Meanderings of a Maine Artist... sculptor Cynthia Smith

Saltwater Artists Gallery ... Open for the 2025 Season

5/23/2025

I've transported my artwork to our gallery in New Harbor and arranged my display area. I alway try to bring a variety of pieces, both in-the-round and in relief, in different mediums ... bronze, stone, wood, plaster and mixed media.
The start of the 2025 season at Saltwater is finally here. We've had our pre-season clean-up day and member meeting, and all of our gallery members have set up their display areas. Saltwater's membership creates artwork done utilizing a broad spectrum of mediums and techniques including oil, acrylic, watercolor, and encaustic painting, mosaics, fiber arts, photography, sculpture, glass art and stained glass, woodturning, and jewelry.
The gallery will be open Friday to Monday (10am-5pm) from May 23rd through June 9th,

and then, starting June 13th we will be open 7 days a week until the end of the season on Friday, October 17th. Saltwater has undergone some major transformations over the off-season that we hope will give our visitors an enhanced viewing experience. We have also added a number of special events to in addition to our annual Plein Air Day on Pemaquid Point. For more event information go to www.saltwaterartists.com and check out our "2025 Calendar" section. Hope to see you!

My display area set-up for the 2025 season

0 Comments

Relief in Wood ... "What the Moon Said"

5/15/2025

0 Comments

I finished up another relief that I will be hanging for the upcoming show season at Saltwater Artists Gallery. As I prowled through a myriad of long neglected boxes and containers of "mystery contents" in an effort to free up some needed room in my studio work space I came across a raised wooden disc that I carved (as a "moon face") in preparation for a bronze sandcasting class a number of years ago. That discovery brought to mind an interesting piece of wood that I also had put aside "for a rainy day". It was comprised of a series 8 narrow strips of wood that had been glued together to form one plank, with two strips of yellowheart flanking 6 strips of padauk.

Shaped pine disc

Yellowheart & Padauk wood backboard

Arrangement with wooden door pulls

I began by playing with possible placements of the "moon face", settling on having it at the top of the plank with left and right edges hanging about 3/4" over the edges of the plank and the top curve just barely over the top edge of the plank. In the space below the moon I then made an arrangement of 3 wooden door pulls in an arc. Before doing finishwork on each individual parts, I made narrow strip of padauk that I could put across the back of the plank to give me more depth to add eyelet hangers as the plank itself was only about 1/4" thick. I also made a smaller piece of pad auk to put at the lower part of the back of the flank to make sure the piece would hang evenly.
After sanding all of the parts and coating them with liquid butchers wax (my new favorite finish!), I proceeded to assemble the piece.The final piece measures 8 1/2" in width, 12 3/4" tall, and 2" deep. I titled this piece "What the Moon Said"...interpretations, as always, are up to the viewer!

Back side

"What the Moon Said" - front side

0 Comments

New Relief Artwork ... Saltwater Artists Gallery '25

5/1/2025

0 Comments

I have been busy finishing off several relief pieces that I will be showing at Saltwater Artists Gallery in New Harbor this summer. One of them is a wood relief that I began quite some time ago and never got around to finishing. I needed to do some clean-up of details and sanding of the surfaces. After sealing the piece with Butcher's Wax, I added a frame with walnut strips. Pleased with the outcome.
I also completed 2 additional plaster reliefs using the same casting technique that I have used in the past. One is the smaller size that I put in a 10" x 10" frame and the other is larger and is in a 9" x 13" frame. If you are interested in the plaster relief process that I used to create

"Stalwart Friend" wood relief 11 3/4" x 12 3/4" x 1 3/4"

these pieces you can read about it in several of my past blog posts - 8/10/15, 8/26/16, and 8/25/20. It has been an interesting challenge over the years to create new compositions in a relatively small space - varying the number and positioning of the fish as well as the addition (or not) of the vegetation. But then - I have always enjoyed a challenge!

"Wandering in Certitude"

"Shoal Searchers"

0 Comments

Saltwater Artists Gallery ... Open for the 2025 Season

Relief in Wood ... "What the Moon Said"

New Relief Artwork ... Saltwater Artists Gallery '25

Author

Archives