STELL and SHEVIS (Mr. And Mrs. William Shevis) moved to Maine in 1945 and soon became aquainted with the few scattered artists and craftsmen around the state. They were part of the group that started the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts. . . .and later became founding members of the Maine Coast Artists.
For twenty years they lived and worked in Belmont, Maine, where they had big airy workshops and studios in in the barn. But in July of 1964 a disastrous fire completely destroyed house and barn. Twenty years of work reduced to ash... nothing saved. But they felt lucky to have escaped alive.
The next year they moved to Camden and opened a Shop and Gallery which became known for showing the most interesting and exciting works by Maine artists and craftsmen as well as wonderful handmade things from Mexico.
Over the years the couple has completed many commissions : murals at University of Maine, Orono,: St. Philips Church, Auburn: the Greenbush School: the Thorndyke Hotel, Rockland: and tWo murals for a Holiday Inn in North Carolina. They are still working on commissions for private clients.
Shevis has learned computer skills and is writing stories about their many adventures in Maine and Mexico, as well as creating fascinating collages, some of which are in this Show.
Stell is painting and gardening, but her primary passion is enameling which is ,she says, the most exciting medium, playing with fire, as glass is fused to metal at 1500*. She has written articles for the Enamelist publication, "Glass on Metal ", and has had work accepted into prestigious International Enamel Exhibitions, the most recent in Coburg, Germany.
|
