Blue Butterfield is the artist behind the gorgeous, new woodcut illustrations that accompany the 1941 classic "Christmas in Maine" by Pulitzer Prize winning poet Robert Tristram P. Coffin. Blue has quite a following, especially in Portland where her calendars are sought after each year. But even her most loyal fans might not know some of these fun facts:
1. In 2008, Blue Butterfield and her husband started the Reiche International 5K Road Race to benefit Reiche Elementary School in the West End of Portland, one of Maine's most ethnically diverse schools. The race has become the school's largest annual fundraiser.
2. Blue started assembling her woodblock prints into a yearly calendar in 2007, and now receives orders from across the country.
3. When she's not working in her studio, Butterfield is a Physician Assistant at Maine Medical Center.
4. She has a passion for track and field.
5. As a budding artist in high school, she won a grant to study abroad and spent her junior year painting in Germany and traveling across Europe.
Many thanks to Blue for sharing these fun facts with us! Want to learn more about the artist and her work? Check out these events coming up in November and December!
November 20: "Christmas in Maine" Book Launch at the Portland Museum of Art at 5 p.m. (Portland, ME)
December 4: Meet Blue Butterfield at Harmon's & Barton's Gallery at 5 p.m. (Portland, ME)
December 13: Discussion, book signing, and holiday concert with Blue Butterfield at the Jesup Memorial Library at 2 p.m. (Bar Harbor, ME)
December 16: Book signing and wood carving demonstration at the Freeport Community Library at 6:30 p.m. (Freeport, ME)
December 19: Book Signing at L.L. Bean at 11 a.m. (Freeport, ME)
To find your copy of "Christmas in Maine," visit our bookshop.
All photos of Blue Butterfield courtesy of Kevin Bennett Photography.
Wonderful spotlight on a talented and lovely artist!
Posted by: Elizabeth | November 19, 2015 at 11:04 PM
Blue's illustrations are amazing! The
book is available now at all 5 of Sherman's
bookstores...a wonderful holiday gift!
Posted by: Claudette Simms | November 19, 2015 at 10:22 PM