ROCKLAND – Children’s book author, illustrator and Isleford resident Ashley Bryan will show a selection of his work in “Singing With Truth” at Archipelago Fine Arts, the Island Institute’s art gallery, at 386 Main St., Rockland. An opening reception will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday.

An author or illustrator of more than 30 books, Bryan was the first African-American to publish a book as both author and illustrator, in 1962. His books have won several awards in children’s literature, including the Coretta Scott King Award and the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal. He is one of the New York Public Library’s “Literary Lions,” and the recent winner of a Golden Kite award, the only prize awarded to a children’s book author by his peers.

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The work of Ashley Bryan goes on display this week at Archipelago Fine Arts in Rockland. Courtesy photo

After a lengthy college-teaching career, Bryan retired as emeritus professor of art at Dartmouth College in 1988 and came to live year-round in Maine.

Bryan now paints primarily in acrylics. According to author and art critic Carl Little, whose article on Bryan and an accompanying folio of his work can be found in the 2010 edition of Island Journal, Bryan is “searching for essential rhythms in the landscape.” As Bryan himself explains in the article, “The eye is always on some kind of voyage of adventure to try and understand the relationships of how the areas work.”

Examples of Bryan’s work can be found online at http://thearchipelago.net.

Gallery hours are 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday to Friday; 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday; and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. “Singing With Truth” will run until Sept. 19.

For information, call 594-9209.

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