Laurie Barker and her piece, “Day Lily.”
FARMINGTON — Five Maine artists, Laurie Barker, Suzee Woods, Chris Park Warren, Anna N’Epiro and Kendra Stenger, have teamed up and created a display to be shown during July at SugarWood Gallery.
An Open House Reception will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday, July 5. The public is invited and refreshments will be provided.
Barker is a resident of New Vineyard. Having grown up in North Andover, Massachusetts, and witnessing the disappearance of forests and farm land as housing developments took over the landscape, and having spent her formative years on a dairy and vegetable farm, she has an appreciation for the outdoors and wildlife.
Barker’s work captures the beauty she sees in nature. From her home in New Vineyard she combines realism with some elements of abstraction in her paintings. “I choose moments of serenity and peace to focus on. I feel a spiritual connection to my subjects; if I can portray that to my viewers, I feel successful,” said Barker. “I also enjoy doing pet portraits and portraits of wild life.
She is a graduate of UMF with a bachelor’s degree in studio art and teaches art at Camp Kawanhee in the summer.
Woods is also a New Vineyard resident and is active in the community with the New Vineyard Public Library, Historical Society and the Kingfield POPS. In addition to painting, she enjoys creating quilts for family and friends.
Watercolor by Suzee Woods.
After retirement and settling with her husband Richard in New Vineyard in 2009, Woods began watercolor lessons with Stan Keirstead of Farmington and has since studied with New Vineyard artist Joyce Dubay and Mary Beth Morrison of Farmington. Her paintings are mostly landscapes with a soft filter to reflect the peacefulness of the environment.
Stenger is a 27-year-old painter/ceramicist from upstate New York. She resides in Winthrop.
Kendra Stenger
At the heart of her work lies nature, music, rhythm, community, celebration, spirituality, meditation, ceremony and ritual. Her father, a professional drummer for over 40 years, exposed her to rhythms of many genres starting at a young age. She learned to embody these rhythms through painting, mosaic installations and the creation of ceramic drums used for socially engaging drum circles.
N’Epiro is an expressive artist. “Spirit comes through when doing my work,” she said. Working out of Blue Mountain Studio, she offers expressive art classes in Farmington.
Park Warren lives in Farmington and paints what she sees around her. Using oils, watercolors and acrylics, she enjoys painting people and places not too far from her doorstep.
SugarWood Gallery is at 248 Broadway and is open from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
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