Join us for a reception for the December show, “Mother, Son, and Mother Earth.” by mother and son, Sonia and Alexander Turanski on Wednesday, December 10, 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. The joint show is in the Blue Hill Public Library’s Britton Gallery and Howard Room during the month of December, with Sonia is showing landscape paintings of Downeast Maine and Alexander  showing photographs of his balanced rock sculptures.

Sonia Turanski says that she has been a lifelong artist, focused early in her career on jewelry and Japanese style wood block printmaking. She has only turned to landscape painting in recent years, both plein-air and studio work, working in oils and acrylics. Schooled in abstract impressionism, Sonia later felt drawn to document the natural world, and so taught herself realistic painting through books, museums, and YouTube. About the show she says, “These paintings reflect my journey as a self-taught painter. They represent my exploration to develop a personal style and language with paint, as well as efforts to gain some understanding and mastery with the basics of perspective, lighting, and the paint medium itself.”

Alexander Turanski specializes in balanced stone sculptures, which he records with photographs which will be on display in the show. He says that he began stone balancing as a therapeutic practice, and he has discovered that a more difficult balance attempt will bring him into a deeper state of focus. He says, “Through this meditation comes a uniquely aesthetic sculpture that is special to its present moment; balancing stones is an ephemeral art that can only exist indefinitely through digital documentation.”

Every composition depicted in the photographs is composed of pure balance; there is no welding or glue involved. Some of these photographs will be accompanied by QR codes that link to videos showing parts of Alexander’s process, such as building the stack, the balance collapsing in slow motion, nature interacting with the sculpture, and in a few cases, close-up angles revealing the fragile balance points.

Both artists view their work as strongly connected to nature. In Sonia’s case, she has a drive to document the current state of the natural world and our relationship to it. Alex views his work as a way to connect himself to nature. The show will be available for viewing starting Monday, December 1. For more information, contact the library at 374-5515.