Madeleine P. Hopkins 2023 I am a painter of life and color. My work reflects the continuous evolution of light and mood and offers my perspective on 'place'. My views conjure an alternative to what is expected. Primarily, my paintings are about catching a moment, not so much about telling a story or looking at a view but seeing and experiencing a moment which evokes a response, sometimes deconstructed. I value quiet time. I seek altered states in my paintings... a place off the main path.
I have gone down several roads in my career. After majoring in Illustration at Rhode Island School of Design, I found illustration jobs difficult to find... or at least not the type I wanted to do. So, I worked in a gallery, was a corporate art consultant, worked in a frame shop, worked at a newspaper. Then, there was architectural design. I worked at one of the best design firms in Philadelphia for a few years and really enjoyed it. But things changed after relocating to southern Maine and I left the corporate world to design independently. I was commissioned to re-design a restaurant and several homes, as well as new construction. I also began turning my focus to studio work and plein-air painting.
In the early 90's, I owned and managed a gallery in Ogunquit, Maine, representing thirty artists as well as my own work. I closed the gallery to focus on family for a number of years and I also wrote and published a book. In 1999, I worked as an illustrator for a local architect and went on to illustrate for others. Although I was working, I wanted to do my own thing as a painter. I wanted to explore as an artist... independently.
I have worked in many different media, primarily oil, watercolor, acrylic and pastel. Within each medium, I develop a technique, reinterpreting color and form and reworking surfaces, sometimes adding texture to the mix. My paintings are primarily landscapes. Sometimes I use brush, sometimes palette knife, often both. I begin with a view and I work in my studio to bring it to life. I spend days or weeks working on one piece, reworking it and helping it find its way. I feel that the results can still evoke a new, fresh interpretation.
education 2000 RiverTree Arts, Kennebunk, ME | Pastel Study, Vanessa Nesvig 1998 Heartwood College of Art, K'port, ME | Watercolor Study w/Dewitt Hardy 1984 / Drexel University, Phila, PA | Interior Architecture Study 1978-1982 Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI | BFA Illustration
biography Madeleine Pydych Hopkins was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, raised in Gladwyne, Pennsylvania and moved to southern Maine in 1987. She is a graduate of Rhode Island School of Design with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration. Hopkins has worked as an illustrator, painter, interior designer, gallery owner/manager, architectural designer and she is a self published author. Her paintings hang in several public and private collections.
representation Barn Gallery | Ogunquit Art Association | Ogunquit, ME Cliff House Exhibit | Ogunquit, ME Hole in the Wall Studioworks | Raymond, ME Van Ward Gallery | Ogunquit, ME
current schedule of exhibits Barn Gallery | Ogunquit, ME Van Ward Gallery | Ogunquit, ME Cliff House Gallery | Ogunquit, ME Hole in the Wall Studioworks | Raymond, ME
