Lone damselfly
SOLD
watercolor 12"x9"
Cary Wendell is a painter, set designer, scenic and mural artist now living in central Maine. My paintings and drawings in watercolor, pastel, charcoal, ink, and acrylic shown in this website are for sale unless otherwise noted. Pricing varies typically from $50 to $400. Most Recent paintings follow the introductory section
I am also available to design theatrical sets, do mural commissions, and scenic painting. Examples of my theatrical and mural work are displayed in the latter half of this site. For inquiries or comments please contact me at:
cwendell1950@gmail.com (603) 793-0651
Cary Wendell 726 River Rd., Norridgewock, Me. 04957
Dockside on Crawford Pond
$350
watercolor
20"x16"
Reed reflections Ink on rice paper 9"x12"
$125
The cabin on Crawford Pond
$125
pastel on paper 9"x12"
Androscoggin backwater
$225
Acrylic 12"x16"
Market Square mural 36'x46'
"Largo Desolato" Generic Theater McDonough St. Studio Portsmouth, NH photo by Andrew Edgar
My junior high art teacher, Kathy Dugas Brown and my mentor at Haverford College, Charles Stegeman, were my main sources of formal painting training. After attending the Banff Centre School of Fine Arts in Alberta in the summer of 1972, I returned to Haverford as an assistant teacher of painting and drawing and post graduate student for a year. During my college days I painted mostly in oil, but since then I have been working largely in acrylics.
Acrylic Paintings
Skowhegan dam at sunset $225 16x20
Icy sunset $175 14"x18"
Norridgewock sunset $150 14"x11"
Skowhegan dam late winter $125 10x10
Coburn winter #1 $175 14"x18"
Mermaid Rock Lake George $180 12"x15" framed
Cape Elizabeth sunset $250 18"x24"
Exploded view of a tree $225 16"x20"
Mill Stream $190 16"x20"
River Road sunset $180 12"x15" framed
Overlooking the Kennebec $225 16"x20"
Coburn winter #2 $175 14"x18"
Backyard winterscape $120 10"x10"
Winter full moon $125 10"x10"
Dam on the Kennebec, Skowhegan acrylic $160 10"x10"
Autumn in Coburn Park $175 12"x16"
Full moon labyrinth North Hampton Beach $120 acrylic 10"x10"
on paper 12"x9"
End of Autumn $160
14"x11"
Heavy branches (framed) $175
14"x11"
From the garden (framed) $160
11"x14"
Spring melt (framed) SOLD
11"x14"
11"x14"
Sunset on Cape Cod Bay SOLD
11"x14"
Poppins is a spirited and standout font that takes its inspiration from handwriting. It's sure to grab your reader's attention, especially in short paragraphs.
Morning sun burning through SOLD
Rag doll rendezvous SOLD
20"x16"
Sunrise over Skowhegan $175
11"x14"
14"x11"
Mossy forest floor $160
Bowl with fruit and veggies (framed) $160
11"x14"
Next Door Neighbors NFS
8"x10"
Norridgewock fields on panel $65
8"x10"
16"x20"
Lake George Rocky bottom acrylic $120 11"x14"
Kennebec River from Coburn Park (framed) $175
10"x10"
Albert sleeping on wood $100
Dam on the Androscoggin SOLD 16"x20"
Norridgewock pasture (framed) $175
16"x20"
10"x10"
Cats in their light on wood SOLD
Truro fog (framed) $100 10"x10"
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Great Island on Crawford Pond NFS 12"x16"
Backyard blues SOLD 10"x10"
Afternoon on River Road $90 10"x10"
Blueberry fields, Rockport acrylic $180 11"x14"
Dam on the Kennebec, Skowhegan acrylic $225 16"x20"
Urban Forestry Center watercolor framed $240 12"x16"
Dam on the Kennebec Skowhegan acrylic SOLD 11"x14"
Waves at sunset acrylic $180 11"x14"
Norridgewock blizzard acrylic $220 20"x16"
Cape Cod Dunes 1 acrylic $200 16"x20"
Cape Cod Dunes 2 acrylic $200 16"x20"
Snowprints acrylic $100 10"x10"
Raindrop ripples acrylic $100 10"x10"
Cardinal acrylic SOLD 10"x10"
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Cape Cod Dunes 3 acrylic $200 20"x16"
Crawford Pond sunset 1 acrylic $200 16"x20"
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Crawford Pond sunset 2 acrylic $200 20"x16"
Crawford Pond sunset 3 acrylic $200 16"x20"
Exeter Woods acrylic $200 20"x16"
Exeter Woods abstract acrylic $200 20"x16"
Lake George early spring acrylic SOLD 11"x14"
Lake George sunny bottom acrylic $120 11"x14"
Dam on the Kennebec, Skowhegan acrylic $160 11"x14"
Ripples and lilypads watercolor on paper $110 8"x11"
waves and reeds sumi ink on paper $85 8"x 11 1/2"
Drawings in charcoal, pencil, ink
Heading 2
Clurie Bennis $75 12"x9"
The young violinist $75 12"x9"
The composer $75 12"x9"
The conductor $75 9"x12"
Ominous still life 9"x12"
Desmond sneaking a peek $75 9"x12"
Crawford Pond storm $90 9"x12"
Young Desmond $60
Iraqi mourners 1 $90
Hanging by a thread 5"x7"
Iraqi mourners 2 $90 9"x12"
Peggi napping SOLD
sumi ink on rice paper 24"x36"
Painting: early inspirations
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Creativity and a love of nature are in my family’s DNA. My grandmother, a graduate of the Art Students’ League in the 1920s, hooked rugs that featured animal life and landscape imagery. My father, a chemist by profession, loved photography and home remodeling. My mother created educational display panels that she took to schools to promote appreciation of the environment. My artistic development is the direct result of the passion for art, nature, and creativity that I grew up with.
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Painting first in watercolors and then oil, pastels, and acrylic, I have always been inspired by nature. I find myself drawn to a few themes in my painting: natural patterns such as rippling waves and reflections on water, tree branches silhouetted against the sky, clouds of a sunset, or shapes carved in sand by the ocean; the drama of the atmospheric lighting effects experienced in fog, sunrises and sunsets, or approaching storms. Many of these paintings were done from the porch or the dock of the cabin my grandmother had built on a lake in Maine.
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Pastels
(all on paper , unmatted unless otherwise noted)
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Journals on the table
NFS
​on paper 9"x12"
View through the Pines $80
9"x6"
The Green House $100
​on paper 9"x12"
Water Striders $75
on paper 6"x9"
Early Morning on Crawford Pond $100
9"x12"
Crawford sunset 1 $100
12"x9"
Striped sunset on Crawford $80
9"x6"
Damsel flies chilling (framed) $100
10"x10"
Lily Pads $80
9"x6"
Storm coming (framed) $120
9"x12"
Bright mist on Crawford $100
9"x12"
Crawford sunset 2 $100
9"x12"
Late light on Crawford SOLD
9"x12"
High water mark $90
9"x12"
Waves on the shore $90
12"x9"
Shoreline grasses $90
​on paper 9"x12"
Down to the dock $90
12"x9"
Sandra in the labyrinth North Hampton Beach NH NFS
9"x12"
I am not a vegetarian SOLD
gouache on watercolor paper 8"x12"
Crawford sunset 3 SOLD
6"x9"
Crawford sunset 4 $75
6"x9"
Kitchen Jotul $60
9"x6"
Imploded mushroom
Fallen mushroom 5 1/2"x8"
Twin mushrooms SOLD
Lone mushroom SOLD
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Remnants of autumn 5 1/2"x8"
Norridgewock Winter 2 $100 9"x12"
West Coast forest fires East Coast sun $90
12"x9"
Reeds on waves $80 on pastel board 8"x10"
Autumn on the Kennebec River (framed) $100
Provincetown dunes (framed) $200
Reeds and Lilypads on pastel board 8"x6" $85
Norridgewock Winter 1 $75
on pastel board 7"x5"
Norridgewock Winter 3 $90
12"x9"
Backyard colors $90 9"x12"
Design and Painting for the Theater; Murals
In 1981, my wife and I moved to Portsmouth, NH. In the early 80s it was hopping with creative energy. With a small group of new friends, we helped found Generic Theater, still active today. From 1981-2020, Generic Theater gave me the opportunity to act, direct plays, design and create sets. Collaborating for nearly 4 decades contributed immeasurably to my appreciation of the art of theater as well as my development as a designer. By filling multiple production roles, I became aware of the unique needs of actors and directors, that a set designer must satisfy.
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During my first 2 years in Portsmouth, I also helped found a gallery and a mural company. Market Square Murals, later Mural Works, grew out of a volunteer mural project some of the gallery members painted on a four-story, temporary, plywood wall after a partial building collapse in Market Square, Portsmouth. The mural depicted the 2 buildings behind the façade as it looked in the early 1900s. Our 4 story mural stayed in place for over a year and drew a lot of media attention. A Yankee Magazine article led to a major commission to paint images throughout Christ the King Church in Ludlow, Mass. Mural Works, remained a partnership for 11 more years, earning grants from NH and Maine Arts Commissions, as well as churches, banks, restaurants, schools, and public spaces.
Murals and scene painting
Benton Elementary School acrylic on cutout plywood pieces Mural Works
Benton Elementary School, Benton, Me. acrylic on cutout plywood pieces on 5 walls 6'x40' Mural Works
Christ the King Church Ludlow, Ma Market Square Murals
"Arcadia" painted backdrop for "Acadia" at Phillips Exeter Academy
"Lest We Forget" designed by Gordon Carlisle Mural Works 42'x100'
"Arcadia" set Phillips Exeter Academy
MLK mural acrylic on 3 panels 10'x12'
Phillips Exeter Academy
The Grotesque History of Marie Antoinette backdrop Players Ring Portsmouth, NH
"Jungle Book" scenic artist 1 of 8 backdrops each is 35' x '80' painted at Mystic Studios in Dedham, Ma for the Animal Kingdom stage at Disney World
"Heart Land" charge artist Goodspeed Opera House Chester Conn.
"The Tempest" scenic artist Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival, Cleveland, Oh
"Jungle Book" installation Animal Kingdom stage Disney World
"When You Plant a Seed" Eastern States Exhibition West Springfield Ma. Mural Works acrylic on plywood panels partial view 6'x24'
Set Design Process
In 1995 I went to grad school to pursue an MFA in Scenic Design and Technology at Ohio University, where I was awarded a full assistantship as the paint shop manager. My training culminated in an apprenticeship at Goodspeed Opera House in Connecticut, which led to me becoming the staff scenic artist for a time.
Designing sets for the theater involves collaboration with other artists. After initial discussions with the design team and active research and analysis on my own (visual, literary, and historical), I must tap into my imagination for solutions. In grad school I built a shelf that fit over a bath- tub. On it I put a candle, a small sketch pad and pencil, and card stock with scissors for modelmaking. To this day I find that long, hot soaks in a bathtub, lead to my most fruitful solutions. I listen to some relaxing instrumental music and let ideas drift in. Solutions to design or construction problems are often achieved by passively receiving them from within my imagination rather than actively grabbing for them.
Cary discussing set ideas with the NH Theatre Project design team for the 125th anniversary of the Portsmouth Music Hall
Set Designs: Graduate school, community, professional
"Measure for Measure" Ohio University
"Largo Desolato" Generic Theater McDonough St. Studio Portsmouth, NH photo Andrew Edgar
"On the Verge" Generic Theater at The Players Ring Theatre Portsmouth, NH
"Not on this Night" Dream On Productions Garrison Players Dover, NH
"Angel Street" Monomoy Theater Chatham, Mass
"Measure for Measure" preshow rave Ohio University
"12 Angry Men" Palace Theatre Manchester, NH
"Of Mice and Men" Palace Theatre Manchester, NH
"The Diary of Anne Frank" Palace Theatre Manchester, NH
"Cabaret" Seacoast Repertory Theatre Portsmouth, NH
"Life With Father" Monomoy Theater Chatham, Mass
"The Crucible" Monomoy Theater Chatham, Mass
"Annie" Seacoast Repertory Theatre Portsmouth, NH
Set Designs at Phillips Exeter Academy
IIn 1998 Phillips Exeter Academy hired me to be their first Designer/ Technical Director and teacher of Stagecraft for the Theater and Dance program. I used Michael Gillette’s Theatrical Design and Production for my classwork. Gillette describes set design as a process rather than an art form. He details the process in a flow chart that constantly cycles back to the primary question – does this solution serve the play and the production concept as defined by the director? In the educational setting where I was now working, I was able to share this process with my students and my colleagues. I believe that modelling a robust and collegial collaboration with a design team is the most important lesson I taught in my 22 years there. In addition to involving my students in the design process I also taught them in practice how to build and paint sets. They impressed themselves by building platforms and stairs that actors could actually walk on while applying faux painting techniques to make wood look like marble.
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"MacBeth"
"MacBeth" Banquo's ghost
Heading 5
"The Wizard of Oz" gates to the Emerald City
"MacBeth" witches' prophecy
"The Good Woman of Szetchuan" the tobacconist's shop
"The Good Woman of Szetchuan" the water seller's sewer
Heading 5
"The Crucible"
"Antigone"
"Twelfth Night"
"Twelfth Night" Olivia and Malvolio
The Foreigner
"The Cripple of Inishman"
"Godspell"
"Frankenstein"
"Urinetown"
"The Madwoman of Chaillot"
"The Dispute"
"Little Women"
"Lysistrata"
"Frankenstein"
"The Man Who Came to Dinner"
"The School for Wives"
My life has taken many unexpected twists and turns over the decades. Having retired from the rigors of work at Phillips Exeter Academy, I now find myself living in a beautiful area in central Maine, with more time to explore new theater opportunities and to paint. Plein air painting involves close, reverent observation of the landscape. Designing for the theater involves close collaboration with other artists. I love them both.