Herenya Wilkey, LLC

The Path was the very first panel created for the residency and my largest to date. In preparation for my residency my husband and I took a little exploratory trip to Bowdionham in July. Unfortunately we had just missed the Farmer’s Market, but found the waterfront lovely and inviting all the same. We wandered about there for a bit then were drawn across the road past the bridge. We found a little trail head by the train tracks and decided to explore further. It was green and beautiful and I adored the way the tree branches curved and weaved to create a tunnel of green above the trail. I felt as though I had stumbled into a portal between worlds and knew immediately I wanted to try and capture some of that magic in glass.

My husband and I returned for another adventure in Bowdoinham in August. It was the perfect day for kayaking so we put in at the boat launch and paddled off towards Merrymeeting Bay. It was quiet and lovely out there. On our paddle back to the boat launch I found a firefly struggling in the water and saved him. He dried off and rode safely on my boat until I found a good spot to pull off to the side and deposit him on a cardinal flower growing by the water. Although we had our little adventure during the bright sunshine of day, I couldn’t help imagining how beautiful it must be out there on an overcast night with the fireflies dancing above the water.

The Bowdoinham Bridge is such a well loved feature of the town I knew I had to find a way to bring it to glass. I’ll admit it had me stumped for a while though! I was afraid that it would look much too clunky if I cut out each strut in glass and soldered everything together so I put the idea aside for a while and worked on other panels. The wheels in my mind kept spinning on it even when I was busy with other things and I finally sparked on the idea to etch it into the glass. I sketched and simplified the bridge and created my own stencil out of sticky transfer paper and etched the design onto my glass puzzle piece. Afterwards I then mixed up some acrylic paint and rubbed it into the textured side of the etching to capture its color.

I have always been drawn to old cemeteries. We came across the Village Burying Ground while we were exploring the town and I just had to wander through it. It is a lovely quiet spot with moss, lichen, ivy and old oak trees. I found a little empty bird nest on the grass beneath the tree and placed it on top of the nearest stone. It looked so small and forlorn there a strange part of me thought it would make the perfect panel. This was the very last piece completed for my residency.

Raven

Raven came about as my tribute to the artist and author Bryce Muir. At my first visit to the Merrymeeting Arts Center Gallery in Bowdoinham I was treated to a private tour and introduced to his whimsically wonderful wood carvings. I saw how important and deeply missed he was not only by the gallery, but by all of Bowdoinham. When I learned that his Raven sculpture was the only one unaccounted for, I decided then and there that I wanted to show my gratitude to this gallery for pairing with me by creating a panel inspired by their favorite artist.

Raven Was donated to Merrymeeting Adult Education