Two solo shows open at the Exeter Gallery on Nov. 1
EXETER — “We are all tangled together. The blackberry brambles, miles of wildflowers, grasshoppers, crows, field mice, us. The dependence we have on each other dictates our mere existence. Not a single one of us will survive alone.”
These are the words of painter and Seacoast Artist Association exhibiting artist Maryclare Heffernan about her show “Tangled Together” opening at the Exeter gallery on Nov. 1.
“This exhibit is my attempt to capture the tendrils of grass wrapped around a bird's nest, the baby lamb waiting for mother's lunch, the lake harboring fish, frogs, snakes, waterlilies, teeming life. The evergreen and apple trees, the briny ocean full of creatures. Such simple magnificence in our lives.
“John Muir, the 19th century naturalist and founder of our National Parks, is attributed with the quote: ‘When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.' Of course we know this. Yet reminding ourselves of our interdependence on all living and non-living things is humbling. We play a million roles in our lives in sustaining our own life presence and that of endless others.
“Working in oils, watercolors, pencil and ink I paint every day. I see the world around us filled with untold mystery in the sprays of sea salt, on fat ripe pears with their silver leaves attached, miniature bird nests and delicate lavender violets in the grass. There is no theme to my work other than what I find exquisite, moving. After all, beauty is everything, everywhere, all at once. This life of ours is fluid, moving on whether we are ready or not. We will never be able to capture and rewind the few seconds it took to read this. It's done and gone and on to the next second, hour, day or year. I'm learning to see, care for and capture as many present moments as I can. There's nothing to do but paint.
“I arrived late to the creation of art; a surprise discovery that has offered me the most treasured exploration of my life. My learning has been inspired by working with master artists, my two brilliant artist sisters, and by myself. My art has been juried into numerous exhibits and displayed in galleries in Portsmouth and Exeter N.H., Ogunquit, Maine and Newburyport, Mass., and found in private collections throughout the United States and abroad.
“I've loved putting this show together, thinking of how tangled together we all are in a warm heap of life. And how very comfortable that feels. I paint what I love to look at. Those wonders everywhere that won't stop pulling at my heart. It's a bit like falling in love, over and over again.”
Kevin Daniel Talbot is a local nature photographer living in Kingston who has honed his skills over the past 30 years on the ponds, in the woods, and across the mountains of his native New England. An avid hiker he, along with his trusted and faithful dog companions, (formerly Emma, currently Wicket), and how wife Judy, have tramped New Hampshire's forty-eight FourThousand Footers and many lesser hills and peaks across New England on hundreds of hikes over the past 25 years.
“Many facets of Nature are too small to see clearly, or simply happen too quickly to see exactly what has just transpired. Through the camera lens I can literally zoom in and stop time to reveal the minute details that would otherwise be missed by the casual observer. As I have embarked on this journey I have witnessed first-hand the extreme disconnect from Nature that Human
Society now embraces. With my camera I have endeavored to bridge this huge gap between the Human Race and the Natural World we live in. The photos I have chosen for this show ‘Life in the ‘Shire' are of some of these creatures that share this beautiful State of New Hampshire with us.”
In March of 2004 Kevin made his first winter visit as an overnight guest to the Mount Washington Observatory where he discovered they had a volunteer program. He now makes the eight-day trips to the summit in all seasons to be the volunteer cook and housekeeper for that shift for the small crew which mans the weather station on the summit of Mount Washington on a 24/7/365 basis. Photographs and video from these trips can also be found on his website ghostflowers.com in the Mount Washington section.
Over the past 13-plus years Kevin has been working on a project where he has taken photographs each day and chosen one for posting on Facebook and on his own website. This has resulted in thousands of his best images being compiled. You can follow this project and view past photos in the Daily Photo section of his website.
Both of these solo shows open on Nov. 1 and run through Sunday, Nov. 26. The Seacoast Artist Association gallery is open Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m., and will be part of the Exeter Art Tour during the weekend of Nov. 4-5, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. There will be new artwork gracing all of their walls beginning this month. The public is invited to a "Second Friday" artists reception on Nov. 10, 5 to 7 p.m. Music will be provided by Ben Baldwin and Kent Allyn of Ben Baldwin and the Big Note. See more at seacoastartist.org and follow updates on Facebook.