Susan Bartlett Rice

Susan does not aim to press civil right rights agenda or point out corruption in the government. She focuses on the beauty and perfection that Maine is. As she points out, if she does not paint spring, summer, autumn, or even winter, it is gone for a whole year. She loves her state and the natural beauty that it possesses. Whether it is the bare branches in the winter, or freshly painted shutters of a house, Susan wants to capture the essence of Maine and unfiltered. Her murals capture Maine and project scenes of daily life. She will also paint sails or on the side of barns. Whatever she can get her hands on, she wishes to enhance it with the embodiment of the true north.

Capturing Maine in the warmth of summer, we have geese, turtles, fish and birds filling the marshes inland from the ocean. Susan has captured an everyday occurrence in midsummer for people to view during any season. Perhaps when one is driving by in February, this might bring some warmth.

Here is a mural painted on 230 main street in Biddeford, Maine. This image of the old Starry Mill with the night sky in the background helps to keep what was Maine stay in Maine.

Yes when one asks the average American outside of New England, what is one thing they can think of about Maine, they would probably say lobster. Now the lobster fishing is very important to the costal communities throughout Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. Here Susan has captured an image that is synonymous to Maine and placed it on a boat one would never think of with lobster in the water.

This mural, found on 225 Congress Street in Portland, Is my favorite. I have experience harvesting razor clams in Ipswich, Massachusetts. This brings warmth to my soul and I am sure to many other locals in New England. To these workers, it is an every day's work. However, it captures a part of Maine and New England as a whole that many outside do not see. The nitty and gritty side which turns around to be some of the most enjoyable feasting on a summers day.