Since 1988 I have lived in Mexico, full-time since 2006, then with a divorce and sale of my home I retuned to Maine. For a number of years I have been asking myself: what represents Maine to me as an artist? Of course, artists have painted its beautiful coast, lakes and mountains and woods for years. Somehow, this didn’t work for me although I did semi-representative works on paper about Maine. Indeed, one series of 100 small-works-on-paper are visual interpretations on Maine. I wasn’t satisfied with the results.
In the summer of 1999, as I traveled the Maine turnpike I thought about the issue. It seemed to me that you are in a green tunnel. It was this feeling of being in a green tunnel that prompted me to paint Maine from those tunnel-like-feelings. I concluded that my emphasis in these paintings would focus on green with suggestions of blue imposed. This, I believe, would be how I could portray the essence of Maine.
Of course, every person has his or her special way of experiencing Maine. And, it is always a delight to hear people talk about “their Maine.” There is no uniform agreement, and I expect my vision of Maine is only one more probe into the nature of Maine. Yet, in a very real way, I feel I have enabled Maine to have a distinction of its own, by addressing the essential elements of its character, rather than displaying its outer skin.
It was necessary, therefore, that I divorce myself from subject matter. You may not see a special Maine place you can remember in these paintings. What you will see is not the formal Maine, its outer skin, but a reflection of Maine’s interior, its heart.
“Mainely Green, Some Blue” is a journey into the heart of Maine. I may not have reached the locus of this essence but I do suggest the thrill of the journey. It is a journey of the spirit, and the highway and by-way you travel on in this series are painted green and blue.
In 2002 I showed nine (9) large paintings in a solo show (Mainely Green, Some Blue) at the Merrimack College McCoy Gallery, and another series called Green Flash at the Merrimack College Library Gallery. All images are in a private collection.
In 2012 I returned to Maine to continue the series in “Landscapes and Seascapes 2011, 2012 and 2013.” In 2014 I completed 30 works on paper 22 x 30 inches entitled “Sky, Land and Sea Maine: 2014.”