Dec
03
The Trailing Yew by Ralph Bush
8×10, Oil
Art
Nov
05
Joanne S. Scott
My husband I moved to Chestertown in 1999. After his death in 2009,
I moved to Heron Point in the spring of 2010 from 2 blocks away.
I had lived in Princeton for 12 years and prior to that Annapolis for
30 years. I attended Rhode Island School of Design for 2 years in
1947, returned to study and graduate from Maryland Institute in 1982.
As an artist, I have taught painting since 1969 and have been President
of various art groups in Annapolis, Princeton and, Monhegan. ME and
was founder of Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts and of 1860 House,
Cultural Center in Princeton. As artist and poet, I have published a
dozen or so of my books and received awards for my work in these fields.
I have gone to Monhegan Maine every summer for 30 years and have
a gallery in my cottage. I have recently served for 4 years as the
President of Monhegan Associates, their Land Trust.
At Heron Point, I have been President of the Art Interest Group for
2 years and have taught art classes for the residents. I am also
currently Clerk (Minister) of the Chestertown River Friends Meeting.
I have four children, nine grandchildren and five great grands. I have
sailed and gardened with great joy and miss all that, and am delighted
to be here at Heron Point next to the water.
Oct
30
Thank you, Bradley!
About The Artist
Bradley Hendershot is primarily a painter of coastal Maine and rural Pennsylvania – regions that he knows well, regions that have special meaning to him. Many of Brad’s subjects can be found close to his home and studio in Upper Hanover Township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. “My Pennsylvania paintings depict the rural community and a way of life that is quickly fading into the past. Many of the timber and stone barns and mills, the houses and outbuildings, which are part of the Pennsylvania heritage, are rapidly disappearing. I’d like to feel, in a way, that I have preserved them in my paintings.”
“In Maine, I paint the rugged shoreline of the mid-coast region and Monhegan Island where I enjoy the smell of salt air and the feeling of sea spray. I’ve always loved the sea, probably a combination of things –the boats, the energy of the surf, the rocks, the storms and the romance of it all. I hope this comes across in my paintings of the weathered clapboard lobster shanties and the granite towers of the lighthouses.”
Brad has been drawing and painting most of his life. “My early inspiration and guidance came from my father, artist Ray Hendershot.”
Using a representational approach in his painting, most of Brad’s work has been in the water-media. “I find watercolor to be very challenging and rewarding, and I like the spontaneity and freshness of the medium.” If Brad gets particularly involved with the form and texture of a subject, he takes watercolor one step further, employing a drybrush technique.
Using drybrush, textures and details are built up by applying small strokes of the brush and very little water with the pigment. The drybrush work is built upon an initial watercolor wash that is usually quite fluid. The color, in spots, may be very dense and opaque, emphasizing the transparency of other areas. Most often, a combination of both wetbrush and drybrush techniques can be found in a single work. “I don’t stick to the traditional watercolor rules in my painting. I use a variety of techniques, doing what I feel is necessary to obtain the result I want in the finished work.” Brad begins each new concept by doing preliminary sketches of the subject. These studies may be done in pencil, pen and ink, or watercolor.
Brad paints with an intense devotion to realistic detail while at the same time artistic license is employed for the sake of composition and to evoke a certain feeling or mood in the viewer. Using his creativity in the overall planning of a work, Brad emphasizes the features and details that best capture and produce the desired effect or emotion. Brad feels that each new work presents an opportunity to develop and refine his techniques. Thus, Brad will continue to grow for as long as he continues to paint.
Bradley is currently represented in Pennsylvania by Travis Gallery near New Hope, by Chadds Ford Gallery in Chadds Ford, by Dutchland Galleries in Intercourse, and by Umbehauer’s Main Street Gallery in Pennsburg. He is represented in Maine by the Ocean House Gallery in Port Clyde and by Lupine Gallery on Monhegan Island. In July and August, the public is welcome to his open studio at the John Sterling Harbor House on Monhegan Island. He is represented in Delaware by Hardcastle Gallery in Centreville. Bradley is a signature artist member of the American Society of Marine Artists (ASMA), a signature professional artist of the International Society of Marine Painters (ISMP), a signature member of the Pennsylvania Watercolor Society (PWS), and a signature member of the Philadelphia Water Color Society (PWCS). His works appear in public and private collections including the corporate collections of MBNA, Bank of Delaware, Delaware Trust and the University of Delaware. Bradley’s paintings have been issued as open-edition reproductions by Bruce McGaw Graphics of New York, and as self-published limited-edition lithographs and giclees. The current publisher of his reproductions is Frames Plus, Inc., of Albany, NY.
Oct
29
Bait Barrel by Bradley Hendershot
Bait Barrel 2009
Drybrush, 18-1/2 x 29-1/4
signed upper left
“I was fascinated by the aging blue paint on the door and on the bait barrel. A crab basket sits ready by the stoop, while a single oar balances precariously as it holds the top section of the Dutch door from blowing closed. A horseshoe is hung above the door to assure good luck for the waterman.”- Bradley Hendershot
Oct
25
Brackett House by Bradley Hendershot
Brackett House 1998
Watercolour, 21-1/2 x 29-1/4 inches
signed lower right
“The painting is of the Ernest Brackett house, built in 1921 on Monhegan Island, Maine. It is located on the main road near the road to the wharf. Ernest and his wife Nellie lived in the house up until his death in 1939. After this, it was inhabited by Nellie and their son, Lorimer ‘Zimmie’ Brackett, who is best known for running the Island Spa during his entire adult life. When I’m on the Island, I walk past the house daily on my way into town or to get provisions. Today, the house blends into the fog-shrouded landscape.”- Bradley Hendershot
Oct
21
Study for Sunday Hat, I by Bradley Hendershot
study for Sunday Hat, I 2002
Watercolour, 14-1/2 x 10-3/4 inches
signed lower left
“I became intrigued by a straw hat, complete with purple ribbon, that I’d seen hanging on a post. The tree in this view is close up, confined–dark and foreboding. It’s as if the Sunday hat were left by an older woman. This is in direct contrast to the airiness and freedom of study for SUNDAY HAT, II.”- Bradley Hendershot
Oct
21
Study for Sunday Hat, II by Bradley Hendershot
study for Sunday Hat, II 2002
Watercolour, 14-1/2 x 10-3/4 inches
signed lower left
“I became intrigued by a straw hat, complete with purple ribbon, that I’d seen hanging on a post. The tree appears on the right side of this painting, but seen in the distance is a foggy Maine morning. In contrast to the dark and foreboding nature of study for SUNDAY HAT, I, this painting implies a certain airiness and freedom. It’s as if the Sunday hat were left by an younger woman or girl.”- Bradley Hendershot
Oct
20
Cliff Artist by Bradley Hendershot
Cliff Artist 2004
Acrylic on Panel, 18 x 24 inches
signed lower right
“Monhegan Island, Maine, has long been known for its artist colony. A visit to the Island on a summer day will find artists in abundance—in the village, at the lighthouse, and, as depicted here, on the rocks. The idea for this painting came about in the summer of 2003. I was walking out near the rocks when I happened upon an artist friend of mine, perched on a rock cliff and totally engrossed in sketching the sea. Numerous studies were done, and the finished painting was completed in the studio in summer of 2004. Anyone familiar with the Lobster Point area will immediately recognize this particular knoll. My artist friend is Victoria Nelson, but only a back view of her is shown in the painting, so her figure becomes representative of all the artists that have painted on the Island over the years.”- Bradley Hendershot
Oct
18
Tool House and Dory by Bradley Hendershot
Tool House and Dory 2007
Watercolour, 20 x 29-1/4 inches
signed lower left
“This watercolour was painted on location on Monhegan Island, Maine. I’ve attempted to capture the mid-morning light striking the side of the lightkeeper’s house on Lighthouse hill. I find endless satisfaction in painting the varied angular red rooflines of the lighthouse structures. The blue dory sits next to the tool house, where lobster buoys hang in the window. The open Atlantic Ocean is seen 160 feet below.”
– Bradley Hendershot
Oct
15
Divided by Bradley Hendershot
Divided 2012
Watercolour, 18-1/2 x 29-1/4 inches
signed lower right
“When I’m staying on the mainland in St. George, Maine, this is the first thing I see upon looking out my bedroom window in the morning.
The porch pillar cutting vertically through the American flag creates the namesake for the painting—’Divided’ as that’s where I see our country right now. Notice how the right side of the flag is larger than the left side, subtly stating my political affiliation; and there is more red showing, as the blue is reduced. The open attic window symbolizes ‘out with the old and in with the new’, a changing of politics in Washington. The flowers on the porch symbolize a re-birth, and the watering can is their nourishment. I just had to include the power meter on the right side of the painting, representing all of the power in Washington. The red, white, and blue theme of the flag is repeated in the items on the porch. I’ve also changed the colour of the roof to red, which, along with the white of the house and the blue of the sky further emphasize my patriotism.
My friend Robert Skoglund, ‘The humble Farmer’, who I rent from in Maine, used to own the property. He says, in a recent e-mail:
‘When I was 10 I used to deliver newspapers there. I can remember going down to that dooryard in the 40s and watching Ernest polish his motorcycle. I owned it for 20 plus years. I have seen it every time I have looked out of the window for over 40 years. I have seen paintings of it by Gary Akers and Barbara Ernst Prey and Jamie (Wyeth). I had Mac Daggett put on the power entrance. I stuffed insulation in the cellar window. I had Faustini fix the chimney. I rebuilt the porch and put on the storm windows. I caught the kid who kicked out the front door. I have laughed at the chair and the flag and the flower pot on the porch as blatant, obvious props to draw in artists and chided Gary Akers for being sucked in. I have looked at this house many tens of thousands of times over the past 65 years. So what is there not to recognize unless it is the trees to the left on the northern side (some artistic license by me, the artist)?’ ”
– Bradley Hendershot
Oct
13
Study for Painter’s Sea by Bradley Hendershot
Study for Painter’s Sea 2001
Watercolour, 20 x 29-1/2 inches
signed lower left
“One of my favorite locations on Monhegan Island is the area around Lobster Cove and Lobster Point, at the southern end of the Island. I make a point of walking to this area daily to watch the surf pounding the rocks. The painting is of Jamie Wyeth’s house, known as the Kent House, on Lobster Cove. The house was built in 1908 by artist Rockwell Kent for his mother, Sarah. As I painted, a strong cold wind stung my back and chilled me, and periodically I would have to climb down in between the rocks to get out of the wind for a while. Amazingly, the easel stood up to the wind and the painting was completed on location.”- Bradley Hendershot
Oct
12
Light Tower by Bradley Hendershot
Light Tower 2005
Drybrush, 28-1/4 x 21-1/4 inches
signed lower left “Bradley Hendershot / on Monhegan Island, Maine”
“This drybrush was painted on location on Monhegan Island, Maine, in August of 2005. The painting started out as a fairly loose watercolour, but I became involved with the texture of the granite blocks that make up the light tower. I believe that the granite came from the island of Vinalhaven. The forty-seven foot tall tower was built in 1850, and is the second light tower on this site, the first having been built in 1824. The beacon is 178 feet above sea level, making it the second highest in the state of Maine (Seguin is two feet higher at 180 feet). The light was automated in 1959. The brick “service room” was added onto the entrance to the lighthouse in 1892. The building just behind the dory is known as the tool house.”- Bradley Hendershot
Oct
09
Cistern House by Bradley Hendershot
Cistern House 2006
Watercolour, 19-3/4 x 29-1/4 inches
signed lower right
“John Sterling’s Cistern House, also known as Uncle Henry’s, was built on Monhegan Island around 1815. Originally known as the Cistern House, as it protected a water supply, it became known as Uncle Henry’s in the 1930’s when Henry Shaw used it as a place from which to sell his fresh produce and milk, which he brought to the Island once or twice a week. The building was gutted by fire in July of 1979, and was rebuilt with the chimney at the opposite end. This painting was done on location in August of 2006. Although the building is fairly accurately rendered, some artistic license was employed in the surrounding landscape in order to evoke the feeling of windswept Monhegan Island.”- Bradley Hendershot