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Listening to the
banter in the loaded mini-van as it bounced and
rolled down to the Brooklin Boat Yard, no one
would guess the three, middle-aged men inside
represented a part of Downeast Maine’s
considerable talent pool. Talk ricocheted
between the driver’s vacation in the Bahamas,
the vehicle’s low gas mileage and the weather,
as they pulled over and stepped out into a
sunny, August afternoon.
But as Thomas
Curry, Randy Eckard and Jerry Rose made their
way to the dock, it became clear that they saw
the world through a different lens than the rest
of the people out enjoying that same, cloudless
day.
Curry stood
dazzled by sunlight dancing off the hull of a
nearby yacht. Eckard and Rose shaded their eyes
to look out across the Eggemoggin Reach,
drinking in the colors of the distant pines.
The three
make a living by putting on canvas what they see
and feel from vantage points like the dock in
Brooklin and at their show Aug. 18-20, at the
Neighborhood House in Northeast
Harbor, hope to convey that feeling through their work.
“I’m always
after the essence of what I’m painting,” said
Rose, who spends his summers in Brooklin. “It’s
just like a painter in Italy. If they were
really painting well, you would feel Italy even
if you haven’t been there.”
All three
artists achieve this through their individual
styles and will present new paintings in the
upcoming exhibition. Eckard has painted
exclusively in watercolor for the past 23 years
and does “subdued” landscapes. Curry works with
bolder pastels. Rose’s style falls somewhere
in-between, showing scenes mostly in oil. All
three feature the coast of Maine.
Though
noticeably different at first glance, the
landscapes play off each other in ways that the
artists agree makes for a good art show.
“When you
work together, you can show the same view with
different styles,” said Curry. “The paintings
complement each other.”
Curry and
Rose, both Brooklin artists, have been doing
shows in the Neighborhood House together for the
past five years. The venue allows their art to
be showcased at the peak of the summer and, due
to its prime peninsula location, even draws
crowds from boats docked nearby. They invited
Eckard for the first time this year, after
getting to know him through the community of
Downeast artists.
“Artists tend
to gather to talk about what we do,” said Eckard.
And there is
a lot to tell. Each involved in the show has a
similar story to relay, one of uncertain
beginnings and many leaps of faith.
Eckard became
“smitten” with the Blue Hill area 13 years ago,
sold his Vermont home and opened up a gallery
here. Since, his work has taken off and during
the winter (his gallery is seasonal) he can
spare the time for leisurely walks along the
rocky coast, soaking in inspiration.
Rose grew up
in the Midwest, then found a niche for his work in
Florida,
acquired a gallery in Brooklin eight years ago,
and in-between “spent 20 years following conch
fisherman around” the Bahamas. In the midst of
all his travels, Rose discovered people
appreciative of his work and has made a happy
living off it ever since.
Curry has
worked in pastel for more than 20 years, some of
which was spent on Hawaiian beaches, working and
absorbing inspiration. He says it was slow going
to reach the point where art could be his
livelihood, yet has arrived at that point and
remained there for the past several years,
conducting workshops at venues including
Wellesley College, the Rhode Island School of
Design and WoodenBoat School.
The three
convened through the ebb and flow of creative
social circles and the Aug. 18 opening in
Northeast
Harbor will be the first time their work will be shown as a collective. The
event, a catered to-do from
5 to 7:30 p.m.,
with wine and hors d’oeuvres, will help expose
each artist’s name to a greater crowd. But it
and the weekend’s exhibition also will help
their individual talents soar, the trio agrees.
“I’ve learned
a lifetime’s worth,” said Eckard. “But there is
still another lifetime’s worth to learn.”
For more
information on the opening or exhibition, call
359-4662. |
