Neal Hughes and Crista Pisano reunite for the fourth exhibition of their work at Sylvan Gallery on Water Street, Wiscasset. The exhibit opened Tuesday, Aug. 6 and runs  through Sunday, Sept. 8. The reception to meet the artists is on Thursday, Aug. 29, from 4 to 7 p.m., coinciding with the evening of the Wiscasset Art Walk. In conjunction, the gallery will also be displaying work from its regular roster of contemporary fine artists. 

Hughes and Pisano began the spring by traveling extensively to many of the most prestigious plein air competitions in the country, renowned for the high quality of artistic talent they attract. A selection of Hughes' and Pisano's paintings from 2024 events will be on view from Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan, the Maine coast.

Coastal subjects and working waterfronts inspire much of Hughes’ work in the exhibition. “Lightkeeper’s House - Marshall Point,” at 20 x 20 inches, was his first award this year. Modern Impressionist Magazine awarded the painting a “First Place” in their Dec./Jan. Modern Impressionist Salon. The front facade of the sunlit building contrasts beautifully with the cool tones of the blue-violet shadowed side of the building. The rich greens of foreground foliage is dotted with late summer flowers. The viewpoint is from the rocks looking up at the structure enabling Hughes to juxtapose the building against the darker pine trees. The rocks are captured in a full spectrum of colors from blues to violets, golds, and roses, and, with a combination of brush and palette knife work, they are individual yet cohesive as Hughes is a master of soft and sharp edges.

Said Hughes, “In my opinion, the best paintings have a balance between poetry and nature. In other words, between a more expressive style and a totally realistic approach. To me, the genius of the best impressionist work, whether we are talking about the work that was done in the 19th century or more recently, is how it creates a visual experience that contains this type of balance.”

Two paintings of maritime subjects much larger in scale are “Morning Shadows,” at 30 x 30 inches, and “Summer Reflections,” at 36 x 36 inches. “Morning Shadows,” completed at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, is an up close view of a skiff pulled up on sawhorses that’s about to be worked on. A rustic storage shed is behind it with a partial view of the shop where larger boats are restored. Hughes varies his painting technique depending on the subject or mood he wishes to create, and, in this painting, expressive brushwork along with a palette knife, used to paint heavier passages, captures the feeling of the weather-beaten buildings and the old skiff.

Neal allows that, “There is always more to learn and the most important part to me has become the process and the experience. I do a lot of painting competitions, and the people I meet or that I get to paint with are also very important to me, and I feel very blessed to be a part of it all.” For more about this artist visit https://nealhughes.com

Crista Pisano’s “Walking Through the Clouds,” at 9 x 9 inches, is one of the low horizon distant views she loves to paint. Here, soft forms of clouds that feel lit from within touch down to meet the green gold of the marsh. Pisano uses flecks of alizarin along a narrow inlet of water to lead our eye diagonally back to the horizon where narrow scrubby pines reach up to meet the clouds, holding our gaze in the distance. This painting was inspired by her travels to Kiawah Island, South Carolina and the eastern shore of Maryland. Pisano loves to focus on low marsh views, and when painting in her studio, has the artistic maturity to “borrow” ideas from two different locations. It was during the Paint Annapolis 2024, Annapolis, MD, competition in June that Pisano won the very special “Ardis Diaz Memorial Light Award.” Pisano excels at capturing the quiet beauty of the landscape while evoking a sense of place and moment.

Two of Pisano’s almost miniature-in-scale ocean paintings that capture the feeling of the quintessential Maine rocks and crashing surf are “Whoosh” at 2-1/2 x 6-3/8 inches and “Rocky Surf” at 1 7/8 x 5 7/8 inches. Painted on an overcast afternoon, both paintings have a Homer-esque quality to them. Pisano’s ability to capture the sublime power of the ocean on such a small scale is remarkable. Confident brushstrokes describe weather-beaten rocks, and one can almost smell the sea breeze and feel the spray from the ocean waves.

Two new small boat paintings at 5 1/4 x 3 ¼ inches and 6 x 2 inches, recently painted in New Bern, North Carolina, will be on view. Pisano has a unique vision in cropping a complicated marina view into a slim vertical format. There is a dynamic rhythm to the lines of masts in the upper third of the paintings contrasting with the subtle arc of the waves rippling out toward the viewer. The water mirrors the overcast sky, and Pisano captures the silvery quality of the water with just a few tones of color.

“I can never pass on painting a marina,” Pisano said. “I enjoy composing the rhythm of masts among the chaos of color, shape, and value of the vessels to which they belong. This subject matter is always
intimidating at first until my brain convinces itself to look at the abstract from which the reality is created.” Visit www.cristapisano.com for more about this artist.