In our July profile of Damariscotta-based artist John Whalley (“The Humanity of Detritus”) we talk at length about his ability to imbue inanimate objects with a human quality: “Whalley can infuse an object as mundane as a hammer with such emotion that it becomes a portrait not of a tool, but of the man who once used it.” While the artist’s work proves this statement time and again, Whalley is also extremely gifted and adept with portraiture.

Klaus, Egg Tempera on Panel, 24" X 34", 2007

Liberation, Graphite on Paper, 17 1/8" X 25", 2007

Edith, Egg Tempera on Panel, 24" X 36", 1980

Walter, Graphite on Paper, 19 ½" X 20", 2006