KENNEBUNK — The Kennebunk Free Library has announced its Sept. 2019 exhibition, “Capturing Life in Pencil, Pen & Brush,” the mixed media works of Patricia R. Wooldridge.

The public is invited to view the exhibit during regular library hours when the gallery is not in use for library programs (library hours are: Monday and Tuesday 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., Wednesday 12:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.).

Wooldridge, born in Buxton, has lived in Maine most of her life. At age seven she began drawing, using the Sunday comics as models. Soon, thrilled by her mom’s sketches and stories of life on the farm in Dayton where all the heavy work was done by horses, she focused on — what else — horses. And so she drew.

She continually asked for a pony, which was not forthcoming, so she built a horse from four pine slabs, a short log, and a piece of strapping for its neck. That horse was in use for quite some time.

Meanwhile, the drawing continued through weekly art lessons in grade school and high school. Wooldridge discovered the work of C.W. Anderson, Wesley Dennis and George Ford Morris. If only she could draw like that Little did she know, she already was drawing like Sam Savitt, the illustrator of the horse comic books that inspired her. She learned that recently by reading his obituary.

After high school graduation, Wooldridge took a couple of adult education painting courses in watercolor and oil. Horses as a subject were not highly regarded by the instructors. Horses appeared anyway, along with the required landscapes and ocean scenes.

In the 1990’s she began working from her own photos taken at fairs, horse shows, and private stables and barns.  Many of the resulting drawings were done as commissioned work.

This exhibit includes horses in varied aspects: from showgirls and ploughboys to dressage. Horses and barns go together; several rustic barns are included in this viewing.

The public is invited to attend an artist’s reception during Kennebunk ArtTrail from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.

For more information contact Kennebunk Free Library at 985-2173

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