Archipelago, the Island Institute’s retail store, is expanding into the adjacent space at 386 Main Street in Rockland. This new fine art gallery will exhibit solo and group shows of significant island art.
Archipelago Fine Arts will present its first show on Sept. 15, 2006, titled “Visions from the Island Studio: Influence and Inspiration.” Featured artists are Jeanne O’Toole Hayman from Peaks Island and Ernie BJ Abrahamson of Chebeague. An array of O’Toole-Hayman’s powerful oil sea and landscape paintings will be on display, complemented by Abrahamson’s representational bronze sculpture depicting figures at work and in motion.
O’Toole-Hayman has been a practicing printmaker and painter for over 20 years. Expressing light on the landscape on and around Peaks Island, she creates rich and textural surfaces in her paintings.
“Artful living” is the style of Ernie BJ Abrahamson from Chebeague, and cast bronze sculpture is one manifestation of this talent. Abrahamson portrays Maine’s waterfront workers everyday activities, in an effort to express a sense of beauty that lies beneath the apparent surface.
Visitors to the show will experience the influence of island living on the visual artist. Subject matter is only the immediate island connection apparent in this special work. Deeper still are values of community, family, and surroundings that inspire and give form to the remarkable expression in this exhibition.
Meet the artists and celebrate islandness at 386 Main Street, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Sept. 15.
— Amy Putansu