Artists Applegate, Dolan join Pemaquid Gallery of Art

PHOTO: Evening Tide, by Barbara Applegate

BRISTOL — Barbara Applegate and Dianne Dolan are two members of the Pemaquid Gallery of Art in Lighthouse Park who interpret landscapes in a grand, almost visionary style. They join 30 other area artists in the Pemaquid Group of exhibiting artists for 2022.
Both Applegate and Dolan depict subjects in closely observed, richly colored, precisely arranged compositions, but in styles mark-edly different from each other.
Applegate is known for her charming, romantic, almost Victorian landscapes and still life with deep shadows and old-master richness. The play of light has been critical in her work, with flickering shadows and richly illuminated atmosphere. Recently, however, she has radically altered her style, presenting acrylic landscapes of dra-matic, more abstract, birds-eye ocean views, using extenuated, angular, hard-edged shapes in striking simple color combinations of strong yellows, oranges, blues and purples. Her viewers may well wonder where this style will lead her next. Her website is www.barbaraapplegete.com

Dolan’s oil paintings are both grand and intimate, deeply thoughtful and serious, based on her desire to “inspire the viewers to reconsider the world around them, so they may find the beauty that exists in ordinary surroundings and everyday objects.” She paints both plein air and in the studio, with the small plein air impressions inspiring her visionary studio creations, grand and uplifting landscapes and richly colored, often stark buildings, and arranged objects. She is also a book artist, working her painting skills into a 3-dimensional form. Her website is www.diannedolan.com.
Both are art school graduates and have painted and taught art for much of their careers. Applegate was able to focus full time on painting in 1998 and, shortly after opening her own studio, began taking in students. Dolan was a professional art educator, while at the same time, pursued her own art. Applegate’s earliest art training and painting experience were in Pennsylvania, first in the Bucks County area and eventually in the Brandywine Valley, influenced by the great painters of those art centers. She relocated to Maine in 1996 and maintains her studio/gallery in Bristol. Dolan was trained at the Maryland Art Institute and Hartford Art School and earned a masters n art eduction from Central Connecticut State University. She divides her time between Massachusetts and Round Pond. Both artists have exhibited widely locally and nationally and have received many awards.
The other 2022 exhibiting Pemaquid Group of Artists members are Debra Arter, Bruce Babb, Julie Babb, Stephen Busch, John Butke, Gwendolyn Evans, Peggy Farrell, Sarah Fisher, Claire Hancock, Kay Sawyer Hannah, Kathleen Horst, Hannah Ineson, Will Kefauver, Jan Kilburn, Barbara Klein, Patti Leavitt, Sally Loughridge, Judy Nixon, Alexandra Perry-Weiss, Belva Ann Prycel, Paul Sherman, Marnie Sinclair, Gary Smith, Cindy Spencer, Liliana Thelander, Kim Skillen Traina, Barbara Vanderbilt, Bob Vaughan, Candace Vlcek and Sherrie York.