From a bay’s sea, sky, sand and rocks

“Rock 234: Yellow Flag” (painting), by Tom Gaines (1935-2023), in the show “Tom Gaines: The Last Paintings,’’ at Corey Daniels Gallery, Wells, Maine. Mr. Gaines was based in New Jersey but also painted at his summer home, in Belfast, Maine.

He wrote:

“Since 2005, three major changes have taken place, which have brought me to where I am now… a series of more than 2,000 rock paintings. 

“The first change came when I created, quite by accident, a different surface. I had attempted with mineral spirits to wipe out a color that I had allowed to dry for a few days. Some of the color remained, revealing layers of old and new color. This revelation of layers suggested erosion. I was so taken with the result that I purposely worked this way with subsequent paintings. 

“The next change came while I was working on a series of interiors and decided to eliminate most of the subject matter. The result was a simpler, more geometric and more abstract composition. I worked this way for more than a year. Simplifying and layering. 

“I made a third change while working in my studio in Belfast, Maine. I realized that I needed to prioritize my ideas regarding the relationship between subject matter and form. I found the simpler subject matter/composition from the sky, sea, sand, and rocks of Penobscot Bay.’’

#Corey Daniels Gallery #Tom Gaines

Penobscot Bay from Belfast

Blaisdell Residence, Belfast, from a circa 1920 postcard. It’s a Greek Revival mansion from the city's 19th Century shipbuilding boom. Known as The Williamson House (www.TheWilliamsonHouse.com) survives today as a Museum in The Streets landmark.

‘Not a distraction’

“Untitled,’’ by Boyan Moskov, a native of Bulgaria who now lives in New Hampshirel in the 13-artist show “Ceramics — New Work,’’ at Corey Daniels Gallery, Wells, Maine, July 9-Aug. 6.

He says: “When I create work, I don’t want it to interfere with its surroundings. My objects are simple and elegant with clean lines. At the same time, they stand bold and strong. A beautiful accent, not a distraction.’’

Ogunquit River in Wells

— Photo by MoVaughn123

Safely anonymous nudity

'‘Finsta Self’' (oil on paper), by Eben Haines. at the Corey Daniels Gallery, Wells, Maine

It's safer there

“Cloud Storage” (site specific orb installation), by Sarah Bouchard, at Corey Daniels Gallery, Wells, Maine

Wells, the third-oldest town in Maine, is well known for its beaches and since the late 19th Century has been a favored summer place for people from Greater Boston and beyond. Like much of the Maine Coast, it has long attracted artists. This postcard is from 1908.

Reed this

“Prime Reeds,’’ by Michael Mansfield, at the Corey Daniels Gallery, Wells, Maine.

Splat!

Emergence (mixed media on canvas), by Honour Mack, in the group show “FLUX II,’’ July 6 through Aug. 10, at the Corey Daniels Gallery, Wells, Maine.

Heroic horse

“Brave” ([photographic print on aluminum), by Jacob Hessler, in the group show “Flux,’’ at the Corey Daniels Gallery, Wells, Maine, May 25-June 29.

Mysterious island

"Mohegan (Manana Nocturne III)'' (mixed media on canvas),  by Tom Hall, at the Corey Daniels Gallery, Wells, Maine. Mohegan Island, off the Maine Coast, is famous as an artists colony.

Dark and light on Monhegan

""Monhegan (Manana)" (mixed media on canvas), by Tom Hall, in his Aug. 11-Sept. 8 show at the Corey Daniels Gallery, Wells, Maine. The "Monhegan" referenced is an island about 12 miles off the Maine Coast that's renowned as a art center and fishermen's harbor. For a, well, cheerier look at it, see the picture below.

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To the breakwater

"Just Keep Swimming'' (oil on linen), by Philip Brou, in his show "Letting Yourself Go,'' at the Corey Daniels Gallery, Wells, Maine, starting July 7.

A pig heads for paradise

"Final Step (Untitled Castle)'' (acrylic on canvas on panel), by Jung Hur,  at Corey Daniels Gallery, Wells, Maine, through June 17.

'Death looks gigantically down'

"The City" (graphite on paper), by Josefina Auslender, at Corey Daniels Gallery, Wells, Maine.

"LO! Death has reared himself a throne

In a strange city lying alone

Far down within the dim West,

Where the good and the bad and the worst and the best

Have gone to their eternal rest.        

There shrines and palaces and towers

(Time-eaten towers that tremble not)

Resemble nothing that is ours.

Around, by lifting winds forgot,

Resignedly beneath the sky        

The melancholy waters lie.

No rays from the holy heaven come down

On the long night-time of that town;

But light from out the lurid sea

Streams up the turrets silently,     

Gleams up the pinnacles far and free:

Up domes, up spires, up kingly halls,

Up fanes, up Babylon-like walls,

Up shadowy long-forgotten bowers

Of sculptured ivy and stone flowers,       

Up many and many a marvellous shrine

Whose wreathëd friezes intertwine

The viol, the violet, and the vine.

Resignedly beneath the sky

The melancholy waters lie.        

So blend the turrets and shadows there

That all seem pendulous in air,

While from a proud tower in the town

Death looks gigantically down.

There open fanes and gaping graves       

Yawn level with the luminous waves;

But not the riches there that lie

In each idol’s diamond eye,—

Not the gayly-jewelled dead,

Tempt the waters from their bed;      

For no ripples curl, alas,

Along that wilderness of glass;

No swellings tell that winds may be

Upon some far-off happier sea;

No heavings hint that winds have been       

On seas less hideously serene!

But lo, a stir is in the air!

The wave—there is a movement there!

As if the towers had thrust aside,

In slightly sinking, the dull tide;    

As if their tops had feebly given

A void within the filmy Heaven!

The waves have now a redder glow,

The hours are breathing faint and low;

And when, amid no earthly moans,        

Down, down that town shall settle hence,

Hell, rising from a thousand thrones,

Shall do it reverence.''

-- "The City in the Sea,'' by Edgar Allen Poe

Wells Beach in 1908.

Wells Beach in 2017.

Please deforest a little on the side

"Can't See the Forest for the Trees'' (slip cast vitreous China), by Justin Richel, in "The Ceramics Show,'' at the Corey Daniels Gallery, Wells, Maine, Sept. 23--Oct. 31.

But you end up on the ground

"Updraft'' (acrylic on linen), by Dozier Bell, in his show at Corey Daniels Gallery, Wells, Maine, through Sept. 9.

Air force

"Flock, haze'' (acrylic on linen), by Dozier Bell, in a group show at Corey Daniels Gallery, Wells, Maine,  Aug. 10-Sept. 9. The gallery says his "landscapes are created from memory, reliant upon an intrinsic awareness of patterns of light and dark, movement and color. Conjuring the unknowable forces that shape our lives and environment, Bell's work offers a masterful immersion within sky, land, water, bird and air.''

Shaving crisis

"Untitled''(mixed media), by Neal Beckerman,in his show through July 29 at Corey Daniels Gallery, Wells, Maine.

The Shroud of Maine

"Silent Shadows'' (graphite and wax on aluminum), by Munira Naqui, in show at Corey Daniels Gallery, Wells, Maine, July 1-29. The gallery says Naqui's work "creates seductive, ethereal compositions that encourage a slowing down into stillness and reflection.''

Spring pointillism

"Verdant Constellation'' (acrylic on canvas on panel), by Jung Hur, at the Corey Daniels Gallery, Wells, Maine, May 18-June 17.

This is the cheapest room we can rent you tonight

San Mateo 3 (archival pigment print), by Billie Mandle, in her show "San Mateo'' at Corey Daniels Gallery, Wells, Maine, Oct. 1- 31.

The artist explores spaces that "have been stripped of their coded signage and purpose, taking on an elusive, ethereal feed.''

Port out, starboard home

"Offshore'' (oil on canvas mounted to panel), by Tim Wilson, in the "Install 8'' group show at Corey Daniels Gallery, Wells, Maine, through Sept. 10. The gallery says his "familiar style of deconstructed figures and compelling landscapes mingle with less articulated forms and an exploration of new surfaces and techniques.''