“Chipmunk,” by Jennifer Gammon Submitted photo

The paintings of local artist Jennifer Gammon are on display during the month of April in the Woman’s Hospital Association Rotating Art Gallery at Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston.

Raised on a small family farm in Sumner, Gammon found her passion for art while a student at Buckfield High School. She attended the University of Southern Maine receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts with Painting and Ceramics studio concentrations. For the past twenty years she has made Lewiston her home with studio space where she creates her paintings and drawings. She also owns a small pottery business featuring handmade functional vessels, Liane Pottery. Nature, life, and death all are themes that consistently appear in all of her work

The “Fauna and Flora” series of drawings on display came from her intense love of local animals and her garden.

“Even in the middle of a small city there is so much nature and wildlife possible. I wanted the viewer to see the fauna (animals) first then once you get in close observe the flora (plants). I used abstracted green backgrounds to help blend the plants in and make the animals stand out. I prefer to draw on an acrylic surface, which seems strange as most drawings are directly on paper. I set up the backgrounds as abstract paintings, I use a very thick paper called bristol and the acrylic paint is applied with a pallet knife. Once these are dry I draw on them using conté which is like a very densely compressed dry pastel.”

The works on display may be purchased through the WHA Gift Shop located adjacent to the main lobby at Central Maine Medical Center. A percentage of sale proceeds benefits patients of CMMC.