Old Spruce - B. Gary HoyleOld Spruce - B. Gary Hoyle

B. Gary Hoyle merges elements of art with science and the rawness of the natural world. His paintings depict intriguing ecosystems—a dense forest, a grassy marsh, a barren shoreline. The wonder his work instills originates from these environments he decides to portray.

Hoyle’s work boasts a strong use of color. Rather than paint according to the hues in a given landscape, he darkens bushes and trees with gobs of purple and gives the crevices of rocks a pinkish hue. In Autumn Dry Spell at a Tidal Marsh he creates a dazzling pointillistic sky of pink, yellow, and blue .

These beautiful landscapes charge the senses, inviting viewers to taste the salty air of the cove and listen as birds echo through the forest. 

Ghost Tree Relic of an Earlier Shoreline - B. Gary HoyleGhost Tree Relic of an Earlier Shoreline - B. Gary Hoyle

A Maine native, Hoyle is a professional exhibit fabricator and artist who for 28 years worked as curator of natural history at the Maine State Museum. From 2008 to 2011, Hoyle was an Artist in Residence at the University of Maine and Acadia National Park. He has taught the art of plant fabrication at COA, has been a consultant to the Dorr Museum, and has mentored a COA student as a museum exhibits artist.

Late Summer Marsh - B. Gary HoyleLate Summer Marsh - B. Gary Hoyle

Some of Hoyle’s paintings, like Ghost Tree Relic of an Earlier Shoreline, are illustrated with carefully executed brushstrokes and depict clear, realistic images. But more of the pieces in this series have a rougher, almost impressionistic style, adding movement and grace. It is easy to imagine a gust of wind rushing through the soft, billowy grasses in Late Summer Marsh, or a slight swaying of the trees in Island Cove.

Autumn Dry Spell at a Tidal Marsh - B. Gary HoyleAutumn Dry Spell at a Tidal Marsh - B. Gary Hoyle

Hoyle’s work has been shown at the Boston Museum of Science, the New York State Museum, and the International Guild of Natural Science Illustrators.

In 1992-93, he led a landmark, 100-person excavation of the only known remains of a woolly mammoth ever found in Maine.

The show is up through November 14 at the George B. Dorr Museum of Natural History at College of the Atlantic.