GALLERY NEWS

November, 2009: Our busy, open-every-day part of the season has ended, and we thank everyone who has helped make the first ten months of 2009 so successful. We are now on to our next exciting projects. For the first time, we are taking part in the Boston International Fine Art Show, which will take place at the Cyclorama, 539 Tremont Street in Boston's South End, from Friday, November 13 through Sunday, November 15. For more information please contact us or see www.fineartboston.com. Everyone is invited to join us as we show off a selection of our newest paintings in a glamorous setting among other fine dealers.

In early December we will send out our usual small winter catalog to our most active and recent customers. Throughout the year we remain available for appointments in Bar Harbor, and will be keeping the web site up to date regularly. New work is added every few weeks, and will likely amount to at least 100 new paintings from September through December.

As announced in American Art Collector, we will be featuring work by Steven Hileman during November, and by Ronal Parlin from mid-December. T. M. Nicholas' August show was first-rate, and he has since made several spectacular additions to our inventory. We hope you'll enjoy viewing these and all our other fine artists' newest works.

August, 2009: The T. M. Nicholas show is shaping up to be a spectacular one. To finish up work, the artist has made two trips to Bar Harbor in the past three weeks. All of the exhibition paintings will be on the web site by the evening of August 7, the day before the opening. Several of the paintings in the American Art Collector preview article have already been sold, but have been replaced by equally striking ones.

For the past few weeks the gallery has been featuring Nancy J. Hill's work in a solo show in Argosy II. We are celebrating her move to Maine full-time. The exhibit features both her classical still-lifes, as well as her land- and sea-scapes from her new year-round home. While growing up in the Washington, D.C., area, Nancy spent childhood summers on Mt. Desert Island, so the show is called "An Artist Comes Home."

Looking forward, by the last weekend in August we will have gathered all the pieces for our first-ever figurative show. We're pleased that Alice McMahon White of Chicago will be a guest artist for that show. Recent winner of a Charles Saatchi Gallery (London) competition, she works in graphite on mylar film with her subject matter lovely ladies in contemplative moments.

Going back a bit, we'd like to report that the Galyn's show on Fathers Day during the Legacy of the Arts week was a huge success. Approximately 120 people attended the reception, and there was keen interest in voting for the "People's Choice" awards. Ronal Parlin's "Southwest Gold" came in first, and Steven Hileman's "A Walk in the Park" and "Spring Comes to Schoodic" came in second and third, respectively. There was a tie for fourth between Nancy J. Hill's "Grigio et Noir" and Mary Laury's "Gouldsboro Sheep". Four of the five paintings sold at the show or shortly thereafter, but all 24 paintings in the show were "winners" because all received prize votes, and all were individually chosen for the show by restaurant staff members.

June, 2009: Coming off a record first third of the year, the gallery is heading into its peak season with a program of exciting events. The biggest one for this year is T. M. Nicholas' Milestone Exhibition opening August 8 at the Bar Harbor Inn. The last weekend in August, a show of figurative work will be an intriguing departure from the gallery's usual landscape focus. Work by long-time gallery artists Steven Hileman, Nancy J. Hill, Kathleen Johnson, Ron Johnson and Carolyn Jundzilo, as well as guest artist Alice McMahon White of Chicago, will explore figures at work, at play and at rest. Also planned for the Columbus Day weekend is a reception for Jana Matusz of Boston, who has been chosen as one of this year's Acadia National Park Artists-in-Residence. This is the second year in a row that one of the gallery's artists has been so honored. Robert Hagberg of Minnesota, last year's recipient, is heading to Maine again this summer.

May, 2009: It is finally spring in Bar Harbor, and time to open the doors. The gallery at 110 Main Street will re-open for our 14th season on Saturday, May 16. The larger space at 6 Mount Desert Street will re-open a few weeks later. 2008 was a remarkable year for the gallery. Business held up at a strong enough pace that, even with a slower fourth quarter, we ended up with a record year. 2009 is already off to a great start, with an exceptional number of web-initiated transactions in the first quarter.

During the “off-season” Charlie and I hosted six “First Friday” shows in Portland, the final one on May 1. On June 21, we will be collaborating for the fifth time with Galyn’s in Bar Harbor to kick off the Legacy of the Arts week. This year’s event will emphasize work by resident Maine artists, largely chosen by the restaurant’s staff. August 8 will see the opening of a Milestone Exhibition for T. M. Nicholas at the Bar Harbor Inn, which will celebrate both his turning 45 and his more than quarter-century career. T. M. was already “on board” during the gallery’s planning stages in the winter before our 1996 opening. He has been a consistent and successful participant every year since then, and has garnered many honors during that time. This will be our seventh year hosting an opening in the Porcupine Room overlooking Frenchman’s Bay. Additionally this year we will have a July show and a fall show when many of our customers are likely to be in town.

Looking farther ahead, we are finalizing plans for the Acadia Invitational II, which will open in August 2010, also at the Bar Harbor Inn. This show will closely follow the format of the first and highly successful Invitational in 2006, only slightly expanded. Thirty nationally known artists are being invited to participate.

We look forward to seeing many friends, old and new, at both special events and every day during the upcoming season!

November, 2008: The fall/winter season is now successfully underway. Over the past six weeks we've brought the website up-to-date with more than a hundred new images, and several dozen more will be added before the year's end. Most gratifyingly, sales continue to take place via web-visits. Please know that phone calls are always forwarded to wherever we are at the moment, and it has been exciting to make sales even during our travels.

We restarted our Portland shows with one highlighting Robert Hagberg's recent stay as Artist-in-Residence in Acadia National Park earlier this fall. Our next reception there will be on Friday, Dec. 5, from 5-9 PM, at 142 High Street as usual. January we plan to skip as it follows immediately on the holidays, but the current plan is to have a festive Valentine's show in February, and others during most of the months through June. Looking way ahead, please plan to join us for a reception (and show) in honor of T. M. Nicholas on the evening of August 8 at the Bar Harbor Inn. Announcements of earlier summer shows will be posted in upcoming months.

Most immediately, the gallery will be open from 11 AM to 3 PM on the Saturdays of Nov. 15 and 22, and over the winter by appointment. We're also happy to bring paintings on request to the monthly shows in Portland. As our next update will be in the new year, we close this one with our heartfelt thanks for everyone's interest and support, and our best wishes for the holidays and beyond.

July, 2008: Our most elaborate show of the season, to be held once again at the Bar Harbor Inn, is coming up quickly. The 2008 Milestone Exhibition honorees are Scott Moore and Kathleen D. Johnson. With frequently overlapping audiences, these two artists have done exceptionally well in their careers and in our gallery over the past dozen years, so we are delighted to be celebrating their achievements with family members, friends (including their collectors) and interested newcomers. Their work will be exhibited in the Porcupine Room from 1-5 PM on Saturday, August 23, and from 9 AM to 3 PM on Sunday, August 24. Everyone is also welcome at the Saturday evening reception; please contact us by email or phone for an invitation or to RSVP, as we need an approximate head-count for the caterers.

On other fronts, the current season is proving to be tremendously exciting. We and our artists thank all of our supporters for what has been a record first half-year. At least three artists are close to personal best years already! The gallery schedule has been busy right from the start of the year. We held seven monthly shows in Portland on First Fridays from November through June; some of these were group shows, such as the well-attended “Working at Sea”, and others highlighted work by individual artists such as Ronal Parlin in April, Jana Matusz in May and Steven Hileman in June. These artists all also had their work featured for several weeks in the Bar Harbor galleries. We expect to resume the Portland First Fridays in November.

On Father’s Day, Galyn’s Restaurant and the Argosy Gallery jointly hosted a festive mini-show called “Acadia-Scapes”, which attracted well over 100 visitors and four artists. The People’s Choice voting was popular and a close call. First and second place among the exhibition pieces were Parlin’s “National Treasure” and Hileman’s “Down by the Docks” (which was purchased at the show by a California couple celebrating their 45th anniversary.) Within the Galyn’s permanent collection, Hileman’s “Sunlit Crossing” and Terry la Mar’s “Sunrise” drew top honors, respectively.

In late July and early August, Nancy J. Hill’s work will be highlighted, including a dozen new pieces added this spring and summer. Having just moved year-round to Maine, Nancy will include some eye-catching landscapes and genre scenes in addition to her long popular still-lifes. As in other years, we have the great pleasure to exhibit several Hill paintings coming directly from major juried shows, into which the artist gets accepted with admirable regularity.

Looking further ahead, we are planning a reception at Argosy II over the Columbus Day weekend to introduce Robert Hagberg. Hailing from Minnesota but with many national honors for Acadia paintings, Robert will be Artist-in-Residence in Acadia National Park for a month this fall.

To conclude this newsletter, we thank the many artists and customers who have already paid us welcome visits this year, and look forward to seeing many more over the coming months.

March, 2008: Just a few days from Spring there is still some snow on the ground in Bar Harbor, but we're definitely ready for the new season. More than three dozen paintings have been added to the inventory and website since January, and several have already been sold! Monthly shows in Portland, appointments in Bar Harbor, and many phone conversations have gotten business off to a fast start in 2008.

There are three more Portland "First Friday" shows before we take a summer "break" to concentrate on the Bar Harbor galleries. These shows are held from 5-9 PM in the "Boardroom" on the 6th floor of the Congress Building, entered at 142 High Street, Portland. The April 6 show will highlight Ronal Parlin's always striking and popular new work. May 2 will be a "works on paper" show featuring an exciting group of Jana Matusz's acrylics on museum board, which lend a very contemporary look to our collection. Also on exhibit will be a series of Bass Harbor Lighthouse paintings with views from every possible angle. For our June 6 show Steven Hileman will have the whole room to himself for a display of nearly two dozen oils; everyone continues to be impressed by our youngest artist's paintings and sales.

For our fourth annual collaborative effort with Galyn's Restaurant, we are planning an "Acadiascape" show and reception in mid-June. An added attraction will be Galyn's new look. While re-doing the upstairs main dining room, the owners have rearranged their entire art collection, added several new pieces, and installed gallery-style lighting to show everything to best advantage.

Our Bar Harbor Inn show over the weekend of August 23-24 will be a Milestone Exhibition for both Scott Moore (his second!) and Kathleen Johnson. These two Maine artists have both found a tremendous audience in Bar Harbor, and each will pass significant sales marks this year. Invitations to the reception will go out in early July; please contact us if you'd like one.

For this 2008 season, we hope to have lots of visitors for all of our special events, and for every day in between. The gallery will reopen on a daily schedule at Noon on Sunday, May 18. Appointments before then, or at non-scheduled hours, are always welcome.

November, 2007: We are now wrapping up the fall season and moving on to winter projects. The First Acadia Invitational Show, which officially ended Oct. 31, was a huge success, and artists and customers alike have already begun inquiring about the next one. Version II will open in August, 2010, but we will host a number of individual events before then. This past August's "Milestone Exhibition" for Ron Johnson was every bit as exciting, glamorous and productive as we have come to expect from the Bar Harbor Inn shows; Ron was particularly touched to be greeted in person by so many of his customers. Two smaller but also highly successful shows earlier in the season were for Steven Hileman and Ronal Parlin, both of which opened on First Friday Art Walk nights in Portland and then continued in Bar Harbor for a month. An exceptionally well-attended June reception at Galyn's Restaurant, which featured work by our own Maine artists selected by the Galyn's staff, and a lovely evening gathering over the Columbus Day weekend at Argosy II, nicely framed our twelfth, and highly successful, Bar Harbor season.

Looking ahead, we'd like to announce our 2008 Bar Harbor Inn show on August 23 and 24 of next year. This will be a joint "Milestone Exhibition" for Scott Moore and Kathleen D. Johnson, both of whom have found a tremendous, and often overlapping, audience at the Argosy Gallery for many years. The gala reception for this event will be held on the evening of August 23. Invitations to all of their collectors and other friends will go out 6-8 weeks beforehand, but please put the date into your calendars now and let us know if you'd also like an invitation.

Our first Portland "First Friday Art Walk" show since last June took place a few weeks ago, on Nov. 4, in our new "digs" there. While still in the same building (the Congress, or State Theatre, Building, with main entrance at 142 High Street, across from the Eastland Hotel), we have moved from our cozy third floor suite to a more spacious exhibition space in the sixth floor "Boardroom". Our next show there is slated for Dec. 7, is entitled "A First Look", and will showcase some of the gallery's most recent acquisitions. Refreshments and decorations will be ready for the doors to open at 5 PM, and we plan to stay until at least 9 PM. Due to prior committments (and the expected usual seasonal exhaustion) we will skip the January show, but will be back in Portland on Feb. 1 for most of the remaining winter and spring First Friday Art Walks.

August, 2007: The Argosy Gallery's biggest event of the 2007 season is a "Milestone Exhibition" for impressionist painter Ron Johnson, which is a celebration of the artist's career in the year he turns sixty.

A native of North Carolina, Mr. Johnson has lived in the midwest since his student days at the Art Academy of Cincinnati. Regularly painting on site, the artist particularly enjoys Italy, Greece, and the coast of Maine, an annual destination for over a decade. His loose brushwork and dappled light greatly appeal to admirers of French and early American impressionists, and his bright, lively colors bring his work solidly into the 21st century. Over the past twelve years Mr. Johnson's oils have found an enthusiastic audience among Mt. Desert Island's visitors and residents alike.

The paintings will be on display for everyone's enjoyment in the Porcupine Room of the Bar Harbor Inn on Saturday, August 18, from 1 to 5 PM, and on Sunday, August 19, from 9 AM to 3 PM. They will then move to the Argosy II location at 6 Mt. Desert St. through September. For an invitation to the reception on Saturday evening, please call the gallery at 288-9226.

Looking Ahead - Summer 2007: The original gallery at 110 Main Street will open for a twelfth season on Saturday, May 19, at 11 AM. The second space, Argosy II at 6 Mt. Desert Street, will open approximately two weeks later, on Sunday, June 3.

We are pleased to announce a solo show for Ronal Parlin opening in Portland on Friday, June 1, and continuing in Bar Harbor for the following two weeks. It has been three years since Ron's last solo show with the gallery, and he has spent months in the creation of a new and striking body of work. The show will start with an artist's reception at 142 High Street, Suite 330, from 5-8 PM, on June 1, during Portland's popular First Friday Art Walk series. From June 3-16, the show will continue at Argosy II in Bar Harbor.

After the Parlin opening, we will take a few months' break from the Portland shows to concentrate on the busy Bar Harbor season. We look forward to resuming participation in Portland's First Friday events in November at a new location on the 6th floor of 142 High Street. Hope to see you there on Nov. 2, and in Bar Harbor from now through October.

During the annual Legacy of the Arts week, we will co-host our third collaborative effort with an exhibition at Galyn's Restaurant, 17 Main Street, Bar Harbor, on Sunday, June 17. The show will feature paintings by our 8 artists with homes in Maine. There will be a reception from 3-6 PM, complete with door prize and a People's Choice vote and award. The paintings will remain on display until 8 PM, and can be seen thereafter at the galleries.

This summer's Milestone Exhibition will be in honor of Ron Johnson, a tremendously popular American impressionist who turns 60 this year. The show will open for two days, August 18 and 19, at the Bar Harbor Inn, and will continue for the rest of the season at Argosy II. Please contact the gallery for an invitation to the gala reception to be held on the evening of Saturday, August 18.

March, 2007, Upcoming First Friday Art Walk Shows in Portland, ME: Our April 6 opening, 5 to 8 PM at 142 High Street, Portland, will showcase the work of two particularly popular Maine-based artists. Native Kathleen D. Johnson, starting her 12th season with the gallery, offers her most recent series of striking boats in deep blue waters and Maine fishermen full of life and character. Kathleen was honored last year as a "Leading Lady" in American painting by the magazine "American Art Collector." Steven Hileman, our youngest artist, has adopted his wife's home state of Maine in which to base his career. Over the winter, he has rebuilt the gallery's inventory of Maine work, from pure landscapes to harbors to Bar Harbor street scenes, in preparation for his 4th season with us (the first three were near sell-outs.) His paintings display a finely detailed brushstroke and rich color.

Then, in Portland on May 4, 5 - 8 PM, the gallery will have the rare treat of hosting the opening of a 2-man exhibition for father and son, Tom and T. M. Nicholas. Over the past months these artists have given us some of their newest paintings from coastal Maine and the Cape Ann area of Massachusetts. Some were done during shared painting trips, opportunities the artists do not often have but much enjoy. Both artists have earned the highest regard in the traditional art world. This particular show will be featured in the May issue of "American Art Collector", which article closely follows on the heels of another in the winter issue of "American Artist Workshop."

December, 2006, Upcoming First Friday Art Walk Shows in Portland, ME: The First Friday show on January 5, 2007, will be titled "New England Winter, Mediterranean Summer", and will feature works by Ron Johnson and other gallery artists. We're skipping February, and on March 2 will present "Artists New to the Gallery", which will include work by Rudy Colao, Kathleen Dunphy, Josh Elliott, Jennifer Holmes and Shawn Sullivan. Please join us from 5-8 PM at 142 High Street (Suite 330), Portland, and call or write ahead if you'd like us to bring any specific paintings from the website catalog. Happy holidays to all!

November, 2006, News: The wonderful summer season has finally reached its end, and the gallery will continue its operations for the next six months in winter mode - receiving new paintings and adding them to the website regularly, being available as always by phone, email and appointment in person at either Bar Harbor location, and doing a number of shows. The first of these will be at 142 High Street, Portland, ME, on Friday, 11/3, as part of Portland's very successful First Friday gallery art walks. The title of this show is "Fall Favorites - A seasonal collection of works by the gallery's artists." A month later, on 12/1, the Portland show will be "Holiday Gift-Giving Show - A diverse collection of affordably priced original artworks for holiday gift-giving." Please join us for what is always a well-attended and fun time, and call ahead if you would like us to bring any specific painting(s) from Bar Harbor to see in person in Portland!

August, 2006, News: Everyone is eager to hear about the Acadia Invitational show, now that its reception has taken place. It was splendid, an unqualified success, and we thank everyone who came for the weekend, as well as the many friends who wished us well long-distance. Twenty artists joined friends, customers, and family members at Saturday's evening reception. The weather was perfect, the paintings magnificent, and the attendance stunning (almost 200 at the reception alone, and well over 1,000 during the month of August either in person or via the internet!)

Many thanks go to the three judges who, after several hours of thoughtful deliberation, awarded the following prizes: Acadia Prize - Kathleen Dunphy's "Into the Mystic"; Frenchman's Bay Award - T. M. Nicholas' "Early Summer, Acadia"; three Judge's Choice Awards - Charles Movalli's "Shadows", David Curtis' "Time Beyond", and Ronal Parlin's "Sailor's Cathedral"; and the Small Painting Award - Josh Elliott's "Acadia Fog." The People's Choice Award went to Ronal Parlin's "Sailor's Cathedral."

The exhibition is ongoing in Bar Harbor and on the web through October.

July, 2006, News: The eyes of the art world will be on Maine this summer. The first Acadia Invitational Exhibition, sponsored by the Argosy Gallery, will open in Bar Harbor, Maine, on August 5, 2006. In one of Maine’s largest-ever shows for traditional painters, twenty-four nationally renowned artists from across the country will present work inspired by trips to Mount Desert Island in the year preceding the show.

This exceptional gathering of artists will include Maine artists Kathleen D. Johnson, Scott Moore, Ronal Parlin, Stefan Pastuhov and Anthony Watkins. Eight of the most senior Cape Ann painters from the famed Rockport and Gloucester, Massachusetts, art colonies will join their northern colleagues. Western stars, from California, Nevada and Montana, have also ventured east, some for the first time, to capture Maine’s light and legendary landscape.

Attracting attention usually reserved for shows in New York or Santa Fe, the exhibition has been previewed in “American Art Collector”, published by International Artist out of Scottsdale, Arizona. Everyone is invited to the opening display of the paintings in the Porcupine Room of the Bar Harbor Inn on Saturday, August 5, 1 - 5 PM, and Sunday, August 6, 9 AM – 7 PM. Saturday evening the Argosy Gallery will host an awards ceremony and reception for patrons and friends. Please contact the gallery for an invitation to the evening event. After the weekend opening, the show will move to the gallery’s new exhibition space at 6 Mount Desert Street, Bar Harbor, for the remainder of the season.

For more information please call Amy Sidman at the Argosy Gallery (207-288-9226) or visit on the internet at www.argosygallery.com.

June, 2006, News: Originally planned for the November through May slower season, the Argosy Gallery’s Portland shows have been so eagerly anticipated and well attended that we have added June 2, July 7 and September 1 to the schedule. Our reception and “First Friday” of the month exhibitions are held 5-8 PM at 142 High Street, Suite 330, in the Congress Building diagonally across from the Portland Museum of Art.

As part of the Legacy of the Arts Festival, Galyn’s Restaurant at 17 Main Street, Bar Harbor, is generously hosting a small exhibition of Argosy Gallery paintings on Tuesday, June 20. Everyone is invited to the show and reception to be held 3-6 PM in the (upstairs) deck room.

Looking Ahead - Summer 2006: For those making summer plans already, we'd like to announce several dates and special events.

First, our season re-opening is set for Saturday, May 20, at 11 AM. Until then, we're happy to show paintings by appointment in Bar Harbor or Portland.

On Saturday, June 24, we plan a festive reception for the show "Still-life and Beyond", which will mark the opening of a second Argosy space in Bar Harbor (at 6 Mt. Desert Street.) This exhibition will feature the work of Nancy J. Hill, Jane Puerini, Carolyn Jundzilo and Pam Ingalls. We look forward to the company of several of the artists that day.

The gallery downstairs at 110 Main Street will stay just as you remember it, same great artists and many great new paintings. The new space will be used primarily for special exhibitions.

Then, In August, we will be hosting our largest show ever, the first "Acadia Invitational." Twenty-four distinguished landscape painters will exhibit up to three paintings each in a show that will open on Saturday, August 5, at the Bar Harbor Inn. Please contact the gallery for an invitation to the evening reception. After two days at the Inn, the paintings will be relocated as a group to 6 Mt. Desert Street where they will be available for purchase throughout the season. It should be a spectacular display, so please enjoy it with us!

Winter and Spring 2006 First Fridays in Portland: The Portland "First Friday" gatherings have been lively and fun. Many newcomers to the gallery have been introduced to our artists and their work, and greeting old friends is always a treat. As an added bonus the Portland Art Museum is open and free Friday nights until 9 PM.

On March 3 we will welcome Stapleton Kearns, T. M. Nicholas and Stefan Pastuhov at a reception from 5-8 PM for their exhibition "Three Painters, Three Friends." This show is being previewed in the March issue of "American Art Collector."

On April 7 we'll feature the work and introduce Steven Hileman, the young Maine artist who has gained many fans over the past two years.

And in celebration of spring, the May 5 show will highlight "Works on Paper." Popular downeast artist and art instructor Mary Laury plans to join us that evening.

Satellite Gallery in Portland, Maine, and Scott Moore and Kathleen Johnson Celebrations: We are excited to announce a new initiative of the Argosy Gallery, a part-time satellite location in Portland, Maine. Starting November 4, 2005, we will be open and participating in Portland's "First Friday" of the month gallery walks (5 - 8 PM), in our location at 142 High Street, Suite 330. We're on the third floor of the big Congress Building diagonally across from the Portland Art Museum, which has free admission on these evenings.

For our November 4 opening, we will show selected new paintings and some favorites by a dozen of the gallery's artists. On December 2, we will host a reception for Scott Moore, with a display of his latest work. On January 6, we will do the same for Kathleen Johnson. We also invite our customers to request paintings from the website that they would like to see in person in Portland over the winter. Please join us often.

We also haven't closed up shop in Bar Harbor for the season. After October 29, the gallery will be open from 11 AM to 4 PM on Saturday, November 19, Friday, November 25, and Saturday, November 26. Appointments over the winter are always welcome. (Finally, ask us about our dance event in Southwest Harbor on Sunday, November 20.)

October, 2005, News: Despite torrential rains on October 9th, the gallery's 10th anniversary celebration at Galyn's Restaurant was a delightful occasion - spirits were anything but dampened. Around thirty-five hardy souls, including five artists and a few truly dedicated campers, braved the elements to enjoy good food, good company and good art, and the challenge of choosing a favorite small painting. The results were close - nearly every painting got at least one first place vote. The winner of the Patron's Choice Award was Steve Hileman's "Long Pond Sketch." Stapleton Kearns' "Lupines on Beech Hill Road" and T. M. Nicholas' "Boats at Rest, Rockport" tied for second, while Scott Moore's "The Brick House" was a close third. Artists Moore, Laury and Hill were rewarded with sales at the event. Many, many thanks to everyone who came, and to all of you who contributed with your support to our reaching this milestone.

September, 2005, News: The Tom Nicholas reception last month was everything we could have hoped for - magnificant paintings, wonderful guests, perfect weather, and a gracious guest of honor. Thank you to everyone who attended and helped make it a lovely evening.

During October we will again be highlighting Tom's work. Center stage will be the painting "Daybreak, Christmas Cove, Maine", which won first prize in the 2004 North Shore Arts Association Show and is currently featured in an article on Tom in the premier (October) issue of "American Art Collector."

If you will be visiting Bar Harbor over the Columbus Day weekend, please join us at the gallery's 10th anniversary celebration at Galyn's Restaurant on Sunday afternoon, October 9th, from 3 to 5 PM.

Tom Nicholas Celebration, August, 2005: The year 2005 brings several special reasons to celebrate. In happy coincidence, we will be both marking the gallery's 10th anniversary and honoring Tom Nicholas, N. A., our most distinguished artist, during his 70th birthday year. Tom has been a professional artist for 50+ years, and was one of the youngest artists ever elected to the prestigious National Academy of Design. We will hold a special exhibition of Tom's work on August 19 and 20 in the Porcupine Room of the Bar Harbor Inn. On Friday evening, the 19th, there will be a gala reception at the Inn for customers, friends and family. Since we are somewhat limited by space and need a guest count for the caterer, the reception will be by invitation only. However, all of our collectors are warmly welcomed, so please let us know of your interest in attending. We hope to see many of you on this occasion as well as other times during this milestone season.

Pam Ingalls Show, June, 2005: We are delighted to present to our gallery audience a new artist, Pam Ingalls of Washington state. Pam first studied under her father, continued at the Academia Delle Belle Arte in Florence, Italy, and graduated from Gonzaga University. Instrumental in the development of her personal style was a three year apprenticeship with Ron Lukas, who in turn had worked with Sergei Bongart, a Russian impressionist. In color and brushstroke Pam's work shows that dual influence. Rose and red tones warm her paintings, and she delights in light on everyday objects and in the nooks and crannies of cozy rooms. Her subject matter and style add a lively new dimension to our collection.

For a dozen years Pam's paintings have excited collectors on the west coast and in the southwest. She has exhibited in over 125 national and international juried shows, where she has won over 60 prizes. We are honored to host this artist's first solo show in the northeast.

Twenty of Pam Ingalls' paintings, inspired by her October, 2004, visit to Bar Harbor, were presented as a group in a two week exhibition starting June 19, 2005, coincident with the town's Legacy of the Arts Festival. The paintings were offered for sale prior to and during the exhibition, and remain available for the rest of the season. We are confident that Pam will visit again and become a regular contributor.

T. M. Nicholas Celebration - Review, September, 2004: The T. M. Nicholas show was splendid, a great success in every respect. The reception was festive with friends, family and customers from five of the New England states and as far away as Wales. The Inn once again did a wonderful catering job, and the weather was warm and clear enough for everyone to enjoy the balcony view over the harbor and bay. Sales were so steady before, during and after the reception that it turned out to be the artist's best show ever. We are pleased, but not surprised, that this happened in Bar Harbor, as we have an unusually loyal, knowledgeable and enthusiastic circle of gallery friends. We thank every one of you!

T. M. Nicholas Celebration - August, 2004: This year's grand event will be our 2004 Milestone Exhibition in honor of T. M. Nicholas' career achievements as he turns 40. A show of Mr. Nicholas' newest work will be open to the public at the Bar Harbor Inn's Porcupine Room on August 20 and 21, 2004 (and thereafter at the gallery.) All Argosy Gallery customers and friends are very welcome at Friday evening's private reception. (Paintings in the exhibition are being posted on the gallery website as received, are identified with "(M. E.)" in the title, may be purchased at any time, but must remain with the gallery through the end of the exhibition.) Exhibition hours are 1 - 5 PM on Friday and 9 AM - 3 PM on Saturday. Please contact us for an invitation.

Ronal Parlin Exhibition - June, 2004: Our special exhibition for Maine artist Ronal Parlin during Bar Harbor's Legacy of the Arts Festival was an unqualified success. Paintings sold within hours of hanging and friends, local and out-of-state, joined us for a lively reception. Ron enjoyed meeting a number of his collectors and they, in turn, were pleased to meet him as well as each other. One gentleman remarked that he was surprised to find that others felt as deeply as he about their paintings, almost as though each work had been painted with the specific owner in mind. Some paintings left town, while others stayed on Mt. Desert Island. Ron turned fifty this spring, and we thought this a fitting year for a mid-career celebration. Parlin paintings have met with an appreciative and enthusiastic reception right from the start of his career at twenty after graduation from art school in Boston. We look forward to the next thirty years!

In Memoriam - January, 2004: It is with great sadness that we note the death of Jane Stevenson Zint on December 27, 2003, only a few months after that of her husband Jerry. Jane was a personal friend, a professional colleague and a wonderful painter.

I first met Jane in December, 1995, at an exhibit at the Cincinnati Art Club. Her paintings were eye-catching and her manner enthusiastic and engaging. Within a few hours of our meeting I offered, and she accepted, a spot on the roster for our soon-to-open gallery. She was the first of our artists to sign on.

Although Jane left us much too soon, she had started painting professionally and successfully in her twenties and consequently left a significant body of work. She also shared her skills through private instruction and collaborations with North Lights Publishing. Paintings were eagerly collected by her local patrons in the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky area and by dozens of admirers from New York to California. She specialized in softly focused pastoral and garden scenes which particularly appealed to devotees of early French and American impressionists. In several collections her work was hung side by side with the French masters. Jane's paintings so successfully captured certain moments in time and place that viewers could imagine themselves in lovely valleys, along gentle streams, in fields of wildflowers or under trellised roses. In several instances she chronicled rural areas that were subsequently developed. Despite failing health, she delighted in two painting trips to coastal Maine in recent years. She rose early to capture the first light on Stonington harbor.

Friends and family will miss Jane greatly; her upbeat spirit was infectious. Fortunately, her lovely paintings will be a long-lasting legacy. It was an honor to know her and to represent her.

Update - November, 2003: Our Scott Moore celebration held over the Columbus Day weekend was a busy and joyous occasion. With thirty marvelous paintings on display, a balcony view over the harbor off the exhibition room, and a full moon over Frenchman's Bay in the evening, the setting was elegant. More than one hundred people visited the exhibition and close to sixty attended the private reception. One visitor, a museum trustee, graciously noted that she had never attended an art event where such warmth and genuine enthusiasm were shown by all participants. Sincere thanks to everyone who attended and to all the customers who sent notes and photographs for the retrospective montage, a display that was enjoyed by all.

Scott Moore Celebration - October, 2003: To celebrate the first quarter century of Scott Moore's career, the Argosy Gallery is hosting a special exhibition of his paintings in the Porcupine Room of the Bar Harbor Inn. With hundreds of paintings in corporate offices and over a thousand in private collections across more than 30 states, coast to coast, the artist has a wide and appreciative audience of all ages. Critics have also tracked his work approvingly for more than a decade. In the words of Carl Little, "Moore has given heart and soul to the Maine landscape. His carefully constructed canvases reflect a profound passion for the elemental wonder of this magnificent state." Everyone is welcome at the exhibit, which will take place on Saturday, October 11, from 11 AM to 5 PM, and on Sunday, October 12, from 9 AM to 3 PM. There will also be a private reception Saturday evening for the gallery's collectors. New works will be added to the web site before the show opens, and special pricing will be available, on-site and for telephone or email orders, during the hours of the show. For more information please call 207-288-9226.