I've always found Wiscasset’s Maine Art Gallery to be a most charming gallery always exhibiting work that attracts, intrigues, and inspires many a delightful imaginative tales for viewers. It’s why we go to art galleries, right? To leave our own lives and the stresses of the world at the door and let our minds wander ...ahhh, freedom!

The current show, “Made In Maine Member’s Show” is the gallery’s final of the season and is on exhibit through Oct. 18. The two floors will occupy the better part of a morning or afternoon...

The first painting that drew me in was a sketch by Jan Arabas, who, by-the-way is showing some of her printwork at Skidompha’s Secondhand Bookstore this weekend, entitled, “Elen of The Ways.” My pagan heart immediately embraced her as a goddess of nature, but not one I was familiar with. Her gaze is solely focused on the young deer she has wrapped in a protective embrace… but is it protective? I puzzled over this for quite a while. Was the deer a sacred animal? Even so, this wouldn’t make him off limits as far as food or clothing needs went, would it? Like the Native Americans who hunted the buffalo or bison, the people of the time frame depicted by these two figures most likely revered the deer as well and treated them with reverence and respect. I vowed to find out more about Elen. (PS – she’s believed to be England’s most ancient of goddesses dating back to the Old Stone Age! And…she is protector of the land and all within it...especially deer. I also found a website with more of Jan’s work that included another Elen, but older with a deer calf.)

Not knowing how much time I had spent with Jan’s piece I realized it was time to move on!

Holly Berry’s “Along the River” could be an illustration in a fantasy book. All greens and black with a touch of blue patches of sky. A wood and river bank after a storm, or perhaps a microburst? One tree near the water has been split, almost in half. Its reflection, and that of the other trees and shrubs next to and behind the split tree are sometimes different than the ones actually there. Or, perhaps it is a trick of the eye. I left this one with a wry smile.

“Lobster Boat on Deer Isle,” by Roy Smith. I came back to this one a few times. The broken lobster boat crashed onto rocks...the cracks within the rocks are mirrored in the rotting wood of the vessel. And yet, the image is teeming with life – the water laps against the shore, gulls flying above...the past in the present...And isn’t it always?

Irene Plummer’s “Nocturne.” Entering this painting is difficult from the start: indigo-colored branches of long dead trees prevent passage, indeed even a view, to what lies beyond, in the light. It’s almost like a scene from a fairy tale, a cursed location from which there is no escape. I am always intrigued by paintings similar to this one, hinting at something hidden from view. There is a lot of darkness created by color choices and the atmosphere within the scene. Beyond, there is light, but even within it there is a sense of foreboding...What happened here? (Insert sigh) And, on the far right edge of the piece, not quite halfway up, there appears to be a nude figure? Is the world within this painting his or her Room 101? Only Irene knows for sure. Great fun, this one.

Other pieces that captured my attention: “Beach Roses” – by Charlie Newton, “PermaFrost” by Elizabeth Campbell, “Spring Becoming Summer” by Christine G. Aston, “Water Street, Lubec” – photograph, by Mark Burnette, “Memorys Stone” by Linda “Quinn” Williams, and “Close Up of Cathance River Bowdoinham” by Jane Page Conway.

Now it’s your turn to get on over to the Maine Art Gallery and set your imagination free. Head over to 15 Warren St. in Wiscasset Thursday – Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. And, for more information, visit https://www.maineartgallerywiscasset.org/