"Creatures and Critters III: Equine and Avian Art" Opens June 1st at Richard Boyd Art Gallery

PORTLAND, Maine - April 2, 2013 - PRLog -- (Peaks Island, ME) While you will not hear the sound of stampeding horses or birds singing in the third annual "Creatures and Critters" exhibit at Richard Boyd Art Gallery opening June 1st at 10:00 AM you will see an exquisitely rendered offering of avian and equine art. The multi-media exhibit features a broad range of equine and avian art including sculptures, avian portraits, birds in flight, horse and rider, hunt scenes and works depicting carousel horses. Works by Kenneth Burns, Kimberleigh Martul-March, Petrea Noyes, Pam Cabanas, Katrina Majkut, Thomas Dowling, Gwen Sylvester, William Steele, Rick Boyd and Claudia Whitman are on view from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM daily through June 30, 2013. Artists reception Saturday June 1st from 12:00 noon to 2:00 PM.

After a 40+ year career as a building engineer Kenneth Burns has been getting a kick out of life while searching for who he is as an artist. Although Kenneth studied art at the Art Student's League of New York he considers himself mostly self taught creating his own signature style. Kenneth's avian portraits capture the fine details of his study in brilliant color. A gifted fine artist working in a variety of media Kenneth's work is exhibited nationally.

A native of Maine Kimberlaigh Martul-March has a BFA in Studio Art and English. Before graduating from the University of Maine Kimberleigh traveled across Europe to introduce herself to Old World Art. After college Kimberleigh made her way across the United States supporting herself through commission work and building houses until she found her way back to Maine where she currently lives. Martul-March is a fine and commercial artist who has a weakness for portraiture. Kimberleigh's avian portraits are stories waiting to be read. Each drawing is "comprised of a frenzy, a need to be born. Light, color and line struggle to convey a story, a moment and an expression. Whether they succeed is up to you."

For more than fifty years Petrea Noyes has created art with a focus on the figurative, usually in a landscape or enclosed space. Through the years Petrea's creative process has changed but her focus on the figurative remains constant. Her current body of work includes the use of newsprint, gesso, large-format inkjet printer and an assortment of acrylic gels and glazes to create figurative works in a thoroughly modern and captivating way. A trained fine artist Petrea's work is exhibited locally and nationally and is held in numerous corporate and public collections including the Federal Reserve Bank in Boston, Marriot Hotels in Hartford Connecticut and Colorado State University.

A native of Long Island, New York Pam Cabanas attended Alfred University where she studied ceramic art at the famed New York State College of Ceramics in the 1970's. While at Alfred Pam "broadened her ideas about art and her place as an artist" and graduated with a BFA in painting and printmaking. Shortly after graduating she moved to New Mexico where she received an MA from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. After owning and operating several businesses in New York Cabanas purchased a home in Maine. An educator, entrepreneur and established fine artist for more than forty years Pam is well known for her pastel portraits depicting gulls. Her inspiration comes from the islands, coves and ledges of her hometown in Friendship, ME.

Katrina Majkut is currently in her second year towards earning her Master of Fine Art degree at The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, USA. Katrina's current body of work titled "Ride" is a series of paintings depicting horses from one of America's beloved amusement park rides the carousel. Majkut's paintings seek to explain the psychological connection we have with this beloved amusement park ride from our childhood memories of the ride to the rides physical reality. Katrina holds a BS degree from Babson College in Wellesly, Massachusetts and a Post-Baccalaureate from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Katrina is a recipient of the Andrea Cilley Memorial Grant from the Brookline Commission for the Arts.

Thomas Dowling is an alumnus of the Maine College of Art, Portland, ME, with a BFA in illustration and a minor in drawing. Dowling's equine and avian sculptures are exquisitely executed and capture the essence of the subject in fine detail. Although Thomas focused on drawing and illustration for most of his college career, he discovered a love of sculpture prior to graduating in 2011 and has been sculpting ever since.

Gwen Sylvester is a trained fine artist with a BA in Studio Art from University of California, Davis. Although Gwen received a solid foundation in art beginning in her teen years while attending the Magnet School and the Museum School of Art programs in Fort Worth, Texas her style is intuitive and expressive. Sylvester's work is influenced by abstract perspectives and by the whimsical folk art renditions of wildlife and people by Texas painter David Bates. Gwen's method of painting and drawing constantly evolves as she seeks to express mode and story in her picture plane in fresh new ways.

An avid collector of art and a multi talented actor, director and professor of theater at the University of Southern Maine, ME William Stelle didn't begin painting until about seven years ago. "In a life filled with art, whether acting, directing plays or painting my canvas has from the very beginning been heavily influenced by my early years hauling lobster gear in Casco Bay..." When he is not directing a play or acting William can be found in his office at the University of Southern Maine, Gorham campus where he has been employed as a Professor of Theater for more than thirty five years. Steele has held governmental appointments to the Maine Arts Commission, the New England Foundation for the Arts and the Governor's Advisory Committee on Public Broadcasting.

A trained fine artist Claudia Whitman received her Bachelors in Fine Arts from Goucher College in Towson, Maryland, her Bachelors in Fine Arts in Painting from Portland School of Art in Portland, Maine and her Masters Degree in Art Education from New York University. Whitman studied with Vaclav Vytlacil, one of the forerunners of American modernism at the Art Students League while working on her Masters at NYU. Claudia also studied with Esteban Vicente at NYU who had a major influence on her work. Whitman is well known for her paintings and mixed media collage art which is exhibited nationally.

Richard Boyd Art Gallery is located at the corner of Island Avenue and Epps Street. The gallery exhibits original 20th and 21st century works of art. For additional information please contact curator Pamela Williamson by phone at 207-712-1097, via email at info@richardboydartgallery.com or visit www.richardboydartgallery.com or www.richardboydpottery.com.

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