Linda E. Bourassa – Artist Statement
Spending my life in New England has given me a deep appreciation of the beauty that surrounds us everyday. We are lucky enough to live in an area that has it all, from the beauty of the White Mountains and the Green Mountains, to the crashing of waves on a deserted island beach, to the peaceful solitude of the marshes and inlets, lakes and streams. My intention is to convey that pride of place and connection to nature to anyone who views my work. An ongoing challenge, which I truly enjoy. Thank you for taking the time to pause and to see.
Linda Bourassa is a life-long resident of New England. Her early years were spent on the North Shore of Massachusetts, with summers on the island of Martha’s Vineyard. She now lives in Atkinson, New Hampshire with her husband of 37 years. While raising their son, Linda enrolled at Northern Essex Community College and earned an Associates of Arts Degree in graphic design. She then worked at the Kimball Library in Atkinson for 15 years before recently retiring to spend time enjoying her garden, her family and friends, and devoting more time to her painting. She has been taking weekly art lessons with a local artist, Jacqueline Cunningham, for close to a dozen years. She uses water-based oil paints and tends to specialize in landscapes and seascapes.
Janet Porter – Artist Statement
I am a New England native from Georgetown, Massachusetts, and I spent my young summers on Little Neck island in Ipswich. My warmest memories were of the natural beauty of nature and the ocean. Fully intrigued with the beauty in life, which has always captivated me, I unsurprisingly perused a career in the creative business of Cosmetology. I have enjoyed a very successful business, that seems more like fun than work and have met many very interesting people. One of these is Jackie Cunningham, a client and art teacher, who learned about my maternal grandmother’s skill as a painter and sculptor. Thankfully, Jackie encouraged me to consider joining her classes in oil painting, where I have found an unrealized gift of true creative passion. I have enjoyed each and everything I have painted and I hope to continue to get better and better in the future.
Display Case, Level 1 – Kristina Trott – Artist Statement
I’ve lived in central Andover most of my life, and carried a camera much of the time since childhood, documenting everything from the ’54 hurricanes to blizzards to the many Shawsheen floods. It was only when I acquired a 35 mm Canon in the 60’s, though, that I could begin to do justice to the local birds, butterflies and wildflowers I’ve always loved and studied. Even better, since my switch to digital, all financial restraints are off, and I can and do shoot everything I find interesting! And I think there’s very little in the natural world that is not. (Most notably fungi, which I belatedly discovered around 5 years ago and have added to my compulsive ID searches, list-making, and photo documentation.)
Andover is not the town I grew up in, most conspicuously the area above the Center where too many newer homeowners have leveled the original residents’ lovingly tended flower gardens/pollinator sanctuaries in favor of chemically treated and commercially (and loudly) maintained turf deserts.(Not to mention one long-time resident’s home that was seized and demolished and their extensive gardens leveled for playing fields). In town butterfly species that used to number close to two dozen are down to 5 or 6, and those not at all numerous. Finding subjects for my lens these days requires ranging farther afield, although my own yard (a very conspicuous outlier) and that of one like-minded neighbor still offer welcome finds.
Fortunately, central Andover still offers much for the nature loving photographer, (mainly thanks to Phillips Academy’s benignly neglected bird sanctuary, and nearby conservation land) so I don’t need to range too far afield. In fact, everything in this exhibit, except the Holt Hill image, was taken within a half-hour walk of my house. I consider myself extremely fortunate to be living where I do.
In addition to my nature photography (which I offer for sale in the form of notecards and matted enlargements), I do a limited number of commissioned horse portraits in graphite, solicited mainly at Springfield Arabian shows in the spring and summer. Horses have been another lifelong passion, although I’ve never owned one; I’ve been drawing them from childhood. I have had pieces accepted twice for exhibit at the American Academy of Equine Art annual shows in Lexington, Kentucky.