Scott Kelley is an artist who enjoys telling stories. Kelley, who lives and works on Peaks Island, Maine, creates meticulously-detailed watercolor and gouache paintings of animals, birds, and other objects from nature. His work mixes fact with fiction, from woodland animals wearing Native American garb to portraits of children juxtaposed with 19th century whaling images. “I’ve always thought of my gallery exhibits as operas complete with a cast of characters from a libretto,” he says.

Kelley’s “characters” are the often unseen (or forgotten) objects that are emblematic of New England and the shoreline—beach stones, quahog shells, herons, fish. Born in Binghamton, New York, Kelley knew at age five that he wanted to be an artist. Although he was naturally drawn to the style of American realist painters such as Andrew Wyeth and Rockwell Kent, Kelley was schooled in minimalism at The Cooper Union in New York City (he also attended the Slade School of Fine Art in London and did post-graduate work at the Glassell School of Art, Museum of Fine Arts, in Houston). “Realism was frowned upon when I was in college in the 1980s,” he says, although he believes his minimalist training enables him to add multiple layers of meaning to his work. “I find that my paintings have meanings that aren’t apparent to viewers and I can still tell stories,” he says.

Living on Long Island in the early 1990s, Kelley was inspired by the natural world around him, on the beach and in the water. He created highly detailed, straightforward paintings of rocks and shells. One day, when he and his wife Gail were out sailing, he saw a pair of blue herons and was moved to paint them as well, generating a whole series of works about birds. In 2003, he was artist-in-residence for a month at the Palmer Station in Antarctica, painting penguins and local wildlife.

Diamond Beaver, Watercolor and gouache on paper, 55” x 48”

Concepts for Kelley’s works can take years to develop, shaped by his love of history and nature. Maine, in particular, strongly influences his work. “To me, Maine is a specific mindset,” Kelley says. “It’s a place with a number of personalities that are hard to attach to. It’s intriguing.” The state‘s personality is evident in his whaling series, which started as a group of paintings of whales and morphed into an eight-year project based on the history of American whaling. It includes scrimshaw of whales on reclaimed ivory (old piano keys) and portraits of Peaks Island children in period clothing or holding whaling artifacts.

Chaos Bear, Watercolor and gouache on paper, 22” x 30″

Kelley’s most recent work is Birch, a limited-edition children’s book adapted from a Wabanaki folk tale about a birch tree who protects the forest. The project was inspired by Kelley’s portraits of animals, depicted as Wabanaki tribal elders. “I wanted to create a story the animals in my studio could inhabit,” he says (the book will be released nationally as I Am Birch in spring 2018). “I love places where nature rubs up against modern-day civilization.” It’s a story that, true to Kelley’s inquisitive nature, he’s explored in-depth.

Scott Kelley’s art work is on view at Dowling Walsh Gallery, Sigrid Freundorfer Fine Art, W.M. Brady & Co., and John H. Surovek Gallery.

Scott Kelley, artist
Peaks Island, Maine
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Top image: “Whale,” watercolor and gouache on paper, 57” X 84”, by Scott Kelley. All images courtesy of Dowling Walsh Gallery.

The post Mixing Fact with Fiction appeared first on Take Magazine.

Not many professional musicians can say they got their start playing subway stations, but Dan Blakeslee has never been typical. His artistic journey started at his family’s farmhouse in South Berwick, Maine, where he unknowingly turned down his art instructor’s invitation to meet Andrew Wyeth and instead opting to ride his bike—a typical 7-year old there, at least. From a BFA at Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, to stints around Boston (where a friend urged him to play the subway in 1995), Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Newburyport, back to Somerville, and finally relocating to Providence this spring, Blakeslee has rambled across New England and beyond. Road life suits him: he averages 150-200 shows a year, including a performance at Newport Folk Festival in 2015.

About a decade prior, while drawing a tour poster art at a cafe in Burlington, Vermont, Blakeslee noticed someone peeking over his shoulder. That person was John Kimmich, owner of The Alchemist in Waterbury, who then asked Dan if he could do some artwork for the brewery. He was working on a new beer he thought might be something special.

Craft IPA lovers already know where this is headed: Blakeslee’s drawing of a man‘s head exploding with hops is on every label of Heady Topper, the legendary double/imperial IPA that scored 100 on www.beeradvocate.com, as well as its sister beer Focal Banger. But despite his iconic artwork in the beer world, Blakeslee has never had a drink in his life.

Instead, he gets his kicks from doing scratch board, silk screening, full color pencil drawing, and recently mural painting, as well as from natural wonders like the Grand Canyon, which he finally saw up close on a 70-day cross-country solo tour in 2016. “I was electrified, illuminated and floating,” he says. “Letting it sink into my soul was so important. There were thousands of people lining the banks, but no one was speaking. They were either speechless or whispering.”

Dan Blakeslee and the Calabash Club

Blakeslee has another outlet to blow off steam; in 7th grade, his older brother showed him punk rock music, which “took my soul,” he says, although his own songwriting is more folk-Americana. But each year around Halloween, Dan performs as Doctor Gasp, the fez-wearing, maniacal alter ego who sings spooky songs, jumps and kicks onstage, and throws candy corn at the audience. “It gets all that pent-up art kid energy out,” he laughs.

Blakeslee’s new album, The Alley Walker, debuts August 18th; it’s his seventh but the second with his band, the Calabash Club, recorded at 1130 ft studios in New Hampshire. In his lyrical, easygoing tenor, he sings true life stories: “the good, the bad, the weird, and everything in-between,” mixing in some rock elements and folk finger picking, fiddle, and pedal steel.

A friends-turned-family of musicians welcomed Blakeslee to Providence, and he loves being a New Englander: “We have it so good [here]. There’s interesting architecture, beautiful spots to visit, towns, nature, food, nightlife… It’s really amazing and diverse.” Although he could easily book an entire year of shows within a three-hour radius, Blakeslee makes sure to visit the far reaches and points, taking back roads whenever possible. “Even if it takes an extra hour or more,” he says, “just to get that beautiful country road in—it frees my soul.”

Want to know what’s on Blakeslee’s playlist? Check out our Take a Listen Spotify channel to see. While you’re there check out the other musicians we’ve featured, too.

Dan Blakeslee–musician/illustrator
Providence, Rhode Island
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Top image by Amanda M. Grosvenor

The post Rhode Island Ramblin’ Man Dan Blakeslee appeared first on Take Magazine.