Maine Artist Tom Curry
May 5, 2023
Tom Curry has made a career out of painting a single island off the coast of Maine.
Text by Nathaniel Reade
Tom Curryâs studio in Brooklin, Maine, looks out at Eggemoggin Reach, where lies an uninhabited island that has fascinated him for twenty-six years. âMost artists go through a lot of transitions in their lives,â Curry says. âThey donât stay with one thing. But I admit that since 1997 I have been staying with one thing: that island.â
An accomplished landscape artist in both pastel and oil, Curryâs work hangs in museums, investment firms, galleriesâeven the offices of the Boston Red Sox. He loves and teaches plein air painting, but when he moved to Maine, the weather had other ideas. âMy first year here I was in a snowmobile suit pretty much all winter,â Curry remembers. âI thought I could paint outside. Iâd set up my easel in a snowbank. The paint turns to honey, your fingers get numb, itâs hard to pick things up. People would drive by thinking, âWhoâs that idiot?â â
So he moved into his studio, and began to focus on twelve-acre Chatto Island. âMy wife worked full time, I was feeling kind of alone, and the island was a perfect symbol of that,â he says. He also found it intriguingly terrifying. Curry liked sports in his youth, but after a few bad experiences, he realized swimming wasnât one of them. All that ocean around the island reminded him of his fears. âIn fifty-degree water you have a 50 percent chance of surviving for fifty minutes,â he says. âIsnât that wild? I think painting the island helped me get over my fear. I thought, maybe I can fall in love with it.â
And his paintings of Chatto arenât just about the island; theyâre about the natural world around it, and his love of its constant change. âWhen I go to a beautiful place outside,â he says, âI get the sense that Iâm not alone. Itâs like a cathedral.â
As for his island obsession, he doesnât think itâs going to fade anytime soon. âYouâd think Iâd get over that island by now,â Curry says. âMy friends ask me, âWhy donât you take a barge out there and paint the other side?â Or, âThere are 4,619 islands in Maine. Canât you pick another one?â
âBut this is a talisman,â he says. âItâs like home turf.â
Editor’s Note: Tom Curry is represented by various galleries in Maine. His work is also on display at Thos. Moser in Freeport, Maine, thosmoser.com. For a complete list of galleries and to see more of his work, visit tomcurrymaineartist.com.
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