Linda Dillon was born and raised in New York, moved to Maine in 1995 and to Delaware in 2005. She retired in June of 2021 after over 40 years of teaching art in public, charter and private K-12 schools. She spent those years focused on her students and finding affordable ways for them to deepen their knowledge of art and build their skills in order to be accepted at the best art schools and colleges in the country. She also designed and painted sets and props for school plays and musicals, made costumes and produced several shows, including Grease at Lake Region High School in the early 2000’s.

In 2014 Linda was voted Delaware Art Teacher of the Year. Am o n g  m a n y  c omm u ni t y  o u t r e a c h  a r t  p r o j e c t s , Li n d a’s accomplishments include paper fashion shows and programs sponsored by her National Art Honor Society in New York, Maine and Delaware such as mural, watercolor and basic art lessons at day care centers, senior centers, summer camps and middle schools. Here in Maine, Linda founded 501(c)3, Arts at the Grange in Naples. At the Grange she produced The Velveteen Rabbit and provided visual art, music/instrumental lessons, children’s theater, and dance lessons. At her co-owned home-based business, Lake Region Art & Framing she provided art lessons to middle school students after school and to summer residents on their private docks and screened-in porches.

Her large scale watercolor of the Naples Causeway can be viewed at the Naples Town Office. She could drive from Naples to Windham and point out logos she designed for businesses along the way. Linda was a founding member of Gallery 302. She, along with other Lake Region High School Art Teachers booked a senior show at the Gallery the first summer it was in operation. The show was a huge success, leading to the sale of student art work. There’s nothing like an art show in a real gallery to an art student, if it produces a sale. There was so much excitement at that time, just thinking about it brings back fond memories.

Linda began showing and selling her watercolors in the 1980’s. At that time she was commissioned to do many home and pet portraits, outdoor art and signage for family camps. For the past ten years, Linda’s paintings reflect her love of Maine. She takes her own reference photos and paints in the studio. She is very happy to be back in the Lake Region after 17 years of being away. She spends six months at her cottage on Adams Pond in Bridgton and six months in Delaware. According to her, there is no place on earth she’d rather be than right here in the Western Lake Region of Maine.

 

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