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damsel fly on reed watercolor cropped.jpg
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
Market Square mural                                36'x46'
The cabin on Crawford Pond
$125
pastel on paper 9"x12"
Androscoggin backwater
$225
Acrylic  12"x16"
"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. 

  7    New  Paintings from  '23

                                             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.

​

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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Houston Falls                              $200                                          14"x18"
Race Point  Cape Cod        24x18                     $250
Yarmouth marsh               11x14                            $160
Yarmouth tide       10x10          $ POR
Desmond           10x10                  NFS
Yarmouth pier                                14x18                                        $175
Desmond in his light                         14x18                                    NFS

Acrylic Paintings

on paper 12"x9"
End of Autumn          $160
14"x11"
Heavy branches     (framed)        $175
14"x11"
Skowhegan dam at sunset                           $225                                       16x20
From the garden        (framed)                $160
11"x14"
Albert            $120                  10x10  
Spring Thaw acrylic.jpg
Spring melt               (framed)            SOLD
Icy sunset                                    $175                                   14"x18"
Peaches in suitcase_edited_edited.jpg
Peaches on vacation                   SOLD
Norridgewock sunset     $150   14"x11"
Coburn winter #1                  $175                                14"x18"
Cape Elizabeth.jpg
Cape Elizabeth sunset             $250                                         18"x24"
Exploded view of a tree             $225                       16"x20"
  Skowhegan dam late winter       $125     10x10
Mermaid Rock Lake George         $180     12"x15" framed 
River Road sunset          $180                 12"x15" framed
Mill Stream                        $190                                     16"x20"
Backyard winterscape   $120        10"x10"
Dam on the Kennebec, Skowhegan  acrylic            $160             10"x10"
Autumn in Coburn Park            $175                             12"x16"
Overlooking the Kennebec       $225                       16"x20"
Coburn winter #2                  $175                              14"x18"    
Winter full moon        $125             10"x10"
Full moon labyrinth North Hampton Beach      $120       acrylic      10"x10"

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
11"x14"
Rag doll rendezvous             SOLD
20"x16"
Sunset on Cape Cod Bay              SOLD
11"x14"
Sunrise over Skowhegan               $175
11"x14"
Bowl with fruit and veggies     (framed)        $160
11"x14"
14"x11"
Mossy forest floor         $160
Kennebec River from Coburn Park             16x20                                      $220
16"x20"
Next Door Neighbors  NFS
8"x10"
Norridgewock fields   on panel                 $65
8"x10"
Lake George     Rocky bottom     acrylic      $120      11"x14"
Dam on the Androscoggin               SOLD                                                 16"x20"
10"x10"
Cats in their light    on wood SOLD
Norridgewock pasture           (framed)                              $175
16"x20"
Truro fog    (framed)   $100  10"x10"
Heading 5
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 painting 2.jpg
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 painting cropped.jpg
Snowprints     acrylic   $100    10"x10"
Raindrop ripples   acrylic  $100   10"x10"
Cardinal      acrylic   SOLD     10"x10"
Heading 5
Cape Cod Dunes 3     acrylic     $200     20"x16"
Crawford Pond sunset 1        acrylic        $200        16"x20"
Heading 5
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"
Still life with skull.jpg
Ominous still life                                                            9"x12"
Desmond sneaking a peek                      $75                   9"x12"
Crawford Pond storm                          $90                      9"x12"
Young Desmond      $60  
Hanging by a thread           5"x7"
Iraqi mourners 1           $90
Iraqi mourners 2                            $90                              9"x12"
Peggi napping                                                                SOLD
sumi ink on rice paper    24"x36"

Pastels: on paper unless otherwise noted

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

  2 New murals in 2023: Emery Square, Norridgewock, Me.

Emery Square mural                   8'x16'                        Norridgewock, Me
Christ the King.jpg
Christ the King Church    Ludlow, Ma Market Square Murals
Rail Trail mural    4'x8'      Norridgewock , Me.
Benton Elementary School,  Benton, Me.      acrylic on cutout plywood pieces  on 5 walls       6'x40'           Mural Works
Benton Elementary School           acrylic on cutout plywood pieces                   Mural Works
"Lest We Forget"  designed by Gordon Carlisle    Mural Works 42'x100'
"Arcadia"  painted backdrop for "Acadia" at Phillips Exeter Academy
"Arcadia"   set      Phillips Exeter Academy
better mlk.jpg
"Heart Land"     charge artist      Goodspeed Opera House Chester Conn.
"The Tempest"       scenic artist           Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival, Cleveland, Oh
MLK mural  acrylic on 3 panels                       10'x12'
Phillips Exeter Academy
"Jungle Book"       scenic artist       backdrop (1 of 8)  35' x '80'  Mystic Studios, Dedham, Ma.             Animal Kingdom stage at Disney World 
"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'
The Grotesque History of Marie Antoinette   backdrop   Players Ring    Portsmouth, NH

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.

Heading 5
"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"
12th Night.jpeg
"Twelfth Night"
"Twelfth Night"          Olivia and Malvolio
The Foreigner
"The Cripple of Inishman"
"Godspell"
"Frankenstein"
Urinetown hideout.JPG
"Urinetown"
"The Madwoman of Chaillot"
The Dispute.jpg
"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.

Cary Wendell

Contact: cwendell1950@gmail.com          cell: (603) 793-0651               726 River Rd., Norridgewock, Me. 04957
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