Jill Matthews
Ryan Kohler
Bethany Harper Williams
Week Seven of Spring Arrivals
April 16 — April 22
The work of three Maine Art Hill artists arrive for Week Seven of Spring Arrivals. Below you will see a thumbnail of each piece. Click to make it larger. Works from these three artists are available online and at the main gallery at 14 Western Ave in Kennebunk. Come by or call 207-967-2803. Links to their artist’s pages, where you can see all their work are at the bottom.
APRIL 17 — Jill Matthews
I have been creating art on some level for as long as I can remember. Life has led me in various directions, but one thing that has always remained a constant is my love for art and involving myself in the creative process.
As with anything, art is a process, and my recent work represents how it has evolved. One of the hardest things as an artist is to find a voice in your work. I spent a long time focusing on replicating things I saw rather than truly seeing them through an artistic eye. My work now is based on an initial idea or vision. I will still use some references in the process, but my most successful moments in painting happen when I lose that security and the work are from within. Adding, editing, allowing color interaction, letting the painting take its direction… that’s when I truly emerge as an artist.
APRIL 20 — Ryan Kohler
Representational painting is still the root of what I’m trying to achieve, but the fun lies in finding ways to describe my subjects through expressive gestures and varied mark-making. Recently, mixed media and collage have become significant elements of my work. Bits of colored paper, maps, album covers, posters, and found materials are collaged to the surface of my paintings, adding an extra physical presence to my work and enriching the viewing experience.
Collaging has become an important process for me, forcing me to think abstractly and slowing me down more than the painting process would, yielding more interesting and thoughtful decisions. I sometimes describe it as like putting together a jigsaw puzzle, but I get to make my pieces, and they don’t have to fit precisely. Charmingly incorrect is the result that I typically shoot for, rather than literal and precise. There comes the point where too much detail and obvious overstatement become detrimental to the power of a painting. Letting edges blur and being ambiguous with brushwork leads to more exciting results. While painting, I constantly think about this and try to walk away from them when they are in an evocative and unpredictable state.
APRIL 22 — Bethany Harper Williamas
By simplifying the landscape, I aim to capture a memory without the details of representation. The expanse of nature, be it the sky, beach, or water, allows abstracting of the elements through expressive brushstrokes, subtle textures, and simple forms.
Layers of unexpected shapes, patterns, and colors create a visual composite of energy and calm, taking the viewer away from the reality of the image and triggering a personal memory, a moment in time. A low horizon line or the playful placement of simple figures brings context to the expressive composition of color and texture.
Click the links below to see all these pieces and other work from these talented artists.