Art Uptown Gallery Announces “In A New Light” by Maro Lorimer

     The New Year brings new light and warm colors to Maro Lorimer’s most recent paintings, which will be presented at Art Uptown during January.  In a New Light runs from December 29 through January 25 with an artist’s reception on First Friday, January 4, from 6 to 9 p.m., at 1367 Main Street, Sarasota.

Although she is inspired by the quiet beauty of her early morning and nightly walks on Anna Maria Island, Lorimer says she is not trying to paint specific scenes.  “I approach my paintings as abstractions based on my memories and imagination,” she explains.  “I focus on the horizon because it puts me in touch with infinity.  For me the awareness of vast, natural spaces creates a sense of peace, and each painting becomes a meditation.  In these new works I have experimented with much warmer colors to see if I can still express the feeling of serenity without the help of my usual cool-and-calm blue pigments.”  The colors of lingering dusk and dawn illuminate Lorimer’s imagined views, including from the wide beach, from out on the water, and from across the bay or bayou.  Any suggestions of vegetation are painted spontaneously, to depict it as wild.  Long an advocate for leaving parts of Anna Maria Island in a natural state, Lorimer backs up her love of wild places through her painting and writing.

Maro Lorimer grew up in the waterfront village of Bellport, New York, where she spent many happy hours sailing her small boat on the Great South Bay.  She graduated with honors from Brown University then lived for years in the rapidly growing resort town of Vail, Colorado.  As a member of the Colorado Watercolor Society, she showed and sold her work in Central City and Denver.  She attributes her obsession with painting the water to the fact that she missed it so much during her time in the mountains.
When Lorimer moved to Anna Maria Island in 1999, her focus turned to mixed media and acrylics.  Her abstract seascapes have been shown in numerous solo and group exhibits along the Gulf Coast and are in a growing number of collections throughout the United States.
In addition to being present for the January 4 reception, Maro Lorimer will greet gallery visitors on Saturday, December 29, from 11 to 5 p.m., on Saturday, January 5, from 11 to 5 p.m. and on Friday January 11, from 6 to 9 p.m.

     The diverse work of all of Art Uptown’s 30 artists will be shown along with Lorimer’s featured pieces at the reception and for the duration of the show.  The gallery welcomes visitors on Monday through Thursday from 11 to 5, Friday from 11 to 9, Saturday from 11 to 5 and Sunday from 12 to 5.  Telephone:  941-955-5409.  www.artuptown.com