As the fog rolled in, more than 40 local artists rolled out their best works, awaiting crowds from Harpswell and beyond for the second annual Harpswell Open Studio Tour on Saturday and Sunday, July 12 and 13.
The number of artists nearly doubled participation in the inaugural event. Visitors could go from studio to studio by following a map, although reaching all 22 spots in two days would be an impressive feat.
An organization called the Harpswell Art & Craft Guild held tours for more than two decades, but stopped in the early 2010s. Liz Stamey and Nancy Grice restarted the event last year with social media help from Christine Chaffee.
“It’s good for everyone,” Grice said. “It’s good for the community, it’s good for the people who aren’t artists, and it’s also good for the artists.”
While last year’s tour featured upward of 20 artists, this year’s showcased the work of more than 40. While Grice lost count of how many people came through her studio, she estimated that the event saw more than 200 visitors throughout the weekend.
“This year was bigger and better,” Chaffee said. “There was so much more traffic. There were so many familiar faces — returning people that we had met last year showing their support again.”
Many artists reported a welcome boost in sales and said visitors packed their studios, especially on Saturday.
“There’s lots of hidden gems around Harpswell, lots of creative talent that no one really knew about. So it’s great to see it celebrated,” Chaffee said.
Artworks ranged from oil paintings and watercolors of ocean landscapes to mosaics, pottery, textiles and everything in between.
Ilia Li and Matthew Ho set up a joint display of their work at Ash Cove Pottery on Harpswell Neck, but their art couldn’t be more different.
Li, a Harpswell native, crafts unique clothing inspired by a traditional Chinese style known as Hanfu and by the beauty of nature. She never makes the same piece twice.
She uses cyanotype dyes and Chinese paper cuts to give clothing the look of blue-and-white porcelain from China. She incorporates gold detailing to mirror Japanese kintsugi, the art of repairing pottery using a gold-infused lacquer. And she uses deadstock fabric — excess material — to prioritize sustainability.
“Each piece is really like lightning in a bottle,” Li said. “It’s the immortalization of a single moment, and the emotions and movement of the human hand are never going to come out the exact same way again.”
Ho moved to Harpswell with Li a year ago after working in New York City as a corporate animator for five years. Uninspired by his career, he made the switch to become a painter after coming to Maine.
Ho makes tunnel books, an 18th-century medium inspired by theater sets. To create his books, he paints pieces of paper and layers them to give depth to the scene.
Ho’s tunnel books feature Maine landmarks such as Acadia National Park and Portland Head Light, as well as Harpswell scenes.
“Everything here is so lovely, beautiful. The scenery, the people — it can’t make me leave. I just keep wanting to paint Maine,” Ho said. “When you get one of these tunnel books, you can take a piece of Maine with you.”
The Harpswell Open Studio Tour helped Ho realize painting could be his career. He said he made about $800 on Saturday alone.
Many artists agreed the tour has been beneficial.
“We love the Open Studio Tour,” said Lee Centeno, co-owner of Meraki Gallery on Harpswell Neck. “Last year was amazing; this year is even better.”
