as color images, they allow the viewer to see in a different way. In each image I am trying to capture an essential truth about a subject – a puzzle to solve, or a story to tell. For me, looking through a viewfinder is an endlessly fascinating way to navigate the world. I think that what unites my pictures is that they are about the joy and intensity of seeing.
I like to look past the visual to express the live energy, especially of growing things.
Mary Lynn Miller
Ceri Nichols
Watercolor and ink, 12x18 Born into a family of generations of artists, art has been a natural part of my life since the beginning. I grew up drawing while watching my dad sketch and sculpt. I pursued training by studying fashion design at Parsons School of Design in New York City and through personal workshops with classical painters. As an educator at WNC, I have the fantastic opportunity to be part of a team working toward a transformative mission. My illustration here tonight is meant to convey how Wolfe’s Neck Center helps connect the public with farming and sustainability.
Acrylic on canvas, 11x14
Bringing Farming Into Fashion
The Greenhouse
My paintings are about my interest in the concept of place. Place can mean nature, architecture, memory, sensory perception, and many different things to different people. These paintings are about my experiences with place using a simple and particular structure. I am organizing shapes and playing with color associations people have in culture and in mood. I am curious about the things people see in other things. The memory and experience of a place is often disconnected or fragmented and these paintings are a way of putting those pieces together.
2018 Invitational Art Auction
Silent Auction Artists Anne Niles Five Cows at Lunch
Wolfe’s Neck Center
Silent Auction Artists Art Schaefer Life is Good
Acrylic on board, 8x8 Living on the coast of Maine, I am surrounded by the beauty of the natural world, which provides endless inspiration for my work. I am drawn to bold colors, and continually marvel at the interplay of colors and patterns in the landscape. When painting, I try to capture a specific captivating moment, some combination of color and light and form that made a distinct visual impression. What interests me is to try and convey through paint the essence of that moment, creating a harmonious blend or friction that is intriguing to the human eye. I work with acrylics, and often paint using a combination of sketches from the field, photographs and memory.
Oil, 14x18 (18x22 framed) Art works primarily in oil. He paints both en plein air and in his Freeport studio. His style varies, along with his subject matter, encompassing a range of colorful, personalitydriven animal portraiture, landscapes and seascapes, and studies of livestock and wildlife. His work is consistently energetic, with a strong point of view. He takes classes with Diane Dahlke and others at MECA along with drawing and acrylic ink classes through local community ed programs. In addition, he has attended workshops with noted landscape painters, including Colin Page, Bjorn and Tollif Runquist and West Coast Impressionist, John Cosby. He is a member of the Community House Artists, and his work has been shown in a one man show at UNE, and various venue exhibitions.
Good Morning Sunshine
Eventide
Diane Racine
Ineke Schair
Pastel, 24.5x19
Oil, 16x8
Diane was born and raised in Concord, MA. As a child, she spent summers surrounded by the natural beauty of Popham Beach. Then, in 1984, she moved to Popham for 36 years with her husband, Bill and raised their two sons. Diane is a self-made artist. Her formal training includes drawing classes at DeCordova Museum in Lincoln, MA, art classes at UNH, and more recently, several workshops sponsored by Pastel Painter’s of Maine. Her work has been exhibited in Popham Art Shows, the Chocolate Church Arts Center, Pastel Painters of Maine Members shows at Bowdoin College, Brick Store Museum in Saco, Chocolate Church Arts Center, Bath Art Walk, and at the office of William T. Racine, CPA.
As an artist, Ineke feels the constant pull of the poetic use of light and subtle brush stroke applied by many of the European Masters, yet draws constant inspiration from the dramatic and acute realism of Maine’s water and sky.
2018 Invitational Art Auction
Wolfe’s Neck Center
Silent Auction Artists
Silent Auction Artists
Jenny Scheu
Stephanie Sersich
Watercolor, 26x22
Handmade glass beads Stephanie is from a family of artists and collectors and has been making jewelry since she was a child. She has been making her own glass beads for over 20 years and they are the focal point of all of her jewelry designs. Her unique approach to glass bead-making and contemporary jewelry design has led her to teach at craft schools and glass studios around the world. She has sold her own work in many well-respected venues including the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s annual Craft Show and SOFA, both Chicago and New York. Stephanie’s jewelry and beads have been spotlighted in the pages of many publications including The History of Beads, The Washington Post, Contemporary Lampworking, and her own book, Designing Jewelry with Glass Beads.
Falling Petals
I work in watercolor media on rag papers, very layered and abstract images inspired by the color and beauty of the natural world.
Delicious Carrots
Judy Segal
Abigail Gray Swartz
Watercolor, 9x11 framed I am drawn to the natural world, and often paint flowers and the sea, especially locations near and dear to me. The richness of color and form in nature provide endless subjects. I find the coast of Maine magical , whether foggy and cold, or bright and sunny. Painting subjects in the natural world, mixed with my imagination, brings much happiness and surprise – nature seems to always have lessons for me.
Oil, 18x24
Googin’s Island, Summer
Country Field Abigail Gray Swartz is an award winning artist and activist. Her artwork ranges from vibrant nature scenes to inspiring female portraits. Most recently Abigail painted a modern version of Rosie the Riveter for The New Yorker Magazine’s women’s march issue, which went on to win several awards. This year Abigail is starting a non profit public art program called “City of Hidden Figures” where she will help curate and produce public art that celebrates local hidden figures in sister cities across the country while giving local female-identifying artists more public art opportunities as well as pay equity. Abigail lives in Freeport, Maine with her young family, one cautious little dog, and give or take 15 chickens.
2018 Invitational Art Auction
Silent Auction Artists
Wolfe’s Neck Center
Silent Auction Artists
Katrina Van Dusen
Andrea van Voorst van Beest
Block print, 10x8 I started printing to make Christmas cards, following my grandmother’s tradition, and 50 years later I still usually carve and print my holiday card. I continue to be inspired by my grandmother’s prints, small and detailed or larger, multi-layered and graphically stunning. Over the last 15 years I have been making more prints, carved in softcut linoleum and capturing many lovely places on the Maine coast. Whether it is painting or printing, it is shape that catches my eye, and printmaking is a satisfying medium for playing with shape.
Acrylic, 12x16 Andrea van Voorst van Beest is a painter/ print-maker living and working in Pownal, ME. She is a member of the Addison Woolley Gallery and the Peregrine Press, a print-making cooperative, both in Portland. Her work has been shown nationally and internationally and is in private collections in the U.S. and Europe and in the collections of the Portland Museum of Art, Bowdoin College, Colby College, and the New York Public Library among others.
Olivia
In the Fields at Wolfe’s Neck Farm
Jan Pieter van Voorst van Beest
Marilyn Welch
Photography, 18x24
Acrylic on canvas, 24x24 Observations, daydreams, and experiences encouraged my creative endeavors and kindled a desire to paint. My paintings are the outward conveyance of an inner process of thought and consideration of the occurrences of a sometimes-bewildering world. Utilizing gouache paint, pastel crayons, and watercolor pencils I work subjectively with bold color and form to create an emotive abstract expression of a direct experience, thought, or memory. For me, the completed work offers a satisfaction that something has been released, transformed and stilled. Many years later I find myself seeking this revealing stillness, therefore, I paint and relish in the space where thoughts can wander uninhibited and forms can unfold freely on the canvas.
Sheep
Jan Pieter van Voorst van Beest studied photography at the Portland School of Art and at the Maine Photographic Workshops with Joyce Tenneson and Arnold Newman. His Street, Portrait and Documentary Photography has been exhibited and published across the U.S. and internationally. He co-authored the book: “New Mainers, Portraits of our Immigrant Neighbors”, that was published by Tilbury House Publishers in 2009. He normally does not photograph many sheep.
Light in Freeport
2018 Invitational Art Auction
How do we inspire the next generation to care about the future of food and the planet?
Silent Auction Artists Lucinda White A New Day (Googin’s Island) Oil on birch board, 8x16
I began oil painting while living in New York City from 1967-1970. I did not return to painting until 2010, after raising my children and working as a natural resources attorney, protecting forests, parks, and shorelands for the State of Maine. In selecting a composition, I am drawn to contrasts between elements—stone and grass, sand and water, light and shadow—as well as color relationships. I hope that my paintings will cause viewers to reflect on our shared values, and to support protection of our natural resources. Lucinda has taken classes in painting at Maine College of Art, the University of Southern Maine, and the New School in New York City. She has attended numerous painting workshops and her work has been shown regionally at corporations, libraries, schools, and churches.
The Farm Discovery Gardens will be an all new space designed specifically for our visitors, encouraging handson, immersive time spent outdoors. It will be a dynamic landscape for learning, playing, and imagining in nature, giving children and people of all ages enriching experiences at Wolfe’s Neck Center like never before.
Head online to www.wolfesneck.org/campaign Watch the video See the site plan Read staff & board stories Make a donation
You can contribute today! Ten flower pots made by talented summer campers are available for purchase for $25 each. All proceeds go directly to our Farm Discovery Gardens campaign. Or, raise your paddle to donate at the end of our live auction.