Meet the Artists

“Based in Maine, I prefer painting on location directly from life, capturing the immediacy and atmosphere of the landscape. After a short career as an architect, I transitioned to painting full-time. Architectural design and composition continue to influence my work.

I have received awards at numerous events, including Plein Air Easton, Olmsted Plein Air Invitational, Mountain Maryland Plein Air, Cape Ann Plein Air, Wayne Plein Air, the Salmagundi Club’s Annual Members Show, the Transparent Watercolor Society of America, Watercolor USA, and the American Impressionist Society, among others. My work has been featured inPleinAir Magazine, Fine Art Connoisseur, and the Art Renewal Center publication.”

Daniel Corey
Buxton, ME
danielcorey.com

“I am a husband and father to two young kids and our home is currently in the Standish area. For years I called Mid-Coast Maine home and believe that is where some of my most formative years have been spent. I am somewhere between a traditional and modern painter. Inspired by light quality, color harmony and abstract shapes, my paintings are created from direct observation and memory. I enjoy the challenge of painting nontraditional views and subjects, also the views that make Maine, Maine.”

Ken DeWaard
Hope, ME
www.kendewaard.com

Kenneth DeWaard has been painting en plein air for more than thirty years. He began his career studying watercolor under Irving Shapiro at the American Academy of Art in Chicago and then continued his early training at the acclaimed Palette and Chisel Academy of Fine Art with Scott Burdick, as well as independent study with Daniel Gerhartz. He has won numerous awards around the country at various plein air events and invitationals such as Easton, Laguna Beach, Door County, Cape Ann, Sonoma, Richmond, and Florida, as well as painting in China, Italy, and Russia. Looking past the obvious, getting the essence and beauty of the scene is my intention, and finding the inner elegance – be it with line, mass, shape, and color harmony. My goal is to inspire those who see my work to look more carefully at the world around them, to discover the beauty in everyday places.

Carol L. Douglas
Rockport, ME
www.watch-me-paint.com

Carol L. Douglas is a painter and teacher from Rockport, Maine. A native of Buffalo, New York, she studied at the Art Students League in New York, and elsewhere. She lived and worked in Rochester, New York, for 25 years before moving to Maine in 2016. She teaches a popular week-long workshop in Acadia National Park every August and workshops in Maine and elsewhere in the United States. She has a gallery at 394 Commercial Street, Rockport. Douglas has participated in Camden on Canvas since its inception. Her painting blog, Watch-Me-Paint, is one of the top-rated painting blogs by Google metrics.

Cooper Dragonette
Cape Elizabeth, ME
www.cooperdragonette.com

Cooper Dragonette is a contemporary, poetic-realist painter. His work has been featured in galleries and museums from Maine to California, since devoting himself to painting in the early 2000s. While studying with renowned Maine artist George Burk, Cooper made the transition from studio artist to plein air painter, eventually leaving his work as a full-time art educator to paint professionally. He is known for his dramatic paintings of the coast as well as his sensitive landscapes, all created completely from life studies and imagination. Of his work he says, “Painting is often an experience in memory for me. On site I am trying to record the moment, but in the studio I am trying to get back to the place, to the visual impact, to the experience.” A lifelong student, his dedication to and love of his profession is always evolving as his interests and influences continue to guide him. Cooper is a full-time artist, teacher, father, and husband (though not necessarily in that order) living and working in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. His work is held in private, public and corporate collections across the country.

Stephan Giannini
Rockland, ME
stephangiannini.com

“I work primarily in oils, and my goal as a painter is to paint impressions of the world we aspire to. Since 2014, I have made my home in the beautiful Midcoast region of Maine. In 2022 and 2024, I did the Camino de Santiago in northern Spain and produced a series of sketches that I am working on turning into a book. Formally, I worked in public art and the restoration of visual art in architectural settings. I have worked on historical restorations of decorations and murals in churches, theaters, state capitals, and even the White House office building.”

Roberta Goschke
Waldoboro, ME
robertagoschke.com

Maine artist, Roberta Goschke, was born in New Castle, Pennsylvania. Her drawing interests began in childhood and continued through high school, and a 20-year US Army career. Roberta began life drawing sessions in 1984 while attending the Art League School in Alexandria, Virginia, and continues this essential practice into the present. She brings the same passion for figure drawing to landscape painting and views it as an endless challenge of decision making, using time wisely before the moment changes or disappears. Her work is in private collections and can be viewed at The Sylvan Gallery, Wiscasset, Maine.

Mary Ann Heinzen
Thomaston, ME
maryannheinzenartist.com

Working in watermedia for decades, Mary Ann Heinzen’s paintings are loose and painterly, with strong color and contrasts. A strong advocate of painting plein air, as well as in the studio. Ms Heinzen paints while traveling and here at home in midcoast Maine. Her work has received awards from many organizations, including the Northeast Watercolor Society, Maine Art Gallery in Wiscasset, the Salmagundi Club in Manhattan, the Nassau County Museum of Art, National Association of Women Artists and the National Art League in Douglaston, New York.

Alison Hill
Monhegan Island, ME
alisonhill.net

“Painting has become my way of moving through this world, responding to and expressing what I see and feel,” Alison says. “It is my interpretation – using color, stroke, and line – to evoke the mood I am receiving. Whether it’s a landscape, a person, or a still life, I want to recreate what I am receiving.” Alison now lives on Monhegan Island, Maine. In the summer, she runs a studio/gallery. Off-season, she paints, travels, does portraits, and works on other art-related endeavors. “Monhegan offers endless inspiration, no matter what the season,” she says, “and I feel fortunate to call this place home.”

Jill Hoy
Stonington, ME and Somerville, MA
jillhoy.com

“Seasonally, I have run the Jill Hoy Gallery for 40 years in Stonington, on Deer Isle, Maine, where I live six months+ of the year being a plein air painter. The year’s balance is spent in Mix-It, an artist co-op in Somerville, Massachusetts, or traveling. In the winter I work in the studio. I show with Portland Art Gallery, where this coming October I will exhibit. In Oct 2025-Feb 2026 my late husband, painter Jon Imber, and I showed “Side by Side” at the Edward Hopper House Museum, in Nyack, New York. Additionally, I showed “Narratives of Form and Color” (my figurative narrative body of winter work) next door at Perry Lawson Fine Art. My work is in thousands of public and private collections, among them are Portland Museum of Art, Harvard Business School, Boston Public Library, Fidelity Investments, Maine Medical Center, St. Joseph’s Hospital, Maine Health Mid Coast Hospital, Key Bank, John Hancock Financial.”

Eric Jacobson
Thomaston, ME
jacobsenfineart.com

“It is most important to me that my paintings convey a certain mood. I want them to be felt by the viewer without him or her having to analyze or think about them. As a general rule, I try to find strong compositions in nature and then paint the scene accurately while leaving out any extraneous details that would only busy up the painting and detract from the strength of the piece as a whole. My painting process consists of finding a painting site and setting up to paint for a couple of hours, or until the light has changed.”

Nathaniel Meyer
South Portland, ME
www.nathaniel-meyer.com

Nathaniel Meyer is a painter whose work reimagines the landscape as a space of memory, longing, and myth. Grounded in plein air observation yet composed entirely from recollection, his paintings inhabit the threshold between realism and invention. Meyer’s work has been exhibited nationally, including solo presentations at the Spring/Break Art Show in New York and Los Angeles, and features in New American Paintings (2024). He is the recipient of the Blanche E. Colman Award (2022) and lives and works in Cumberland, Maine.

Colin Page
Camden, ME
thepagegallery.com

Colin Page was raised in Baltimore, Maryland and studied painting at the Rhode Island School of Design and at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art. His work has been featured in solo exhibitions and group shows nationally and abroad, including at the Kaiping Museum of Art in China, the LA Natural History Museum, the Portsmouth Historical Society, the Laguna Beach Plein Air Invitational, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, and the Cape Cod Museum of Art. His work is in many private and public collections, including the Farnsworth Museum of Art. In May of 2019, Colin opened Page Gallery in Camden, Maine.

Scott Redfern
Camden, ME
@swredfernart

Scott Redfern is a painter living and working in midcoast Maine. Redfern studied painting under James Schmidt, a student of Josef Albers, and Glenn Felch at Principia College where he received his BFA. He later studied painting and sculpture at the Vermont Studio Center.

Scott has exhibited throughout Maine, New England and Northern California. His works are included in the collections of the Portland Museum of Art, Farnsworth Art Museum and Bates College, among others. A plein air painter, Redfern’s oils render Maine’s soft atmospheric light with a distinctive clarity.

Bjorn Runquist
Spruce Head, ME
bjornrunquist.com

Björn Runquist was born in Stockholm, Sweden, grew up in New York and spent his high school years in France before returning to the U.S. for college. Upon completion of college he moved to London, England. After four years in London and receiving a Master’s degree from Kings College, University of London, he returned to the U.S. and for 35 years made his home in Connecticut where he taught while also working as a professional artist. During that time he summered in Maine and since 2013 has been a full time resident of Clark Island, Maine. He has work in the permanent collection of the Farnsworth Museum and has exhibited widely in galleries on the East Coast from Florida to Maine, including the Caldbeck in Rockland, the Connecticut Biennial at the Bruce Museum in Greenwich, The Center for Maine Contemporary Art, and the Allan Stone Gallery in New York. He is in many private and corporate collections and has a number of paintings in the State Department’s Arts in Embassies program, which places art in United States Embassies around the world. He is currently represented by Landing Gallery in Rockland, Maine, and River Rd. Gallery in Wilton Connecticut. He was featured in Maine Home & Design in April 2010 and listed as one of Maine’s 60 artists “to collect now, while you can”. He was also featured again in Maine Home & Design in the August 2010 issue.

Matthew Russ
Waterville, ME
matthewruss.com

Matthew Russ is a Waterville-based artist devoted to the plein air painting practice. Celebrating long-distance views, he says, “Distance has a mysterious power, turning the mundane into the mystical. I intend that viewers of my paintings cast their eyes and imaginations as far as they can.” Russ’ work is held in private collections nationwide, and in such institutions as Colby College, Maine General Hospital, and Verrill Dana, LLP. His painting Indian Bar #3 is featured in the book Art of Penobscot Bay by Carl and David Little. Russ is represented by Portland Art Gallery.

Douglas Smith
Rockland, ME

Douglas Smith began painting at a young age. He studied at Lyme Academy of Fine Art and received the first John Stobart Fellowship in 1989. His work is varied both in subject matter and choice of mediums and he has travelled and painted on location in the United States, Europe, Canada, Russia, and Mexico. Smith has exhibited widely across the New England region and has work in many private collections.

Marianne Smith
Camden, ME
lordcamdeninn.com/mwsgallery

“Painting is a privilege to me. It enables me to be among the places that bring wonder, joy, and serenity to my life. The interplay of light and shadow and the rich use of colors are my strongest focus in my work. I am looking for a visual play between these elements to bring interest and life to my subject. Whether working in my studio or painting plein air, I have the opportunity to be continually inspired by the stunning beauty of our coastal area.”

Janet Sutherland
Ipswich, MA
janetsutherlandart.com

A graduate of the Cooper Union School of Art, Janet began her career illustrating for the Crown Publishing Group and Macmillan Publishers in NYC. A juried artist member of Oil Painters of America, Rockport Art Association & Museum, and the North Shore Arts Association, she has earned numerous awards as a landscape painter. Her work is represented by the Sidoti Gallery of Fine Arts, Rockport, Massachusetts and the Charles Fine Arts Gallery, Gloucester, Massachusetts, and is in the collections of both U.S. and European art buyers. She lives on the north shore of Massachusetts.

Greta Van Campen
Thomaston, ME
gretavancampen.com

“I’m an artist from midcoast Maine, known mostly for my hard edge, geometric landscape paintings. When I’m not at home in my Thomaston studio, you can find me exploring and gathering inspiration nearby.”

Michael Vermette
michaelevermette.com

Michael Vermette, a painter inspired by timelessness in change, uses expressive color, light, and bold, painterly technique to evoke emotional energy with a sense of place. His impasto oils and luminous watercolors, have won him multiple recognition, awards, residencies, and workshop opportunities in Maine, and New England. His recent awards in watercolor include, “The North Shore Art Association Award,”and “Brushes With Nature Merit Award” from the New England Watercolor Society where he is a signature Member. He is represented by Gleason Fine Art, Boothbay Harbor, Lupine Gallery on Monhegan Island, and Yarmouth Frame and Gallery in Yarmouth, Maine.

Russel Whitten
Ocean Park, ME
@whittenrussel

Russel Whitten studied painting at Maine College of Art, Heartwood College of Art and The Art Students League of New York. He is a member and showing artist with The Ogunquit Art Association, Barn Gallery, and Wright Gallery in Cape Porpoise. His experience includes scenic artistry in theater painting at The Ogunquit Playhouse, Hackmatack Playhouse in Berwick, Maine and Prescott Park, Portsmouth, New Hampshire. For over 20 years, Russel has been teaching watercolor painting and drawing in public schools and art institutions including Rivertree Arts in Kennebunk, Sanctuary Arts in Eliot, The University of New England and The Cambridge Center for Adult Education.

Peter Yesis
Searsport, ME
peteryesisart.com

Peter Yesis is an esteemed Maine artist who works both en plein air and from his home studio in Searsport, Maine. His land and seascapes have a soft, realistic touch, and have been purchased by artists and collectors across the world. Peter’s artwork has been juried into exhibitions by the International Guild of Realism, Salon International, Oil Painters of America, and the C.M Russell Auction and the American Impressionist Society. He is a member of Oil Painters of America (OPA). His work has been juried into OPA, AIS and International Guild of Realism national shows, and he has been selected to participate in numerous plein air events in the New England and Mid-Atlantic regions. He has judged several events and taught painting workshops. Peter has also been juried into and participated in art fundraising events such as the Hospice Volunteers of Waldo County Annual Art Show, the Cape Elizabeth Land Trust Paint for Preservation, the Acadia National Park Centennial Art Show in Mount Desert, the Mount Desert Island Artworks benefit, the Habitat for Humanity art auction in Belfast, and the Camden Public Library art auction.