WOOLWICH – Maret Hensick, of Woolwich, was lost to the world on Aug. 24, 2025 at Gosnell Memorial Hospice House in Scarborough. Maret was an accomplished artist, a passion that she was able to develop into a career spanning most of her life. She leaves behind a multitude of people who loved her for her kindness, beauty, wit, laughter, cooking skills, intelligence, curiosity and truly amazing artistic abilities. She will be greatly missed by all who knew her.Maret was born in Detroit, Mich. in 1953. Her father worked for Ford Motor company and because of his position the Hensick family moved to Europe when Maret was 8 years old. Maret attended the American School in Switzerland and then the University of Pennsylvania, from which she graduated in 1975.After college, Maret moved frequently. She worked for two years in Germany as an illustrator for a commercial art agency, then moved to Montana, back to Germany, to New York City, and spent a few years in Minneapolis where she met her husband, Tom Paiement, who was teaching at Hamline University for a year, taking over for another professor, Leo Lasansky, who was on sabbatical. Tom and Maret were introduced by Leo, who was one of Maret’s friends. As the year developed they became enamored of each others’ work, and with each other. Tom, a Maine native, owned a piece of land in Woolwich, where he had built himself a small house. With his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering, he had also obtained a soils testing license, which gave him a way to subsidize his work as an artist with part time work. The pair decided to gamble, move back to Maine and live as full time artists: “what we dreamed of being together” as Maret always said.Maret started hand painting t-shirts and selling them at craft fairs. Each shirt was different. She painted free hand with no outline or predetermined design, just a general idea of what she was after. Since the designs were unique, Maret meticulously photographed each design. One rainy day, Tom took her portfolio to L.L. Bean. The portfolio, which surrendipitiously ended up in president Leon Gorman’s office led to their buying three of Maret’s designs, with her designs being featured on the back cover of their catalog. In 1992 Maret and Tom took her designs to the Surface Design Show (SURTEX) in New York and connected with other national and international companies. Maret won a LOUIE award at one of the SURTEX ceremonies, comparable to an OSCAR in the film industry.Over the next 27 years, Maret licensed designs to over 50 companies worldwide. She designed everything from tableware to bath accessories, greeting cards, gift wrap, rugs, ceramics, and Christmas ornaments. She found it engrossing, demanding, and exciting work, which also gave the family a fair amount of freedom. Maret was never a fan of the Maine winters and until their son was 13, Maret and Tom would make it a point to travel somewhere warm for a few months each year.During her commercial career, Maret always made time to work on her own personal painting interests. Since “retiring” from commercial work in 2019 she has continued to paint full time. Maret found the Maine landscape a challenging subject for her work, one that she revisited many times, but towards the twilight of her life her work consisted mainly of floral studies.In her personal work, Maret was inventive with her marks and materials. She painted flowers on paper bags and vegetables on old file folders. She was adept on the ipad, doing wonderful drawings on her many sojourns outside the country. Starting in 2019, Maret began painting detailed watercolors of flowers; incorporating collages of stamps, postcards, receipts, airline ticket stubs, and old love letters. Up until the time of her death she was continuing to explore and work in this manner.She showed her work at the Cove Street Gallery and Greenhut Gallery, both in Portland.Maret was intelligent and curious, which showed both in her work and also in her other passions. She loved to travel and to explore new places and cultures. During her childhood in Europe Maret learned to speak fluent German as well as passable French and she continued to use both languages as frequently as possible until the end of her life. Maret was also a passionate and inventive home chef, much to the delight of her husband and son.She was a voracious reader and kept journals throughout her journey, along with writing wonderful essays and poems in her unique and eloquent voice. She was also a generous and loving friend to many, always available for an encouraging talk or visit.Maret leaves behind her great love, Tom; her favorite son Cole, wife Melody, and granddaughter Sage, of Las Vegas, Nev.; her sister, Teri, of Scituate, Mass., her sister, Tam and husband John Sheller, of Santa Barbara, Calif.; a niece, Kathy Smith of Durham, and a nephew, Scott Paiement of Brunswick. She also leaves behind a multitude of friends across many states and countries. A memorial service for Maret will be held at the Day’s Ferry Congregational Church in Woolwich on Saturday, Oct. 25, at 11 a.m. with a reception to follow. Maret was a giving, loving, and supportive friend to many. And was a consistent, generous, and quiet financial supporter of many organizations, never asking for recognition or acknowledgement. She also supported many organizations with donations of her art through the years.In lieu of flowers, please consider a gift in honor of Maret to Planned Parenthood, the Food Bank, Cancer Research Institute,Child Fund International,Save the Children orone of your own choice.