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.

Artist's reception Friday, July 2, 4 - 7 p.m.

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

July 20 - August 8: John Woolsey: pastels

Artist's reception July 23, 4 - 7 p.m.

John Woolsey: Fernald's Neck #7, pastel

August 24 - September 12: Rebecca Daugherty: paintings

Artist's reception Friday, September 3, 4 - 7 p.m.

Rebecca Daugherty, Discussion, Route One, Ellsworth, oil on panel, 10" x 15"



Here's a few snapshots from our reception for RED (Again) on Friday night. It's been quite a weekend, with the Seasons of Stonington opening for breakfast, lunch and dinner across the street, "Up in the Air" at the Opera House, "Reflections" at Pearson Legacy in Deer Isle, and of course, our second annual all things red  event. And after all that, Crystal's Blue Persuasions at Lily's.

We had a good crowd Friday night, and some dressed the part. I wore my red chamois shirt, but for some people, dressing-up for a night out is an art.

This end of Main Street has been hopping all weekend. When we opened in May, 2003, people told us that it didn't really get busy until June. Then in June they said "well, wait until July." In July we were assured that August was really the time. But Valentines weekend has been a well-kept secret. Maybe we'll keep doing this.

Where's Waldo?



Susan Webster, Bruce Bulger, Jennifer Lee Morrow

With over 75 pieces of art from 30 artists, RED (Again) is brightening-up Stonington with some much-needed winter  color. After last year’s Valentine’s weekend show, plenty of artists expressed interest in doing it again, already formulating ideas. For some artists, having a theme to work around is as much about rising to a challenge; what  might be seen to some as a limitation, inspires them to go in a direction they might not have otherwise gone, and the results can be exciting.

 found object pendants- J. Fred Woell

 Rebekah Raye: Cedar Waxwings & Berry, ink charcoal, oil, 9.5" x 11.5"

The show includes a great variety of work, including jewelry, pottery and wood, as well as painting, photography, printmaking and sculpture. We’re also seeing a trend toward category-defying artwork: kinetic sculpture, wearable book-art or wearable kinetic jewelry... it’s all fun, and  red, mostly.

Leslie Anderson: Top of the World, acrylic on canvas, 24" x 18"

Sherry Streeter, Mary Howe, J. Fred Woell, Penelope Plumb

If you’d like to find that special something for your  sweetheart, you might want  to stop by Isalos and put a red dot on it before Friday’s reception, as last year’s was well-attended. Remember: nothing says “I love you” like the gift of fine art.

Rebecca Daugherty: Red Boat Study #4, oil on panel, 6" x 6"

I have to admit, sometimes I don't pick up the Island Advantages because I look at the front cover with its usual bits of ongoing news- some committee drama or developments in the mollusk and crustacean world- and I just can't quite get the level of excitement that I need to shell-out the 80 cents. But sometimes there's weather, or a mystery, like the weekly disappearance of about 3000 gallons of water, and, well... I just don't want to miss anything. As the above photograph illustrates, we have had weather. This was January third. I can't tell you how much snow we received, but I shoveled-out three separate times.

I mention that sort of news, because I know that that is what some readers of this blog really want. So I'll lure you in with photos of snow and sensational news, and ambush you with some art. Here's Rebecca poking her head out of her studio in the corner of the gallery. She's flanked by a nice little collection of her paintings. You'd think, having our own gallery and all, that it would always be easy to hang as much of Rebecca's work as we want. Not so. In the summertime, she sometimes ends up with less space than other artists, especially when we have a show. It's a real luxury when you've got the wall space to hang most everything you'd like.

But of course there's plenty of other art hanging as well. Occasionally I notice an arrangement that just seems to work, a little spot in the gallery that I look at and think "someday I'd like to have a spot like that in my home". That's a painting by Barbara Brady with a sculpture by Farrell Ruppert. The sculpture is made from the  flukes of an old anchor, a series he's been exploring for a couple of years now. The plywood bench is by me. There's just something about raw birch plywood that works for me. And don't forget the pedestal, hewn from artisanal organic MDF. The wall color? Adagio. Benjamin Moore.

Above: paintings by Vaino Kola and Eugene Koch. That's Koch & Kola. The Kola paintings are intricately detailed views of rocks along the shore of Greenlaw Cove. Vaino knows these rocks very well by now. The Koch pieces all use lines in different ways with innovative materials. I often describe them as atmospheric, since they might evoke fog or other conditions brought on around here by the ocean and the weather, but I think Eugene gets more excited about discovering new ways to use his materials than any desire to evoke anything. In that piece in the middle, he used three miles of fishing line, wrapped around a panel.

Marble sculpture by Richard Aliberti, rug by someone in the Middle East, a long time ago. That's the fun part about having a gallery. If you're the sort of person who likes to re-arrange furniture, you might enjoy having a gallery. When Main Street is  covered with snow, that's what we often do.



Happy New Year from downtown Stonington! The plows have been busy clearing the streets of some slushy snow, and the gallery has been open. This winter Rebecca has her studio set-up in a corner of the gallery, which allows us to be open quite a bit, even if there's not much traffic.

The Harbor Cafe is also open today, and this morning we watched as a new awning was hung across the street at the Maritime Cafe, which will re-open soon under new management as "The Seasons of Stonington".

We've kept busy, both with our work and in trying to keep up with the fast-paced life of Stonington in the winter. The Opera House has at least one movie every week and is now in rehearsal for "Brilliant Traces", a play which will be performed during the first weekend of February.

On the wall:

Rebecca Daugherty: Stephen Taber with Peapod, oil on canvas, 30" x 30"

When you're in town to see "Brilliant Traces", you can check out our new show: RED (Again). Last February we had so much fun filling the gallery with red that we decided to do it again. The show will hang February 5th through 15th, with a reception on Friday the 12th from 4 - 7 pm. It's just in time to find that special something for that special someone. Winter is a good time to check out art around here since there's less competition from other buyers! I'll be posting some previews of the RED (Again) show soon.