Prey work to hang in Prague embassy

ST. GEORGE – Czechoslovakia is a world away from Maine, but visitors to that country’s U.S. Embassy in Prague soon will get a view of a typical New England landscape.

Watercolorist Barbara Ernst Prey’s recent work, “Reunion at Dusk,” has been chosen by the U.S. Arts and Embassies Program in Washington, D.C., to hang in the U.S. Embassy for a two-year exhibit. The show is slated to open this fall, Prey said Wednesday.

Besides her excitement over the U.S. Embassy selection, Prey was enthusiastic about her upcoming show Aug. 4, 5, 11 and 12 at her new Port Clyde gallery, Blue Water Fine Arts. The opening features 30 of Prey’s paintings.

“Reunion at Dusk” is one of two similar paintings, which depict an old farmhouse, situated on Route 131 in St. George. The side view of the farmhouse, with quilts hanging on a clothesline outdoors, shows a field in the foreground and a glimpse of the water to one side. The second painting, simply titled “Reunion,” is nearly identical, with the exception of the time of day depicted in the work.

“Reunion” shows the farmhouse during daylight with soft shadows on parts of the home, while “Reunion at Dusk” reflects a dramatic sky as the sun sets and interior lights illuminate several windows of the house.

Both paintings were part of Prey’s “Lightscapes” exhibit at the Jensen Fine Arts gallery in New York City April 6-May 5, where her work is featured.

Prey, who summers in Tenants Harbor, where she does much of her painting, is well-known for her watercolors that are typically Americana. Whether the subject is a farmhouse, quilts on a clothesline, boats anchored or flowers framed by a window, the paintings are finely detailed, with lighting setting the tone of the artwork.

“I like to work large and push the paper size and the watercolor medium,” Prey said of her work.

“Reunion at Dusk” developed from a longtime fascination with the old farmhouse, which Prey says that she must have passed by thousands of times, “but it just wasn’t time to do it.” Last summer, she worked on a study before painting the 25-inch-by-39-inch piece.

It was a classic Maine house with lots of history, she said. The laundry and the structure of the house caught her eye. The painting gives a feeling of someone coming in from a long day’s work … they’ve worked hard … and the laundry’s still hanging out, she said.

Prey was particularly proud that her painting was chosen for the Arts & Embassies Program, which she said features the works of many great American artists, both deceased and living. It was Craig Stapleton, U.S. Ambassador to Prague, who contacted her about her watercolor, she said. Stapleton is a collector of her art.

The exhibit “From Sea to Sea” will feature works by deceased artists Albert Bierstadt, who was affiliated with The Hudson River School, and John Singer Sargeant, Prey said, as well as some well-known living artists.

“It’s strongly American art,” she said.

Blue Water Fine Arts, Prey’s new studio, will be open for the four-day show, which will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day, and then by appointment.