Last winter, artist John Vander was invited to be part of a two-man show at the Fondazione Marino Marini in Pistoia, Italy. Turns out, longtime friend and sculptor, Luigi “Papotto” Russo, is a curator at the museum that houses the works of sculptor Marini.

It was an invitation that came with a built-in theme: The Presepe (Nativity).  Russo and Vander agreed on a “baker's dozen,” 12 paintings, one for each of the Twelve Days of Christmas (Dec. 25 – Jan. 6, Epiphany), and one other to be displayed at the head of the gallery.

Laughing, Vander said, “For better or worse, I agreed to do it. Since I'm not in any sense religious, I had only a vague idea of what I would do. That idea was about light in the darkest time of year.”

He was also interested in some traditional Nativity scenes – not necessarily set in Palestine, but traditional nonetheless.

In his vision, each piece could stand alone. Collectively, the suite would produce a response, a feeling in the viewer. To that end, the paintings would be exhibited in a particular sequence reflecting the progression of the story to be told.

Once committed to the show, Vander realized the theme wasn't the only challenge this project presented. There was a deadline. This abstract expressionist and mixed media artist was used to having the flexibility to spend as much time as he wished on a painting. On multiple paintings at a time, in fact. And, because the space was so large, he would have to increase the size of the paintings – by quite a bit. Try from 18” x 24” (canvas) to 40” x 50” (paper). Bumping up the size led to another challenge, one only another painter would think of: being reintroduced to a set of muscles not used for smaller formats.

“The physical motion of your forearm and wrist, it's gestural painting. Trying to keep up a gesture that is confident and energetic is much harder to do (on a larger scale),” Vander explained.

He began sketching, or scribbling, as he put it, in May, and the actual painting, in acrylics, in July. By late August he was feeling confident enough to “really start throwing the paint at it.” Vander said he was particularly interested in painting the darker colors, and in making those colors luminous and alive.

As Vander painted, childhood memories of Christmas took shape in his mind's eye. And when those memories come back, during that process of making things, he says “That’s when  you think you really may be on to something. You'll have a moment when all of a sudden, something will start to resonate in terms of your memory, what I call an 'over the left shoulder experience,'” Vander said.

“It's happened to all of us. You'll be walking down the street and look over your left shoulder and there will be this moment, hard to tell why, the combination of color, light, atmosphere, smell; and you are almost shot back into a very, very special space, yet it is so momentary, that when you turn your head back, you ask yourself 'was that even real?' In painting that's what you're looking for, that space.”

Vander painted 11 of the 13 paintings, and the twelfth was in progress, before leaving for Italy on Oct. 27 with his wife, Karen Swartsberg, their daughter Jessie, and the family's four dogs, bound for their Italian winter home earlier than usual. This meant their Boothbay Harbor art gallery, Gold/Smith on McKown Street, had to close right after the Columbus Day weekend.

Vander planned to complete the suite in Italy, beginning with having them mounted with an exposed four-inch border that he would hand-paint rather than framing them in a conventional fashion.

This suite of paintings is bold and mystical; some highly interpretive, such as the scenes of the creche; while the painting of The Magi is distinctly traditional, yet inventive. A celestial sky embodies a primordial vibe as does an evening scene depicting tree or shrub limbs, black under a dimly lit, pale rose-colored sky.

Vander said it’s been an interesting project for him. It will also be interesting from the viewer’s perspective; to see how he conveys his initial concept of light at the darkest time of the year through the suite, and then followed that light from every direction.

Vander summed up this journey in his artist's statement for the museum (sent from Italy): “These paintings started as a meditation on the nativity. I discovered, while painting them, they were about light. Light at the darkest season. Not only the season of the natural year, the winter solstice, but also the spirit. Light as hope and redemption. Peace.”

The exhibition opens, with a reception for Vander and the artist Giacomo Carnesacchi on Saturday, Dec. 5 and hangs through Jan. 6. A grand archway visually divides the total display space allocated for invited artists to show in, creating two gallery areas.

Vander still feels quite flattered to have been asked to do a show at one of Italy's national museums — his most prestigious venue in Italy to date.

“I had to say yes,” he said. ”And within 15 minutes of saying yes, I thought 'what did I just get myself into?' But, the space is so fascinating ... medieval … (then, leaning forward in his seat, added) how can you say no to that ?!”

John and Karen finished hanging the show Dec. 1! Check it out in the gallery space at the Fondazione Marino Marini on the Gold/Smith Gallery’s Facebook page!