Beginning Thursday, Aug. 31, Gleason Fine Art in Boothbay Harbor opens two new shows: "Janice Anthony: At One with Nature" and "Roger Dale Brown: Painting the Town." The artists' reception for both shows is First Friday, Sept. 1, from 5 to 7 p.m., and both shows run through Sept. 26.

“Janice Anthony: At One With Nature”: Unlike many painters who live in Maine, Janice Anthony lives far from the busy coast, in the tiny, up-country, Waldo County town of Jackson, population 610. On any given day, you can find Anthony hiking deep in the Maine woods or paddling along a quiet inlet searching for the perfect untouched spot to sketch. Mossy rocks, banks of ostrich ferns, wild tumbles of storm-downed trees, swales of eel grass, and mists rising over estuaries and ponds are all subjects that inspire Anthony. She seeks out landscapes untouched by people. In an Anthony painting, the only sign of human activity might be a marine marker along one of her favorite salt rivers.

"I feel a great affection for the otherness of the natural world," says Anthony, "For a place that I have just entered which existed autonomously before I saw and felt it and which continues to exist when I leave."

In person, Anthony is as soft-spoken and unassuming as she wishes her presence to be in the natural environment. One of Maine's outstanding, and most highly awarded realist painters, Anthony brings decades of experience to any task she undertakes. "I feel most at home painting in the solitude of nature. The act of painting unites me with a wildness that I recognize in myself. Putting paint onto canvas is where I find my bearings, at the intersection of the image and the brush."

“Roger Dale Brown: Painting the Town”: Tennessee native Roger Dale Brown shares one trait in common with Maine native Janice Anthony: a deep love and appreciation for Maine. Brown visits the Maine coast every summer and occasionally during the fall and winter too. As with so many artists before him, Brown marvels at Maine's dazzling, clear light. As a plein-air painter, Brown does most of his work on the spot, wherever he sets up his easel. Brown particularly enjoys locations that have remained untouched for decades, such as old piers and fish shacks that nestle here and there along the midcoast.

Brown's personal journey has taken him to many of the states in the United States, but he returns to the Boothbay peninsula frequently. For Brown, "Art is a privilege, a gift, and a journey." The privilege is being able to make a living from something you love doing. The gift is having the talent to do so. And the journey is to be constantly looking and learning.

Brown credits past masters such as the great John Singer Sargent as his inspiration. Over his career, Brown has amassed many awards and memberships, including memberships in the prestigious Oil Painters of America and the American Impressionist Society. In that capacity, he has been asked to jury numerous plein-air competitions. But at day's end, for Brown, it is being on site painting a scene that time seems to have forgotten that brings him the deep satisfaction that comes with doing something that you love--and doing it well.

Owners Dennis, Marty, and Andrew Gleason invite you to join us at Gleason Fine Art, 31 Townsend Ave., in Boothbay Harbor, on Friday, Sept. 1, from 5 to 7 p.m. to meet artists Janice Anthony and Roger Dale Brown and to view their latest paintings of Maine. Refreshments will be served. Summer gallery hours are Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. Gleason Fine Art is open year-round.

For further information, call the gallery at 207-633-6849; email us at info@gleasonfineart.com; or visit our website, gleasonfineart.com.