Southport Memorial Library welcomes West Harbor-based artist Hilary Bartlett as its Artist of the Month in March and April.  

Bartlett is an endlessly fascinating scientist-artist – literally and figuratively: She holds a doctorate in phytoplankton physiology and biochemistry. She came to Midcoast Maine from Liverpool, England in her late 20s to determine a predictive index for toxic red tides while working for Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences. She intended to return to Liverpool, but as she says, “Boothbay Harbor bewitched me.” 

Bartlett changed careers following the birth of her daughter and started a home-based art business. Her art covers a broad range of subjects in soft swirls of watercolor to bold swaths of highly textured acrylic inks. While some of the work is representational, she also likes to paint intuitively.

“Ink paintings are produced by squirting colors under resistant material such as leaves, Saran wrap or cheesecloth arranged on paper,” shared Bartlett. “Plastic is spread over the surface and weighted down for a few days, after which extraneous material is removed. The printed surface is viewed to search for a composition — positive images are developed with brushes. Some pieces evolve into underwater scenes that reflect my marine biology background. Others depict enchanted realms inspired by my mother’s fairy tales.”

Hilary Bartlett’s work has been exhibited in galleries and art centers in Maine; her ink paintings have won awards at Maine Art Gallery, Wiscasset; the Portland Sidewalk Show and American Women Artists’ Show in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

To purchase one of the paintings in this show, contact the artist at 207-449-6847 or hilary.e.bartlett@gmail.com. Hilary Bartlett is also an author. Her first book, “The Thistle Inn - A Wee Bit Of Scotland in Maine” was published in 2020. A second book, and the subject is mushrooms ... shhh! don’t tell anybody, should arrive in bookstores this year.

Southport Memorial Library is at 1032 Hendricks Hill Road on Southport Island. Library hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday with evening hours on Thursday from 6-8. For more information, visithttps://www.southportlibrary.org.