Featured Artists
FEBRUARY 2025
Dennis Morton
Artist's Statement
Dennis Morton’s initial work in New England was as a portrait artist. He began his formal training as an apprentice under Richard Whitney in 1973. He worked on portraits of the Secretary of the Navy James Webb, Cardinal Medeiros and other high-profile portraits. In 1988 Morton was honored by Governor John Sununu at the New Hampshire State House where twenty-five of his paintings were exhibited for two weeks.
Moving to Hawaii in 1991, he continued to receive commissions in portrait painting. He painted portraits of three circuit judges, Father Damien for the catholic church in Molokai, William Waddell the last Buffalo Soldier, John Lydgate and family in Kauai, and Father Mackey of Chaminade. He was also fortunate to paint Glen Campbell and family.
In 2012 he was commissioned to paint Patty Hastie, George Clooney’s wife in the movie “The Descendants”. The portrait of Patty ended up on the cutting room floor. The director Alex Payne did a follow up entitled “Real Descendants” in which he interviewed John Morgan the head of Kááawa’ Valley along with others about the Hawaiian Alli and merging with wealthy foreigners. Alex sent Cammy Spenser from Fox in Los Angeles to John Morgan’s office where she saw the painting of Púu Ohulehule. She decided to show the painting morphing into reality to start her documentary.
Dennis has sold paintings to Richard Chamberlain, John Travolta and Glen Campbell. Some of his landscapes have been sold to wealthy clients on Óahu and have been in the background of at least six episodes of Hawaii Five O. In the mid-90s he began aggressively pursuing his interest and talents in landscape painting. Many of his pieces reflect the area of Windward Óahu and Kauai. Thru the years he moved back and forth from New England and Hawaii painting many studies and paintings in Plein Air. He refers to his style as visual impressionism, which can be explained in Richard Whitney’s book “Painting the Visual Impression" whereby it is a combination of classical realism and impressionist color notes.
Dennis is now painting Florida landscapes and is continuing to paint portraits & landscapes.
He now resides in Fort Myers and is teaching art classes at The Cape Coral Art League and private classes.
For more info on him you may visit his website: dennismorton@hawaii.com or imaginegallery@together.net
Dennis’s phone number is 603-235-2777 regarding classes or commissioned artwork.
The Interview
by Dee J. Stevenson
PAT ST. ONGE
Pat first moved to the area in 2018 and was looking for a place to teach acrylic painting. She met a woman who’d recently heard that CCAL was looking for an acrylics teacher. She did a demo and was consequently hired and has remained so since then. Art has been her “life-long goal”.
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Her career has always included art-oriented work. She was a co-owner of a pottery shop, head designer for a decorative tile company, then as a project designer for a company who produced molds & products for the ceramic hobby market. Since then she’s worked at several art groups teaching everything form hand-building clay to kids craft programs to now teaching acrylics painting @ CCAL – beginning & intermediate classes.
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Her most lucrative marketing of her works was with Matlacha galleries – before Ian came to town – and with private commissions. Since Ian, she’s decided to concentrate on teaching.
She has built a following over her years of teaching and says that she “enjoys watching people grow as artists”.
Pat has begun learning a new painting medium (oils) with Dennis Morton & loves it.
She believes CCAL offers a supportive atmosphere w/o ‘judgy people making negative comments”. And has noticed no major changes stating that the volunteers and pesronnel & students have changed but ‘overall it continues to be a steady place where people come to learn and participate.” She rates CCAL as a successful place of business and recognizes that as activities change as new people take over long-held positions – classes, workshops, club activities” may change.
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Her manner of addressing negative comments, events or actions she “tries to understand what led to the situation, and to do my best to correct it and clear the air. We all make mistakes, so I own my part, learn from it, and keep moving forward.”
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Pat also suggests improvement in “scheduling” which she thinks might help “to create studio spaces, and by opening up more times for classes – including some evenings and weekends. She’d also “love to see the Gallery shows promoted and have times on the weekends for people to come to them – maybe coordinate with an hour or so of open times before shows at the theatre next door.”