(Image: "Warning Call" by Rebekah Raye)

Blue Hill Artist Rebekah Raye graduated from the University of Maine, Orono with a BA in Art Education. She studied at the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Deer Isle, Maine and has worked with artists including Leonard Baskin, Alan Bray and George Grenameyer.

Raye states, “I love animals and their relationship to us and to each other. The images I paint and sculpt come from experiences I've had right here in our backyard and in East Blue Hill. I am surrounded by woods and live beside an old granite quarry. I am visited regularly by deer, fox, crows, raccoons, and occasionally a bobcat, bear, hawk and owls, and don't have to look far to see the relationships that develop between these creatures.

It doesn't seem to matter where I am, the sight of an animal calls my attention. They are consistently in my dreams and daily thoughts. It is a celebration of their lives with us that I wish to share--I am compelled to paint them, sculpt them and love them.”

When did you first realize that you were going to be an artist and when did you first start making art?
I started drawing as soon as I could use my father's colorful markers and pencils at a very young age. I loved to sit beside him and watch as if magic would happen when he started to draw. I loved to draw and never was bored. I could wait for my family of 5 children, or visit a friend and drawing was always an activity where ever there was a place to sit. I sort of thought I would be either a country singer or a veterinarian though and didn't realize until college that the career of an artist was truly the profession I wanted to pursue.

Who or what inspires you?
I am most inspired by any sight of birds, animals of all species, surprised moments seeing them from a walk in the woods,out the bedroom window, or a boat ride.

(Image: "Schooling Fish" by Rebekah Raye)

Is (was) anyone else in your family in the arts?
Shop talk is the bonding agent in our family. My father was an art director in advertising in Tennessee. He is still a practicing artist and creator of whimsical whirligigs and wonderful ink and watercolor paintings. He is also my best critic helping me to see values and contrast in my paintings. My sister is a toy designer and inventor. My mother who was a bacteriologist loves to do large abstract paintings. We all inspire each other and frequently paint together.

Are you self-trained or did you go to art school?
I always loved to entertain my friends at school, make cards for family members when I was young. I moved to Stonington and Deer Isle, Maine from Tennessee when I was a teenager and went to school at the University of Maine and received my degree in Art Education. I then went on to study the bronze foundry and landscape drawing with Allen Bray at Haystack Moutain School in Deer Isle.

Is the process of creating your art long or short?
My process is so varied. Sometimes it may be weeks or half a day or even half an hour. It could start out with a walk or run in the morning. A sighting of a snowshoe hare leaping across the path, drawing when I get home from memory. Then a painting that might follow or sculpture. More drawing and then if I am lucky and work relatively soon after the moment, I might have good luck. Then a painting that might follow or sculpture. Other days, months, or even over a year, I struggle with an idea, the ugly duckling drawings come and week long paintings that get Frisbeed across the floor, the next one I attempt is completed in an hour... and be just right.

(Image: "Sea Gull" by Rebekah Raye)

Tell us something about your work.
I think of my work as visual poems. A story sometimes, or a portrait. I try to express and share the emotion I feel for that creature, hoping others will feel it also.

Do you have a subject matter that defines you as an artist?
Some people tell me that I seem to understand that subject or (animal) and environment I am painting through spirit and character in my paintings. It is different from making the painting anatomically correct.

What makes you stay with a particular subject matter?
I am curious and want to understand these creatures in our lives that are so a part and important to us all. The more I learn, the more I love, and want to express that relationship. Why are you drawn to it? It goes very deep and is sometimes hard to explain. We are all the same and if we understand the animal kingdom, we understand ourselves better. There are personality differences with each creature like ourselves, solitary and social behaviors, fear, hunger, anger, mating rituals. It is forever of interest to me.

How do you stay motivated?
All I need to do is go for a walk. I am rewarded every time, especially at dusk. Of course living in Maine is a blessing in that way.

What have you been working on lately? Are you experimenting with anything new?
I have been trying to say more with less. I have been working with a crow feather and a goose feather from my geese, dipping the feather in ink letting the few lines say what I have learned about that subject in a painting. I follow with a thin wash of acrylic or watercolor.

(Image: "Hummingbird" by Rebekah Raye)

Has your medium changed from when you first became an artist?
Drawing with graphite, ink or brush is still and will always be the medium I cling to, my immediate response. I mix my media a bit more now, and use ink, watercolor and pastel.

What advice would you give to an artist just starting out?
I teach workshops to children and adults and I stress drawing more than anything. Drawing from what you see, developing and seeing your line character appear on the page and accepting that we all have our own style. Embrace it and love it!

What kind of comment do you despise the most when overheard at one of your openings?
Such a good question. Some people think of animals as cute and when I hear someone say my painting is cute I just want to take that painting home and change it into a teeth biting snarl. Unless of course they are referring to a piece showing animal babies from one of my children's books.

What kind of comment pleases you the most when overheard at one of your openings?
I love to hear that my works makes them happy. Comments of "ohhh powerful:, and “love that expression and direction" are also great to hear.

(Image: "Awakening" by Rebekah Raye)

How have you handled the business side of being an artist?
I am one of those lucky ones who has a husband, Ken Woisard, who is a commercial photographer. He photographs my work, frames my pieces, designs my web site and works as my business manager. Yes, I am very lucky.

Do you have any outside interests other than art?
Running is a new found sport. Swimming, hiking, rug hooking, dancing are a few of my favorite things to do.

Are you disciplined about your creative process (in other words, do you treat the process like a job, where you keep particular hours in the studio), or are you more spontaneous?
Sometimes I am very deliberate and get up to the studio earlier, more regularly and consistently. Deadlines that I have or give myself help that process. I have to mix it up with drawing and painting and then carving in wood for a 3D feeling of the same subject. Sometimes I procrastinate and even vacuum or find any excuse before going up to the studio. The one thing is true, when I finally get up into the studio, on the second floor of my house, I stay focused for a long period of time, at least several hours. No phone calls or email, just music and my materials.

(Image: "Crow" by Rebekah Raye)

How would your life change if you were no longer allowed to create art?
I think I would find a way to express myself through storytelling or poetry.

What's the best part of being a full time, working artist?
I have the best job that I know and that I love. I get to work hours on a piece, almost like creating my own Pinnochio, making something for someone. I have the same feeling that I had as a child when I would make cards for the family.

What's the worst part of being a full time, working artist?
Some days are exhausting, physically challenging with back aching, frustrating work. You just have to keep on working through to the other side. The inner peace does come out after a large body of work is completed. The end result will be something that feels just right. It's nice to have the exhilaration and happiness after such an accomplishment.

Where can we find your work?
Most of the recent work can be seen on my website, rebekahraye.com.

- Brenda Bonneville, editor

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