Carson Jackson doesn’t see his work as abstract. He sees the finished pieces; that is how he sees and feels things. They’re not distorted versions of reality. They are his reality. He paints the truth as it moves through his vision.

“The pieces on canvas start with a whisper of detail of charcoal and pastel lines and end in a palette of memory and emotion. They live on through the seasons,” says Jackson. “I’m always chasing that line between movement and memory. I paint the energy of place, not just the place. The ocean, especially where it meets the land. That edge between fluid and fixed. It’s had a hold on me since before I could speak.”

Seaside Suave, Downtown Day Dreams

Acrylic, Charcoal, and Pastels on Canvas

30x40

$5,400

Many of Jackson’s pieces come to life through memory, plein air painting, and quick study sketches. He draws from the working docks of Old Port, Portland, Maine, the harbors of midcoast Maine, and the rocky shores and beaches of southern Maine and New Hampshire. He has stood in, sketched in, and been still in these places.

“The moment the ocean meets the shore has always captivated me, even as a baby. Before I could walk, I’d crawl into the ocean whilst my parents were trying to have a relaxing day at the beach. Head first into the water, like it was calling me,” he laughs. “They’d have to scoop me up before the ocean swallowed me whole. Maybe that’s what I’m still doing with paint. I'm trying to answer that call, but it's on canvas now.”

YOUR ANCHOR 

Acrylic, Pastels, and Pumice on Canvas

60x60

$!6,000

For Jackson, no sunset is the same, and like so, no one experiences the same sunset the same. His paintings hold this power as well. Everyone experiences each one of his paintings in a completely different way.

“There is poetry in what we see by the sea. A song, a rhythm, a dance, especially the movement of the tide, the moon, and the stars. The tide ebbs and flows with life,” explains Jackson. “Where does love pull from? Land or sea? Does passion tether us… or unmoor us completely?” 

His new 60"x60" piece merges the raw earth of origins with the lunar pull of brushstroke and tide. Crushed rock grounds it; untamed color stirs it. Your Anchor is both arrival and ache—a painting born from longing, craving, and the stormy tenderness of desire.”

Carson Jackson’s work is presently on display at Maine Art Hill until May 21.  FMI 207-967-2803 or info@maine-art.com