Julie Crane is a multimedia artist who primarily depicts creatures – including a plethora of birds – surrounded by tiny, even microscopic, elements from the land and sea magnified to a great degree. Phytoplankton, seed pods, DNA strands, and even the flight pattern of birds co-mingle with animals commonly seen by humans.

Her work considers the impact of change on the environment in sculpture, intaglio, encaustic, paintings and woodprints. Some recent collaborations at marine laboratories in Maine have given her access to views of the single-cell organisms often included in her art.

By depicting microscopic elements swirling around and through subjects in amplified scale, she questions how people are impacted by influencers they can’t see.

A Maine native, she grew up in Camden and has been creating art for more than three decades. Her first exposure to art classes was in the basement of the Camden Library when she was six. Since then, Crane’s work has been shown in more than 40 exhibitions, including collections and museums in Russia, Paris and New York City.

While living and creating art in Santa Fe, New Mexico, she was represented by the Turner Carroll Gallery, and for more than a decade she remained in the rich art culture of the area, creating work that was shown internationally and acquired for permanent collections including The Citadelle Art Foundation of Texas, Museum of Women in the Arts and the Podesta Collection of Washington, D.C., and the Michael Woolworth Collection of Paris, France.

By 2000, Crane had returned to her Maine roots to and built her studio in Thomaston, a Maine town where she still lives with her husband.

People-Nature-Art is a free monthly series that brings artists, writers, carvers, and creative types of all kinds to the Gilley to explore how nature and art interact in their work.

RESCHEDULED for Saturday, Feb. 28.

Expert needle-felter, fiber artist, and storyteller Hillary Dow of Binding Tales will lead this fun workshop at the Gilley, guiding participants through the process of creating a felted coral reef wall hanging. This workshop is suitable for all skill levels including beginners.

Learn needle felting techniques as you transform puffy piles of wool into a vivid and dynamic coral reef that features several types of coral in a variety of colors with dark shadows and 3D depth. Your wool supplies will include a 5x7 wool pre-felt; blue, purple, green and coral blended batts; and solid color roving. All the felting tools necessary to create your piece are provided, including several sizes of felting needles, single and multi-needle tools, finger guards, and a felting pad. The rich variety of prepared colors allows for a painterly approach to needle felting. All the wool used in this project is sourced from Maine fiber farms.

Hillary will display an author-illustrator showcase of original artwork as well as her children’s books, which will be available for sale. She is the author, illustrator and publisher of Binding Tales books, featuring pictures she has needle felted with wool sourced from Maine sheep. Born and raised in the western mountains of Maine, she now lives with her family in Hampden.  

Join us for our monthly evening paint ‘n’ sip workshops with instructor Erika Elizabeth at the Gilley for a fun evening of learning and art. Students are guided step by step through the process of painting, with plenty of explanation and instruction along the way.

Each month has a different theme and inspiration-painting. For March, we’ll use ink and watercolor to create a portrait of a barn owl.

Sip on wine, tea or seltzer as part of this adults-only class, which is suitable for artists of all levels who are at least 21 years old. All materials and beverages provided.

Create  a rich winter landscape with just a few watercolors in this third watercolor technique workshop of year. Join us at the Gilley with instructor Erika Elizabeth, who will guide students step by step to create a painting of a rich and varied landscape in a minimalist fashion.