HARPSWELL — Creating award-winning works of art by painting with toothpicks wasn’t what John Mishler imagined for his future.

The retired medical scientist, who now lives on Great Island, was plagued with writer’s block in the late 1970s after he signed a year-long contract with Oxford University Press to pen his first book on the pharmacology of hydroxyethyl starch.

Mishler also had a day job as a medical scientist. He would write until dawn on most nights and during his summers off. Despite his efforts, a year went by without completing the book.

Frustrated with himself, Mishler had an idea.

He worked for the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, the University of Missouri, the University of Maryland, and Delaware Valley University in Pennsylvania, from which he retired in 2009.

Before retiring, Mishler started entering his paintings in competitions nationwide, and winning various awards for his work. He was awarded the Robert Ransley Outstanding Talent Award – given by the Burlington County Art Guild – for “Scenes of a Rainforest” in 1999. The piece features deep blues and provocative dark greens, depicting the forest’s density and its impenetrable plant life.

In 2003, Mishler entered “Tidal Pool” into a competition in Colorado, where it received first place and the coveted Best in Show, along with a $1,000 prize.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Mishler said.

The painting depicts a stay in Camden in a cabin off the coast on a private island. “Tidal Pool” is an overhead view of the islands.

“You could walk out on a balcony, be at the rock’s edge, and see tidal pools,” he said.

At times, Mishler entered other art shows. and his work was scoffed at by jurors.

“My work wasn’t like anything they had seen before,” Mishler said. “I don’t know of anyone else that paints with toothpicks, and neither did they.”

His work was so unorthodox that he was almost disqualified from an event because of the matting technique he used.

“Some of these competitions are conservative and people aren’t used to seeing such unique matting on paintings,” Mishler said.

“Grand Canyon at Sunrise” is a prime example. It was almost disqualified from a competition because of its unorthodox matting.

“You don’t have to use the same matting for everything and when you have bigger matting in different sizes, it creates an island of color,” Mishler said.

But, in 2010 at New York City’s Salmagundi Club, the same painting was awarded the gold medal.

If you run into him around town, Mishler is more likely to offer a tour of his personal gallery than to sell one of his paintings. Only a handful of people own Mishler’s paintings, because he doesn’t sell them often.

“I don’t sell my paintings for a profit and certainly won’t sell it to someone who says, ‘Oh, it will look good with the rug, honey,’” he said. “I want the person who sees the painting to really understand the meaning behind it.”

Harpswell scientist-turned-artist John Mishler patiently paints hundreds of dots on watercolor paper using toothpicks. His paintings can take up to two months to complete.