Best in Show
Animal-Inspired Art
Featuring Don Best, Robert Pollien, Ben Lincoln Dan West
Diana Acadipone & Matt Welch
May 26-June 17
Reception for artists Saturday, June 10 4-6 pm
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Allegory: the representation of abstract ideas or principles by characters, figures or events in narrative, dramatic, or pictoral form. One of the powerful aspects of relief is its relationship to narrative. Combining the best of painting, drawing and sculpture, the artist can choose, compose, and balance these elements. ~Eugene Daub, Sculpture Review, Spring 2016 In this most recent body of work, Don uses an art form that has been around for over 6,000 years: Relief Sculpture. These visual narratives are told through his passion for animals. Married to a veterinarian, Don has long used cats and dogs for subjects in his work.
Don has a BFA from the Maine College of Art and has done extensive studies in wood at Haystack Mountain School on Deer Isle. Inspired by his study of Maine wild life, his sculptures include life size wall pieces of herons, loons, hawks and owls. Most of his works are carved from basswood indigenous to Maine. Don is a fifth generation Mainer, growing up in Cumberland and Sebago Lake, spending his adult life living in the Oxford Hills area. 
"Jungle Dream"
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click images for larger views
"Time Out...again!" wood sculpture 92" x 28" x 4"
