Introducing the Drawings of Susan A. Cooney

In this post I’m going to take the opportunity to introduce you to one of Maine’s hidden gems, Susan A. Cooney and her exquisite graphite drawings. I found her and her drawings in a visit to her small Belfast studio, during the December First Friday Art Walk. As you will see, exquisite aptly describes her delicate and sensitively drawn work.

She lives on a boat and so works in graphite for its portability and out of necessity in such a confined space, but the drawings belie the necessity of space and show a true love and mastery of the medium.

"Grog Island", Stonington, ME, Graphite Drawing, Susan A. Cooney

One wall in her Belfast studio contains a large map, where pushpins indicate all the places along the Maine coast and islands she has visited on her boat and her drawings document these places in all their many moods. I’ve provided a friends link to the right, where you can see more of her wonderful work at the Island Institute.

"The Cranberries", Graphite Drawing, Susan A. Cooney

In other news, I'm the featured artist of the month at the Woodstock Gallery. Maybe it's time to go skiing and buy art.

The Woodstock Gallery Announcement, Woodstock, VT

I'm pleased to announce that the Woodstock Gallery has begun representing my work in Woodstock, VT.

Pat and I delivered 10 paintings to the gallery on Wednesday in the midst of a major snowstorm, but all arrived safely, despite driving through unplowed roads and whiteouts. It was an exciting trip to say the least. Woodstock is a beautiful little town with lots of interesting shops and plenty of skiing nearby. One of the new paintings is shown below. It is of a picturesque farm with a bright red barn snuggled at the base of a mountain in Pomfret, a town bordering Woodstock.

Near Woodstock, 3.5x7" Watercolor, Gregory Dunham

Belfast Framer Holiday Gala and The Tarratine Gallery Announcement

I will be showing two watercolors at the Holiday Gala at The Belfast Framer. Featuring a variety of works by area artists, December 3rd through December 31st.. A reception to meet the artists will be held on Friday, December 4th from 5:00 to 8:00 pm.

"Three Pears", 2.75x4", Watercolor by Gregory Dunham

The Belfast Framer & Gallery is located at 96 Main Street, Belfast.

Hours: Monday through Friday 10:00 am to 5:00 pm and Saturdays, December 5th, 12th and 19th from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm.

For more information, please call 338-6465 or visit The Belfast Framer.

I will also be exhibiting 4 small watercolors at the Tarratine Gallery Holliday Show, 5 Main St., Castine, ME

The opening day is Saturday the 5th of December as part of the Castine Merchants’ Holiday Season, including special refreshments that day and a wine reception from 5-7 PM. The show will run through December on Saturdays and Sundays: December 5,6,12, 13, 19, 20. Open hours will be from 10 AM until 4 PM. I hope to see you there.

Small Works 09 Courthouse Gallery Fine Art Announcement

I will be exhibiting 5 new 3"x6" watercolors in the Small Works Show at:

COURTHOUSE GALLERY FINE ART

Small Works 2009

DECEMBER 3 - DECEMBER 24, 2009

Holiday Open House: Thursday, December 3,

5-7PM

Courthouse Gallery Fine Art is celebrating with a Holiday Open House on Thursday, December 3, 5-7pm. A selection of small paintings and sculptures will be exhibited. Visitors are invited to enjoy the artwork, hot cider and holiday treats. A selection of the works can be viewed at courthousegallery.com

GREGORY DUNHAM, "Late Winter", 2009, watercolor, 3 x 6 inches

2009 Small Works 2009 Participating Artists

David Graeme Baker, Judy Belasco, Louise Bourne. Ellen Church,

Jane Dahmen, Gregory Dunham, Freda Dunn, Kate Emlen, Kerstin Engman, Philip Frey, Francis Hamabe, Liddy Hubbell, William Irvine, MaJo Keleshian, Starr Kopper, John Knight, Beth Lambert, David Little, Eliot Markell, Emily Muir, William Muir, Ed Nadeau, John Neville, Rebekah Raye, Robert Shetterly, Jessica Stammen, Stephen Pace, Colin Page, Gail Page, Stephen Porter, Cynthia Stroud and Michael Vermette

OPEN MON - SAT 10am-5pm

Located at 6 Court Street, Ellsworth, ME

Influence, Inspiration and Six Degrees of Separation: Stow Wengenroth, Andrew Wyeth & Charles Sheeler

Three of the strongest and most enduring influences on my work are the lithographs and dry brush drawings of Stow Wengenroth, the drawings of Charles Sheeler and Andrew Wyeth’s drawings and paintings.

"Down East", 1958 Lithograph ed. of 40, by Stow Wengenroth (Stuckey #249)

I’m currently reading a book entitled Linked by Albert-Laszio Barabási. In it, he demonstrates how everything is linked by networks of one kind or another and that all networks follow a similar pattern of individual nodes with, maybe as few as two connections, in turn, connected to hubs with many connections, in effect connecting all the nodes with each other. One concept discussed is known popularly as, “Six Degrees of Separation”. In a nutshell, this idea suggests, (with some exceptions), that we are only six links or degrees away from anyone else on Earth. In this blog entry, I will use link and degree interchangeably while discussing the concept of the linkage of individuals.

As I pondered this idea over the weekend, I realized that my three strongest artistic influences were, at most, two links away from me. Stow Wengenroth, who I knew as a friend and a mentor, is one link from me. As a friend of Stow’s, Andrew Wyeth was two links from me, until I met him personally one day while in Tennents Harbor. At that moment, Andrew Wyeth became just one link away from me, as did Helga, who I also met at the time.

Artwork images are copyright of the artist or assignee

Charles Sheeler, who I never had the opportunity to meet, was another story. How many links would it take to reach him, (figuratively, of course). Then I realized, he was only two links away, because of his friendship with my uncle, the photographer, Paul Strand, who was just one link from me. The art world was becoming smaller, because of the links we are all connected to. You probably begin to see the pattern here. I have a friend, Donna, who is connected to Desmond Tutu through her work as a facilitator in conflict resolution. She is one link from me. That makes Desmond Tutu two links from me and everyone Desmond knows in South Africa and beyond is, in a sense, just three links from me. You can see how the world is shrinking. We may, indeed, be only six degrees away from anyone, anywhere on Earth.

In a future blog I will discuss the ways in which the work of Wengenroth, Wyeth and Sheeler helped form my artistic direction and sensibility.

"On the Rocks", 1984 Lithograph ed. 35, by Gregory Dunham

Penobscot Marine Museum opening reception

Below are two photos from the opening reception of the "Painters of the Maine Waterfront" show at the Penobscot Marine Museum on September 17th.

Pictured left to right are artists Robert Pollien, Amy Pollien and myself.

Pictured left to right, myself, artist Nancy Morgan Barnes, Abby Dunham (Dartmouth '11)

The photos are a bit blurry due to low light and no tripod. The exhibition ends on the 20th of October. If you haven't seen it yet, it's worth the trip to Searsport.

Rockport Art Association Popular Prize Award Announcement

I just learned that my painting “Fish Beach, Monhegan” has received The Reine Rose Strisik Popular Prize ... awarded by popular vote of visitors to the 3rd Summer Show of the Rockport Art Association. This award is in addition to the “John F. & Margaret Kieran Award for Landscape Painting” already announced for this painting by the awards jury. This painting will be on view at the Penobscot Marine Museum exhibition “Painting the Maine Waterfront” curated by Carl Little September 15 - October 20th and is pictured below.

The year so far: Awards, publications and exhibitions

My watercolor “Up for Repairs, Gloucester Marine Railway”, (shown below), will be included in the 95th Anniversary Exhibition at the Guild of Boston Artists on Newbury Street in Boston, September 10 through 27.

This has been a very productive year for me, so far. I received three awards from the Rockport Art Association in Rockport, MA, one in each of its first three summer shows. The painting above won the "Amee B. Davis Memorial Award" in the second summer show. Two of my paintings were featured in an article “Artists of the Working Waterfront” by Carl Little in the May issue of Maine Boats Homes & Harbors . In conjunction with this article, there will be a “Painting the Maine Waterfront” exhibition at the Penobscot Marine Museum, curated by Carl Little beginning September 12th through October 18th. The show will feature four of my watercolors. Some of the other artists in the show will be Nancy Barnes, George Bayliss, Phil Frey, Katharina Keoughan, Linda Norton and Amy Pollien.

Publicity-wise, I was also a featured artist in the “Annual Artist Listing” of Maine Home & Design’s April issue and the Castine Patriot ran a feature article about me, my work, my organic garden and my local activism in the July 30th edition.

Working on a series of figurative paintings for the Courthouse Gallery show was a fun and instructive departure from my regular subject matter. I hope to include more figures in my future work.

The high bid for a Monhegan Island painting I donated for the Center for Maine Contemporary Art’s Annual Auction held at the Owl’s Head Transportation Museum sold for 70% above the reserve price.

Rock Point Gallery in Northeast Harbor opened this summer and I’m happy to announce, became the third Maine art gallery to represent my work. It has a small stable of well established and up and coming artists and a very nice space to exhibit in. Beyond the “Maine Artists and the Figure” show at the Courthouse Gallery, I continue to show my work there and at Dowling Walsh Gallery in Rockland.

Welcome to the Gregory Dunham Studio Blog.

Welcome! (CÉAD MÍLE FÁILTE)

This is my first blog post. I'm a Contemporary Realist working primarily in watercolor. I gather subject matter from all over Maine and New England with a particular fondness for Monhegan Island and working harbors, wherever they're still found. Trips to Cornwall & Devon, UK and more recently to Ireland were inspiring and provided plenty of amazing subjects. The painting pictured here is the first watercolor from a recent trip to Ireland, "Walking the Claddagh Quay, Galway". The Claddagh was formerly a fishing village, just outside the city walls and thought to be one of the oldest fishing ports in Ireland. The boat in the painting is called a Galway Hooker. This painting was included in a recent exhibition: "Maine Artists and the Figure" held at the Courthouse Gallery in Ellsworth, ME. and has been sold.

Please feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you think. If you are interested in any of the paintings shown here, most are for sale, either through the galleries that represent me or directly from my studio. Thanks for visiting.