Join us at Barn Gallery on Thursday, August 17th (at 6 PM) for a Barn Gallery Talk by two of our Late Summer Exhibition Showcase Artists: Janet Ledoux (Painter) and Anne Strout (Painter).

Meet the artists, see their work, learn about their processes, and ask questions.

These insightful and inspiring Gallery Talks always provide further insight into our exhibitions and give attendees the chance to hear stories + learn tips and tricks from present day juried artist-members of the Ogunquit Art Association, Maine’s Original Artists’ Group (est. 1928).

This is a FREE event and it is open to the public.

featured image above: (L) Janet Ledoux; Darrow’s Barn 3 (detail); 14 x 18″; (R) Anne Strout; Gardening was Her Religion (detail), cold wax, 20”x20”.

Showcase Title – Begin Again

“As 2020 arrived, I was in the process of building a house in Jefferson, Maine, on a lake not far from the Atlantic. As the Pandemic surged, my husband and I scrambled to finish the house and move while he retired. I was surprised to find my painting process upended by this onrush of change, and I took a breath and stopped working while I figured out how to begin again. These paintings are some of the art I have made as I slowly regained my path as a painter. They are art of the space all around me, my new studio, my new landscape, and my new life.

I paint in oil directly from life, often outdoors, editing the many details into a simpler and more powerful whole. Although the work can vary from direct perceptual painting to a more markedly abstracted approach, the idea of something observed and distilled is always there.The subject is often the light, the geometry in boulders and trees, the language of color, movement, or people and our interaction with the world. I use oil paints for most of my paintings. Oil allows for more editing, layering, and altering as I rework a painting. I search for clarity by simplifying the subject to communicate through the language of paint. I have been influenced and aided by so many artists past and present. The art of Fairfield Porter and Lois Dodd continues to resonate for me, among many others.”

Biography

Mid Coast Maine painter Janet Ledoux makes oil paintings that capture the changing light and weather, and the people in the landscape. Her work is noted for strong design and inventive color. A juried member of the historic Ogunquit Art Association, Janet is widely collected.

Janet was raised in Hartland, CT and graduated from the Paier College of Art in New Haven, CT in 1980. After completing a 20-year career as an award winning Illustrator and Art Director, she began painting and exhibiting full time in 2000. Residency awards include the National Park Service and the Vermont Studio Center.

LEARN MORE: janetledoux.com

“I have done art in one form or another since I was little. I had a career in nursing and raised five kids, extended family, and did artwork on the side to keep me grounded. For years I have taken art courses and gone on art retreats and art vacations. I love color and my paintings usually have a narrative element to them, celebrating life with an emphasis on reinvention and rejuvenation.

The Title of my show is called Rejuvenation. The theme is portraying things we do to make us happy, as simple as having coffee in the morning, planning a garden, or having an adventure. I love mixed media, and paint in watercolor and acrylics, but generally these days I am painting with wax; hot or cold! Encaustic painting, hot wax,involves a heat gun (or torch), a heated palette, and pigmented wax. You can do this on several different substrates; paper, wood panel, or canvas. I usually use wood panels for my encaustic paintings. You may also embed objects,create texture, and employ mixed media, image transfer, and stencils. Cold wax is a process of mixing “cold wax” which is beeswax (if using Gamblin’s) and damar resin, a substance that looks like lard, with oil paints. When mixed, the paint becomes very thick. It is not put on the canvas with brushes, but palette knives, brayers, or squeegees. I work with thin layers. The substrate may be canvas, wooden panel, or paper. Again, you may embed collage elements, graphite, oil sticks or pastels, or pigmented alcohol to the cold wax painting.”

Artist Statement: Anne Strout.

Much of my work speaks to the obstacles and adversities we all face in our daily human struggles. The emphasis is on reinvention and optimism. Encaustic and mixed media help me with these narratives, as I employ multiple layers, colors, and often embedded objects to metaphorically address the past, and the hope of the future.

LEARN MORE: annestrout.com

Learn more about the Barn Gallery 2023 Schedule: barngallery.org/2023-season