“A handful of us on Deer Isle have been a little bit frustrated about getting our work out there,” said artist Maureen Farr, explaining the reasoning behind Deer Isle village’s new co-operative art gallery. The Red Dot Gallery, in the center of town, will have a daylong grand opening on Saturday, May 24, from 10 to 5.
The gallery, called Red Dot for the stickers affixed to art that has sold, will offer a wide range of two-dimensional art: Asian brush, watercolor, and encaustic paintings, and woodcut prints. It will also show three-dimensional clay and kinetic sculpture; porcelain decorative pieces, teapots, and other vessels; fiber art, both wearable and pictorial hangings; decorated gourds and found object work. Many different kinds of bead and art jewelry will be on exhibit as well as jewelry in a variety of fine metals by a half-dozen non-member jewelers.
After the grand opening, complete with wine and cheese, the gallery will be open Wednesdays through Sundays 10 to 5 in June and seven days a week from July first through Columbus Day, after which it will close and re-open for the holidays.
When co-op members assembled at the gallery on April 10 for a meeting, everyone but the sole male, Ron King, knew each other. Asked how she joined the group, Laura Balombini, whose whimsical paintings and polymer clay sculpture can be viewed at her website: www.lbalombini.com, said simply, “Maureen called me.”
Tess Daniels, whose knitted bead and silk necklaces and bracelets can be better illustrated at the gallery’s website, explained, “Sarah Doremus asked me in January. I said, ‘No.’ I was up to my eyeballs in work. All my work disappeared simultaneously, serendipitously, and Sarah happened to ask me again, so I very impulsively said, ‘Yes.'”
Doremus, whose jewelry of silver, found objects, old photos and beach stone jewelry as well as her kinetic sculpture, which can be viewed at www.reddotgallery.net, was part of Farr’s original handful of artists. She said, “Maureen and Frederica and I were involved in the DIAA [Deer Isle Art Association].”
Farr (a.k.a. Mozelle) makes encaustic paintings and does mixed media work as well as making stamped, inked pins and beaded bracelets. Her work can be seen at www.mozelleart.com.
Sallie Findlay, a fiber artist whose fabric paintings and wearable items can be viewed at www.salliefindlay.com, explained, “Frederica called me. We’re neighbors. We share critiques and feedback with each other.”
Ron King, who shows his gold leaf lined and decorated gourds at www.rkinggourds.com, left it at, “Christine got me involved.”
Chris Leith, whose wearable textiles can be found at www.chrisleithstudio.com, said, “I have Eggemoggin Textile Studio in Sargentville, so I was looking to expand my business on Deer Isle. I know a lot of the people in the group, so I asked if I could be a part of it.”
Melody Lewis-Kane, who shows her porcelain vessels and decorative work at www.clayformspottery.com, explained, “Maureen Farr called me and asked if I’d like to be involved because she knew I’d sold my property and wouldn’t have a roadside gallery.”
Frederica Marshall, an award-winning artist whose Asian brush paintings, called Sumi-e, can be viewed at www.fredericamarshall.com, said, “I’m on the board of DIAA. We worked very hard on developing the art center and realized we may as well have our own gallery. We have fun together.”
Jacqueline Wilson’s woodcut prints, watercolors and bead jewelry can be seen at the gallery’s website. She said, “A year ago Frederica asked me,” and seemed to sum up the general feeling by saying, “They’re a wonderful group. I’m so happy they included me.”
In addition to the Red Dot Gallery, Deer Isle village can now boast four other art galleries within easy walking distance of each other: Blue Heron, Lester, Fibula, and Seamark. But that’s just the center of the village. The entire island offers many more galleries for the art lover. Thanks to Deer Isle’s beauty and the lure of its Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, artists and craftspeople flock to the island for the week, the summer, and for life.
For more information go to www.reddotgallery.net.