Be prepared to travel through the landscape oil paintings of guest artist, the late Lee Winslow Court, when you attend the “Stone and Sky” show at Studio 53 in Boothbay Harbor this month. The renowned artist will transport viewers to his beloved Monhegan Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Ireland and Antarctica.

Let your mind wander freely amidst Court's scenes without fear of soaring too high; the stone sculptures of Donna Denniston will ground you, whether bird, seashell or dancer, and entreat you to linger awhile in a tactile fashion.

Paula Ragsdale's mixed media collage and assemblage works will invite your imagination out to play through her intriguing combinations of pine board, driftwood, paper, shells and found objects – from old faucet handles to reflector lights.

This stimulating and tactile exhibition runs through Monday, July 27.

Lee Winslow Court first set foot on Monhegan Island in 1922 while he was a student at Boston's Massachusetts School of Art. The island's reputation as an artist's paradise led Court to its shores and, as he would discover, lived up to the hype. Court would return year after year, for a week or two each summer, until he bought his own studio on Monhegan in 1947.

His son, Rusty (actually Lee Winslow Jr.) of East Boothbay, is a well-known, beloved boat captain, lobsterman (50 years in August) and storyteller. One story he recalled was of the day his father gifted him with one of his paintings.

Rusty would spend time in his father's studio as a boy, on Monhegan and in Massachusetts where he grew up. He remembers his father encouraging him to try his own eye and hand to the canvas. But, at the time, he was happy to collect the driftwood Lee used to create frames for some of his paintings.

On one such visit to Lee's studio, when he was in his early teens, his father asked him if he wanted a painting,

“I said of course I did, but I knew he sold them and I didn't want to ask. I chose the one of the lighthouse on Monhegan because as kids my friends and I would wander up to the lighthouse because it had electricity. We go up and watch cartoons there. I used to collect (drift) wood for him that he used to frame some of his paintings.”

The painting, among others hanging on a wall in Rusty's home, is framed in some of the driftwood he gathered.

When Donna Denniston heard from a friend that Rusty had a collection of Lee's work, she paid the cap'n a visit and asked if he'd like to show them at Studio 53.

Ragsdale, a member of Studio 53's artist collective, curated the Court exhibition, selecting a dozen or so pieces from Rusty's collection.

“I chose pieces with a strong graphic aesthetic,” said Ragsdale, who also cleaned several pieces using an age old method, for oil paintings only, of using saliva, which she applied with a Q-tip. Who could have guessed the chemicals in saliva make for the perfect gentle cleaner for oil paintings, after a once-over with bread.

The images selected are landscapes of Ireland, New Hampshire, Vermont, Monhegan and Antarctica. One of the Antarctica paintings is entitled, “Bellinghausen,” King George Island, painted in 1971. This piece is teeming with life and exudes a warmth, despite the location. The seabirds graceful in various stages of flight, a skiff of people clothed in red coats passing by the Island iced with snow. And the sky — it seems to change in mid-view. Dazzling.

Court Sr.'s paintings are included in several prestigious locations, including the Washington National Archives of the Polar Collection, Harvard University, and the Farnsworth in Rockland.

Denniston, meanwhile, discovered she had a passion for sculpting stone quite by accident. She was a school principal in Connecticut. Denniston planned a field trip to the studio of Sarah Aldouby in Trumbull in 1998.

“I was so overcome by her work. I was breathless,” Denniston said. “I'd never reacted to anything like that. Ever.”

Aldouby witnessed her reaction and asked Denniston if she was a sculptor.

“I wasn't. She told me I had to study with her,” said Denniston. “I was trying not to cry in front of my fifth graders.”

And study Denniston did. For eight or nine years, starting with alabaster, in Aldouby's studio and, a couple of years into it, in her own basement.

Denniston also carves in agate and marble, and has also worked with bronze and epoxy clay to create human figures, including Alum Ailey dancers — primarily indoor pieces rather than large scale pieces.

“I love nature. I love to carve birds,” Denniston said. “And I find a lot of inspiration in the rock formations in Maine. I love to leave rough stone in finished sculptures.”

There are also ocean themed pieces: “Oceanic” carved with chisels and files. A translucent, orange agate conch shell is smooth and inviting; “Origin,” resembling a chambered nautilus wave in alabaster and the latest, of Bardiglio marble entitled, "Searching.”

No matter what its name, each of Denniston's sculptures will engage multiple senses simultaneously.

Paula Ragsdale has a few new pieces inspired by the woods. She spent time snowshoeing the land trust trails during a long winter. Ragsdale's mixed media collages are entrancing on wood panels with a paper collage of wooded paths as in “Exploring with Rosie.” The exaggerated height of the trees makes it appear as though they will continue growing right up beyond their pine board base.

The assemblage piece, “Grady,” reveals a man both rustic and futuristic, rough around the edges and amply endowed, a presence to be reckoned with. Have a conversation with this one.

The opening reception for “Stone and Sky” will be held on Friday, July 3 from 5-8 p.m. Studio 53 is located at 53 Townsend Avenue in Boothbay Harbor.