Pop Art + Folk Art = Paintings by Page Eastburn O'Rourke! An Interview with a Unique Maine Artist

But honestly, I think this is the first time I've sat down and spoken with her. And this is artist page Eastbourne O'Rourke. Thanks for coming in today. Oh, My pleasure, Lisa, I'm really happy to be here with you. Are you and I have a Yarmouth connection, so you're not only an artist that I've admired for a long time, but also you live right? I do. I do. Um, yeah, about 10 minutes away, but I live in town and, um, it was just a delight driving out here and cousins island then getting to little John and just looking at the beautiful water and lobster boats. And, um, I'm actually working on a painting right now should be big and the ferry and I looked out there and thought, oh my gosh, the beach has a little sandier than I have in the painting after this. I'll need to get back and do some revisions, but anyway, so How do you usually approach your paintings? How do you usually get inspired to do a particular piece and how do you kind of work through that process? So I'm always looking for paintings and I'm always practicing. I think like I'll walk my dog along the Royal river and I'm always looking at, oh, what would be good subject matter? What would be a good composition? What colors would I mix together to get these green leaves? Um, so I practice that way, but then I'll go on outings sometimes with my husband or friends or sons when they were younger. Um, and have my sketchbook with me and look for a specific painting. And um, oh, let's see. Last summer I went with my aunt Jane too. Um, she lives in Kenny bunk and she said, Cape porpoise is a great place to paint. I said, oh, I've been there. She goes, I think there's a part you haven't been to. So she took me down a side road and there was this lobster pound with all kinds of lobster, boats and islands. And literally, I don't think she'd stop the car. And I was jumping out with my sketchbook. I was so excited. So I'll just see a scene and just know it's going to make a painting that I really want to, uh, paint and sort of be in that world while I'm painting it. So you're mentioning a sketchbook. Do you use pictures at all? Do you take photographs? I will sketch first and then yes, I will take pictures or my husband will take pictures, um, for reference, um, for colors. But oftentimes when I get back to my studio, I'll think about the way the place made me feel and pick my palette from that Color is really important to you. It's something that, um, I think anybody looking at the work that you do can see that you're, you're thinking about vibrancy and you're thinking about contrast. Um, why is this a theme for you? That's been so important. Let's see. I think going back to Trinity college, where I majored in fine arts and I had a wonderful, very challenging professor, George Chaplin, who was just an incredible colorist and he taught us a lot about the relationships of colors and how they influence each other. And I've just been drawn to working on color relationships ever since then. And the color relationship side by side, I'll also take colors and I like to take the same color and put it throughout the painting and sort of see the relationship it has with other colors. And what I'm always trying to do is make the space in the painting work so that the foregrounds in the foreground and the background is in the background. And that's very challenging just using these flat vibrant colors. But the idea is when someone looks at the painting, I want it to feel, um, let's see. I want them to get a sense of peace, calm, delight, have the relationships working so well with the colors that when I get to that point in a painting, I sort of let go and I feel the sense of acceptance. And I love it when someone will come along and get that feeling from one of my pieces like that feeling of just ease and delight and happiness and almost this feeling of like, it looks easy, but it's not, it's taken a lot of challenges and struggles in the painting, but then that's how I know it's done. All of a sudden, I'll just have this feeling and it's almost sort of a magical thing where, oh, okay, you're done. You're ready for the world. So you have this, um, this, this letting go is something that you and I have talked about. This idea that it's actually really very difficult to let go. And is this something that people who, um, are oriented towards a Buddhist way of thinking they're, they're continually trying to, uh, decrease their attachments? What does this look like in your life? Oh, Maine has been a wonderful teacher. As far as that goes. We moved up here 20 years ago and I had this fantasy of moving up here and everything would just be sort of perfect and resolved in my life. And I learned wherever you go, there you are. And we moved up here and it was the worst while we had an 85 year old neighbor. And she said it was the worst winter in 80 years. And I was left alone in the snow with the snow and the pine trees. And I remember sitting in my, um, our living room one time and I was reading a book and all of a sudden I heard a noise at the window and I looked up like that and there was our yellow lab looking in the window on a huge snow black bag. And I thought, oh my gosh, what did we do? But it ended up, um, I, I really got pretty down and luckily got some really good therapy and, um, learned a lot about it's all about letting go of the layers in life, not building them up. And I used to sort of think it was like a change in location, a change in, I don't know, getting a new shirt, a vacation, painting the room a different color. And I think through like the nature and serve the isolation of Maine, it gets, it just kept turning inward for answers. And you did an interview with, um, Jean domino a few weeks ago and she said, all the answers are inside of you. And I thought, that's it, that that really is it. And that's what, um, has been part of my growth. So I think of the idea of the Bardo or the liminal space, this, this kind of place in between this place of transition and, and discomfort really. Um, I know that many people are describing this to me this year in particular because of COVID. So where we were, where we're going, we're not really sure it feels uncomfortable. Does that in any way, resonate with you? It does resonate. Um, I think about that with my, um, my art style and for a long time, I was painting with the flat, the bold flat colors and shapes that I'd still love. And I was doing a black line around it. And that felt like an integral part of my art. And I did that for a number of years. I, my first clam festival poster was in that style. I was selling in that style and I usually just have so much joy getting up in the morning and going to my studio. And I started not feeling that way. It was dragging my feet a little bit and I would do the black line and it felt like it was dimming the colors instead of enhancing the piece. But then it felt like it was expected of me. So I kept doing it for a little while. And then I thought, I can't, this doesn't feel authentic. So I talked to my husband and I said, I think I need to just take some time off and just paint, whatever. I feel like painting, just mix it up. And he was so supportive of that. So I think I did some crummy paintings, a lot of experimenting, but I ended up with a style that I have now without the black line. And I feel like that's, well, it's sort of like what we talked about, like letting go of another layer and then the colors could be more vibrant. And yeah, Describe this painting that is between us here in the studio. What's the name of it. And how would you describe it for people who are listening to this podcast? Okay. This is Mon Hagan island light. It's a big painting. It's the biggest size. Um, I've ever done. It's 60 by 40 and it's the lighthouse at the top of the hill in Monhegan. And it's got three whales in the background and let's see lots of great colorful shapes, um, the red roof and then a vibrant green lawn. I've cut out some bushes and they've got, um, these cork, light blue dots on them. They've cut out the evergreen trees, which makes this really neat shadow and rocks. And they always liked to have a feeling of community in my paintings. So I've got these seagulls hanging around and Wells and it, um, it just feels very joyful. And it's a place that my husband and sons, Griffin and Duncan, and I have gone a lot of times for day trips and we'll take the ferry out there and, um, take a picnic and hike around. And, um, yeah, this lighthouse is very special. It's now a maritime museum and art museum because there've been so many amazing artists that have, um, painted on Monhegan and still paint. That's one of the really neat things about hiking around Monhegan. You see artists with their easels everywhere, creating A couple of things that I'm interested in. And one of them is this idea that you first were talking about peeling back layers and taking lines out, but there's a three dimensionality to this piece where you've kind of added in layers. You've you now have these, these cutout shapes where the rocks that the seagull is standing on and the seagull him or herself. I mean, they actually are light. They are Layered. Um, that came about two years ago and I hit another period where I was looking at my art. I was like, oh, I need to challenge myself. What is it? And I kept looking at the pieces of my studio and I thought those, some of those shapes really want to stand out and I love shapes so much. I thought, how can I explore the more in a three-dimensional way? So I ended up deciding to shake things up and scare myself. And I got, um, a saw and I have another saw, um, an electric sander and a power drill now, um, and just really wanted to explore my love of shapes and forms in a three-dimensional form. And it's also, I found it's a form of drawing when I use my scroll saw. So it's sort of like, I don't know, very intimate way to get to know the shapes better if that makes sense. So why, why is that a scaring of yourself? What was it about that that was so scary Doing something brand new and not knowing how to do it? And I just, I thought about it. I wrestled with it. Then I started researching saws online, and then I went to some local, you know, wood shops and ask questions about it. And it was this sort of tug back and forth between a comfort zone and scaring myself. And I thought, you know, the only way to ever I've ever grown is to push myself out of my comfort zone and scare myself. And I actually, I have an artist friend who has said that to me, a number of years ago, he goes, you need to go to the art store and you need to buy the biggest canvas. They have there to shake it up and scare yourself. So that's always sort of been in my head that that's the way to grow with art is to do something out of your comfort zone. So then I bought the, I ordered this great saw I bought it and then it sat like in my basement wood shop for awhile. And I was like, oh geez, what did I do? Then? I just sat down one. I actually watched a couple of YouTube videos, sat down one day and absolutely love it. It really is a form of drawing and my poor family, because I would cut out a shape and roar up over the stairs, look what I did. And, you know, they give me a little round of applause, very, um, supportive. It's been a real point of pride, um, learning something new. Yeah. And doing the saw. One of the things that I know about you is that you're, you're beloved within the Yarmouth community. I mean, you're, you're, well-known as a Yarmouth artist, you've gone into the schools and you've done career day. In fact, I think you and I may have been at a career day at one point where I was, I was being the doctor career person. And you were, I believe being the illustrator and artist career person. Um, you also did posters for the Yarmouth Clem festival, which is a wonderful festival that up until the last couple of COVID years, we've had on a yearly basis for just decades now. But do you think that in some ways that success and that being known in a really specific way, kind of the happy page, who does the happy art and the, and the fun character is, do you think that that creates those dark lines around you and creates that kind of boundary that you sometimes worry about pushing through? That's a great question. Um, let's see. Yes, I do. I, I do think so. And I do think that's part of what I keep learning that it's really about being vulnerable and being open and putting yourself out there and yeah. Those black lines. Yeah. They, they felt like part of me, they felt safe and then it felt like it was restricting me, but what's happened is I'm still attracted to the same kind of art, but I feel like it's like, through the therapy I had, it was interesting because she would, um, say to me, like, what's that feeling? And I would go, uh, I don't know. And she would list all the different possible feelings, you know, sad, bad, happy, angry, frustrated. And I was like, okay, that one. Okay. That one. And then she kept like every session we would work on that. And it really taught me the language of feelings. So that's what I've really been able to bring to my paintings now. Like I really feel something when I see a scene and then I'm really feeling something when I'm painting and the end, the work while I'm creating it is really hard and it's challenging and it's frustrating. But now that I it's, I guess, sort of a feeling of self-awareness to be able to label those feelings that I'm having in my paintings and in re you know, real life, they really mirror each other. Yeah. So that's part of it when, uh, when a painting is finished, I had this really deep feeling of like acceptance and joy, and then it can go out into the world. And my hope is that someone looks at it and has those same really strong, optimistic feelings about life. Tell me about the idea of the peaceable kingdom and how that manifests itself in your work. Well, I grew up in bucks county pencil , um, on a farm and it's an area that's very rich in, uh, sort of, uh, cultural history and, and artists just like Maine is, and there's a wonderful, um, Quaker minister, Edward Hicks. And he painted in the 19th century and he did a whole series of paintings called the peaceable kingdom. And it was, um, all different creatures and people getting along. Um, the lion lying down with the lamb and William Penn and the native Americans, um, meeting and this idea of everybody working and all the creatures working together in community. And that I, we had, um, one of his, I think it was a print of one of his pieces that I would look at all the time, but I was exposed to a lot of his art, just, you know, going to local museums and things. And I, it really resonates with me and I feel like that's what I keep recreating in my paintings that, that spirit of community. And, um, I did a painting, um, Portland harbors, sea shanties, and my son Griffin was listening to sea shanties all the time. Like they're a thing now. And so I thought I want to paint it a sea shanties scene because it's a form. The sea shanties are a form of folk art folk music. And I love the idea of cooperation. And so I have, um, all these people together, um, then women, lots of diversity, and they're all working together and they're pulling up an anchor and then their seagulls that are in the scene too. And so that's really what I'm always looking for. That kind of theme in my work of, um, yeah, the peaceable kingdom of everybody, um, working together and getting along. So those are kind of a set of disparate ideas that you continue to work on. I mean that you, you, you simultaneously need conflict to kind of push you forward, but then you like to get to a place of, uh, quietude and, um, harmony. So to have those that back and forth and that push and pull again, it gets, it kind of returns to the theme of, um, willingness to be uncomfortable. Yes, absolutely. Um, I see it sometimes I'll see it almost as a form of meditation and I try to meditate every morning, but I don't every morning and sometimes I'll meditate, you know, just like I'm really struggling with something. And it's back to that. All the answers are inside of you, but I can't access them when I'm struggling. And so I'll need to just sit and be quiet and that's a struggle. And that's a challenge just to sit and then to let those thoughts sort of go through your head and then pass, it's just a whole process. And then sometimes you just get the payoff of getting a little inner wisdom that helps you sort of move forward or handle a situation, um, as not, not react to a situation, respond to a situation. So, yes. Yeah. I'm always having that, that, that struggle. And I think through the therapy and being able to label feelings, I'm more apt now to go, okay, this is really painful. This is really hard. This is a struggle. What's the feeling. And can I do something about it? What can I do about it? So that it's a little bit, um, of figuring out what you can and can't control in life. Do you think that this, uh, has helped you in the work that you've done as an illustrator and working with children? Because, you know, as adults, we all feel like we're supposed to have pass some magical threshold and we, we, we know how to be people now and children don't have that idea. They're like, okay, someday I'll be an adult, but right now I'm just going to feel what I feel and it, and it's sometimes it's really hard. So when you're illustrating, do you think that tapping into that, that knowledge, that really, we're all kind of doing that all of our lives, um, enables you to create scenes that children will relate to That's yeah, that's a really good question. And yes. Um, I was thinking back to a big illustration board that I did for my nephew, um, years ago. And he was struggling, you know, with some issues. And I was talking to my sister about, you know, the whole idea of labeling feelings. And so I was visiting them in North Carolina and we made this huge poster and I did all these pictures of him with all these different emotions and then label them. And then my sister said for a number of years after that, he would go up to the poster and point to that emotion. And now he's, uh, what is he now like 13? And, um, he's really on top of stuff, you know, as far as, um, being able to access those feelings and talk about them. And so, yeah, I think kids just have this whole world inside of them and more, the more we can give them, like the gift of, of that feeling language and help them label things. And, um, yeah, I hope that I can some way help with my children's illustrations doing that. You And I have children that are roughly the same age and your children appear in some of your books. How did they feel about that? They actually really love it. Yeah. Um, it, I remember when we were talking about, you know, having a family I wanted to, but I also thought, oh, this is going to be challenging to have a career as an illustrator and have children. And it ended up being, um, working out wonderfully because I got a glimpse into their whole world all the time. And with children's books, you have to be really specific. I mean, if you're doing, you know, like actually did an illustration recently and it called for children to be five years old, so you to make sure that you look like they're five years old, because five looks different than three, it looks different than seven. So I'm now having kids, there was just so much good reference, but also just the fun of being in the whole world of kids. Um, I loved, uh, I, the opportunity to go into my son's classrooms and read my books and, um, really enjoyed that. Yeah. I have to admit that there are a lot of things that I miss about my children being younger, but probably top on the list was my reading to them. Was that special time. And in part, because I loved those books, I loved, um, Ms. , all the Barbara Cooney books, um, you know, goodnight, moon, all of the things that, and even now, as I'm thinking about, I, it just makes me wish I had children around so that I could have an excuse to read these things to them. So when you're creating your art, now, it actually feels like you're also BA you're kind of being inclusive to people of all ages. When I look at your Monhegan piece, I mean, I could be five and I could look at this and I could see the happy whales in the background. You know, I could be, you know, 20 and look at the kind of lonely look and see a girl in the middle of the picture. Um, it seems like it's just this, this universal nature of being human. Yes. That's exactly what I'm looking for in my pieces. I want everybody to be able to relate to them. And I know through my journey, I've been able to get sort of back to that feeling of just sort of freedom and delight I had as a younger child. And it makes me feel that way when I'm working on these paintings, it makes me feel that way. When I look at lots of different types of art, you know, there's just that just connection sort of down to this like essence. Um, yeah. I was just talking with someone recently about, about art and sometimes it can be made to feel sort of exclusive. And some people, it, people feel like they don't know enough about it to go into a gallery or a museum. And I feel the opposite. I just feel like it's trusting your feelings and your insane instincts. And do you like that piece? What does it say to you? You know, and I, we would always, um, take our young sons to museums and galleries and, you know, sometimes we'd just go for a few minutes and get a snack afterwards, but just, what do you think about this piece? And Ari take them to comic bookstores. That's like a great, you know, type of art. Um, but yeah, I, I just think art is about, um, it's just this wonderful one-on-one experience and you just need to trust your instincts. Going back to the Monhegan idea, um, Monhegan is known for its very houses and we live near Mackworth island and they're also fairy houses there. And I know this has become a theme that a lot of parents and children resonate with the possibility of magic, the possibility of, um, small community is that exists, even though we can't see them. Um, what, what thoughts do you have about the possibility of magic in this world? Ooh, I love that question specially. Um, yesterday I'm trying to do an outing on Thursdays. Um, just, you know, some day trip around mean with my sketchbook. Um, and yesterday I went up to the botanical gardens and they have this huge exhibit of trolls and they're made by an artist from Denmark created on site. They're huge. I don't know they were like 40 feet high or something. Um, and they're made of reclaimed floorboards from all over the world. And I went up with a friend and it was so much fun. It was really magical to walk through the woods and then come upon this enormous troll. And then they had summer camp kids there and to see the kids interacting with this art, these sculptures and this feeling of just pure delight, I thought, oh, this, this is, this is magic. And this is the kind of magic that, um, you know, my husband, I always wanted for our son's going into galleries, museums, wherever, like just being able to tap into that. And so, yeah, yesterday I had that feeling. It's interesting to hear you talk about this because my, my brother, John brought his three little boys up and he had posted pictures on the family feed of the trolls up at the botanical gardens. Those a doctor, friend of mine who was going to be bringing her child up to the botanical gardens. I don't think I've ever heard more about the botanical gardens then this year when they brought the trolls in. So it kind of tells me that we need that right now. We need the trolls and the magic, and we need to be reminded that there's something beyond what we've lived through over the last 18 months. Absolutely. And I think, yeah, that's really true. I think that that is it's been such a painful, raw time going through COVID and I think that that's sort of the silver lining that it's shown us what's most important. And I think something like the troll, you know, going to the botanical gardens, seeing all the beautiful colors, beautiful plants and flowers, and then going through the forest and seeing these trolls, that's just, yeah. Really, really special. And I think that also is part of why Maine is just, um, has been on so many people's radar lists as far as visiting here and moving here. And, um, it's just, it's, it's a magical place. It really is. You and I were talking earlier and one of the things that came up was the, um, the ability to go deep or not go deep. Um, and we were talking about kind of being human and having really deep things happen, but also be able to be more light. And to my mind, it, it actually made me think of the ocean where, where sometimes you you're at the bottom of the ocean and you're looking at the lobsters crawling around and the critters that it seems kind of dark and I'm skirt and that's one experience. And sometimes you're in a, in a boat and the light is on the water. You're, um, going around the islands. And I love this, this idea that you and I both were just thinking about that, that you can, you can be all those things. You can experience the ocean. And in all of those ways you can be a person that is interacting with other people in lots of different ways. I think that's really, really true. Yeah. And that's, um, that's getting to know yourself really well. And I think, and having that level a level of acceptance of yourself and what I found is the more I judged others, the more I'm judging myself, the more I accept myself, the more I'm accepting of others and, and all the different gifts that there are out there. Yes. I mean, I think I was a very different doctor than I was when I first started this process. And at that point, I think I, um, unfortunately believed in this quote unquote adult idea of right and wrong and there's you get to a place and there's no right. There's really no wrong. It's all just kind of perceptions of reality. But that takes, lived experience to get there, I believe. Oh, I think that's, yes. That's very true. Yeah. And it, it goes back to, I think all the answers are inside of yourself. Um, but it's a lot of lived experiences I think, to get to that place and a commitment to grow and want to see things in a really honest, authentic way, which is really challenging. Um, but very gratifying and rewarding. Well, Paige, we could go on forever. I feel like we could sit here and we could be here tomorrow, still having these conversations, but it's really been my pleasure to talk with you today. Oh, my pleasure too, Lisa, it's just, yeah, this has been a wonderful experience. Thank you. I've been speaking with artists page Eastbourne O'Rourke and you can find her work at the Portland art gallery. She actually has an upcoming show in a few months, but right now you can see all kinds of versions of what she's doing on the Portland art gallery website. She's a wonderful artist. I really recommend that you get to know her work and maybe when you come join us for an opening someday at the Portland art gallery, you'll get to know her too. Thank you for joining us today.