Come to enjoy the work of Paul Heffernan.  Paul has been a studio artist here over a year now.  He lives in Owls Head, and therefore could have gone either direction for setting up a studio – towards Rockland or down the peninsula – but I’m very happy that he landed here at 26 Split Rock Cove.

Paul thinks that at this particular time during the pandemic his studio has been a lifesaver!  He says,

“You don’t have the normal options that you had.  Going to a coffee shop for example.  I get more work done here than if I had a studio in my house.  When I come here I just focus on making art.  It’s a beautiful property, the heat works, there’s wifi and there’s a sink.  The facilities are great.”

Paul’s primary work this past year has been a series of painted paper collages. The work focuses on color relationships, and one of his inspirations has been the cruciform, based on a collection of crosses he’s accumulated over the years.

When I asked Paul what he wanted his viewers to know, he said, “With abstract work, people are sometimes intimated by it, because they think there is something to understand that they don’t understand.  I hope viewers will feel like looking at my work is a fun thing and that they’ll be open to it.   I’m looking forward to Open Studios, because I’ll have a number of works out, and I think seeing pieces together will be interesting for viewers.”

His next steps include continuing this work on a larger scale, and working with more materials and textures showing physical depth.  “I’m part of an online group of contemporary artists from all over the country, and hearing other artists talk about their art has helped me in thinking about the direction I want to take my own work in.”

Come to Open Studios on November 1 from 11 – 4.  Wear your mask, and please sign up for a specific hour of the day by emailing sandy@26splitrockcove.com or calling 207.596.7624.   We will allow 12 visitors / hour on the property.