PORTLAND — New work by painters Sarah Cecil and Kevin McNamara will be on view from March 6-29, at June Fitzpatrick Gallery, 522 Congress Street. There will be an exhibition opening from 5-7 p.m. Thursday, March 6, at the gallery.

Sarah Cecil grew up in New York, the child of a painter and an architect. She attended Pratt Institute and Rhode Island School of Design before graduating from Brown University with a B.A. in painting.

She has lectured on art and design at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York and worked as a writer and editor at various publications, including ArtNews magazine.

Cecil has exhibited at numerous galleries and institutions including the Worcester Art Museum in Massachusetts, the Rye Art Center in New York, the Hargate Art Gallery in New Hampshire and the List Art Gallery in Rhode Island. She resides and maintains a studio in Portland.

About her work, Cecil stated: “Unfinished Masonite is an unforgiving painting surface. Like fresco, there’s no going back, which can create a challenge. I call my recent body of work my “disaster series.” It started with re-reading ‘In Cold Blood’ and painting sinister night scenes of desolate Aroostook farms. But as recent weather extremes began to dominate the news, the focus of my paintings evolved. Suddenly, tornados were ripping through farms, hurricanes started threatening oil rigs, and McMansions began to fall prey to wildfires and on and on. I paint small to achieve a more jewel-like quality designed to offset the flatness of the matte surface.”

Kevin Mc Namara was born in Manchester, England and raised in Dublin Ireland.

He recently took up residence in Maine and now divides his time between New England and Ireland. He studied at the National College of Art & Design in Dublin where he graduated with a degree in Fine Art Painting and History of Art.

McNamara has exhibited at numerous galleries and institutions including the Egeli Gallery in Massachusetts, Mennello Museum of American Art in Florida, and Jorgensen Fine Art Gallery, Ireland. His movie animation credits include Mulan: Disney Production, Tarzan: Disney Production and Princess Bride: Princess Bride Ltd.

McNamara describes himself as a painterly realist with leanings toward impressionism and modernism. Painting from life, his work includes a wide range of subjects including landscapes, figurative, portraiture, still life and background painting for animation film productions.

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