On First Friday, October 7 and throughout the month of October, The Artists’ Gallery will feature Freeman Dodsworth in “Sojourn.” Working in oil, Freeman seeks to capture the singular light, color and shape of individual moments. In this new body of work, he travels throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed painting the skies, clouds, fields and rivers of the Tidewater and the boats and buildings that inhabit them. His paintings are all from life, either painting while in the moment, or from sketches and images he captures while in the field. His “Shipping News” series depicts the immense power of weather over the Chesapeake Bay, with the ships that ply the waterway in all conditions.

Freeman is a painter who lives in Port Republic, Maryland. He started to paint in the 1980s, studying under the accomplished Eastern Shore artist, Terry Wolf. He worked with Terry for three years and then left the Shore for a career in the U.S. Navy. The Navy took him around the world and away from art until 2017, when Terry Wolf passed away, spurring Freeman to return to his easel.

“Terry gave me the gift of painting, and when he died, I felt I needed to get going if I ever wanted to grow into the painter I wanted to be. Since that time, Freeman has continued to paint consistently, studying with master painters, including Peter Fiore and Jim Kingston. In addition to exhibiting paintings in The Artists’ Gallery, Freeman’s work hangs in the Northend Gallery in Leonardtown, Maryland.

The public is invited to visit The Artists’ Gallery for an opening reception on First Friday, October 7 from 5 to 8 p.m. for light refreshments and to meet the artist. The Artists’ Gallery is located at 239 High Street in Chestertown and is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. For more information, call the gallery at 410-778-2425 or visit www.theartistsgalleryctown.com.