Viles Arboretum

A 4 Class Series Led by Local Artists

• May 15th – Cassie Sano
• May 20th – Nancy Keenan Barron
• June 12th – Ed McCartan
• June 26th – Lauren Kircheis

Vincent van Gogh once wrote, “Many painters are afraid of the blank canvas, but the blank canvas is afraid of the painter who dares and who has broken the spell of 'you can't' once and for all.”

Our Sketching Nature Series invites your to break that spell with guidance from four artists who find inspiration in the natural world. Over the course of four classes (spread across eight week), each artist will share their unique approach to starting a nature sketch, helping you build confidence in observing and capturing the world around you.

Classes may be held indoors and/or outdoors, weather permitting.

Participants must bring their own sketchpad and pencils.

About the Artists

Cassie Sano is a realist painter living in Augusta. She enjoys painting outdoors, when the weather permits, and loves to paint in both oil and watercolor. 

Cassie also writes and illustrates picture story books through Maine Authors Publishing and regularly participates in author events throughout Maine. She is the organizer of the Kennebec Valley Plein Air Painters, a member of the River Arts Gallery, the Maine Art Gallery, Boothbay Regional Art Foundation, and the Red Barn Art Gallery in Port Clyde. Her books may be purchased online and, in several locations, including Viles Arboretum’s gift shop. 

She says, “From the time I first held a crayon, I felt a connection to art that was so powerful it was as if my creative spirit had a life of its own.

Nancy Keenan Barron is a lifelong Maine artist, born and raised in Farmingdale, Maine. As early as she can remember she has been a maker. She didn’t call it art. She called it drawing, painting, playing.  It was her go-to activity.

Nancy considers herself a student of the arts with “classes” starting on the closet walls of her childhood bedroom that became a spaceship with the help of a crayon. A formal education followed with art lessons in Mrs. McGrail’s basement. For two hours on Saturday mornings, she would get lost with pastels, paint and charcoal.  Later, while at the University of Southern Maine Nancy learned that all the fun she had had for years drawing and painting had its own language. 

Words like gesture, mood, line, color, contrast and undulation are some of the ideas she works on developing in her art and tries to convey such ideas in practice.  Nancy currently works her craft, painting, making mixed media works and assemblage sculptures at her home studio in South Gardiner.

Ed McCartan is an accomplished artist whose studio is nestled in the historic Bath Memorial Hospital on Park Street in Bath.

Having retired as a teacher, Ed's passion for art has only intensified. With an MFA from SUNY Albany and graduate degrees in philosophy, theology, and art education, his expertise shines through in every brushstroke.

Ed's artwork graces the permanent collections of multiple museums and adorns corporate and private collections alike. Despite his retirement from formal teaching, he continues to share his knowledge through art history courses at Midcoast Senior College and occasional workshops hosted in his studio.

Lauren Kircheis is the Land Steward at Viles Arboretum and doesn’t really consider herself “an artist.” However, she has drawn pictures for as long as she can remember. A self-taught artist whose skill and understanding stems from her passion for birds and botanicals, Lauren started out pencil sketching and then started incorporating the use of acrylics. During the Covid pandemic, she also started using watercolors. 

Lauren, whose college degree is in Wildlife Conservation, takes a highly observational and scientific approach to her work. Her bird sketches are hyper realistic and based not just on observation but on handling birds. Her close examinations help her understand patterns, color and shapes. Lauren’s work is available on note cards and stickers in the Viles Arboretum gift shop.