Jane Dahmen has been painting the Maine landscape for the past four decades. Her paintings are inspired by the natural world around her, often looking through trees at water or sky beyond. “Walking in the woods, in fields, and along the Damariscotta River near my home, I see paintings everywhere,” she says. “The natural world is my point of departure, but playing with the wet colors leads me into emotional terrain, and the form, color, and surface texture evolve as the painting comes alive.” Before moving to Maine in 2004, Dahmen would sketch the rocky forested islands while sailing the reaches of Casco Bay, returning to her studio to create paintings from the rough pencil sketches. Her paintings don’t necessarily represent specific places, but instead capture the feelings they inspire. The paintings, which have grown in size over the course of her career, create immersive environments that enable viewers to enter into her experience of the midcoast landscape. Her work is part of numerous private and corporate collections around the world. Since 2013, Dahmen has curated Talking Art in Maine: Intimate Conversations, a series of one-on-one conversations with other artists and curators in front of an audience at Lincoln Theater in Damariscotta. In her paintings and the Talking Art series, Dahmen likes to explore unknown territory. “Pushing boundaries and risking failure is what leads to good art,” she says, “and it is inspiring to hear firsthand the challenges artists face.”