I'm There with You 30x50 Oil on Canvas $7200
Craig Mooney’s work begins where memory and mood converge. In Coastal Light, his latest collection now on view at Maine Art Hill, he invites us into that space where land meets sea and where a familiar view becomes something more.“These landscapes aren’t just scenes,” Mooney says. “They’re memories layered over seasons, shaped by time and reflection.”
The show captures quiet moments: shorelines before dusk, skies holding the last light of day, the early pull of a rising tide. “I gravitate toward the atmospheric, the in-between,” he explains. “There’s an emotional depth in those transitions.” Though the imagery may be recognizable,
Embers Oil on Canvas 40x60 $10,500
Mooney’s intention runs deeper. “This year, my subjects are fairly typical,” he says, “but I have imbued them with a subtext of communion with nature and the natural world that exists in the area.” Even the ordinary is transformed. “Even the most ordinary tree line, if you sit with it long enough, becomes a meditation. That’s where I find the essence of what I want to paint.”
Mooney’s process is rooted in reverence. “When I work, I try to hold onto that sense of wonder I had when I first discovered this landscape as a child,” he says. “Every painting is an act of gratitude.”
Cathedral 38x38 Oil on Canvas $7200
He paints not to replicate a place but to recreate the feeling of it. “The work isn’t about recreating a view,” he says. “It’s about translating that moment when the light shifts and something familiar suddenly feels infinite.”
His goal isn’t technical perfection. “I’m not interested in perfection. I’m interested in presence,” he says. “I want the viewer to feel like they’ve stepped into a place both real and remembered.” In every brushstroke, there is a quiet conversation. “I like to think there’s a dialogue happening. Between me and the land, between memory and mood. The painting is where that conversation lives.”
The exhibition Coastal Light will be on view from August 9 through 27 at Maine Art Hill, located at 5 Chase Hill Rd in Kennebunk, Maine. The gallery is open daily at 10 AM. For more information, visit maine-art.com, email info@maine-art.com, or call 207-967-2803.