Husband and wife team Jim Kucheman and Glenys Sayward are well-matched. Jim is an introverted, talented, hard-working artist and extrovert Glenys has a well-trained, critical eye plus years of experience in marketing and sales in art and handcrafted furniture. Their interests and skills complement each other as they work to prepare a Pop-Up Show of 40 of Jim’s acrylic paintings to be held in the Station Square lobby entrance and Grand Central Wine Bar at 7 Railroad Avenue in Gorham from May 27 to the 29.
The weekend art show offers a special opportunity for Jim to introduce himself and his work to his home community with “direct from the artist” pricing, ranging from $275-300 for smaller work, up to $3,000 for large pieces) A digital show preview can be found at www.brightsideviews.com.
Photo credit Chris CrawfordJim Kucheman works on a large canvas he hopes to finish in time for his show in Gorham.
The show will be memorable for a number of reasons, first and foremost because of Jim’s talent (he has won many awards) and secondly because of Glenys’ thoughtful curation. Jim paints what inspires him, mostly landscapes from his favorite locations in Maine and also from their travels in France. His paintings are intimate, welcoming and vibrant, featuring locations that hold meaning for him. “I like to try to capture the sense of a place,” he said. The viewer can feel that connection. Jim skillfully captures mood and light, creating a beautiful moment in time. He modestly believes that “if the subject is good, the painting almost paints itself!”
They say that timing is everything. Another reason the show will be memorable is that, with the exception of brief periods early in his career while teaching art courses at the University of Maine at Fort Kent and at the University of Southern Maine in Gorham, the bulk of Jim’s working life was spent in a 30 year partial-hiatus from painting. During that time he worked as a postal carrier in Portland and Westbrook. His retirement in 2014 has provided the time Jim needs to reengage with his painting. He said, “The goal of a successful artist is to produce consistently and at a high level. For that you need time for practice, experimentation and refinement.”
The timing is good for Glenys, too, having retired in 2019 from her sales career at the Thos. Moser Handcrafted furniture, she now has the time to fill the key role of business/marketing manager, art critic and chief-encourager of Jim’s art. She also uses her skills as a part-time sales subcontractor at Village Builders in Gorham. Glenys said, “My goal is to help make Jim’s art more available to the public and to match his work with buyers who want a quality, colorful painting that can transmit a desired feeling or memory in their home. If a painting’s influence can be felt as happiness, awe, or contentment from a glance across the room, and the size of the piece works well in the space, that is perfect.”
Good timing played a role earlier in their lives, too, when they met while attending graduate art programs at the University of Georgia; he in a Masters of Fine Arts program for drawing and painting and she in a self-designed Master of Education program for Arts Administration. They sat across from each other in a life drawing class. When their sight lines aligned, they took notice of each other instead of the model between them, and made a connection. When Jim offered a bit of storage space in his studio, Glenys accepted and that was the beginning of their partnership. Glenys had already completed a Masters of Education degree in Student Personnel in Higher Education and wanted to find work in Maine, where she wondered if she could put down roots on family-owned land in Union, a place connected to her Sayward ancestry. Roots seemed to have appeal for Jim, who grew up on several U. S. Air Force bases. When Glenys accepted a job at the University of Maine in Fort Kent in 1979, Jim decided to give Maine a try as well.
Over 30 years ago they made Gorham their home when they moved to the Dingley Spring area. Their son, Bryan Kucheman (GHS ’12) has a degree in History from University of Southern Maine. Now in their retirement, Jim and Glenys are enjoying the ability to connect more frequently with people in the Gorham community.
Jim and Glenys can be reached at glenysjim@gmail.com or by calling Glenys at 207-756-2309.