A 2023 Recap
What a gift it is to be writing my third year in review post on The Willard Gallery’s Journal!
2023 was a full year here in South Portland for our petite cottage gallery. We welcomed two new artists to our roster this year (Donna Bruni & Esther Garcia Eder) and were grateful to have our artists’ work featured on the pages of local publications: Decor Maine, Maine Home + Design, and Down East Magazine. We were fortunate to place 135 paintings in homes all the way from London to California this year. I made six different artist studio visits that took me to two islands in Maine I’d never visited before - Vinalhaven and Islesboro. I also made a handful of trips down to Boston for studio visits and one longer journey to the lovely town of Lambertville, New Jersey. We hosted two summertime Gallery Open House events and one fall brunch in November.
It is a joy to be immersed in the world of our artists’ work and have the chance to share their gifts with those who are just as enthralled with their talents as I am. An enormous thank you to all who have visited the gallery, continue to follow along, and support our artists’ work - I am forever grateful.
Scroll down for some highlights from a very beautiful 2023 year at the gallery. For a further walk down memory lane, visit our 2022 recap + 2021 recap posts.
A snowy winter 2023 morning with the gallery dog, Thatcher.
An exciting press mention in Maine Home + Design for our dear friend, Samantha S. Pappas, that featured a trio of paintings from gallery artist, Stephen Dinsmore.
I enjoyed a winter visit to John Vinton’s Waltham studio. Read more of his Q&A here.
I made a spring road trip down to Lambertville, NJ to visit Elizabeth Endres in her studio. See more from my time there at this link.
Another spring studio visit was spent with artist, Ellen Rolli, at her Melrose studio and storefront. Read more from Ellen and see glimpses of her delightful space here.
My final spring studio visit took me up to the Blue Hill Peninsula to see artist, Heidi Daub, in her lovely, light-filled space. Read more from Heidi’s thoughtful Q&A here.
We traveled to two “Artful Hotels” with our pup this year - the Mayflower Inn in Washington CT + Aragosta on Maine’s Deer Isle.
It is always such a treat to be included amongst very good company in Decor Maine’s annual Art Issue.
I made my first voyages out to the islands of Vinalhaven and Islesboro to visit artists, Esther Garcia Eder & Bayard Hollins.
The view of our backyard before one of our two summer Gallery Open House events. See more from the June event and the August event.
The August Open House came with the good fortune of a rainbow the night before while preparations were underway for the following day.
Samantha S. Pappas installed several works from our gallery artists in a few of her projects this year. Browse our portfolio to see more.
Spending time with gallery artists in person is always a highlight of the year. 2023 brought a sweet river hike with Ariane Luckey in Connecticut and a patio dinner with Virginia-based Andras Bality while he was on his way home from Monhegan.
Works from five gallery artists were highlighted in Decor Maine’s Year in Design issue on a profile of a Samantha S. Pappas project in Cumberland.
November brought an impromptu visit and painting delivery from New Jersey-based artist, Elizabeth Endres. We gathered a group of her Maine collectors for a brunch meet & greet.
Our Holiday Small Works show launched in December, a yearly tradition that I so enjoy curating.
We ended the year by sending out gallery holiday cards to collectors that featured this festive watercolor illustration from the talented Bea Barber. (Don’t miss our Q&A with Bea Barber here.)
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