Artist Corey Daniels at his gallery.

It never ceases to amaze me what incredible people reside in the state of Maine. I am privileged in my job that I come into contact with lots of them. One of the most recent I met is a compulsively creative man by the name of Corey Daniels. It’s hard to describe what he does in a few words so you’ll just have to read the perceptive article in The New York Times about him that appeared this week. Because I was assigned to take photos for the story, I got to peek into his enchanting world, and I came away from it charged up and inspired, awestruck and impressed, filled with a desire to start making something, anything!

Multiple layers of art cover some spaces in Daniels' house, including here where he has drawn on the wall and then covered it with another piece of his art work.

This is someone I’d never heard of before who is quietly going about his business of creating and recreating all day long and into the night. Doing it out of some irrepressible urge. Doing it out of love for shape and form. Making compelling scenes by combining disparate found objects. Painting and drawing on canvases, walls and floors. Taking stunning large format photographs. Regularly reinventing himself and his vision. At a time in his life when most people would be content to curl up on the couch and watch TV in their spare time, Daniels is constantly occupied with crafting things that please his eye. And one of the most wonderful things about it all is he’s doing it without an ego. He’s humble, approachable, full of all the doubts most of the rest of us have. But that doesn’t stop him from getting up everyday and doing his thing, and doing it like no one else.

The juxtaposition between the 19th-century house and the contemporary passageway that connects the two older buildings of Daniels' gallery is indicative of his vision—a desire to meld old and new. Large-scale paintings by Daniels hang on the walls and chairs by Cleveland metalworker Doug Meyer are aligned in neat rows.

Daniels is currently transforming his well-established antique-dealing business housed in two 19th-century buildings connected by a recently renovated modern passageway into more of a contemporary art gallery. But it’s not your every day art gallery. He has a unique and exceptional eye for furniture as art for one thing. And he isn’t necessarily concerned with carrying artists who have already made a name for themselves. He’ll go out on a local art walk, find a piece of sculpture he loves and display it in the gallery. These works of contemporary art, which make their home among the wonderfully worn objects he finds at flea markets and antique shows make for an unusual combination of new and old, a blurring of the line between art and antiques.

Even Daniels' closets at the gallery are packed with artfully arranged objects that have caught his eye at flea markets and antique shows.

If you’re in the state and care about art, you owe yourself a visit to Daniels’ magical kingdom at 2208 Post Road in Wells. And if you’re out of state, I’d venture to say it’s more than worth a special trip.

The converted 19th-century barn that makes up part of Daniels' gallery is adorned with a stone sculpture from the 1960s by Tony Conway.

I spent two days with the reporter, Julia Moskin, visiting restaurants, markets and shops. We had a jam-packed schedule that usually allowed for about 30 minutes in each locale. This was an excellent test of my ability to get high-quality images in a short time period while working with available props and light. I sent in dozens of images and while the Times managed to run a large number (15 in the online slideshow, another 5 embedded in the online story, and 12 in the print version), there are, of course, some other images I really like that weren’t included. I thought I’d share some of those with you here. Hope you enjoy them!

(Full disclosure: the preponderance of Scratch Baking Co. images is because a) I had a lot of time there with unfettered access (the owners are my friends as I live a block away and worked there for a spell) and b) because I’m addicted to their bread and bagels!)

Selecting a bunch of turnips from Freedom Farm's stand at the Portland Farmers' Market.

Wild Maine blueberries from Beth's Farm Market for sale by Wealden Farm in the parking lot of Rosemont Bakery & Market.

Brian Pramick working in the bread baking area at Micucci Grocery.

Allison Reid, co-owner and baker at Scratch Baking Company, sprinkling flour on dough that will be shaped into baguettes.

Bagels at Scratch ready for the oven (foreground) and to be boiled (background).

Lou Slingerland puts seeds on Scratch's highly sought after bagels.

The Ring Ding a Ling, Scratch's creative alternative to the traditional Maine whoopie pie.

Erik Desjarlais, chef and owner of Evangeline.

Krista Kern Desjarlais, the owner of and chef at Bresca, with sous chef Courtney Loreg (watch out, she wields a mean knife!).

Last but certainly not least, Raleigh, very possibly the best dog ever (sorry, Clara), at Rabelais, a cookbook store devoted to new, used and rare books on food, beverages and gardening.

]]> http://blog.staceycramp.com/2009/09/17/nyt-outtakes/feed/ 4 scramp portland farmers' market Rosemont Micucci Scratch Scratch2 Scratch3 Scratch4 Evangeline Bresca Rabelais http://blog.staceycramp.com/2009/01/06/hello-world/ http://blog.staceycramp.com/2009/01/06/hello-world/#comments Tue, 06 Jan 2009 20:50:08 +0000 scramp ]]> I thought it was quite amusing when the captain of this water taxi (who happened to be a guy I know who lives one street over from me) said “Come aboard, make yourself at home.” If my home were an igloo, perhaps I could have done that! My first assignment in the new year was a real estate gig for the New York Times. For some reason their “What You Get” online feature has been fixated on Maine properties lately. Each one I do is a window into another world, and this was no exception. It was a property on Great Diamond Island and because the ferry doesn’t run very frequently out there in the winter, we took a water taxi on the way out. Let me tell ya, the water taxi is the way to go if money is no object. We were at the island in a flash and the next thing I knew I was on a golf cart being taken to the designated property. It turns out riding in an open boat and then an open golf cart in sub-freezing temperatures does not cure the common cold, but makes it much worse. Who knew? More importantly though, I learned that there are some amazing people living on the islands of Casco Bay year-round. I’m always intrigued by people who enjoy being so isolated and who don’t get worked up over not having easy access to the conveniences most of us are accustomed to, such as, say, being able to run to the corner store when you need a lemon. Such circumstances definitely promote resourcefulness and neighborliness…assuming your neighbor hasn’t skipped the island for the winter.