To find the most interesting pieces, start by asking the most interesting people. Here in Maine, we have both in spades, so we turned to creatives across the state to find out which Maine-made works they can’t stop thinking about.“I feel so lucky to live in a state where locally made goods are of the utmost importance,”says potter Dominique Ostuni.“And not only that, everything is made with such intention! Such care!” Ahead, Ostuni and five of her art and art-adjacent contemporaries weigh in.
TY WILLIAMS, ARTIST
“Kate Jones’ jewelry line, Ursa Major, embodies the idea of beauty roped in with isolation and ennui. She captures the haunting magnetism of Maine with jewelry. I got my partner the Pilar ring years ago—I love those rings. Seeing Kate’s pieces feels like looking at a Wyeth painting or reading an E.B. White book, these things that are so tied to Maine.”
Pilar ring, from $1,900, katejones.us
RYAN ADAMS, PAINTER & MURALIST
“A local artist, Chel, paints custom pet portraits that are so beautiful. We commissioned one for my wife’s brother. It was a smash—he’s a stoic dude, and he was instantly emotional. Not every painting elicits an emotional response, it’s difficult to do. But there’s a certain soul in Chel’s work that I haven’t seen in that world before.”
Pet portrait, price upon request, chelpainting.com
DOMINIQUE OSTUNI, POTTER
“As a potter, my kitchen overflows with handmade objects in constant use. Last year, I swapped mugs with Ariela of ANK Ceramics. I came home with a rich, almost antique-green mug that I adore. It’s simple, elegant, and so well-made. Easy in the hand, but full of her language. The handle curves like the moon, the hand-built nature of the piece shines through, it slows me down entirely.”
Mug, from $50, ankceramics.com
JAIME DESIMONE, CURATOR
“I have a brass ring by Cat Bates that I wear every week. I think of it more as an object than as jewelry. It’s a mirror image of itself, a square with a circle on the inside. When you wear it, it looks like a thin rectangle, with the ends brought in. Years later I came across the matching earrings, and I was like, this is meant to be. I wear them all the time and I always get compliments.”
Brass token ring, $165, and earrings, $65, cat-bates.com
CAT BATES, JEWELRY DESIGNER
“There’s a bowl I have by the artist Kreg McCune. It’s this delightfully simple form—but of course, simple forms are complicated. It’s straight-walled. The glaze is understated and beautiful. The weight is perfect. The wall thickness is impeccable—not too thin, not too chunky. It stacks nicely. It’s a really special piece. It’s one I use multiple times a day, and that fits just right in my hand. I love it.”
Ceramic bowl, from $50, kregmccunepottery.com
DEVON ZIMMERMAN, CURATOR
“For our Networks of Modernism exhibition, designer Remy Zimmerman produced a beautiful data visualization mapping the networks of artists who visited Ogunquit—Marsden Hartley, Agnes Pelton, Cy Twombly. It hangs on my wall, this lovely pink and green web. People often think of Maine as all beautiful vistas, but what makes it so fundamentally Maine is the relationships among people.”
Networks of Modernism poster, price$10, museum gift shop, ogunquitmuseum.org
