Anne Neely — Painter

My studio in Jonesport, Maine was built in the late 1990’s by two local carpenters in the middle of one harsh winter. Periodically my husband and I would drive up from Boston to check in on its progress. Heated by a fireplace, we stayed in the small house on the property, formally called a “camp” by Down Easters. When the crude structure was up, and before they were to put in the insulation, they invited me to write anything I wanted between the rafters on the wood structure. At the time I wrote about wanting to make good paintings in this new space but now if I had to do it over, I would say, I hope that this space is spared from rising water levels. It’s a hundred feet back from the thunder hole of rocks and sea along our small coastline property. Being so close to the water I am daily reminded that climate change is here to stay. When living in Maine I am more aware of its inevitableness. I see more here than I do in Boston.

For more than 30 years I came here summers when I was teaching and during the winter holidays, loving a taste of all the distinctly different seasons. Now, this place has become more of a permanent home. Its remoteness allows space and time to become more elastic in the day to day life here. In my studio I am closer to the edge — where things are happening in and on the water and I think about how I can say that in the language of paint to make it matter.

Photographer David Etnier visited recently with his exciting ongoing project of going to Maine Artist’s studios and taking pictures of the artists doing their studio practice. Here are some photographs of that day spent with David.

THE ARTIST

CLOSER TO THE EDGE