Monkitree, located at 263 Water St. in Gardiner, presents “Plein Ayuh: The Creative Realism of Ken Carlson,” opening Friday and running through Jan. 9.
Carlson, who drew editorial cartoons for the Kennebec Journal from 1985 to 2002, used his experience as an illustrator and cartoonist to create his painting style. Carlson takes a familiar landscape and offers something surprising. He often works en plein air and frees himself to play with a landscape he is familiar with, adding elements, skewing perspective tilting structures. He also enjoyed watercolor painting on and off through the years.
“I took my first workshop with Tony van Hasselt, then the fun began and I started painting plein air, or as I like to say, “plein ayuh,” Carlson said in a press release about the exhibit.
The opening reception will be held on Friday at the gallery. He will also be present during Artwalk Gardiner from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Dec. 4.
Admission is free and open to the public.
For more information, go to monkitree.com.
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