Down a quiet, winding road on Southport Island sits a small gallery overlooking the water. At first glance, it feels like any other coastal art gallery, but it doesn't take long to realize you're stepping into something much deeper than a room filled with paintings.

You're stepping into a life.

Artist June Elderkin died last year, but anyone who walks through the doors of her gallery quickly discovers she never really left. Her spirit lingers in every canvas, every carefully mixed color, and every sweeping brushstroke that captures the rugged beauty of the Maine coast she loved so dearly.

Today, her daughter, Jennifer, keeps that spirit alive.

Since her mother's death, Jennifer has devoted herself to preserving June's artwork and the woman behind it. For the first time this summer, Jennifer re-opened the gallery her mother founded in the mid-1980s, and welcomed visitors from near and far to experience the world exactly as June saw it.

For most of the year, the building returns to storing fishing gear and lobster buoys. But when summer arrives, the fishing gear disappears, the paintings return to the walls, and once again June’s work fills the room with color, light and life.

Every painting inside is hers. Oils, acrylics, pastels and watercolors all tell the same story, of a woman who never stopped falling in love with Maine.

Born in Boothbay Harbor, June spent her entire life on the coast. As a little girl, she believed there was nowhere else in the world quite like it. That childlike wonder never faded. Instead, it became the heartbeat of her work.

Her paintings allow the viewer to feel what she felt. The quiet of an early morning harbor. The warmth of a summer sunset settling over the water. The salt air, the weathered wharves, the lobster boats that have become symbols of generations who made their lives here.

June didn’t simply paint Maine. She understood it.

Jennifer welcomed the Boothbay Register into June’s studio, which remains much as her mother left it. Walking through the doorway felt deeply personal, almost like being invited into someone’s heart.

The room was alive with color. Half-finished paintings leaned against the walls beside worn brushes, rows of pastels and oils. Every surface held evidence of a life spent creating. June’s soul seemed to live within those walls. It was colorful, adventurous, beautifully imperfect, and entirely authentic. There was something wonderfully untamed about it, much like the rocky coastline she spent a lifetime painting.

A family from Virginia wandered into the gallery, including artist Cate Drost, who immediately connected with June’s work. “The light in Maine is so different from anywhere else,” Drost said. “She paints it so beautifully. She captures it well.”

The family bought one of June’s paintings and left. Jennifer smiled. “That is what this is all about.”

Jennifer photographs the work that is purchased. Later, many of the collectors send her a photograph showing where the artwork now hangs in their home, allowing her to see where a piece of her mother’s legacy has found a place in someone else’s life.

“I want Mom’s work to find a home where it can be loved and appreciated every day,” Jennifer said.

The gallery is about more than selling paintings. It is about making sure her mother’s story continues to be told long after she is gone. Every piece that leaves the gallery carries more than oil, acrylic, pastel, or watercolor on canvas. It carries a lifetime of memories, countless hours spent at the easel, and a deep, abiding love for the Maine coast that June called home. In every painting, a small piece of her life continues its journey, finding a place on someone's wall, and in their heart.

The honesty in June's work shows in every confident brushstroke and every burst of color. Nothing feels forced or manufactured. Every painting feels like a conversation between the artist and the landscape she loved.

June’s love for Maine was never something she had to search for—it lived within her. The rocky shores, quiet coves, weathered wharves, and islands scattered along the coast weren’t just subjects to paint; they were part of her story. Whether she stood overlooking Monhegan Island, where her grandmother Ruby Brackett lived and raised her children in their early years, or the peaceful waters surrounding Pratt’s Island, June saw more than scenery. She saw home.

She saw a lifetime of memories, of family, of seasons changing, and of a place that had shaped the woman she became. Every brushstroke carried that love onto the canvas. Her paintings capture the beauty of Maine and the feeling of belonging here. Looking at them, you see the coast through June’s eyes, and feel what it meant to her.

Said Jennifer, “She captured this place in its rawest, truest sense. Its essence, without all the noise. The heart of it.”

The painting that most reminds Jennifer of her mother? "Down by the Bridge." The painting shows the little gallery beside the bridge leading to Pratt’s Island. The water glows beneath a brilliant evening sky while colorful clouds stretch toward the horizon. It is peaceful, familiar and filled with warmth.

Jennifer shared her thanks for Marcus Hutchins and family for letting her buy back the painting after her mother’s death.  

Visit 66 Pratt’s Island Road on a Thursday, Friday, or Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. to step inside the little gallery by the water, and spend a few moments with June Elderkin. Her essence is in every painting, every sunset she captured, and in every person who walks away carrying a piece of her story home.