Artist Jim Williams With His New Lab Painting to Support the People and Refugees of Ukraine.  For More Information on This Project, Please Visit:  wwwmainelylabs.com

Artist Eric Darling Exhibits His Colorful Recycled Lobster Rope Art; Drift Rope Project 2022 at Art on the Hill This Weekend on Munjoy Hill.

A Wool Scarf by Sybil Shiland, Wood Fire Farm, Standish, Sells for $140. at the Art on the Hill Annual Craft Fair on Munjoy Hill.  sybilshiland@gmail.com

Jim Williams, long known for his lovable “Lab Art” paintings, recently refocused some of his paintings to support the Ukranian people who are under attack by Putin of Russia.  The new lab painting (shown in the photograph on the left) uses blues and yellows – the colors in the Ukranian flag – as a sign of support for the people undergoing a battle for democracy.

So far, Williams has sold about thirty (30) of these paintings which has enabled him to donate approximately $2,000. to organizations that support Ukrainian people and refugees. Willilams will be returning to the second of two days of the annual Art on the Hill craft fair at East End Community School, tomorrow, Sunday, December 4th.

Turning a “stress reducer” into a growing business is Peggy Farrington. Her wooden bowls, vases and other wooden vessels came about because Farrington was looking for a way to reduce the stress she experienced in her profession in the health care field.  She found that wood working was the solution.   Stress was induced in part because of the lack of nurses and CNA’s in the medical field.  “I don’t think they get paid enough to attract them and there are not enough college level instructors anywhere in the nation,” she said this afternoon.  She has a Master’s degree in public health from the University of New England.

Next year, Farrington will expand her four year old business to include the production of tables – mostly made of Maine maple.  That’s because her father who lives in Lubec has a saw mill from which she will be able to get the wood she needs to expand her business.  She has also changed jobs:  She is the Executive Director of Hunington Common, Kennebunk, a senior living complex. PF Woodturning.

“It’s been a good show for me,” said Sybil Shiland.  “People are buying gifts.  They are dish towels as well as woolen scarves said Shiland who also works part-time as a librarian.  She was in this show years ago, but decided to return because she had a “lot of product to sell.”  (See above right photo for one of her wool scarves for sale at the annual Fair on Munjoy Hill).

Artist Eric Darling, Appleton, exhibits his Recycled Lobster Rope for the first time at the Art on the Hill exhibit. Darling goes to a transfer station in Tenants Harbor and picks up discarded rope before it is transported to a nearby landfill location.  Originally an oil painter, Darling wants to “draw awareness to rope art as an art medium,” he told this blogger this afternoon.   (See above left photo of one of Darling’s pieces at the Fair). Visit www.ericdarlingart.com for much more for Darling’s mission statement and work.

Serenading visitors at the well-attended Fair with lovely Christmas music was Lorel Nazzaro, of Brunswick.  It was her first appearance at this Fair and hopefully will not be her last.  About 32 years ago, she co-founded the Mid-coast Symphony Orchestra, Topsham.  Her violin is 100 years old and was made in Maine.  She purchased it from Frost Gully Violins.

“Your music adds so much to our afternoon,” said Elizabeth Frazer, organizer of the annual Art on the Hill fair to Nazzaro.  “There are a lot of new people in the area.  We welcome you all to our annual fair.  Attending this fair is a good way to make new friends and learn what is happening in the neighborhood,” said Frazer.  The annual fair is located at East End Community School, 195 North Street, Portland.

The annual Art on the Hill craft fair ends tomorrow, Sunday, December 4, 2022 at 4:00 pm.  This year there are 62 vendors at the event.  For more background information on the fair, please visit post herein dated November 23, 2022.

(mhn.com took numerous photographs that this blog won’t accept without disuprting the format of the story herein.  mhn.com still has not figured out how to correct that situation.  Apologies to those affected).