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“He has a strong connection to Matisse,” Philip explains about
Hodgkin’s work, continuing, “There are these portals, which is
also a fairly strong theme in my work, looking through one space
into another space, inside looking outside or between two shapes
or land masses.”

A third Hodgkin collection sits open on the uncluttered desk in
front of a side window framing the wintry gray day outside.
Frey flips the pages and stops for a moment at Venetian Glass
(1984-87) and Interior at Oakwood Court (1978-83) and again
to take in The Last Time I Saw Paris (1988-91) and Kerala (1992).
I am struck by the work of an artist in deep communication with
place.

Indeed, in Philip’s studio in situ studies converse with completed
canvasses, Downeast landscapes with camp interiors. Juxtaposi-
tions of color and brush stroke communicate motif, and I agree
that Matisse has been a strong influence, one Philip admits he can
trace all the way back to his college days. “Color and light have Nestled, oil on canvas, 30” x 40”, 2020.
always been a big element in my work, it’s what I am really inte-
rested in.”

The focal point of the space is Philip’s canvas-in-progress. Secured and lighted in its H-Frame easel, on this day, it is a bold 30 x 30
inch Portland cityscape that will eventually make its way to Greenhut Galleries for its spring Portland Show. On the floor in front
of it, a Persian-style rug covers an anti-fatigue mat. A classical music mix plays softly in the background, and Philip wrapped in his
pigment-stained canvas apron, offers me tea and nuts and a seat on “the chair.”

Philip announces that I am occupying what he calls “the thinking chair.” Or, “the looking chair,” he specifies, explaining, “part of
the process is actually sitting down and just looking and seeing what’s working and what’s not working. Because you have done it
so many times, you say, ‘Oh yea, that’s what needs to be done.’ From study to canvas, Philip embraces the inherent struggle of how
much detail to pull forward, of locating what is interesting to him and where he ultimately wants the viewer to go in the painting.

“I really don’t know how a painting is going to turn out. That for me is part of the joy of the process; it can turn out bad or good.
Who knows? I’m very willing to engage with it because I love the process. I try as much as I can to adjust the painting, without
over-working it, to get closer to what I think I want and what works.”
Visitors to Philip’s studio are welcome by appointment. Currently, his work is held internationally with prominent private collectors
and corporate collections, including that of writer Harlan Coben, Rep. Chellie Pingree & Donald Sussman, Dick Wolf Films, Court-
house Gallery Fine Art, and the University of Maine Museum of Art. He is represented by Courthouse Gallery Fine Art on Court
Street in Ellsworth, and other galler-
ies outside the region, Edgewater -
Gallery, Greenhut Galleries and
Carver Hill Gallery. The website
for the Courthouse Gallery in Ells-
worth is www.courthousegallery.com
and their phone number is (207)-
667-6611.

Courthouse Gallery Fine Art will
host a solo show for Philip Frey
Aug. 10 – Sept. 4, 2020.

Fisherman’s Palette, oil on canvas,
30” x 40”, 2019.

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