Camden Falls Gallery is featuring the art of Dewaard & McPhillips. Ken Dewaard and Jonathan McPhillips are equally accomplished in studio design work focusing on Coastal New England, as well as working en plein air. Both artists have placed and received top honors and awards in some of the nations most prestigious plein air competitions and shows. Their works are part of many corporate and public collections across the U.S.A., Russia, China, and shown around the world in the U.S.Dept. of State "Art in the Embassies" Program.

Within this past year Ken Dewaard has received the Charles Movalli Award at Cape Ann Plein Air, MA.; Best Hospitality Award at Easton Plein Air, MD., and this past July, he had the highest sale bid for his painting "Evening At The Farm", at Cape Elizabeth Land Trust, ME. Having spent hours and days at the head of Camden Harbor doing color sketches, drawing, and photographing the spring outfitting of the schooners, Ken has returned to his studio to incorporate these plein air studies with studio design work, as if he were channeling or following after Edgar Alwyn Payne's marine painting style.

Ken describes his work as follows; "My style isn't exactly loose but more of a definitely placed stroke be it a suggested stroke, not trying to give all of the detail but enough to where the viewer can finish the story in their mind and through their experiences. The term bravura is used when something is more confidently placed. Think of it as mark making. Making a mark or a note of color and standing behind it, not a lot of fussing around with it alla Renoir but more directly placed, not happenchance. Design is incredibly important to me. To tell a story through my work and lead the viewer around the painting and then back to the focal point. Having a narrative."

Jonathan McPhillips is one of the " New American Luminists". He has the ability to capture the light, the air, and the distinct atmosphere in his landscape and marine paintings. Known for the impressionistic radiance in daybreak and dusk paintings, his ability to capture the shimmering glow of flickering lights in his nocturnes is most impressive. Jonathan has found his focus in a form of realism that he describes as " Contemporary Impressionism". "Chasing the available light and air in our surroundings is what drives me to paint. I hope to achieve atmospheric effects with an impressionistic style, tempered by a touch of realism and draftsmanship. Painting large and small, indoors and out, I find that a multifaceted approach to studying and practicing allows me to achieve a unique quality in my work"

In 2017, Johnathan's work was exhibited in the Laguna Plein Air Painters "Best of Plein Air" Juried Exhibition, CA.; the Modern Marine Masters Exhibition in Mystic, CT., and the Maritime Gallery 38th Juried International Marine Art Exhibition also at Mystic, CT. In 2018, Jonathan won the Gene Magazine award for traditional oil at the Salmagundi Clubs 134 Annual Members Exhibition, NYC; and became a signature member of the American Impressionist Society.

Both artists, despite their difference in style, are able to create works that resonate a form of visual truth and excellence.

The "DeWaard and McPhillips" Show opens Monday, August 13 and will run to Sunday, August 26 at Camden Falls Gallery.

Camden Falls Gallery is located on the Public Landing in Camden, ME. The gallery is open daily from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. throughout the season. For more information, please contact us at 207-470-7027 or www.camdenfallsgallery.com