Joanna Logue's studio stands beside a wood-flanked road on the northern tip of Mount Desert Island in Maine – a tall, white clapboard barn, sitting in thick snow. It was February, and Joanna had begun the series of paintings which were to form the current exhibition, the start of a six-month period of self-imposed isolation, painting, walking and finding inspiration in the landscape and the poems of Mary Oliver and the writings of the environmentalist, Wendel Berry. The winter months mean long days in the studio, but when the weather improves Joanna heads off to the wilderness, following the ski routes along the coast or the hiking trails that cover nearby Acadia National Park occupying much of the south of the island. Mount Desert Island has been the year-round home for Joanna Logue for the past six years, during which time she has determinedly immersed herself in the complex and intricate landscape of this part of the Maine coast, its waterways, marshes and creeks, as well as the dramatic seasonal changes which dictate every aspect of life here.
