Photos courtesy Pam Morgan (no relation to Scott)

If you find yourself in mid-coast Downeast Maine this month, be sure to check out the exhibition of Art by Katy at the Millbrook Company Bakery & Restaurant in Sedgwick, Maine. My friend Jill is the owner and baker and my friend /gallery owner Susan Hutton of Hutton Gallery put this premiere exhibition of my work together for the  new venue’s opening this past week. Jill is known for the finest sticky buns this side of San Francisco.  We both are vendors at the Stonington Farmers Market and we used to be parked across the aisle from each other so we are well acquainted with and fans of each other’s work.

I heard it was a wonderful opening party and although I was not there in person, I was there in spirit and in painting. The picture shown here was taken by one of my art collectors, Pam Morgan. She is no relation to Scott Morgan. The mixed media work shown here is one of my all time favorite paintings. It is called  Deer Isle Remembered (View From a Window) and it depicts a scene close to my heart. Look closely and you will see nautical charts of the area peeking out through the paint. I also see an LL Bean type plaid blanket appearing from the canvas although it was not intentional at the time. Let me tell you the story…

…we’d been introduced by our mutual friends Joe & Corine in LA. But all of that had taken place by phone and email as Scott was recently divorced and headed out of Cali to see where he would ultimately land. I was busy in LA with my very first Solo Artist gallery show at a busy downtown gallery in Los Angeles. So we interacted via modern technology for 4 months or so before finally making a plan to meet face to face. Scott was in Maine by this time but hadn’t bought his 10 acre orchard property yet. He rented a two bedroom cottage called “The Loft” on the top of a hill in Stonington and invited me to come visit. The Loft had a huge picture window that looked out onto the Archipelago of Stonington Harbor. The painting Deer Isle Remembered (View From a Window) is the scene that we looked out on for six days as we got to know each other in person for the first time. “If it doesn’t work out, you can go visit your mother in NH,” he told me.

We had an interesting and romantic first meeting, but it took many months of cross country dating and processing all the normal sturm and drang that divorce brings up for someone married 18 years. There were many times that I was ready to walk away from this complicated heartbroken man during that year and a half. It seemed we were a Liaisons Impossible at cross purposes and across the country from each other. If only we’d met first.  I returned to my studio from one intense visit and created several paintings. I titled this piece Deer Isle, Remembered because I truly thought I would never see the charming village again.

It worked out.

Ironman is planning his first gallery show at a reputable–and beautiful–gallery in Panaji, Goa, India. We are working out the details now and will make the official announcement once we have dates set for the exhibition.

And if you’re in Sedgwick, Maine go take a look at my work. And remember me to Deer Isle. Here is the information on the Millbrook Company Bakery & Restaurant.