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BY AMY CALDER
Staff Writer 07/20/2009

enlarge Staff photo by Jeff Pouland

A WORK IN PROGRESS: Rachel Benner of Waterville paints an oil on canvas piece at the 40th annual Waterville Intown Arts Festival on Sunday. Benner, 21, said she started taking art classes when she was five-years-old. “I’ve been painting since I could pick up a brush,” Benner said.

enlarge Photo by Jeff Pouland

Liz DeRaps, of Canaan, adjusts a painting as her niece Louis DeRaps, left, helps hang one of her pieces at the 40th annual Waterville Intown Arts Fest on Sunday. Sunday was the first time in five years that DeRaps had participated in the festival. More coverage, B1.

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"I put a lot of emotion and feeling into my work," she says. "It's almost like a meditative kind of process for me. It's relaxing."

Proctor-Lefebvre was on Main Street downtown Sunday, showing her works as part of the 40th annual Waterville Intown Arts Fest.

Sitting in front of the Maine Made & More Shop, the licensed clinical social worker talked about how she uses art to help children she works with at Edmund N. Ervin Pediatric Center at Seton Unit, MaineGeneral Medical Center.

"Art is really a good way to express your emotions without saying a lot," she said. "Sometimes kids have a hard time talking. A picture is worth a thousand words."

Proctor-Lefebvre, of Fairfield, recalled drawing with children in Thailand when she was working for the Peace Corps. in her 20s. That is perhaps when her art began to blossom, although she remembers earlier influences.

As a child, she watched her father make technical drawings for construction and carpentry projects.

"He used to draw plans -- sketch things out," she said.

Some of her paintings reflect that technical influence, with lines drawn through thick acrylic brush strokes, water color or mixed media.

"I do pastel from time to time," she said. "It kind of depends on my mood. Acrylic is fast; it dries quickly. Pastel is more controlled. If I want more control with kids, we use pastel or pencil. I do different things with kids. If a child is all over the place and we want to slow down, I give him a pencil, crayons, pastel sticks."

Proctor-Lefebvre is president of the Waterville Area Art Society, a group of artists from Waterville, Winslow and Fairfield that meets at 6:30 p.m. the first Thursday of every month in the council chambers at The Center downtown, from September to June.

"We do demonstrations and have speakers," she said. "It's really a good resource. Dues are $20 a year."

Anyone interested in joining may e-mail Proctor-Lefebvre at fairfieldartist@yahoo.com

"There are a lot of painters in the group, she said. "We're trying to get more sculptors. We accept anybody. We've had demonstrations with wood carvers, we've had clay demonstrations."

Proctor-Lefebvre, who grew up in Winslow, has had no formal training in art, but has taken workshops, she said. She holds a bachelor's degree in social work from University of Maine, Orono, and a master's degree from Salem State College. She currently is showing her works at Freeport Square Gallery in Freeport; Boothbay Region Art Foundation in Boothbay Harbor; and Kennebec Valley Art Association (housed at the Harlow Gallery), of which she is a member, in Hallowell.

She also teaches periodically at Freshwater Arts on Main Street and has won prizes the last three years at the Waterville Intown Arts Fest.

"It's always unexpected, but always welcome," she said.

Later in the day, judges announced that Proctor-Lefebvre won third place for watercolors, netting a $75 prize.

Dozens of artists displayed their works Sunday under sunny skies downtown, where Main Street was closed off to traffic to make the event more accessible and safer. In the past, only the parking areas were closed to traffic.

"It's my first time here -- I love it," Maria Wark, 28, of Waterville, said as she perused the artwork.

Wark's friend Margaret King, 39, of Waterville, was pushing a carriage with her baby grandson inside.

"I've been coming for three or four years," she said. "It's a big variety of artwork."

Judges of the fest were Kit Munroe-Myers, a Waterville artist and art teacher; and Lynn Bustard, an art educator in Fairfield.

Coordinated by the Waterville Main Street program, the fest was expected to draw about 70 artists from all over Maine and beyond. Originally scheduled for Saturday, it was postponed to Sunday because of rain.

"We had less than the 70 because we had a few who could not come on Sunday," said Main Street's executive director, Shannon Haines. "But it's perfect weather and I think shutting down the street was really successful. There were a lot of families and we have street musicians..."

Amy Calder -- 861-9247

acalder@centralmaine.com

Staff photo by Jeff Pouland

Fairfield artist Laurie Proctor-Lefebvre exhibits her work Sunday at the Waterville Intown Arts Fest. She won a third prize for watercolors.

Nugget (George OK'd this):

Winners of 2009 Waterville Intown Arts Fest

Best of Show: Sabrina Gaydos, of West Gardiner, $700

Morning Sentinel Award: Stephen Linde, East Granby, Conn., $500

Marilyn Dwelley Award for Best Acrylic Landscape: Bill Tomsa, Topsham, $300

Harry Faust Memorial Award for Photography: Craig Wratten, Winslow, $200

Waterville Area Art Society Special Merit Award: Pat Binette, Fairfield, $200

Oils/Acrylic: First place, Debbie Flood, Belfast, $200; second place, Judith Rader, Deer Isle, $100; third place, Dawna Gardner, Wayne, $75

Watercolors: First place, Terry O'Maley, Troy, $200; second place, Fran Rodgers, Turner, $100; third place, Laurie Proctor-Lefebvre, Fairfield, $75

Pastels: First place, Keith Curtis, Waterville, $200; second place, Kathleen Perelka, Canaan, $100

Other media (graphics, drawings, mixed media): First place, Pete Meehan, Seabrook, N.H., $200; second place, Kristen Buckner, Waterville, $100; third place, Susan Elliot, North Monmouth, $75

Special Merit: Special Merit Award No. 1: Rick Paquette, Waterville, $50; Special Merit Award No. 2, Bethany Mitchell, Portland, $50

Purchase prizes: Walter Simcock purchased a work by Milton Christianson of Wellington for $375; Waterville Anesthesia Associates purchased a work by Terry O'Maley of Troy, for $375; and Shannon Haines purchased a work by Tammy Jo Robinson of Oakland, for $200

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