Jillian Brazel’s colorful, untitled watercolor take on the constellation Ursa Major is one of nine pieces she has hanging on the walls of Shapers Fitness Gym in Damariscotta. (Christine LaPado-Breglia photo)
Art comes to me: Sometimes I go in search of arts-related topics to write about and sometimes they just fall into my lap. This week has been a case of the latter.
First of all, Lil Garcia, owner of Shapers Fitness Gym in Damariscotta, got the word to me that local watercolorist and Shapers member Jillian Brazel is showing nine of her pieces at the cozy little gym through the end of October.
“They’re small, but they’re cute!” Garcia told me of Brazel’s paintings when I arrived at the gym last Friday morning to have a look.
Brazel’s pieces are indeed rather small, and some of them are pretty darned cute, like the one of two blue whales, a pink whale, and a narwhal with its unicorn-like horn. Her diving jellyfish, decked out in neon colors, is equally cute.
All of Brazel’s pieces are untitled and all display her good grasp of the use of watercolor paints. One, an abstract, features a circle containing prism-like shards in shades of yellow and brown with black. Another is a delicate study of two multicolored feathers.
Brazel, who is also an employee at Rising Tide Community Market in Damariscotta, describes herself in an artist statement as “a rather new painter who is thoroughly enjoying learning the playful nature of watercolor.” Brazel moved to Maine in January of last year, and “like many artists before and after, is inspired by the natural beauty found here,” she said.
For a budding watercolorist, Brazel is doing an admirable job. Check out her work at Shapers Fitness Gym, 90 School St., Damariscotta.
Hurricane Gallery in Waldoboro. (Christine LaPado-Breglia photo)
A colorful assortment of paintings by Robert Macdonald and other artists populates Macdonald’s Hurricane Gallery in Waldoboro. (Christine LaPado-Breglia photo)
Art comes to me, part two: My second fell-into-my-lap find came the other day when Waldoboro artist Robert Macdonald, whose Hurricane Gallery is located on his Quarry Road property, called me to invite me to visit his gallery, which I had yet not been to. I took him up on his invitation days later, driving down Route 1 to Depot Street to a right turn onto a gravel road that took me past the old Hurricane Isle Granite Co. quarry through red-leafed blueberry fields to Macdonald’s property at 175 Quarry Road. A multilevel old barn with two giant red doors houses Hurricane Gallery.
Hurricane Gallery, which is also home to the talented Macdonald’s painting studio, features work by Macdonald – including some politically provocative pieces that are worth checking out – as well as pieces by Waldoboro’s Chris Augusta, Elaine Niemi, Alan Hynd, Burmese artist Min Yan Naing, Susan Bakaley Marshall, and Carol Wiley.
The gallery is a riot of color and art styles. Paintings of lobsters and a lonely Maine highway hang alongside pieces picturing President Donald Trump and the Buddha. An inviting couch, above which hangs an eye-catching painting of a bearded man in a blue hat against a yellow and bright-blue background, beckons one to sit in this space that seems to be waiting for a party to start. To enter the gallery, one must walk through Macdonald’s painting studio, which is equally fascinating, given the number of colorful works and works-in-progress on hand.
The current show runs through Tuesday, Oct. 31. It is advisable to call ahead of time – 701-7477 – before heading out to visit Hurricane Gallery.
(Email me at clbreglia@lcnme.com or write me a letter in care of The Lincoln County News, P.O. Box 36, Damariscotta, ME 04543. I love to hear from readers.)
