On Tuesday afternoon, Kate Lizotte opened The Workshop Gallery’s doors to show visitors a collection she had been working on for years: For Mary, A Watercolor and Oil Painting Retrospective.
The show is a collection of works by Mary C. Lizotte, Kate’s late grandmother who was an accomplished professional oil painter, watercolorist and recipient of more than 25 awards for her work, including the Copley Master Award from the Copley Society.
The collection is made up of her grandmother’s floral still lifes, dining room table vignettes and scenes from the coast of Maine. For Kate, putting it together was a “labor of love.”
“She used to show all the time, and finally I’m in a place where I have the opportunity, being part of The Workshop Gallery, to actually showcase her work,” Kate said. “To take over the entire space is phenomenal.”
The gallery is located on the Vineyard Haven harbor waterfront at 32 Beach Road.
The opening of For Mary was the first time since Mary Lizotte’s death in 2012 that her art has been on view to the public, her granddaughter said. On a tour of the gallery’s rooms, vivid colors and nostalgic scenes gave viewers a sense of places and settings that felt real and tangible.
“You feel like, I’ve been there, I’ve seen this, I feel this,” said Ned Lizotte, Kate’s father and Mary’s son. “I am so impressed with the detail — just the way they look and the flavor that Katie has put into the work of my mother.”
Putting together the show gave Kate an opportunity to take inventory, she said. During the process, she realized not only how much of her grandmother’s work she owned, but how many
of her grandmother’s possessions had become her own.
Watercolor paintings of dining room table scenes fill one room of the gallery, accompanied by a small collection of items assembled by Kate, many of which can be found in the paintings.
“A little scavenger hunt never hurt anyone,” she said, laughing and pointing to items like a Skippy peanut butter jar, a large yellow vase and a shiny gold book titled Saints: A Year in Faith and Art.
Kate was very close with her grandmother, who Ned described as a “total giver.”
“She had one of the most gracious personalities and character,” he said. “She could tell great stories, make you laugh, and also just be compassionate, sit and listen with you.”
Kate and her father said they realized Tuesday afternoon that the art opening fell on the 11th anniversary of the day Mary was laid to rest. Her death was very sudden, Kate said, and working on the show let her spend time with her grandmother again.
“There are certain moments where I remember visiting her in her studio and talking about the part of this one painting,” Kate said, adding she remembered which garden beds some of the painted flowers were picked from. She still has a tea cup featured in one of the table scenes.
Beyond those memories, Kate also wanted to give the work a chance to take over a whole gallery, something she said her grandmother never got to do. At the opening, Ned said the show was one of the best he had ever seen of his mother’s work.
“I get goosebumps because I could feel the connection and the work that Katie put into this, trying to make it perfect and to see it from my mother’s canvas,” Ned said. “I can’t stop smiling.”
Kate said she hopes visitors to the show will find it joyful and think about what certain objects mean to them. “The people you love are always there, they’re always with you. Possessions and objects hold memories, and they can become a touchstone for a moment that happened with you and this other person.”
For Mary is on view through Oct. 20 at The Workshop Gallery, 32 Beach Road, Vineyard Haven.
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