Notable artists everywhere, passing you while you’re on your daily errand runs; that’s one of the joys of living in Ogunquit. Painters. Photographers. Sculptors. Writers. Theatre. More. Even those who don’t call Ogunquit home all seem to find their way to our beautiful place by the sea for a visit at one time or another.
But today I want to talk about one of our most acclaimed resident artists: Michael Palmer.
Ogunquit, Maine Artist: Michael Palmer
Almost every single day, accomplished Ogunquit artist (and fellow Ogunquit Art Association | Barn Gallery artist member) Michael Palmer walks directly past the front door of my home, located on the Perkins Cove end of Shore Road.
I usually shout out a “Hello, Mr. Palmer!” and throw him a quick wave.
I don’t know exactly where he’s heading. Making his daily rounds in Ogunquit, I suppose. But he’s a fast walker — and, in this traffic-packed tourist town, walking is often the quickest way to get where you’re heading, anyway. PLUS you do tend to SEE much more when you walk. Many of the artists I know have a passion for seeing.
And as one of the senior members of the Ogunquit Art Association (Maine’s Original Artists’ Group | est. 1928), when it comes to the local art scene, Palmer has seen more than his own fair share.
“It was the Ogunquit Art Association that launched my career.”
Ogunquit Artist, Michael Palmer
About Ogunquit Artist Michael Palmer
Born in 1942, Palmer is a native of Kentucky.
“I was born into a military family,” states Palmer, “so I’ve lived all over this country and a few overseas places.“
Palmer arrived in New England, via Atlanta, during the mid 1960’s when he headed to Durham as a grad student to study with University of New Hampshire professor (and painter), John Hatch.
“I planned to stay only for a year, and go back to Atlanta,” Palmer says. “But never did.“
Around this same time, Palmer also became acquainted with celebrated Ogunquit artist (and Perkins Cove resident) John Laurent, who was a painting instructor at UNH and a member of the prestigious Ogunquit Art Association (OAA).
“I was only 24 when I came to Ogunquit,” states Palmer. “I learned about the OAA, this group of artists exhibiting at Barn Gallery, many with national and international reputations. It was intimidating, but I looked into applying for membership in 1968. And then, in the summer of 1969, I somehow got accepted into the OAA. You could have knocked me over.“
“It was the OAA that launched my career,” continues Palmer. “All of my early exhibiting connections came from there.“
And once Palmer’s career was launched, it just kept going.
Palmer’s paintings are in the permanent public collections of the Seattle Museum of Art, the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, the DeCordova Museum of Art in Lincoln, MA; Colby College in Waterville, ME; the University of Georgia, the University of Maine and the Ogunquit Museum of Art in Maine. Private collections that include his work include Aetna Insurance Company; Bristol Myers Squibb, Searle Pharmaceuticals, Hartford Life, The Rockefeller family’s and William & Gertrude Mellon’s. Additionally, he is listed in “Who’s Who in Art” and has exhibited in many museums and fine art galleries throughout the United States and Canada.
Palmer is also a former gallery owner, having opened (with a partner) the highly-respected PS Galleries located in Ogunquit, Maine and Dallas, Texas.
During openings at Barn Gallery, I often see Palmer in a corner of the room sharing his valuable experience with other OAA artists, and always hitting his most important advice: get your work seen.
“I advise all artists, if they are serious, to work constantly and show their work anywhere they can; whether it’s galleries, or alternative spaces like stores and restaurants,” states Palmer. “I’m very strong on artists showing as widely geographically as possible. You need to get your work seen.“
Michael Palmer’s Elevated Perspective
Through the years, we all had seen the rare photograph of a place we love taken from a plane.
Then, at some point, consumer drones entered the marketplace. The real estate marketing industry was an early adopter, and we’re now at a point where most mid-to-high level homes being listed appear online with slick aerial videography.
Then we saw the emergence of 4K HD travel videos on YouTube. All of your favorite corners of the earth, caught in impeccable sunset glory, capturing millions upon millions of views.
More recently, you see increasing numbers of landscape and fine art photographers reach out to grab a little of the action, obtain their Remote Pilot Certificates, fire up their DJI Mavic drones, and capture still photos of their favorite geography as seen from above.
But before the rest of us ever entered into the full-blown modern drone era, artist Michael Palmer was there ahead of us with his elevated perspective.
While Palmer may have started his career and built his early reputation with an abundance of figurative work; somewhere along the line his artistic explorations resulted in an evolution towards landscape and architecturally oriented renderings, slightly bordering on abstraction — and almost always from a bird’s eye view.
Now that the whole world is busy at work capturing videos and images from sky-born drones, the direction in which Palmer took his work feels prescient. He arrived there and focused on it ahead of us. And even now that the world has caught up, his work still brings something original to the god’s eye view. Though they tend to emphasize form and design, while easing away from any assertive sense of narrative, these paintings still find ways to speak with a loud voice. Even in a gallery full of work by other artists, or a group exhibition, Palmer’s work pulls at the eye, compels you to single it out, focus on it, approach it, consider it.
Palmer’s systematic combination of paint and detailed ink drawings endows his works with an intriguing depth and texture.
Colors. Shapes. Familiarity. Geometry. Contrast. Fiction. Ogunquit and Key West are the inspirations for his imaginary bird’s eye views of towns, country and people going about their everyday lives. But these places he’s showing us, while inspired by real locales, are worlds unto themselves. Landscapes. Harbors. Fields. Rivers. Pastures. Oceans. Dotted with floating boats, tops of houses, Google Maps style roads. Fictional settings built from recognizable and eye-pleasing forms. Aesthetic topographies hinting at beloved destinations, where we can imagine ourselves watching time fly while surrounded by delicious hues.
Artist Michael Palmer’s Key West Work
I run into Michael Palmer down in South Florida from time to time during the winter months – often at Gingerbread Square Gallery on Duval Street which represents his work.
Gingerbread Square Gallery is Key West’s oldest and most respected private art gallery – and they also happen to represent the work of some other OAA and Ogunquit-area artists like Gail Sauter and Todd Bonita.
For those who primarily know Palmer from Ogunquit, visiting this Key West gallery also reveals an intriguing regionalism inherent in the artist’s oeuvre.
“In 1985, I moved seasonally to Key West and became affiliated with Gingerbread Square Gallery,” states Palmer. “Some of the work I show in Key West is very different from the work I show in New England. Key West and its residents hold such a special place in my heart that I can’t keep it from influencing my work there, and I rarely exhibit any of my tropical or figurative-inspired work anywhere else.“
Palmer’s Caribbean figurative series pulls inspiration from the ebb and flow of daily life in (and around) the Bahama Village community in Key West and the tropical islands beyond. These whimsical paintings focus on snippets of activity occurring in the daily lives of men, women, and children as they sit on benches, meet at cafes, gather at school, and interact in other quiet or poignant relationship moments.
Some of these tropical flavors and colors also emerge in Palmer’s closely aligned Caribbean-inspired landscape series — including his recent architectural works depicting the geometric complexities of favelas. The chaotic patterns found in these tightly thrown-together favelas (or, slums) jammed into the areas surrounding major cities represent subject matter in which Palmer’s paint-and-ink process results in exceptionally vivid renderings. And while, again, the artist’s emphasis is firmly at work exposing the tantalizing forms inherent on the exterior of these almost organically-developed cityscapes; this particular viewer can’t help but to have my imagination explore the themes of poverty, income inequality, and hard living unfolding behind the endless array of ramshackle doors and windows stretching off towards a seeming infinity at the edges of the canvas.
Work By Artist Michael Palmer
See (and Buy) Work By Artist, Michael Palmer
Here are a few of the galleries where you can see (and purchase) work by Ogunquit, Maine (and Key West, Florida) artist Michael Palmer.
- Art Access, Columbus, OH artaccessgallery.com
- Bowersock Gallery, Provincetown, MA bowersockgallery.com
- George Marshall Store Gallery, York, ME georgemarshallstoregallery.com
- Gingerbread Square Gallery, Key West, FL gingerbreadsquaregallery.com
- Ogunquit Art Association, Ogunquit, ME barngallery.org
- Soprafina Gallery, Boston, MA soprafina.com
- VanWard Gallery, Ogunquit, ME vanwardgallery.me
Disclaimer: This information was deemed reliable (at time of publication) – but it is not guaranteed – hours of operation, offerings, availability, prices, details, and etc. are subject to change or withdrawal at any time and for any reason. All data should be independently verified.
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