NIGHT LIGHT The dramatic view from her deck in Port Clyde inspires Barbara Ernst Prey to dream up a series of ‘Nocturnes’

The view from the rooftop deck of Barbara Ernst Prey’s gallery in Port Clyde is nothing short of awesome. In fact, it’s that very perspective, replete with lobster boats going about their business and the sunlight changing the colors of the water, that has inspired a lot of awe in the New York native.

“For me and my work, it’s been very interesting to be near a lobster co-op, to watch, so I feel informed about what they do,” she said one recent sunny afternoon on the deck. “You’re constantly thinking of ideas and you’re always looking for ideas. I jump out of bed at 5:30 in the morning looking for ideas, always thinking. All of my life, I look.”

A series of paintings inspired by the time Prey has spent looking at that remarkable view, and her many years painting coastal Maine, are on display at her Blue Water Fine Arts gallery.

“Nocturnes: Meditations on the Environment” will be on display until Aug. 17, but Prey will be all over the world in the coming months as she continues to build more awe-inspiring moments in her 35-year career as one of the most highly respected artists now working in the U.S.

Prey, 51, designed and painted the official White House Christmas card in 2003, and is coming off a well-received 2007 exhibition in Paris, highlighted by a star-studded reception featuring the likes of legendary movie actress Olivia de Havilland.

Before her work heads out for destinations all over the world, Prey is focused on her gallery here and at her studio, also on the peninsula. “Nocturnes” features 35 small, medium and large watercolors depicting Maine scenes, some of which have appeared in other shows such as the Paris exhibition. The title comes from a group of five works depicting sunsets and twilight images.

Although the evening scenes are filled with strong colors and a fascination with the beauty of nature – two hallmarks of Prey’s work – they do represent a sort of change of pace for her palette, she said. Her yellows, purples and blues stand out here, as opposed to the red Adirondack chairs of “Extended Family” and the blue water and green boats of “Heading Out.”

Prey had previously explored the nocturnal theme in a 2004 work, “The Long Haul,” which is also in the current show, but the yellows, purples and blues are much bolder in her more recent works.

“I love strong colors and I’m more of a colorist, but if you look at those paintings in the show, they’re simple because there’s not much happening,” Prey said. “They’re really about the color, and the color reflected in the water. And it’s about opposites playing off each other, while at the same time [they show] a time of day and all the other things going on.”

Prey’s use of reflection in a body of water and of opposites is nothing new for her. She used the technique for her 2005 piece for NASA, “The Shuttle Discovery: Return to Flight,” one of four commissions she has done for the space agency. In that case, the use of reflection was meant to recall the shuttle Columbia, which disintegrated upon re-entry in 2003, and the launch of Discovery two years later.

Two of her NASA commissions will be part of a traveling show “50 Years of NASA Art,” which opens in October and also includes works by Andy Warhol, Norman Rockwell and Annie Leibowitz.

Prey also will have 30 prints on display in U.S. embassies all over the world as part of the Art in Embassy program.

“I was trying to think of a word that kind of draws together my experiences,” she said. “I’m in awe with what we can do with NASA, with the nocturnes I was in awe of our world. … You start to look and think about it, and it’s pretty amazing. We’re all so interconnected and it’s absolutely important that we think about it.”

Prey recently announced her painting “Family Portrait,” one of a grouping of red chairs similar to “Extended Family,” has just entered The Brooklyn Museum.

Meanwhile, Prey will finish out the summer in Maine before returning to her other home base in Oyster Bay, N.Y. Next summer, Prey will return for another dose of awe at her Maine surroundings.

All she’ll have to do is climb the stairs to her roof and wait for the Port Clyde lobster co-op to finish expansion of its wharf.

“… I’m really excited,” Prey said as two lobster boats passed each other in the afternoon sun. “More material for me.”

For more, visit www.bluewaterfinearts.com.

jbloch@bangordailynews.net

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