PORTLAND PRESS HERALD, SEPTEMBER 11, 2011

Special to the Maine Sunday Telegram

Galleries for Viewing as Well as Buying (excerpt)
by Jennifer Brewer

Southern Maine has long been a mecca for lovers and collectors of fine art. Most of York County's coastal towns have at least one art gallery, and the Kennebunks and Ogunquit have dozens, often within walking distance of one another.

Tracey Sharpe, who opened The Sharpe Gallery in Kennebunk Lower Village this year, also welcomes the non-buying public. "I want people to feel comfortable just coming in, relaxing and looking. There can never be too much appreciation of art," she says.

Sharpe notes that, possibly because her gallery is next to a toy store and an ice cream shop, she gets many visits from parents with their children, whose preferences she enjoys observing. "They tend to be attracted to abstract works," she says, which she attributes to their unfettered imagination. "As adults we like to label everything. (But) with abstract pieces, every time you look you see something different."

If looking should become buying, gallery owners have a wealth of knowledge to share, starting with assurance that original art doesn't always come with a hefty price tag. "You can buy a painting that fits your budget," says Sharpe. "Less expensive doesn't necessarily mean less valuable -- it might be a smaller piece or one by an emerging artist. As artists become established, their work becomes more coveted and prices go up. It's supply and demand."

TOURIST NEWS, AUGUST 11, 2011
Sharpe Gallery In Kennebunk Lower Village Will Host Grand Opening
by Jennifer Brewer

The Sharpe Gallery, in Kennebunk Lower Village, will hold its Grand Opening on Saturday, August 13. Created just a few months ago, the gallery represents a realized dream for owner Tracey Sharpe.

“My initial desire when I was young was to be an artist,” she says. Her career took a different turn, to the financial arena, but she never lost her enthusiasm for art. “When I visit a museum or gallery, I have a sense of awe. I’m captivated when I look at fine art,” Sharpe says.

Sharpe brings her personal perspective and appreciation to the gallery’s artwork. Each piece, whatever its genre or theme, is chosen because it strikes a chord with her. She’s particularly attracted to abstract art, finding it fascinating to contemplate what the artist might have perceived and hoped to convey during the creative process. Even the gallery’s more-representational works seem to reflect this affection for originality and often, subtlety of artistic vision.

For example, Kathleen Perelka’s pastels depict the much-painted Maine seacoast and countryside but with a vividness less typically seen. “I like her bright and deep colors,” says Sharpe. In Perelka’s Hay Bale Conversations, “The way she uses intense blues for shading the trees is just remarkable.”

The Sharpe Gallery opened on Memorial Day weekend with just four artists; already the selection has expanded to include works by 11 artists, ranging in style from Sheila Barbone’s impressionistic seascapes, painted in oils with luxuriant brushstrokes and pink-tinged skies, to Cindy A. Anderson’s emotion-rich figures painted in acrylic on wood, to Linda Murray’s dramatic nature-inspired abstracts in watercolor, acrylic and gouache.

The works are displayed in a gallery with an abundance of natural light and airiness that belie its small size, only 507 square feet. Sharpe chose the space for these qualities and for the character of its architectural shape, with two main areas, pillars and a downstairs entryway opening up into the light-and-color-filled room.

As the gallery develops, it’s important to Sharpe to keep it fresh, so that repeat visitors will always see something new. She plans to continue featuring a wide variety of works, including some that “may be unexpected for Kennebunkport,” she says. “I’m willing to take a risk, by choosing art that you might expect to see in New York or Paris. My goal is to find amazing artists who are painting on the edge.”

She feels fresh awe each time she discovers a new, compelling artwork, and spending time surrounded by art all the time,” she says. “When you see a new work of art, you get the same feeling as when you’re falling in love and just want to stare and stare.”