SALLY STANTON | NORTHPORT, MAINE

I am a major scaredy-cat of many things. A wearer of rose-colored glasses and an avoider of dark corners. I sleep to the white noise of a fan to cover the inevitable bumps in the night, though the fan sometimes broadcasts its own mysterious rhythms. But there's no Pollyanna-ing away the images that bloom up on the inside of your eyelids on the nightly journey from wakefulness to sleep.

These small drawings may have been emboldened by starting with a dark ground rather than white or a neutral color, not unlike the landscape of my under-lids. In my larger works, when unsettling figures emerge, they are less defined and small--a squashable size like an unexpected house pest. But I've found that trying to suppress disturbing images completely just makes them sprout up elsewhere. Personal demons are tricky that way.

I made abstract paintings using acrylics and mixed media for many years before veering toward abstract figurative work. I attribute this to the ever-present inescapability of social media and events of the world at our fingertips 24/7. I hold a B.F.A. from Massachusetts College of Art and Design, and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Pine Manor College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. My paintings have been shown around New England in group and solo shows including the Portland Museum of Art, Waterfall Arts in Belfast, Hallowell Center for the Arts, and the New Hampshire Art Association Biennial in Portsmouth, as well as River Arts Gallery, George Marshall Store Gallery, Maine Art Gallery, and the Belfast Free Library. My paintings are held in private collections throughout the U.S. I am an active member of the Union of Maine Visual Artists and live in Northport, Maine.

Split, 40 x 55 in., acrylic on canvas $175

Dental Dream (virtual), 5 x 7 in., acrylic and graphite on yupo paper $150

Protector (virtual), 5 x 7 in., acrylic and graphite on yupo paper. $150

The Boss (virtual), 5 x 7 in., acrylic and graphite on yupo paper $150

What Spider? (virtual), 5x7, acrylic and graphite on yupo paper $150