Archive
The Eye of the Intimist
PROFILE-July 2009
by Rebecca Falzano
Photography Irvin Serrano
The poetic nature of photographer Joyce Tenneson
On Joyce Tenneson’s kitchen table, a single pink rosebud rests in a white clam shell, the tiniest pool of water quenching its thirst. Beyond the flower, past sliding-glass doors, Rockport Harbor is barely visible through the fog. When Tenneson placed the rose in the shell this morning, it was only a bud, but by afternoon its petals have unfurled into a full blossom. In this one delicate decorative touch, the major features of Tenneson’s photographic style are encapsulated: nature, simplicity, intimacy, transformation, and exquisite beauty. “Surrounding myself with small things like this gives me such happiness,” she says. “It’s never about the big moments for me; it is always more about the intimate details.”
Night at the Masonic
TURNOUT-July 2009
Inside Portland’s historic Masonic Temple, MECA recognizes two leaders in the art community
On May 14, Maine College of Art (MECA) held its fourteenth annual black-tie Art Honors celebration in Portland’s historic Masonic Temple, built in 1911 by architect Fredrick Thompson. The Art Honors is a platform for recognizing leadership in the arts community, and the occasion was the first time in nearly 100 years that the Masons opened their doors to an outside organization. This year, MECA recognized artist and public art advocate Alice Spencer with the MECA Leadership in the Arts award and Andy Graham, founder and owner of Portland Color, with the MECA Entrepreneurship in the Arts award. During the reception, dinner, and awards ceremony, guests reveled amid the rich architectural details of the temple, which had been transformed by fabric installations by Transformit and the work of honorees Graham and Spencer.
Lakeside Ledge
LANDSCAPE-July 2009
by Rebecca Falzano
Photography Todd Richardson
On a small cove, between an icy stream that trickles across the forest floor and steep granite cliffs that fall directly into the water, a camp is beautifully tucked into a small slope. Where the ledge ridge pulls away from the water’s edge, enormous broken boulders are left draped in moss and ferns. While the artfully crafted landscape gives the impression that the camp was built into this ledge, it was actually the other way around.
Dog Days
ESSAY-June 2009
by Rebecca Falzano
“We long for an affection altogether ignorant of our faults. Heaven has accorded this to us in the uncritical canine attachment.” -George Eliot
The pitter-patter of paws on wood floors made its debut in our home a few weeks ago. The sound now resides alongside alarm clock beeps and tea kettle whistles and doorbell rings. The culprit is part border collie, part labrador retriever, part imp, part charmer. His paws and tail look like they have been dipped in white paint and his chest boasts his softest patch of fur. He leaps in the air like a jackrabbit when he wants to play tug-of-war, and when he grows tired, he quietly excuses himself and heads up the stairs, where he gives in to doggie dreams in the spare bedroom. He cocks his head to the side when we say “walk” and “cookie” or any word that sounds remotely close to either. At 8 years old, he is sweet and well trained, and in the morning, when his ears feel cold, I invite him up on the bed “just this once.”
Lake House Living
THE DRAWING BOARD-June 2009
A lakeside bungalow undergoes a facelift to accommodate a growing family
Located on Great East Lake in Acton, this 87-year-old camp is undergoing a major renovation and facelift to accommodate the owner’s growing family. Due to the camp’s proximity to the water, very tight volume and square footage constraints have been placed on the structure, making it very important to maximize use of all living space.
Casual on the Cove
FEAST-June 2009
by Rebecca Falzano
Photography François Gagné
It is nearly impossible to talk about MC Perkins Cove without first talking about Arrows; it is just as difficult to discuss the two Ogunquit eateries without likening them to sisters. The two restaurants share similar DNA but have otherwise distinct personalities—like two sisters of the same blood who couldn’t be more different. If Arrows is the more established and refined sister, then MC is the younger, more playful one. If Arrows is where you would make reservations on a special occasion, then MC is the place you would visit regularly for a casual night out. Despite their differences, the two share a common pedigree: the decades-old, garden-to-table philosophy pioneered by award-winning chef-owners Mark Gaier and Clark Frasier.
The Language of Abstraction
THE CANVAS-June 2009
by Suzette McAvoy
Joshua Ferry, Mark Wethli & Grace DeGennaro
Abstraction allows man to see with his mind what he cannot physically see with his eyes…to perceive beyond the tangible, to extract the infinite out of the finite. -Arshile Gorky
Heavy Metals
CRAFT OF MAINE-June 2009
by Susan Grisanti Kelley
Continuing our Craft of Maine series dedicated to functional art, this month we focus on the art of metalworking. Using a range of metal types—from pewter to sterling silver to steel—the artists on the following pages have struck a graceful balance between tools and nature, between function and beauty. For more pieces by these artists visit our web-exclusive content at mainehomedesign.com.
A Sparkling Sanctuary
June 2009
by Rebecca Falzano
Photography Trent Bell
If we listen closely, houses will sometimes speak to us. Queen Annes overlooking brick-lined streets share secrets of the past. Farmhouses lining snowy country roads whisper of the warmth within. Rustic camps beside glassy lakes exude the promise of tranquility. At the north end of three-mile-long Goose Rocks Beach, on a secluded peninsula of rock and sand where the Little River meets the Atlantic, the Temerlin home speaks quietly of a sparkling solitude punctuated only by the quintessential summer hum of peepers. The sight and sound are mesmerizing.
Drawing the Line
PROFILE-June 2009
by Rebecca Falzano
Photography Irvin Serrano
In the second grade, while his classmates were sketching stick figures and coloring pictures, Rob Whitten was drawing the world exactly as he saw it—three dimensionally. From an early age, he had a passion for building things and a gift for putting his surroundings in perspective on paper. While his childhood peers were impressed by his talent for rendering life in three dimensions, the young Whitten didn’t quite understand what the fuss was about. “Well, isn’t that what the world is?” he would wonder innocently.
Forever Wild
PROFILE-June 2009
by Stephen Abbott
Photography Irvin Serrano
Despite all our engineering, all our planning and scheming, we all end up somewhere, doing something, we never could have predicted. Such is life that, if the serendipities of fate were written as fiction, we might have trouble believing our own reality.
Roxanne Quimby’s life seems tinged with the aura of folklore, but her story is so improbable, so profoundly inspiring, that it couldn’t be anything other than the unembellished truth.
The Beauty Above Us
ELEMENTS-June 2009by Candace Karu
Photography François Gagné
Ceilings that soar, soothe, shine, and shape the rooms we live in
Sometimes the easiest element in a room to ignore is right above your head. If it is unobtrusive and unadorned, a ceiling can disappear, barely making its presence known. More and more, however, homeowners are embracing beautiful and well-designed ceilings, paying attention to style as well as utility.
Letter from the Editor
June 2009
by Susan Grisanti Kelley
Just days before closing up work on this issue, I went to an Open Studio hosted by the Portland Museum of Art Contemporaries at the Artist Studio Building on Congress Street. There, I got to see the work of 35 of Portland’s talented artists, meet some of them, and get an inside look at the spaces in which they create. The spirit of creative camaraderie in the halls and throughout the building mixed with the light and vibes of downtown Portland drifting in through open windows. The energy was palpable. Artist and PMA curator Sage Lewis addressed the group and made note of the contribution that architect and building owner Christopher Campbell offers to artists by providing them affordable studio space within the heart of the city, which in turn, sustains the creative environment of Portland’s downtown.
The Creative Chameleon
PROFILE-June 2009
by Rebecca Falzano
Photography Irvin Serrano
How one designer’s performance background influenced Portland’s newest performance space
This is huge!” exclaims Joshua Bergey as he eyes the enormous steaming latte that has just been placed in front of him. At first, its size is daunting, but soon an eagerness to dig in takes over. It is the kind of reaction one might imagine the interior designer had when offered the job of designing the new 13,000-square-foot Port City Music Hall. Just a few blocks away from the Hall, though, there is little talk of intimidation from Bergey. Instead, the 34-year-old designer’s face is animated as he shares how working on Portland’s newest music venue was a full-circle journey for him, both artistically and physically.
Wrestling with Style
June 2009by Debra Spark
Photography Darren Setlow
Inside the life of unexpected art dealers Rob and Annette Elowitch
If Rob and Annette Elowitch were words, they would be an oxymoron. If statements, a paradox. As it stands, they are merely unexpected: art dealers by day, a professional wrestler and his concerned (“I don’t want to see him get hurt”) wife by night. Their age—the long-married couple are in their 60s—and the prestige of their annual art auction—sales topped $4 million last year—make the contrast between their vocations all the more striking. And all the more interesting to Sports Illustrated, ABC News, and the National Enquirer, among the many news outlets that have told the couple’s story and expressed surprise that the fast-talking, gravelly voiced art broker might have, on any given day, a Sir Joshua Reynolds painting in the foyer of his home while a duffel bag packed with a black-and-gold bikini and knee-high boots waits upstairs for his next match.
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