three artists explore their environments in South Berwick

A harvest moon split by window panes in the middle of the night inspired Judith Heller Cassell to create four woodcut prints in a series she calls “Blood Stained.” The dark, mostly black woodcuts of tree silhouettes with hints of a full, reddish moon are both scary and striking. 

“I wanted them to appear unsettling because that’s how I felt,” said Cassell. “It’s more about how I feel than what I see.”

Cassell, a New Hampshire Art Association member from Rochester, is showing her work in the fall exhibit at Emporium Framing and Gallery in South Berwick, Maine, through Nov. 15, along with Meghan Samson, of Barrington, and Suzanne Pretty, of Farmington. The three artists express a connection to nature in different ways.

“In my etchings and woodcuts, I attempt to capture this haunting, melancholy spirit, and my work usually reflects the darker side of life,” Cassell said. “My landscapes are a journey through desecrated Earth or hiding places for the soul. I am consumed by the passion to record the visions that haunt my being.”

Other woodcuts that Cassell is showing are also dark, but more visually than emotionally. The four large prints in a “Bamboo Study” series are the same except for the colors, which represent the different seasons. “Winter Watch” is a large square woodcut with layers of branches printed on paper with natural elements. Four etchings also have a somber look in black and white, but the subjects are lighter, including flowers.

“I always radiate toward the environment and nature,” said Cassell. “I try to capture the mystery I feel in the garden and the woods.”

The only sculptured piece in the exhibit hangs above the frame shop counter. Material resembling stiff animal hide is stitched on circle frames like tambourines hanging from a bamboo stick. Each has the tree pattern that is prevalent in Cassell’s work. She appropriately calls it “Broken,” since some of the surfaces are purposely cracked.

Her collographs have a surprising texture and pattern that can confuse the eye like television static up close, but are soothing from afar, with subtle purple and gold. With names like “Tsunami” and “Only the Dead Have Seen the End of War,” these are particularly stirring.

Four of Samson’s monoprints in a series called “Rooted in Rocks” are on display at the gallery. The title is meant to suggest constant change, although the artist is standing still. “These drawings are deeply personal, yet speak of things we can all recognize,” she said in a press release.

The intimate drawings are on the delicate, stained paper of unfolded teabags and are primarily black ink with touches of color. In “Purple Mountain,” there appears to be an imprint of a leaf on the paper. They almost look like primitive drawings on old, discolored paper. They are especially appealing in the set of four, all framed the same. 

“As a clay artist primarily, I have a deep rooted connection with the Earth,” Samson said. “My relationship with the Earth is what compels me to create.” 

The fall exhibit is complemented by a colorful selection of artisan pottery, including work from Robert Roux, Brenda Hess-McAskill, and Robert Rossell.

With her paper weavings, Suzanne Pretty pieces together a fracturing landscape. The strips of paper that make up her work are numbered in pencil at the end, giving insight into how she creates. The weaved paper has an interesting visual effect that draws viewers into a vantage point where they can see the quality of the gouache paintings on the paper, as well. 

Pretty visualizes the conflict between technology and the natural environment by combining images of man-made structures and wildlife. In “Salt Pile,” perhaps the best of the three on display, construction equipment on the Great Bay overlaps a detail of a fish. Her sentiments speak a little more loudly in “Weaving through the Landscape,” which has the words “ribbons of highways bisect the landscape” repeatedly in the background.

Emporium Framing and Gallery, 261 Main St., South Berwick, Maine, is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information, call 207-384-5963.