Gallery 302 welcomes new artists

BRIDGTON — Gallery 302 is thrilled to welcome a new Guest Artist and two new photographers to the gallery in time for the holiday season. Guest Artist Lori Badger has been a mosaic and tile artist in the Mount Washington Valley of New Hampshire for many years and is now coming out with her own line of vintage-look jewelry that is truly inspired by the mountains.

Photographers Linda Panzera and Ken Oliver have both had a lifelong passion for photography and are awed by the power of being able to make time stand still with a click. Please stop in and meet the gallery’s artists during Bridgton’s Festival of Lights Celebration on Saturday, December 1, from 5-7 p.m. Join in with warm cider, cookies, holiday spirit and see what is being created locally.

Lori Badger's jewelry pieces combine antiqued copper, brass and silver-look chain with new and old beads, buttons and charms. Lori also works with interested customers on custom designs, which can incorporate personal photos into her jewelry and specially designed mosaic pieces. Each individual work of art is truly one of a kind.

Photographers Linda Panzera of Sebago and Ken Oliver of Poland both feel a special bond with nature – Panzera describes an “inner peace when I am out in the field photographing wildlife” and Oliver says photography is a “spiritual experience.”

Panzera hopes to bring her viewers closer to the wildlife she photographs – loons, eagles, foxes, and more. She has won numerous awards and has been published in journals, calendars, on websites, brochures, leaflets, maps, and annual reports.

After monitoring an eaglets' nesting cycle on Sebago Lake (with camera, of course) she committed to donating five percent of her company’s earning to the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. She is a loon monitor for Maine Audubon, a heron monitor, and eagle monitor for the State of Maine. Panzera lives with her husband, Jim, and her two golden retrievers.

Oliver has traveled to 28 different countries and is still spellbound by the simple beauty that abounds in Maine. He, too, spends hours watching animals. Oliver says, “Whenever I need to bring balance into my life I will go sit with the animals. Their purity and innocence and grace…bring me peace.”

Gallery 302 is located at 112 Main Street in Bridgton and is open 12-5 p.m. Mondays-Fridays, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. on weekends and will be open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. December 11-14. For more information, call 647-2787 or visit www.gallery302.com.