FRESH PAINT! means Martha Burket's on summa vacation...

My friend Martha is on Summa Vacation, that means shes painting in her studio "out the island".

Back in the day we would all paint in the summa a great way to make a few bucks.   I got tired of that really quick and one summa I decided I'd hired my younger brother to paint my house.  He needed a job (ie:some money) so it sounded like a good idea.  Little did I know when I hired him it was his first and last house painting job ever.  He climbed the ladder onto the lower kitchen roof  section of the house so he could paint the side wall of the upper wing.   Set the whole gallon down on step pitched roof and bingo all I can say good about it is,  the old mill house had gutters, you know them old fashion wood ones otherwise paint would have run all down the side of the house.   The paint color was a Salmony-Peach, I always thought it a tad bit bold for house color, but turned out all right,  the roof was salvaged, you could say I was fortunate because it was water based paint and we hosed the roof down for 'bout 3 hours 'till we got the paint out of every shingle.
Lets get back to Martha... 

Martha Burkert's "August"

Well Martha doesn't paint like that, not spilling gallon buckets or painting houses, Martha's an accomplished artist and paints with oil based paints in her Yarmouth studio.  This summa she's bin-sum-bizy, getting canvases ready for the exhibit entitled Near & Far. The exhibit opens Tonight Thursday August 25th at the Elizabeth Moss Gallery in Falmouth with a meet & eat session from 5-7pm. Martha's been painting for few years and has mastered her craft, have you ever seen any of Martha's works?  I get to see them in the summer when she's in town and for me when I'm viewing them I feel strangely comfortable, like I'm in a big overstuffed comfy "bark-a-lounger".  Honestly, you know that feeling when you release a big sigh of relief, that's how I feel when viewing a Martha Burkert oil painting, relaxed and comfortable.
Martha visions for the viewer a friendly - familiar some times unfamiliar scene with bright bold colors,  I like the fact that she cranks the color or takes the Jonathan Livingston SeaGull perspective,  this is the stuff that makes viewing the canvas more fun, more interesting.  

I'm proud to say I know Martha and I'm also proud to say that in this exhibit of 11 paintings of comfy Maine  landscapes not one single lighthouse was spotted...

WHY GO SEE MARTHA BURKERT'S EXHIBIT NEAR & FAR AT THE LIZ MOSS GALLERY IN FALMOUTH



GO BECAUSE YOUR GOOD MIND NEEDS GOOD ART. ...

The Gallery Talk is made possible by the generosity of the WMPG Radio listening community.  The blog is the text version of the art rant heard every Thursday at 7am, 5 & 9:30pm on WMPG college and community radio Broadcasting from the University of Southern Maine
90.9 , 104.1 and streaming on the web at http://www.wmpg.org/  

The Factoids:
The Exhibit: Near & Far 
Featuring Artist:  Martha Burkert 
At: The Elizabeth Moss Gallery 
251 US Route 1 at the Falmouth Shopping center.
August 25th - October 9th.
. 

Blown away by Blue Wrap !

Hospital Blue Wrap

Portland's Blue Wrap Project was the brain child of Scarborough-based Partners for World Health's  Elizabeth McEllen, it is her organization that takes discarded hospital supplies that are still usable (and often have never been opened from their original packaging) and distribute them to health-care facilities in the developing world.

Blue wrap is a disposal synthetic fabric that is used by hospitals in the states to wrap medical instruments before placing them in a sterilizer. Once the items come out of the sterilizer, "the blue wrap is removed and thrown in the trash.The concept of recycle this hospital waste material into fashion and money was innovative at best but little did we know that the project would spawn an unforeseen level of excitement in Portland's creative community.
 The call to action went out and artists and designers agreed to take the recycled blue wrap material and create some form of  blue-wrap fashion items for the show.  Artists at the University of Southern Maine, the Maine College of Art, Southern Maine Community College, the University of New England, Portland Arts and Technology High School, the Quimby Colony, and several southern Maine area artists/designers participated.

BlueWrap by designer Sue Hammerland

The Portland Museum of Art hosted the fashion show and by all account was the place to be on the cold March evening.  Raising over $10,000 dollars and awareness of the need for medical equipment over seas the Blue Wrap project exceeded expectations in every category.

Now if you missed the event in March you have a chance to experience the works of  Portland's creative community at The Lewis gallery now though the end of August,  the creations from the fashion show are displayed in the exhibit " the Blue Wrap project".

Why go see the Blue Wrap Project at the Portland Library Lewis gallery?

Go because your good mind needs good art!

 

The Gallery Talk is made possible by the generosity of the WMPG Radio listening community.  The blog is the text version of the art rant heard every Thursday at 7am, 5 & 9:30pm on WMPG college and community radio Broadcasting from the University of Southern Maine
90.9 , 104.1 and streaming on the web at http://www.wmpg.org/  

PS: For more photos of all the works please click on this link to Photographer Mark Rockwood's gallery

http://www.backprint.com/bluewrapprojectrunway

The Texture of Water!

When you think of water what words do you think of?
Wet 
cool 
warm 
fluid
refreshing
Texture?



Imagine a body of water, a pond, bay or cove , quite , calm & serene .  The reflections of the water, sky & the trees constantly morphing as the surface undulates.  Ripples of colors concentrically move away from and towards your vantage. This is the world of artist & painter Sara Knock
 The accolades are many,  from fellowships with the Maine Arts Commission to a residency on the Mecca of Maine artist islands Monhegan,  Ms. Knock has honed her craft.  It is with a sharp eye and a thin brush that she severs color and contrast to create images that capture the textures, the reflective and the transparent qualities of water.

Sara Knock's "Just Water" 2011

The exhibit "Water the surface & below" opens August 4th at the Greenhut Gallery on Portland's Middle street. It contains 14 recent works that transcend  viewers to the intimate areas of Maine's coastal littoral zone.  For those who have not had the opportunity to travel to the Maine's Stonington coast and experience how gin clear water can have moments of pure azure or the color combinations of teal, ship gray, chrome-silver and violet eggplant then count your blessings as we have the opportunity to experience all that right here in Portland courtesy of Sara Knock .

   
Why go see Water the Surface & Below at the Greenhut Gallery ?


You could go because the capturing of textures & time is unique, 


but go because your good mind needs good art!

 

The Gallery Talk is made possible by the generosity of the WMPG Radio listening community.  The blog is the text version of the art rant heard every Thursday at 7am, 5 & 9:30pm on WMPG college and community radio Broadcasting from the University of Southern Maine
90.9 , 104.1 and streaming on the web at http://www.wmpg.org/  


Note: This weeks Radio Version of Gallery Talk was broadcast remote from the Calendar Islands of Casco Bay Maine.