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IMAGE: Nasturtiums and Pansies, by Barbara Rule Traficonte (Submitted image)
NORWAY – The Western Maine Art Group has exhibitions and events planned at two galleries in the coming weeks.
A retrospective exhibit by Barbara Rule Traficonte will open Friday, July 8, at Matolcsy Art Center, 480 Main St. The theme is “Life Inspired.” Main Street Gallery, 426 Main St., will feature Sandra Pealer as artist of the month in July.
Receptions for both will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. July 8 at the galleries at which the exhibitions are being held.
Traficonte’s exhibition will be on view from 11 a.m.to 3 p.m. daily at Matolcsy from July 9 to 23. Pealer’s works will be featured at Main Street Gallery from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday to Friday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.
She and her husband, Arthur and their young family moved to Norway in 1972. Traficonte attended continuing education classes at Maine College of Art in Portland and also mentored with pastelist Albert Handel for two years and took classes from other fine pastel and oil painters throughout the United States. She also taught oil and pastel painting to adults. She has been involved in the Western Maine Art Group in Norway since the mid- 1970s and was one of the founders of the Main Street Gallery.
In 1985 Barbara and her husband, Arthur, opened the 100 Aker Wood Frame Shop and Art Supply Store in Norway, and 1988, she passed the Professional Picture Framers Association exam. The shop was the first inf Maine to have PPFA status. Their youngest son now owns the 100 Aker Wood store and
Arthur makes all of the frames for her paintings.
Pealer paints from her studio in South Paris. She has been painting scenes since 2001, when she first stayed on Monhegan Island, where she returned frequently to paint. She says that Maine is a tremendous inspiration, providing light and subject matter for landscapes and still life, particularly flowers and outcroppings of rocks. She enjoys including figures in her work and will feature all of the above in her July exhibition.
Pealer has painted from home studios in Maine, Vermont, Lake Placid, New York, and West Virginia for more than 49 years. She loves the way that watercolor depicts light, shadow and mystery. She has earned signature status in the Philadelphia, West Virginia, North East and Vermont Watercolor Societies, and is a sustaining member of the American and National Watercolor Societies.
Her work was featured in Watercolor Artist magazine as “One of the Best Watermedia Paintings of 2020,” showcased in the February 2021 issue with the painting “Artist at Rest” from WVWS Aqueous Exhibition Best of Show category, and also featured in Watercolor Magazine as “One of the Top 26 Watermedia Paintings of 2016 “ showcased in the February 2017 issue with the painting “Landline” from WVWS Aqueous Exhibition Best of Show category.
