NORTH READING — For the month of December, Maryellen Stone will be exhibiting her photography collection “Touched by Water” throughout the first floor of the Flint Memorial Library. As a Merrimack Valley Camera Club member, she exhibited some of her work there last month as well.
Though Maryellen has been a photographer since the ’80s, she has considered herself a “birder” for even longer, and her passion for birds goes far beyond just their beauty. The longtime North Reading resident regularly volunteers at the Mass Audubon Joppa Flats Education Center bird banding station in Newburyport as well as the Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. Maryellen also takes special care when photographing her winged muses out in the wild, respecting their nests and personal space.
The primary theme of her work is nature and its inhabitants, and her subject matter ranges from landscapes and seascapes to of course birds (both big and small), giraffes, lions, and more. Each piece in this exhibit is connected to water in one form or another.
The first-floor gallery wall showcases four crisp black-and-white portraits and four colorfully striking landscapes mirrored below. Viewers can be greeted by an elephant, zebra, lion, and giraffe all photographed along the banks of the Chobe River in Botswana. Below these high-contrast portraits, one can admire the stunning shots, from dawn to dusk, of the environment these creatures consider home.
Towards the back of the first floor, the exhibition continues with much more subtle, painterly images of birch trees, emanating cool pastel hues. Maryellen captured these three wintery photos at the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge in Newbury, Mass. On the wall parallel, four hazy seascapes hang. She captured these by creating “multiple exposures of an intentional camera movement.” In these seven pieces, the artist made creative edits after the shoot to enhance the dreamlike quality emanating from them.
In the glass display case at the foot of the stairwell, Maryellen exhibits eight frosty photos of various native birds perched on branches. From cardinals to finches and even a bluejay, each shot was taken during a soft snowfall in the artist’s own backyard here in North Reading.
Works by Maryellen Stone are available for sale and additional information may be found at the circulation desk. To see her additional works visit naturesimages.com.
