BRIDGTON — Gallery 302 would like to welcome Jane Croteau as Guest Artist from September 2 through October 6. Jane is a former long-time very active member of Gallery 302 who now specializes in oils. An opening reception will be on September 2 from 5 to 7 p.m.

For 36 years, until she retired in 2016, Jane worked as a stained glass artist, designing and fabricating windows for homes, offices, and churches. In 2002, she picked up a paintbrush for the first time and tried her hand at watercolor, falling in love with the medium immediately. From there, she explored pastels, acrylic, and finally, oil color. Beginning in 2012, she worked under the tutelage of Tomás Balezetina, an accomplished Spanish painter at his studio in Portland and Madrid.

Working with glass, which relies on light reflecting and transmitting through it, most likely influenced her choice of subject matter and color palettes. Nature scenes, whether a landscape or seascape, allow Jane to create deep contrasts of shadow and light as well as use lots and lots of color. “I love blending my own color mix of paint rather than relying on hues straight from the tube.”

In the summer, Jane mostly lives on her sailboat with her husband, cruising the Maine coastline. Sunrises and sunsets abound and her camera is always close at hand. Jane and her husband spend their winters in Portugal, where rocky coasts, sunny days, and turquoise seas provide ample motivation to “paint what I see”. Jane says “no matter where I happen to be in the world, my eye is always ‘cropping the shot’ for another potential painting.”

Please join us on September 2 to celebrate the work of Jane Croteau from 5 to 7 p.m. at Gallery 302, 112 Main St., in Bridgton.

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