My neighborhood. Your neighborhood.
I can do something a computer can’t do. Slow down. Watch me paint.
Portland, Maine
In Portland, where the sea breeze meets the street, An artist with watercolors takes a seat. Amidst the urban flow, the passerby find, A pause from mundane days, a moment unlined.
With brush and palette, she crafts each scene, Architectural beauty in colors serene. Strangers stop and chat, curious and free, Sharing thoughts on art and what they see.
In the midst of the city's ceaseless array, An artist's presence adds a different display. Through her strokes and hues, life unfolds, A shared connection, as time quietly molds.
Erin McGee Ferrell & AI
Portland Pop Up Highway Underpass Art Show. October 4, 2023
Pop-up gallery in an underpass is a birthday surprise from an artist to us!
Did you see the paintings on Veranda Street?
PORTLAND, Maine —
How would you choose to spend your birthday? Well, for Erin McGee Ferrell, she decided to make everyone's day a little bit brighter.
"It's kind of putting art in places where people don't expect it," Ferrell said when asked why she put her pop-up in an underpass.
Ferrell is an artist. She's been painting since she was a child. While she's had traditional gallery showings in the past, on Wednesday, Oct. 4, she decided to do something spontaneous.
"Every time I'm waiting at this light, I always think I would love to see big paintings. Why don't I stick my paintings on here for a day and see what happens?" Ferrell said.
With the help of her husband, she set up shop early this morning in the underpass at the Falmouth-Portland border. She displayed half a dozen 6-foot paintings. Each one is a memorable moment or a loved one.
"'I've got paintings that I have done of my daughter in quarantine.been wearing her prom dress. ... I've got my daughter and her fiancé moving to Chicago." Ferrell said.
She's survived breast cancer, she's also a professor at UNE and on her birthday this year, she decided to bring her art, her story, to everyone, and they didn't even have to leave their cars.
"Why should I ask these hundreds of people to come to an art show that I'm having, whereas I can bring my art and my active art-making experience to them while they're feeling like they're wasting time waiting for a red light," Ferrell said.
Ferrell said the plan is to go even bigger for her next installation.
September 7, 2023. Marginal Way Blvd, Portland, Maine.
22 x 30 inches. Watercolor and Wax on Handmade Rough Texture Paper
Two artists, you and Gary, stood there, By the highway, asphalt, and tents, aware. Watercolors on canvas, capturing transient souls, Observing, witnessing, the stories it unfolds.
No need for rhymes, just plain and true, In your art, a snapshot of life, they knew. Amidst the highway's constant drone, You painted a world, a community unknown.
Erin McGee Ferrell & AI
