The get the job done of Janice Santos is remaining showcased this thirty day period at Wintergreen. She held an open up property at the facility’s First Friday Artwalk occasion April 2.
PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Whether or not she is on her way to perform or traveling throughout the state, Janice Santos of Perham generally has her camera on hand, prepared to snap photographs of the subsequent image or scene that captures her interest.
Nevertheless Santos grew up in East Freetown, Massachusetts, a village in close proximity to Cape Cod, she has lived in Aroostook County since 2004 and not long ago has rekindled her enjoy for photography. On April 2, Santos showcased 45 images at Wintergreen’s 1st Friday Art Stroll opening.
Most of the pics portray animals, plants and surroundings or abandoned buildings caught inside the throes of mother nature. One particular photograph attributes a doe that wandered into Santos’ yard a person working day, though a different catches the second a whale’s tale breaks the water’s surface throughout a Massachusetts whale viewing trip.
Another of Santos’ beloved photographs depicts an deserted property on Route 161 between Woodland and New Sweden. Her adore of tunes is apparent in a photograph capturing the “corner in Winslow, Arizona” that The Eagles sing about in “Take It Easy.”
A journey to “a corner in Winslow, Arizona,” designed renowned by The Eagles music “Take It Easy” led to Janice Santos using this photograph. (Melissa Lizotte|The Star-Herald)
Santos said that Aroostook’s open spaces and scenes of character deliver a good deal of alternatives to portray her favored photographic subjects.
“If I was in the metropolis, I’d have to go someplace quieter with a lot far more place if I preferred to choose photographs,” Santos said. “Most images I just take when I’m on my way somewhere or have a day to myself.”
These times Santos performs at Defense Finance Accounting Expert services in Limestone and usually takes pictures in close proximity to the household she crafted in Perham. But her days as a visible artist span back again to the 1980s when she apprenticed at the studio of John Baptista, a regional photographer in Massachusetts.
Santos’s apprenticeship led to an surprising detour into the Army Nationwide Guard as a photojournalist for the Guard’s e-newsletter.
This photograph from Janice Santos of Perham depicts a doe standing in her backyard. Nature and the outdoors are two preferred subjects of Santos, who has lived in Aroostook given that 2004. (Melissa Lizotte|The Star-Herald)
“I was doing the job at a manufacturing unit for bare minimum wage and apprenticing at the studio,” Santos mentioned. “One working day a Nationwide Guard recruiter walked into the studio and claimed, ‘I could make you a photojournalist.’”
In addition to her time with the Guard, Santos has worked as an business office supervisor, client assistance representative and CNA. But images and songs have become her most enjoyable inventive pursuits. Prior to the pandemic she on a regular basis executed solo and in the area duo Purple Ruger.
At Wintergreen, Santos performed some of her favorite people rock, blues and pop tracks of the 1960s and ‘70s, like songs from Joni Mitchell, The Beatles, Bonnie Riatt, Van Morrison and Leonard Cohen. She pointed out that Wintergreen has come to be her preferred put to carry out.
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“It’s a extremely cozy, welcoming ambiance. The people today who come listed here really like art and people are people today I appreciate hanging out with,” Santos mentioned.
Far more than a dozen folks arrived to Wintergreen through the evening to listen to Santos execute and marvel at her pictures. Shannon Espling of Woodland, a close friend and previous co-worker of Santos, mentioned that the Wintergreen present marked the first time she observed Santos’ function.
Janice Santos (proper) discusses her images with Shannon Espling of Woodland at Wintergreen Arts Centre. (Melissa Lizotte | The Star-Herald)
“I’m quite amazed. She has a present for viewing items that individuals may not see right away,” Espling mentioned. “You can see she has an outside coronary heart.”
Santos’ pictures will be on display screen at Wintergreen till the next First Friday exhibit on May 7.