Potter Kila Bates arranges items at Edison Studio on Friday, June 22. (Christine LaPado-Breglia photo)
Congratulations, Lincoln Theater!: I traveled out to Monhegan Island last Friday, June 22 and took in a fair amount of art – the new shows up at The Island Inn and the Monhegan Museum of Art & History, and the pottery, sculptures, and jewelry at Edison Studio. But before I launch into talking about any of that, I have to say congratulations to Lincoln Theater in Damariscotta – and to Executive Director Andrew Fenniman – for being chosen Best Movie Theater in Maine in Down East Magazine’s 2018 Best of Maine readers poll.
If you haven’t already, visit the theater and you’ll see why it was chosen for this well-deserved honor. In addition to a great selection of films, it also offers such gems as live-streamed opera screenings from The Met, live local theater productions, and two live interview series with Maine artists and musicians. Lincoln Theater’s calendar is at lcct.org.
Jewelry-maker Cat Bates and sculptor Daphne Pulsifer gear up for the opening reception at Edison Studio on Friday, June 29. (Christine LaPado-Breglia photo)
Edison Studio: Located alongside the narrow, picturesque dirt road that leads up to the Monhegan Island lighthouse, Edison Studio is a wonderful find if one is on the island on a Friday, when it has open studio from 1-4 p.m. Their regular hours are Monday through Sunday, from 1-4 p.m.
The cozy studio was built in 1940 by none other than the late artist Andrew Winter (who was featured in last year’s main exhibit at the Monhegan Museum of Art & History). After Winter’s death, his wife, Mary Taylor, also a painter, took over the space as her studio and summer home.
In 1969, a woman named Ann Edison bought the studio from an ailing Taylor.
A sculpture by Daphne Pulsifer. (Christine LaPado-Breglia photo)
A number of years before Taylor died, in 1970, New York painter Sylvia Alberts had begun spending summers in the studio. After Taylor’s death, Edison continued to make it possible for Alberts to paint in the studio. Alberts was able to buy the studio in 1986 and left it to current owners Daphne Pulsifer and Daniel Bates when she died in 2015.
Today, Pulsifer, a sculptor, and her two children, ceramicist Kila Bates and jewelry maker Cat Bates, bring the historic space to life with their various creations. When I visited, the trio was readying the space for its upcoming opening reception on Friday, June 29 from 4-7 p.m.
In addition to the work of Pulsifer and her children, the studio also features paintings by Alberts. Alberts’ somewhat quirky, colorful pieces – such as “Yellow Table/ Pink Roses” and “Wild Apples and Berries,” from 1991 – inhabit the space nicely alongside Kila Bates’ delicately thrown little bowls and cups and Pulsifer’s emotionally charged bronze sculptures and elegant, monochromatic cast-tile-on-panel pieces, such as “Lupine.”
Ceramic pieces by Kila Bates. (Christine LaPado-Breglia photo)
Cat Bates’ metal jewelry – bold bracelets, thick rings, formidable faceted stud earrings – provides a contrast to the delicate details of both Kila Bates’ and Alberts’ work. Cat Bates’ jewelry also nicely echoes the quiet gravity of Pulsifer’s pieces.
Edison Studio is open to the public on Fridays from 1-4 p.m. Find the Monhegan Artists map, which lists studio locations and open days and times, at artmonhegan.com.
(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.)
