The Southport Memorial Library is pleased to announce that June Elderkin will be our visiting artist for the months of September and October.  June is a Southport artist who moved from Boothbay Harbor 60 years ago and lives in her home overlooking Joe’s Gut. Although over her lifetime she has raised a family and had a variety of jobs, she always put aside time for painting. Over the years, she had a studio/gallery in the building on the shore in front of her home featuring her work as well as digital prints and note paper, which she self printed for over 40 years. Now, although out of the note paper business, people still ask where it’s available. June works in oils, acrylics and pastels. Also, she still stretches most of her canvases.

Shared June, “As a self-taught artist, living on the Maine coast has offered me inspirational and spiritual experiences that merge into my painting. Most of the time, I begin with a few brief lines of paint and allow the ever-changing moods of the day or season to direct the outcome. Perhaps I want to abstract what I see, which makes the outcome of my journey unknown. I use a variety of colors for canvas underpainting and prefer black or dark pastel paper to add depth to the work.

“I love using palette knives to create textures with oils and acrylics and detailing rocks and seaweed with pastel. Each painting tells the story of my observations and experiences of clouds, rocks, water, and trees, as I search for the forms and colors that will connect me to the viewer. My home on Southport is on tidal property. Each day when I open my eyes, I see the landscape again for the first time, and I am inspired. Recently I’ve been researching sea kelp, (marine algae), and have discovered the many different kinds of shapes and colors that make it interesting to paint. That led to checking out coral and its beautiful colonies that needed to be painted as well.”

The Library is located at 1032 Hendricks Hill Road and is open Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Thursday evenings 6-8 p.m.

Please call 207-633-2741 for more information, or visit our website at www.southportlibrary.org.