Arts In The Barn presents “Maine Coast in Oils and Sculpture”, the work of three artists who live and work along the Midcoast area and find inspiration in the wilderness as well as the more populated places.

Maine Coast in Oils and Sculpture will be up for a weekend, August 14 - 16, and opens Friday, Aug. 14, from 5 - 7 p.m.; refreshments served. Saturday and Sunday hours are 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

"Mark Christopher, Bruce Bickford and John Sawyer combine the plein air techniques with studio work, resulting in beautiful landscapes, edges of oceans and the animals of our wild areas," said Arts In The Barn, in a news release. "All three artists are largely self-taught and have developed styles that are different yet still true to life."

Arts In The Barn provides the following artist descriptions:

Mark Christopher is an award-winning sculptor of birds and has carved them for many years. Lately he has taken up the paintbrush for new and different ways of seeing things. He writes: “my artwork includes three mediums, bird carving, stone sculpture, and oil painting, which have significant commonalities, as switching from one to another creates intellectual, emotional, and technical challenges which can be exciting and daunting. I enjoy these art forms for the challenge, expressiveness, and healing that motivates and encourages me to grow as a person and share my work with others.”

Bruce Bickford, inspired by his late uncle John Bickford, a Rangely area landscape painter, and his mother, a watercolorist, Bruce began creating local landscapes and wildlife oils of local subjects. Further inspiration and style cues came from maritime greats John Stobart, Thomas Hoyne and Russ Kramer as Bruce developed a familiar and approachable representational style applied to the natural world, largely in the New England area. He continues to refine and bring his work to the next level as retirement allows more time to develop larger pieces, leverage plein air studies and continuing evolution of his style.

John Sawyer writes: “For over fifty years, I have been painting oil landscapes. My style is impressionist, enhanced by modern influences such as Bonnard and Matisse. The goal is to find the patterns and colors others may not see. We are surrounded by beautiful places and moments that quickly come and just as quickly disappear. Painting is a way of slowing down the passage of life, to be fully in the now of the place.”

The Arts In The Barn program is under the 501c3 statute for the Cushing Historical Society, and these programs benefit the Historical Society’s aims. We are a community supportive organization and have talks and presentations about the history, cultural heritage and persons of interest in our midcoast area.