Radio Maine with Dr. Lisa Belisle

As The World Reopens: Dr. Lisa Belisle Ruminates on Springtime and Moving Forward

As the world reopens, there is a strange reawakening that we're all experiencing as the springtime has woken up the birds and the buds are on the trees. Some of us are planting our gardens. We are realizing that things that we thought we lost over the last year were there all along. Maybe that's what creativity is; the ability to have things continue on. Maybe despite us, while our focus is elsewhere, things could still be happening while dormant, lying in wait in the fallow field, ready to emerge when the time is right.

Every week, Dr. Lisa Belisle brings you an interview with a member of Maine’s community, including artists, designers, and more. Subscribe to Radio Maine on YouTube, so you never miss an episode.

Stew Henderson on his Dual Careers of Fine Artist and Senior Preparator for Art Museums

Have you ever wondered about how priceless artwork gets moved from one location to another? Artist Stew Henderson has the answer. He recently retired after two decades working in Maine’s fine arts world: first with the Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland, and then as the senior preparator at the Colby College Museum of Art in Waterville. In this latest episode of Radio Maine, Stew talks to Dr. Lisa Belisle about this work, his experience acting as an art courier and his own unique artistic style. 

Every week, Dr. Lisa Belisle brings you an interview with a member of Maine’s community, including artists, designers, and more. Subscribe to Radio Maine on YouTube, so you never miss an episode.

Interested in Maine artists? Check out the Portland Art Gallery of Maine.

Still Waters Run Deep: Plumbing the Depths of Helen Lewis’s Calming, Minimalist Encaustic Paintings

Artist Helen Lewis creates her pieces, in part, by adding layer upon layer of molten beeswax to a panel, and scraping it away. This process creates great depth and luminosity. This practice reflects her life’s work of finding meaning from what remains after loss. Helen’s mother died suddenly when she was five-years-old. Soon after, her father brought Helen and her brothers on a trip to New Orleans that was meant to be restorative. Things did not go as planned, nor did the remainder of Helen’s childhood years. Helen’s art is clearly informed by her early heartbreaking experience and dedication to her own emotional healing. Prepare to be impacted by Helen’s compelling story, as described to Dr. Lisa Belisle, in this episode of Radio Maine.

Every week, Dr. Lisa Belisle brings you an interview with a member of Maine’s community, including artists, designers, and more. Subscribe to Radio Maine on YouTube, so you never miss an episode.

Helen Lewis is represented by the Portland Art Gallery of Maine. Click here to view her art.

A Conversation About Art with Hadley Powell of Powell Fine Art Advisory

Hadley Powell has spent a lifetime “training her eye” when it comes to art. Visits to art museums were an integral part of her childhood vacations and time at Gould Academy in Bethel, Maine expanded her view. She went on to complete formal educational programs in art at Union College and with Christie’s world-renowned art institute.  Now, in tandem with nurturing her young family, Hadley is maturing her art consulting business, Powell Fine Art Advisory. Listen to this Farmington, Maine native talk about art, family, entrepreneurship, and her never-ending and always evolving love of art. 

Every week, Dr. Lisa Belisle brings you an interview with a member of Maine’s community, including artists, designers, and more. Subscribe to Radio Maine on YouTube, so you never miss an episode.

Get to Know Dr. Brooke Jackson, a Clinical Psychologist with Deep Ties to California and Maine

Dr. Brooke Jackson is a practicing clinical psychologist living in San Rafael, California. She is also a lover of art, lifelong learner and gardener. Join us for episode eight, as Brooke tells us about searching for, and finding, her genuine life path after a career trajectory that included jobs as a paralegal and educator, before returning to college later in life to earn her PhD in psychology. Feeling blessed that she could still work remotely as COVID lockdowns happened, Brooke made a determined decision to continue her support of independent booksellers, artists and her favorite non-profits. Her connection to Maine pre-dated her relationship with the Portland Art Gallery by 30 years, with her family’s annual cross-country trips from California to Maine. Her extended family now gathers whenever possible in a small, seasonal lodge on the shores of Moosehead Lake in Greenville, Maine. Watch and learn more about the important work that Brooke does with her clients and view the original art that she has on her walls. Thank you for joining us every Sunday for Radio Maine, and being part of our creative community.

Every week, Dr. Lisa Belisle brings you an interview with a member of Maine’s community, including artists, designers, and more. Subscribe to Radio Maine on YouTube, so you never miss an episode.

Carlos Gamez de Francisco Emigrated from Cuba to the US for Opportunity, Found it in the Art World

Carlos Gamez de Francisco knew that he wanted to emigrate from Cuba to the United States when he was 14-years-old. According to Carlos, the generation before him had moved to Cuba for opportunity, and now his generation was leaving for opportunity. After early studies in dance, at age fifteen Carlos began devoting his time to studying and perfecting his art. He would eventually find his way to the U.S. where he took the first available job in a warehouse while continuing to create art. Within months, and after learning English by repeating 100 words 11 times each day, Carlos talked his way into gallery representation, had his first solo art show and sold it out. He promptly quit his warehouse job and became a full-time artist. Carlos' determined commitment to hard work, discipline, and constant learning is an inspiration for us all.

Every week, Dr. Lisa Belisle brings you an interview with a member of Maine’s community, including artists, designers, and more. Subscribe to Radio Maine on YouTube, so you never miss an episode.

Carlos is represented by the Portland Art Gallery of Maine. Click here to view his art.

Impressionist Painter Andrew Faulkner, Based in California, Now Exhibiting in Portland, Maine

In this episode, Lisa Belisle connects with California-based artist, Andrew Faulkner. Andrew has an unusually rich lineage of creativity.  His great-grandfather was an accomplished professional artist who traveled regularly to Europe for inspiration before returning to Connecticut to paint. His grandfather, father and brother are architects. Andrew’s mother was an interior designer. However, Andrew entered Trinity College prepared to obtain a more practical education in English, or Psychology, before finishing with a degree in Fine Arts.  After a successful 30 year career in graphic design, Andrew started his “real job” as a professional artist.  

Every week, Dr. Lisa Belisle brings you an interview with a member of Maine’s community, including artists, designers, and more. Subscribe to Radio Maine on YouTube, so you never miss an episode.

This artist is represented by the Portland Art Gallery of Maine. Click here to view their art.

Encaustic Artist and Instructor Dietlind Vander Schaaf Talks About Her Career and Inspirations

Dietlind Vander Schaaf’s life, as Walt Whitman might suggest, “contains multitudes.”  Not only is she an artist and teacher of art, she is also a writer and yoga teacher who has undergraduate and masters degrees in history (as well as a masters of fine art in writing!)  Lisa Belisle’s interview with Dietlind explores her unique practice of creating encaustic art on wood panels: a laborious process of applying layer after layer of hot wax, paint and, in her case, 23-karat gold leaf. Hear about her artistic evolution, including four years spent working through perceived failure, and ultimate emergence with a renewed faith in herself. Dietlind also speaks about her love of languages, imposter syndrome and the personal satisfaction she gets from teaching workshops. This conversation with Dietlind Vander Schaaf can be seen on the Portland Art Gallery website, on Vimeo, You Tube, or listened to via Podbean. Thank you for listening to, and following, Radio Maine. We welcome comments and suggestions for future shows from our Radio Maine community!

Every week, Dr. Lisa Belisle brings you an interview with a member of Maine’s community, including artists, designers, and more. Subscribe to Radio Maine on YouTube, so you never miss an episode.

Dietlind Vander Schaaf is represented by the Portland Art Gallery of Maine. Click here to view her art.

An Intimate Conversation with Iconic Contemporary Maine Artist Jane Dahmen

Host, Dr. Lisa Belisle, connects with artist Jane Dahmen in her Newcastle, Maine home for Episode 4 of Radio Maine. Jane has created a well-established art practice over the course of 50+ years. She was first introduced to Maine as a student at Colby College in Waterville and, after vacationing here for several years, moved to Newcastle full time with her husband, Joe, in 2005. Jane talks about overcoming challenges, including Joe's diagnosis and eventual death due to Alzheimer's disease, by looking inward to find answers. Jane also speaks about her passion for interviewing artists and curators at her popular "Talking Art in Maine" series in Damariscotta, Maine. She's led conversations with artists Alex Katz, Lois Dodd, Katherine Bradford, Eric Hopkins, Michel Droge, and many others, as well as museum luminaries such as Sharon Corwin, Suzette McAvoy and Mark Bessire.

Every week, Dr. Lisa Belisle brings you an interview with a member of Maine’s community, including artists, designers, and more. Subscribe to Radio Maine on YouTube, so you never miss an episode.

Jane Dahmen is represented by the Portland Art Gallery of Maine. Click here to view her art.

Get to Know Dr. Lisa Belisle, Host of Radio Maine!

Our host, Dr. Lisa Belisle, is one of ten siblings. Her father's 50-year career as a family physician led her toward a similar professional path adding studies in pubic health (MPH), acupuncture and business (MBA). While she's currently in a primary care leadership role for a Maine-based healthcare system, she has always continued a parallel path as an on-air interviewer, writer and presenter. Learn more about Lisa, as well as her appreciation for work by artist, Willa Vennema, in this episode.

Every week, Dr. Lisa Belisle brings you an interview with a member of Maine’s community, including artists, designers, and more. Subscribe to Radio Maine on YouTube, so you never miss an episode.