Beginning July 3, Southport artist Ed Parker and Damariscotta artist Lyn Asselta open new shows at Gleason Fine Art in Boothbay Harbor. Both Lyn and Ed will be present at the opening reception on Saturday, July 5 from 5 to 7 p.m. The public is cordially invited to stop by the gallery, have a glass of wine, and chat with the artists. Lyn's show, titled "The Poetic Coast," runs through July 29, as does Ed's, titled "Painted Stories."

Lyn Asselta is one of the most gifted pastel artists in the country. Apart from all of the awards she has won, she is also one of the few artists who have achieved the level of "master" in the several pastel societies to which she belongs. Lyn's talent is immense, and given her generous and highly approachable nature, she shares that talent with as many people as she can. She travels widely and maintains a dizzying schedule of teaching workshops, preparing new work for at least two shows per year, and traveling back and forth between her home in midcoast Maine and Florida, where she visits her daughter and granddaughter and restocks her Florida gallery.

Asselta is almost as talented as a writer and poet as she is a painter. Each Saturday, she writes and publishes a fresh edition of "Saturdays at the Cove," her reflections on life and art, always accompanied by a piece of her art. As with her paintings, Asselta's writings are sensitive and beautiful, but never overly sentimental. Her many fans can expect to see a new book of her paintings and writings this fall. As gallerists, it is always interesting to observe how visitors who are new to the gallery respond to the paintings of different artists.

The reactions upon seeing Lyn Asselta's pastels for the first time range from silent, protracted admiration to gasps of "How does she do it?" We think the answer to that question is Asselta's rare mix of innate talent, experience, and acute sensitivity to the environment around her.

Ed Parker is one of America's leading marine painters, and, lucky for us, he and his wife live full-time on Southport Island. Parker's paintings are influenced and informed by 19th-century-era graphics, early American paintings, historical photographs, and maritime traditions. Parker's Yankee sensibilities, combined with his love of a play on words, his deep respect for history, and a sophisticated sense of design, proportion, and color, all contribute to his unique position as a maritime artist with a sense of humor.

As with many maritime artists, Parker's sailing ships, passenger ferries, and even canoes are meticulously drawn. However, the decks of Parker's ships are as likely to be crowded with dogs, cats, roosters, cows, and horses, as with sailors. Mermaids and fierce sea serpents swim in Parker's oceans as well as whales. For his summer show, "Painted Stories," Parker has given the gallery some of the best work we've seen, including the masterful "A Circus of Puffins," which shows a pile of seven delightful puffins garbed in colorful circus outfits. Not to be outdone, "A Squabble of Seagulls" features 10 herring gulls squawking and arguing. In "Greenland Whale Fisheries" a majestic schooner presides over a losing battle against a pod of sperm whales, while polar bears and walruses look on. In Parker's world, the whales always win.

Please join us on Saturday, July 5, from 5 to 7 pm for a reception for the artists. The public is cordially invited, and liquid refreshments will be served. Gleason Fine Art is located at 31 Townsend Ave. in Boothbay Harbor. The family-owned gallery, which is open year-round, is celebrating its 40th year.

To see the new work by Lyn Asselta, Ed Parker, and Kevin's Beers, please visit our new, easy-to-use website: https://www.gleasonfineart.com/. Call us at 207-633-6849; email us at info@gleasonfineart.com.