We are thrilled to collaborate with the Artists Association of Nantucket this year to feature their talented artist members. The AAN is a non-profit organization supporting Nantucket artists, providing educational programs in the arts, and preserving the legacy of Nantucket artists. Visit their website, their gallery at 19 Washington Street, their studio at 24 Amelia Drive, or give them a call at (508) 228-0294.
For the month of March we’d like to feature one of their longtime artist members and Nantucket native, Mary Ellen Castle.
Mary Ellen Castle Biography
“Nantucket Island is my home and the primary inspiration for my art. I walk the undeveloped moors, fields, marshes and beaches, observing the wildflowers, birds, and other animals on this land, once inhabited by the Wampanoag people. I also wander Nantucket town and the village of Sconset, drawn to the centuries-old, Quaker-grey houses, with their salt-box shapes and patterns of shingles, many-paned windows, picket fences, and brick chimneys and sidewalks, so colorfully and exuberantly adorned with roses and hydrangeas.
I was born and raised on Nantucket over fifty years ago and have lived here most of my life. These wild places and architectural relics, as well as where the two intersect, are as inseparable a part of myself as my dedication to painting them.
I attribute both my origin and identity as an artist to my first art teacher, Paul C. Morris Jr., who taught the fundamentals of drawing and color in the weekly art classes I attended in grammar school at Academy Hill. His instruction and the confidence he gave me still echo in my ear when I paint.
To start each watercolor or acrylic painting, I retreat to the corner of my house that I have claimed as my studio. I look through the hundreds of photos I have taken, as well as my sketches. I start a preliminary drawing with pencil on paper, with attention to perspective, proportion, value, line and form to finalize a composition. With color theory in mind, I mix my colors of the island’s land, sea, and sky. Laying down washes and making marks with my brushes transports me to not only the season and location of my subject, but deep into Nantucket’s past, to my own past, my story. The painting that results is an invitation to the viewer to connect to a time and place on Nantucket that is part of their own story.”
Where to Find More of Mary Ellen’s Work
Mary Ellen is represented by the Artists Association of Nantucket and shows her work at AAN’s galleries.