“Ebb Tide” by Kay Sawyer Hannah. (Photo courtesy Pemaquid Art Gallery)
A visit to the Pemaquid Gallery of Artists allows wonderful comparisons of how the member artists express their love of Maine, whether through landscapes, still life, figures, or the animal life around them.
Two artists who paint in different mediums, Kay Sawyer Hannah and Cindy Spencer, are deeply committed to their quest to reveal and interpret the drama, the peace, the subtleties, the stillness, the intricate color harmonies and rich lighting of their chosen landscape views.
Hannah’s world is peaceful, still, luminous with light and color, and she uses the rich tones of the pastel medium to create delicate nuances of light enveloping her quiet scenes.
Spencer’s use of watercolor is dynamic, playful and loose, with energetic wet-into-wet work and an enjoyment of the unexpected interactions that can result from skillful use of overlapping edges, drips and washes, encouraging the viewer’s imagination.
Both artists had little formal training. Hannah grew up locally and returned to the area with her husband after 30 years working in Vermont, mainly as a speech-language therapist in the public schools. Starting after college, she began taking night classes and art workshops, and was influenced by many local artists, painting in acrylic, watercolor and pastel, eventually turning primarily to soft pastel.
“Tranquil Mist” by Cindy Spencer. (Photo courtesy Pemaquid Art Gallery)
She is endlessly inspired by her native environment, its harbors, coves, rocky islands and lobstering scenes and the effects the changing seasons have on the light and atmosphere of these scenes. She has been a member of the Pemaquid Gallery since 2002 and has shown her work in many venues throughout the area for over two decades.
Spencer joined the gallery in 2017. Prior to moving to Wiscasset and coastal Maine she had lived in the Mt. Washington Valley area. She is a lifelong painter, originally in oils but has been painting in watercolor for 30 years after being inspired by artist Nan White from North Conway, N.H.
As with Hannah, color and light inspire Spencer but the spontaneity of her watercolor style, her loosely rendered images and flair create a dancing energy in her scenes very different from the contained peace and quiet stillness of Hannah’s. Spencer has shown her art in solo and group exhibitions throughout the Mt. Washington Valley and in Bridgeton. Her work can also be seen on her website at cindyspencerart.com.
Located in Lighthouse Park, Bristol, the Pemaquid Art Gallery is open daily for the season. For more information, call 677-2752, or visit online at pemaquidartgallery.com.
