May 1, 2024 - May 31, 2024

The Blue Hill Public Library will present a new exhibit,  paintings by Leslie Cummins and drawings by Tim Seabrook, during the month of May. Many probably know Leslie and Tim as the couple who founded 5 Star Nursery in Brooklin and owned it for 34 years. The two are showing selected works from their careers as artists in a retrospective exhibition.

Tim is showing two series of drawings, one titled, Scapes: Between the Tides, in which the direction was to deconstruct his involvement in making marks on paper. Done in raw powdered pigments, Sumi ink and conté pencil, he says about the series, “I found that working directly in the space between low and high tide was essential to this pursuit. I became only a conduit.”

His other series is Vernazza, Italy, visions of a tiny, west coast village “with very tight, geometrically layered mysteries; soft and crisp at the same time, and always changing 3-dimensional habitat… one thing morphing into another… with the Mediterranean light and mountains always present.” The series is done in pastels and charcoal pencil.

Leslie’s paintings are in gouache, and she describes them as “very old.” She continues, “I started them when I was middle aged, and some follow me from grandmother’s house, through Italy, and end at a polluted scary place in Cleveland. Essentially, they are an allegory of the Lost Child.”

Cummins attended the Art Students League, Boston Museum School, Montreal Museum School and Syracuse Art School. She helped found The Laughing Lion Gallery at Rowantrees Pottery in 1977.

Tim won the George Sherman Medal Award from the Society of American Graphic Artists in New York City. He has exhibited nationally and internationally, and his work has appeared in juried shows in Maine. In the local area he has exhibited at the Leighton, Turtle, and Laughing Lion Galleries.

Both Leslie’s and Tim’s art endeavors have stayed with them as a dedicated focus next to the long-term work of farming and creating 5 Star Nursery and Orchard, and into the creation of their “Town Orchard” in Blue Hill during their so-called retirement.

The show will be available for viewing starting May 2, subject to the Howard Room meeting schedule. Leslie and Tim will be hosting a gallery talk on May 25th at 11am. For more information call 374-5515.

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