Galen Davis
GALEN DAVIS
I spend a lot of time wandering around the Penobscot Bay area, by boat
and on foot, just looking, planning and absorbing. These are the times I feel
most content. Painting becomes my way of reliving those moments, a way
to express my experience of the landscape. The entire process impels me
to look more closely, noticing patterns of light and shadow, shapes and
color possibilities. In doing so, I feel an even greater connection to my
surroundings. After settling on a composition, I often return to a painting
again and again, adjusting colors and details until it feels right, as if I am
there in the landscape again.
I grew up in Harpswell, Maine, spending summers on Isle au Haut. I
attended Hampshire College and studied literature, graduating in 1988. I’ve
taken a circuitous route to oil painting: painting and sewing fabric designs
for a couple of decades, followed by a decade working in pastels, before
moving to oil painting in 2018.
I’ve shown work in Maine galleries since 1994 and have paintings included
in two books by Carl and David Little: Art of Acadia and Art of Penobscot
Bay.
I now live and work in Brooksville, Maine and in the warmer months, Isle au
Haut.