Sylvan Gallery in Wiscasset is hosting artists’ Neal Hughes and Crista Pisano for the fourth exhibition of their work through Sept. 8. A reception to meet the artists is from 4-7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 29, coinciding with Wiscasset Art Walk.
After a long winter, Hughes and Pisano began the spring by traveling extensively to many of the most prestigious plein air competitions in the country that are renowned for the high quality of artistic talent that they attract. A selection of Hughes’ and Pisano’s paintings from this year’s plein air events will be on view from such states as Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Pennsylvania and Michigan, as well as from their favorite painting locations along the Maine coast.
Coastal subjects and working waterfronts inspire much of Hughes’ work in the Sylvan Gallery exhibition. “Lightkeeper’s House – Marshall Point,” 20-by-20 inches, won Hughes his first award this year. Impressionistically painted, the front façade of the sunlit building contrasts beautifully with the cool tones of the blue-violet shadowed side of the building, the gallery said in a prepared release. The rich greens of foreground foliage is dotted with late summer flowers. The viewpoint is from the rocks looking up at the structure enabling Hughes to juxtapose the building against the darker pine trees. The rocks are captured in a full spectrum of colors from blues to violets, golds and roses, and, with a combination of brush and palette knife work, they are individual yet cohesive as Hughes is a master of soft and sharp edges. The walkway to the light tower is skillfully cropped so the focus remains on the house. The flag blowing in the breeze and sweep of the clouds indicate the type of day it is. These are details that Hughes pays attention to and yet follows the philosophy that
“too much precise detail and rendering with no emotional content can be boring.”
“Summer Reflections” by Neal Hughes, oil, 36-by-36 inches. Courtesy of Sylvan Gallery
“In my opinion, the best paintings have a balance between poetry and nature,” Hughes said in the release. “In other words, between a more expressive style and a totally realistic approach. To me, the genius of the best impressionist work, whether we are talking about the work that was done in the 19th century or more recently, is how it creates a visual experience that contains this type of balance.”
Modern Impressionist Magazine awarded “Lightkeeper’s House” a first place in its December/January Modern Impressionist Salon.
Hughes’ captured Portland’s historic Custom House Wharf at 11-by-14 inches in “Morning Wharf.” In this painting, the weathered façade of the south side of the wharf glistens on a sunlit day. Lobster boats are tied up at the old weathered dock where traps are repaired, nets
mended and fish are sold. Hughes manages to capture its unique qualities using a palette of blues, violets, emerald greens, and a few impressionistic dots and dashes of warmer tones.
Two paintings of maritime subjects much larger in scale are “Morning Shadows,” 30-by-30 inches, and “Summer Reflections,” 36-by-36 inches. “Morning Shadows” completed at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, and “Summer Reflections” at Southwest Harbor.
“Walking Through the Clouds,” 9-by-9 inches, is one of the low-horizon distant views that Pisano loves to paint. Here, soft forms of clouds that feel lit from within touch down to meet the green gold of the marsh. Pisano uses flecks of alizarin along a narrow inlet of water to lead the eye diagonally back to the horizon where narrow scrubby pines reach up to meet the clouds, holding the gaze in the distance. This painting was inspired by her travels to Kiawah Island in South Carolina and the eastern shore of Maryland. Pisano loves to focus on low marsh views, and when painting in her studio, has the artistic maturity to “borrow” ideas from two different locations. It was at the Paint Annapolis 2024, Annapolis, Maryland, competition in June where Pisano won the “Ardis Diaz Memorial Light Award.” Pisano excels at capturing the quiet beauty of the landscape while evoking a sense of place and moment.
“Walking Through the Clouds” by Crista Pisano, oil, 9-by-9 inches. Courtesy of Sylvan Gallery
Two of Pisano’s almost miniature-in-scale ocean paintings that capture the feeling of the quintessential Maine rocks and crashing surf are “Whoosh,” 2 1/2-by-6 3/8 inches, and “Rocky Surf,” 1 7/8-by-5 7/8 inches. Painted on an overcast afternoon, both paintings have a Homer-esque quality to them. Pisano’s ability to capture the sublime power of the ocean on such a small scale is remarkable. Confident brushstrokes describe weather-beaten rocks, and one can almost smell the sea breeze and feel the spray from the ocean waves.
Pisano’s small boat paintings are much sought after by collectors. Two new ones at 5 1/4-by-3 1/4 inches and 6-by-2 inches, recently painted in New Bern, North Carolina, will be on view. Pisano has a unique vision in cropping a complicated marina view into a slim vertical format. There is a dynamic rhythm to the lines of masts in the upper third of the paintings contrasting with the subtle arc of the waves rippling out toward the viewer. The water mirrors the overcast sky, and Pisano captures the silvery quality of the water with just a few tones of color.
“I can never pass on painting a marina,” Pisano said in the release. “I enjoy composing the rhythm of masts among the chaos of color, shape and value of the vessels to which they belong. This subject matter is always intimidating at first until my brain convinces itself to look at the abstract from which the reality is created.”
Sylvan Gallery is open from 1:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Monday is by chance or appointment. The gallery is located at 49 Water St., Wiscasset, on the corner with Main St. (Route 1), next to Red’s Eats. For more information, call Ann Scanlan at 882-8290 or visit sylvangallery.com. The gallery can also be found on Facebook and Instagram.