Gold/Smith Gallery in Boothbay Harbor is proud to present incredibly gorgeous plein air oil paintings on wood and canvas by Jim St.Clair. The show, “Remote N.Y.” begins Sept. 8 and continues through Oct. 23. This will be Jim’s premier solo exhibit in Maine.

Some parts of a place are iconic, symbols of the essence of place. But there are different points of view, prospects not normally seen by visitors, or even residents. St. Clair’s subject is the New York waterfront seen from the water and the backwaters of the city. Much of this panorama is disappearing, the remnants of another era of waterfront activity. Industrial, commercial, recreational pushed aside by powerful social and economic forces. This detritus, although not pretty, gives

St. Clair’s landscapes a strange gritty beauty that sticks in the memory ... something familiar seen from a different angle. His use of heavy paint evokes the grit and grease and also the romance of this disappearing aspect of New York. From his boat, a.k.a. studio, Jim cruises and paints the East River, the Harlem River and the Hudson.

“Like most everyone I started drawing and painting as a child. I’m one of the ones who kept doing it. Blessing or curse? Both,” said St. Clair. “It is an obsessive scramble to grab hold of something that is slippery and elusive. There is no formula for making art that is good. When a piece works it’s usually obvious and hard to describe why. I was lucky. When I first moved to NYC I got a space and a small motorboat at the 79th Street Boat Basin on the Hudson in Manhattan. I’ve spent the last 30 years exploring and painting all the various waterfronts of New York Harbor and surrounding waters from the boat.

“Somewhat unintentionally I’ve documented many changes to NYC over those years. I was initially drawn to a waterfront that was an abandoned and decaying industrial seaport that nature was poetically reclaiming. I’m still drawn to that although the pockets of it are receding to the farthest reaches of Staten Island and the Bronx as gentrification and a resurging interest  in the waterfront are cleaning it up and getting rid of the old ghosts,” St. Clair continued. “Reclaiming the waterfront and making it accessible to the public is a good thing, but I miss the old wrecks that connect us to the past. What they’re replacing it with is much less interesting visually. Oh well.”

Jim St. Clair has been painting sets for “Law and Order, Special Victim’s Unit” for seven years. Among other things he painted sets for several Andrew Lloyd Webber productions such as “Cats” and “Sweeney Todd.” He and his wife and two sons reside in Brooklyn. His mother is a well known impressionist in Maine, Helen St. Clair. The nut has not fallen far from the tree.

There will be an opening reception for the artist Saturday, Sept. 10 from 4 to 7 p.m. the public is invited to attend. The gallery is at 8 McKown Street in Boothbay Harbor and is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and Sundays noon to 5 p.m. For more information, contact the gallery: 207-633-6252 or goldsmithgallerybbh@gmail.com.