"Maine, Island Time" Art Reception and Book Talk

Art Reception and Book Talk July 1 with Michael Weymouth and Elizabeth Garber

Michael Weymouth and Elizabeth Garber have teamed up to produce a gorgeous new book about Penobscot Bay, Maine (Island Time). Weymouth painted the striking watercolors for the book and Garber’s poetry and text accompany the artwork. Both the paintings and the poetry, as well as the published book, will be on display in the Camden Public Library’s Picker Room for the month of July. The book recently won the 2014 Maine Literary Award for Excellence in Publishing. Weymouth and Garber will celebrate the book and the exhibit with a gallery opening and art talk at the library on Tuesday, July 1. The opening will be at 6:00 pm and the book talk at 7:00 pm.

Maine (Island Time) portrays Maine’s Penobscot Bay region with photographs, paintings, poetry, and interviews. For the five million visitors who pass through Maine’s Penobscot Bay region each year, few get to experience the mystique of the island that pepper the Bay or to visit the people who inhabit the islands. This exhibit and book of paintings, photographs, and poems takes the reader on that journey and shines a light on this remarkable region of Maine.

You’ll be taken on a sailing journey around the Bay through Michael Weymouth’s watercolors, oil paintings, and photographs, including Great Spruce Head Island, the summer home of artist Fairfield Porter and his brother, photographer Eliot Porter, whose book Summer Island depicted life on the Porter family island. Michael also followed humbly in the footsteps of artist giants such as Robert Henri, George Bellows, and Edward Hopper in his visit to Monhegan Island.

Carl Little writes about the book, “The focusing of the lens and carving of words sail us out beyond our known world. Add some dazzling paintings and photographs and you have this remarkable collaboration: poet, artist and the timeless island of Penobscot Bay.”

Elizabeth Garber’s poems transport you to waking up in the Great Spruce Head Island Big House, as it is called today, for an early morning swim and to evening conversations around a crackling spruce fire, as well as to the nooks and crannies of the island to experience its many natural wonders. Elizabeth W. Garber has lived in Maine for thirty years. Her poetry describes rural life in Maine: True Affections: Poems from a Small Town (2012), Listening Inside the Dance (2005) and Pierced by the Seasons(2004). Three of her poems have been read by Garrison Keillor on The Writer’s Almanac and her poem “Feasting” was included in his Good Poems for Hard Times. She was the 2006 Belfast Poet Laureate.

Michael Weymouth was born and raised in Maine. He presently presides over a 30-person branding design firm with offices in Boston and San Francisco but retains very firm Maine roots. Even though painting was part of his DNA from the beginning he placed it on the back burner for over forty years as he pursued a design and photography career. This book is a return to his first love. Michael lives in Hingham, Massachusetts with his wife Peggy.

Poetry Reading at the Blue Hill Library

Blue Hill, Maine - Poets Elizabeth Garber of Belfast and Thomas R. Moore of Brooksville will read from their new books at the Blue Hill Public Library on Thursday November 29th at 7:00 PM.

In True Affections: Poems from a Small Town Elizabeth Garber’s long-awaited third collection of poems continues her exploration of a life well-lived in Maine. The poems “delve into the precarious nature of our time and how necessary it is to love who and what we love, fearlessly.” Many of Garber’s poems are grounded in distinctive Maine moments in towns and on islands, and capture a variety of voices.

Elizabeth W. Garber's previous books of poetry are Listening Inside the Dance (2005) and Pierced by the Seasons (2004) and a chapbook The Mayor and Other Stories of Small Town Life (2007). Three of her poems have been read by Garrison Keillor on The Writer’s Almanac. She is currently working on two memoirs, The Architect's Daughter and A Last Great Love.

Thomas R. Moore's second book of poems, Chet Sawing, was just published this month. His first book, The Bolt-Cutters, published by Fort Hemlock Press in November 2010, was one of three Finalists in the 2011 Maine Writers and Publishers Competition. Two poems from The Bolt-Cutters were featured on Garrison Keillor’s Writer’s Almanac in January 2011, and two are 2012 Pushcart nominees. His poem “Calving in Te Awamutu” won first prize in the Naugatuck River Review's 2010 narrative poetry contest, and his poem “Chet Sawing” won the 2011 Maine Postmark Poetry Contest. Moore taught English for 40 years in Iran, Turkey, Mali, and the United States. He lives in Brooksville.

 Books will be available for sale and signing. For more information, call the Library at 374-5515.