Sandra Pealer     

Tamara Richel     

John Hooper

A group show of Paintings and Sculpture

Exhibit: August 24-September 30, 2017
Artist’s Reception: August 25, 2017, 5-7 PM

     Sandra Pealer is a painter who delights in the medium of watercolor. She has painted from home studios in Maine, Vermont , New York and West Virginia for over thirty years, and enjoys a style that is a dance between fluidity and exactness. She loves the way that watercolor depicts light, shadow and mystery. Recently, she has returned to painting in oils as a way of broadening her artistic experience.
Sandra has earned signature status in the Philadelphia, Vermont, West Virginia and North East Watercolor Societies. She is a sustaining member of the American Watercolor Society. Her paintings are in private and public collections throughout the US and Canada and have won many awards.
Sandra moved to Maine in 2009, but has been painting Maine scenes since 2001 when she first stayed on Monhegan Island and where she has returned frequently to paint. She says Maine is a tremendous inspiration, providing excellent light and subject matter for landscapes and still lifes – particularly flowers.  She enjoys including figures in her work.

     Tamara K. Richel was born in Esslingen, Germany while her parents were living in a DP (displaced persons) camp after being forced to flee their native country of Latvia, during the Soviet occupation of WWII. The family then emigrated to the USA when she was 6 months old, eventually settling in New Jersey. Tamara lived in NJ until 1993, when she then moved to Rangeley, Maine with her husband Vincent and her son Justin.
Although Tamara has had no formal art training, while growing up she was inspired by her mother, Vera Kencis, an amateur artist and oil painter. Tamara taught herself how to paint by by reading about famous artists whom she admired, studying their painting styles and techniques. The artwork that is displayed in this show is a retrospective of Tamara’s Still Life and Floral oil paintings, all produced between 1988 and 2005.

     John Hooper lives in the middle of a wildlife protection area on the shore of Rangeley Lake, at the edge of Maine’s 100 Mile Wilderness.  This gives him the opportunity to observe wildlife, up close and personal.
He has seen most species of fish, mammals and birds from either the comfort of camp, or in the woods, fields and waters of this beautiful part of the country.
He has chosen to capture the images in the medium of wood.  Through sculpting and relief carving, he brings to life animals, birds and fish, often in their habitats, doing something that comes naturally.
The wood he uses in his work is “found,” usually from a tree that has been blown down or cast aside in the woodlot.  He loves stumps!  Folks often will drop a stump off in his yard, in anticipation of seeing the finished sculpture that emerges…after as many as 200 hours of chipping away the unwanted parts.  He will work with as many as 75 different tools and materials in the process of carving from stump to finished piece, often starting with a chain saw, and finishing with the finest grit of sandpaper.
The dimensional lumber he uses is scrap; re-purposed to create frames, shadow boxes, surfaces for relief carvings and bases.  To-date he has utilized 16 native species of trees in all facets of his work.
He absolutely loves the creative process involved in this endeavor, and appreciates the ability to create with his hands what is in his mind’s eye.  He carves for the sheer pleasure of it, and gets great satisfaction from sharing his work with appreciative audiences. To see more of his work, click HERE.