PRESQUE ISLE – New oil paintings and pastels by Littleton artist Frank Sullivan are on display at the Mark & Emily Turner Memorial Library, located at 39 Second St. in Presque Isle, through Dec. 31.
Sullivan is a full-time artist with a bachelor of arts degree in visual arts from the College of the Holy Cross. He also studied printmaking at the American University on a graduate fellowship and later studied graphic design and illustration at the School of The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and figure drawing at the Worcester Art Museum.
After working as a graphic designer, illustrator, art director and art instructor in Massachusetts, he moved to Aroostook County in January 2006 to focus on his art full-time. He converted an old potato house on his property into a studio and gallery where he currently displays his work and teaches classes in drawing and painting throughout the year. He also teaches drawing and art appreciation classes at Northern Maine Community College and art classes and workshops at the Wintergreen Arts Center in Presque Isle.
He served for two-and-a-half years on the board of the Southern Aroostook Cultural Arts Project and currently serves on the board of the Houlton Star Bright Children’s Theatre. He has found the agricultural landscape of southern Aroostook County particularly inspirational to his work. He has won numerous awards for his artwork and his work hangs in private collections throughout the country.
The show features 26 recent paintings and pastel drawings inspired by the agricultural landscape of southern Aroostook County, particularly the Littleton and Monticello area. Although working from a landscape tradition, Sullivan’s work focuses on capturing qualities of light, weather conditions and times of day, utilizing bold colors and a painterly application of materials which emphasize the act of painting and the working properties of the artist’s materials, rather than descriptive details of the subjects.
His work can also be seen at Visions and The Courtyard Café, both in Houlton, the Eastport Gallery in Eastport, Morningstar Art & Framing in Presque Isle, and he currently has four paintings on display at the State Capitol in Augusta. His work can be viewed online at http://rainbarrowstudio.blogspot.com/. The exhibition will be on view at the Mark & Emily Turner Memorial Library during regular hours: Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 9 a.m.-7 p.m., Wednesday and Friday from 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Saturday from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
Photo courtesy of Frank Sullivan
THIS OIL PAINTING by Littleton artist Frank Sullivan, entitled “Of Mice and Men,” will be among the artist’s 26 recent paintings and pastel drawings inspired by the agricultural landscape of southern Aroostook County that will be on display through Dec. 31 at the Mark & Emily Turner Memorial Library in Presque Isle.
