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Slippery rock Gazette
Mark Herrington
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When needed, Mark also makes money during the summer doing drywall and masonry work (walls, chimneys, fireplaces, walkways) with a friend in Bar Harbor to make up for the slow times from mid October to June.
The Schoodic Symposium Years
“I was an assistant in the first Schoodic International Sculpture Symposium (SISS) in 2007 for my friend Don Meserve. Don had just had lung surgery, and I was assisting him to make sure that he didn’t get too exhausted. It was at the time when I was making the transition from countertops to art and design. Later, as one of the featured artists, I was in the sec- ond SISS in 2009. Funny, I’d say ‘symposium’ and people didn’t know what I was talking about. They thought it was like a scien- tific symposium where people get together and chat.
“The Littlefield Gallery in Winter Harbor, Maine opened around 2008, and they came and saw the 2009 symposium, and decided that stone sculpture was going to be one of their focuses, because there are so many Maine sculptors. They also liked this type of art, which helps to give us a market. Stone sculpture is a tough impulse buy, and I think one of the reasons is because it is carved and not impulsive. It is a material that says permanence, and that’s what it’s all about.
“We’ve also had stone sympo- siums at J.C. Stone in Jefferson, Maine; Viles Arboretum in Augusta, Maine, and one in Boothbay Harbor, Maine. These symposiums are interesting be- cause they are not for public work.
You don’t get paid for doing it, but you also need to cover your travel, tool and food expenses. J. C. Stone offers free materials to all the artists for this event, and the artists own their artwork, and can sell it afterwards, if they want.
“I’ve done pretty well in sell- ing most of mine. I show at three Maine art galleries. The Littlefield Gallery in Winter Haven; Gleason’s Fine Art in Boothbay, and June Lacombe’s gallery in Pownal.”
“When I started doing art, I knew it was going to be a long- term thing, and when I looked at the other artists who had made it, they did so because they stuck with it, and this is what I’ve done. Winter is a great time to sculpt in this shop. The light is good, it’s quiet and there are no tourists, so I can get huge amounts done.”
“Right now I’m trying to fig- ure out a design for a charging table where all the electronics of the household can go with all the cords and everything. It’s utilitar- ian art, because I see the utility. I’m not really sure what it will
September 2019|21 look like or where it will lead to,
but that’s designing, which solves a problem, unlike art, that doesn’t solve any problems at all except aesthetically. I’m also working on a fountain that makes a rain pat- tern, not a spray. I’m not there yet, but I do have a mockup.
“Luckily, these last couple of years, I haven’t had to do any side jobs and have only done art- work, so to those looking to begin creating art I say this: To excel, you’ve got to be thick-skinned and stubborn. People will say the darnedest things about your work, and your motivation has to really come from inside. You have to be able to push through criticism and try to keep your self-doubt down, because if someone says some- thing negative, you can’t lose your motivation. Art comes from the inside and you put it out there afterwards, and you do get better. Don’t do big things at first, just small things, and just do it!”
For more information about Mark Herrington visit www. markherrington.com/the-studio .
Herrington often has multiple works in progress in his studio. “I love to share how I do things – the tools I use, and helpful hints for how to do some things yourself, if you’re interested in working with stone.”
Above: Herrington, seated on one of his hand-made chairs in the gallery section of his stu- dio, which includes rus- tic, functional furniture as well as smaller, more detailed stone and wood sculptures.
Left: There are usually well over 100 pieces on display. “My studio and gallery are open to the public by appointment or chance,” says Mark.