“Every canvas is a journey all its own,” a quote from Color Field painter Helen Frankenthaler that has guided artist Adrienne Kernan LaVallee.
LaVallee joined Maine Art Hill in November of 2022, bringing a palette that sings and textures that whisper stories. Her luminous colors and tactile brushwork stir the senses, capturing the attention of our staff and clients who find themselves lingering a little longer.
“Creativity is the willingness to experiment; sometimes one is successful, other times not,” shares LaVallee. “As a painter, I push ahead to take chances with every composition. Building up textural passages and creating a lively flow of spectral dots and dashes to guide the viewers’ eyes into and across the canvas.”
LaVallee has been painting for most of her life; her work has naturally undergone many changes over time. The quiet and isolation during the pandemic turned out to be helpful for her art. It allowed her to slow down, focus, and spend time with ideas she had been thinking about for a while. She could explore new directions with fewer distractions, letting her creativity grow and continue to surprise.
“The element of surprise excites me,” LaValle says. “Scraping off areas that are not working often opens a new layer of interest and intensity that I incorporate into the work.”
Before the pandemic, LaVallee painted realistic landscapes, a valuable step toward where she is today. She stayed faithful to light, color, and form, but now…
“Now, I exaggerate the elements of art while moving around objects and adding something where it did not exist,” explains LaVallee. “A grey house becomes red because I want a hot pop of vitality on the left-hand side of the canvas in hopes of anchoring a cloud on the upper right that looks as if it wants to float off the canvas.”
As her style evolves, it continues incorporating new and visually intriguing elements—shapes, colors, and textures inviting viewers to look more closely. But her work doesn’t stop at what can be seen; it also reflects what she hears, capturing the rhythm, tone, and emotion of sound and weaving it into the visual language of her art.
“My memories of sounds and those of a gentle breeze or threatening wind become large and small slashes of color,” says LaVallee. “Artists develop their own individual visual vocabularies. Creativity will always be an integral part of my art making— it gives the artist a license to do whatever is needed to make the piece work.”
This show runs through July 2. The doors open at 10 AM at 5 Chase Hill Rd in Kennebunk. All are welcome. Shows are open daily, 10 AM to 5 PM. FMI maine-art.com or 967-2803.