CAMDEN, Maine — Long ago, in the early days of New England, itinerant painters would pack up paint and brushes and travel from town to town on horseback or their own two feet, searching for customers who would hire them to decorate their walls.
Nowadays, Allegra Kuhn and Peter Walls, the artists behind the new Stockton Springs-based business Two Itinerant Artisans have switched out the horse for a Honda CR-V that is spacious enough to fit the ladders, paint cans and other tools of their trade. Despite the change of transportation, the duo are happily reviving the old traveling artist tradition around Maine and New England, painting everything from delicate birch trees to celestial ceiling murals to elegant faux furniture finishes.
“I fell in love with the process,” said Walls, a soft-spoken man who trained as a printmaker and learned how to do murals in Louisiana. “It’s really exciting because we’re changing someone’s space. It’s art in the house. The best part is that it’s a different project every time.”
Walls, 45, and Kuhn, 44, who are partners in life as well as business, relocated to Stockton Springs from Vermont in January to be closer to her family and to the coast. Kuhn, who got her master’s degree in interdisciplinary arts at Goddard College in Plainfield, Vermont, said they also were attracted by Maine’s vibrant, creative arts scene.
“I think Maine has more possibilities,” she said. “If you’re not working a 9-to-5 job, you’re piecing things together, and I think that encourages people to do things they love. What you don’t have in stability, you make up for in your freedom and the ability to express yourself.”
Although the pair have continued this winter to work on commissions in Vermont and New Hampshire, they are looking forward to getting started on projects in Maine. The prices for their work run the gamut from a few hundred dollars for a custom refinishing of smaller furniture to tens of thousands of dollars for much more elaborate projects. Most murals cost between $1,800 and $2,600, and this spring, they are donating their time and talents to create a mural at the Midcoast Hospitality House in Rockport, the only homeless shelter in Waldo, Knox and Lincoln counties.
In Vermont, they painted “so many beautiful birch trees,” Kuhn said, and they are hoping that their move to Maine will allow them to practice more seascapes.
“I’m excited by the prospect of oceans and skies,” she said. “We’re both very much connected to the outdoors. It’s very healing for us. And it’s fun to bring that feeling indoors for somebody, to allow them to have a piece of nature in their home.”
Kuhn and Walls tackled one of their first local jobs at the end of April, when they spent three days working at a new restaurant on the Camden waterfront.
The restaurant, which owner Ben Curtis hopes will open at the beginning of June, is in the space formerly occupied by Paolina’s Way and most recently Seabright Pizza. It will be called Fireside and will feature cuisine cooked in the big, wood-fired oven that is a prominent feature of the restaurant.
“The wood-fired oven looked a little off in the space,” Walls said. “We tried to make it a little more old world.”
They also painted a large, graphic mural of Camden Harbor on one of the walls, using fluid lines to evoke schooners, churches and other classic aspects of the coastal town.
“It definitely created more of an atmosphere,” Curtis said. “It’s very subtle and nice. It was great. They were exactly what I was looking for. It’s a new space with a new look, a new menu and everything. I liked having the new art in there, as well. It’s all brand new.”
Walls and Kuhn said their work process does differ in several important ways from their colonial forbears. Speed is important, they said, and they do a lot of preparation ahead of time.
“We do sample boards and sketches, so the client knows what they’re getting,” Walls said. “So it’s not a free-for-all.”
Then, when they unpack their tools to get started, they expect to put in some long hours of physical work. They also know there are likely to be surprises, such as walls that might be unusually textured or of a different material than they anticipated. These factors are part of why the work appeals to them.
“I love being able to move around,” Kuhn said. “When I was working on the pizza oven, I got to climb on top of it and paint. It’s very physical.”
“You get exhausted by the end of the day,” Walls chimed in.
“Horribly exhausted! Epsom salt is my best friend,” Kuhn said, smiling.
Along with tiring out their muscles, the artists get to work collaboratively as they follow a project to its end. They also create something lovely in someone’s home or business, which is important to them both.
“We are adding beauty to the world,” Kuhn said. “I never expected to make a living by creating things that are beautiful.”