Isalos Fine Art

John Woolsey

Fernald's Neck - New Pastels

John Woolsey: Fernald’s Neck - New Pastels will hang at Isalos Fine Art, Stonington from July 20 through August 8, with an  opening reception  on Friday,  July 23rd from 4  to 7 PM.

John Woolsey: Fernald's Neck #6, 22" x 30", pastel

The pastels were inspired by Fernald’s Neck, on Lake Megunticook in Camden. Woolsey focuses on small spaces in the dense woodland, referring to them as “interiors” because, like rooms, they are enclosed on all sides by dense woods. In these spaces, Woolsey finds dynamic compositions among the tangled branches, pine needles and boulders. Fernald’s Neck, a preserve managed by the Coastal Mountains Land Trust, encompasses 328 acres and about four miles of shoreline.

John Woolsey earned his MFA at the University of Pennsylvania in 1973, studying with Neil Welliver and others; his work now hangs in numerous public and corporate collections He divides his time between Philadelphia and Maine. 

Available Work

Vaino Kola: Penobscot Bay, oil on canvas, 24" x 62"

We've shown the work of Vaino Kola since 2004, when we filled the entire gallery with his Paintings of Two Islands: Iceland and Deer Isle show, and every year the arrival of a new painting is  a greatly-anticipated event. This year we've collected a group of his etchings and paintings spanning over thirty years of his career, including his newest oil: Penobscot Bay.

Vaino Kola: Sundown, oil on canvas, 24" x 48"

Kola, a Deer Isle resident, finds inspiration from the woods  and shoreline near his home, but his paintings require months of quiet solitude in his studio, resulting in images that convey his inner landscape as much as the  one outside. Penobscot Bay blends elements from Causeway Beach with Kola’s imagination.

Vaino Kola: Roots, etching, 9" x 12"

Kola, born and  raised in Finland, received an M.F.A. from Yale  University and taught  at Wheaton College in Massachusetts for 26 years before retiring to Deer Isle to paint full time. His paintings hang in over forty museum and corporate collections. Well, that's the  kind of propoganda we like to hear  about artists, but from my point of  view, getting to know Vaino and his work has been one of the things  that has made having this gallery worthwhile. You're not likely to find anyone more dedicated to their work, and yet so modest about  it.

Vaino Kola: Winter Light, Homage to I.B., etching, 19" x 18"

One difficulty in hanging the  show was that each painting and etching deserves a quiet space around it. With six large paintings and eleven framed etchings (two of them quite large) this took some effort, but if you spend some time with any one  of these, you can get a sense of what it  took to create them: the  months of quiet solitude, the meditative focus, and of Kola's awe for the natural world around him.

Vaino Kola: Dusk, oil on canvas, 36" x 56"

These are all things I could use more of in my day to day life. As Stonington's Main Street experiences it's usual early July chaos, it's nice to step into an oasis of relative calm here in the gallery. Hope you can check it out.

On display at Isalos Fine Art from July 2 through July 18, 2010.

Artist's reception Friday, July 2, 4 -7 PM, in conjunction  with Stonington Galleries First Friday Open Gallery Night.

Suzanne Siegel, Yellow House  at Night, watercolor, 21" x 14"

New to Isalos this year is Suzanne Siegel, whose paintings have already been the focus of much attention in the gallery. She's often drawn to scenes with subdued lighting, like the moon-lit vignettes that seem so familiar to us, and for good reason- we stroll past them fairly often. Like "Yellow House at Night" (above) and its companion piece "Yellow House, Violet Clouds".

Suzanne Siegel, Two Shacks with Moon, pastel, 14" x 12"

 Siegel is equally  adept in watercolor and pastel, usually starting with drawings on location, and finishing larger works in her studio. She works in series, like these night paintings, or a newly-begun project called "100 Views of  Isle au Haut" (below) a challenge that will keep her busy for some time, and keep us wondering how she'll approach it next.

Suzanne Siegel, 100 Views of Isle au Haut #2, pastel, 9" x 10"

Often as the Lupine Festival approaches in mid-June, the question is "will the lupines be in bloom yet?". This year, the question is "will they still be in bloom?" It looks like they will. The above photo is from last night's stroll out on Indian Point Road.

We have a pretty full line-up for the weekend. We're having our annual Island-Wide Gallery Night tomorrow (Friday) from 4 - 7. Galleries and studios arise from the woodwork for the event- this year we have well over twenty (and still counting). This is the first I've heard of some venues; it's a great way to check out a lot of art and craft in a quick island tour.

At Isalos, we have some exciting new  work: a stunning new painting from Vaino Kola, pastels and watercolors from gallery newcomer Gina Sawin, as well as new work from some of our usual suspects. I'll even hang some art with lupines in it. In our first few years here, we hosted an unjuried lupine show for the Chamber of Commerce, which eventually went somewhere else, then disappeared altogether. I think the gallery walk/drive is a better alternative.

After checking-out all the art, be sure and get to the gWatson Gallery at 7:30 for a musical event: "Dos Canosos, Un Tigre", an ensemble playing Afro-Cuban & Latin Music will perform on the newly-constructed  stage. Then on Sunday night at 7:00, Kimberly Oppelt, a soprano, will perform songs of Kurt Weill and the American Songbook.

Rebecca Daugherty, I Heart Donuts, oil on panel, 10" x 10"

One of the joys of Facebook is that I learn important facts, like the fact that today is National Donut Day (according to a Dunkin' Donuts ad). It saddens me that I'm nowhere near a donut shop, but at  least here at Isalos we have art that celebrates donuts.