ELLSWORTH – Kathy Stratton has always kept her artwork relatively private, sharing it only with her closest friends and relatives.

That is about to change.

The Ellsworth High School art teacher is preparing for a solo showing at the Bromfield Art Gallery, the oldest artist-owned commercial gallery in Boston.

“I’ve never really had my work out there before,” she said recently. “It has always been something I’ve done for myself, not the public.”

The exhibit, which is scheduled for early 2007, will be the first solo presentation for Stratton, a veteran educator who has spent the last five years teaching in Ellsworth.

The Skowhegan-born artist started painting when she was 10 years old. Now 49, her art took a dramatic turn recently when she started painting abstract pieces instead of her usual landscape portraiture.

Her initial inspiration, she said, was the light coming through the bare tree branches outside her Holden home in the winter. What fascinated her was not the branches themselves, but the interstices, the spaces between the branches.

Since then, she has been motivated creatively by the Maine wilderness, particularly while fly-fishing, canoeing and walking through the woods alone or with her husband, Fred.

Her technique is called field painting, and it is similar to the style favored by abstract expressionist Jackson Pollock. She starts by dripping acrylic paint from one edge of a linen canvas. She alternately rotates the canvas and drips more paint to create a layer of color. Then she moves in for the intricate brushwork.

Each piece takes about a month, or 100 hours, to complete.

“They are contemplative pieces,” she said. “They are open to your interpretation.”

Bromfield discovered Stratton when she entered the gallery’s Solo ’05 Exhibition Competition. The gallery chose nine finalists from around New England. While Stratton was not one of them, the studio contacted her later about a solo showing.

“This is a significant gallery,” she said during an interview. “I’m really excited about getting my work out there.”

Ellsworth High School assistant principal Amy Cote said the school and the students are encouraged by teachers who pursue their interests outside the classroom, whether through a master’s degree program or an artistic endeavor.

Stratton recently received her master’s degree in studio art from the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore.

“I think the kids are thrilled that she is going to be recognized,” Cote said. “It is important for them to see someone going after their dream and succeeding. Teachers can be role models in so many ways.”