Early Morn on Harraseeket Road

I'm one of ten artists from the Freeport Creative Arts group to receive a grant from the Maine Arts Commission! This is very exciting news and I'm honored to be included. The grant is for a project called, "Art in our Town", and we were given instructions to provide paintings that would fill a 4 foot by 4 foot space. The criteria for subject matter was left to our descretion but it had to pertain to the Freeport area, past or present.

Within the past 25 years Freeport has transformed from a sleepy little shoemaking town to a shopping mecca largely because of L.L Bean's flagship store and main operations center. Big name outlets, local boutiques, galleries, restaurants, hotels and inns have sprung up all over. Visitors from all parts of the globe make Freeport a favorite Maine destination for shopping and award winning eats, international music provided by Bean's summer concert series and some other attractions such as Wolfe Neck State Park. My favorite part of the area is just a short hop away from all the action(you know me.. a country girl)in South Freeport. You won't find any shopping there or big crowds. It's appeal comes from a decidedly low key village by the sea atmosphere overlooking the harbor and marina of Harraseeket which means "River of Many Fish". Our favorite summer eatery with the freshest seafood around is right on the town dock and we go there often. After dinner we drive up and down the tree lined streets admiring the lovely old homes, or "cottages" as some call them, and abundant gardens. While the main drag in Freeport bustles with people and traffic this area still remains untouched by commericalism. One residence in particular strikes my fancy and it sits atop an outcropping of granite ledges overlooking the entire harbor below. What a spot! The gardens, not fully in bloom when this was painted, wind all around the house and are tucked neatly into every crevice of the massive boulders... I had to paint it...
The paintings will be exhibited in windows of buildings in various locations around town..not sure where mine will be yet..

The opening party and reception is Sept 4, at the new Village Station shopping center, from 5-6:30, with music, and refreshments. Please come meet the artists and non artists who helped make this possible.
This is 4ft. x 4ft. acrylic and available for purhase during the December Winter Gala Event which will be mentioned in a later blog.

I really enjoyed working on this large size ...it's hard to paint small now.

Change of Plans

A quick message for change of plans...My tent for the Freeport Creative Arts Sidewalk Festival will be located on the front lawn of Key Bank..two blocks north of L.L.Bean across from the Freeport Square Art Gallery.
Freeport was very busy today..lots of visitors.
Tomorrow night also features the free summer concert series sponsored by Beans...It starts at 7:30..Come, enjoy the sights and sounds of a great shopping district and superb restaurants.

Pine Point Evening

I have to pinch myself when I realize what a beautiful state Maine is. Visitors from all parts of the globe come here every summer to enjoy the scenery that I live with every day. At times I must admit to taking this privilege for granted.
This painting is of the Scarborough River in Pine Point and the sandy coastline on the far side is called Ferry Beach. The beach is wall to wall people in summer but on the fall day that I took the photos for this the crowds were long gone. I loved the light of late afternoon and the three lobster boats lined up facing west. Scarborough River meanders inland through a protected conservation marsh that provides wetlands for thousands of creatures. Winslow Homer resided not far from here about a century ago and produced some of his most famous paintings inspired by the fishermen of his day.
This painting and others will be for sale during the Freeport Creative Arts First Annual Sidewalk Art Festival coming up on Saturday, August 2. My tent will be on the lawn of Harrington House, the Freeport Historical Society building, just two blocks south of L.L.Bean. Hope to see you there!
This is acrylic on 5 x 7 gallery wrapped canvas.

Summer Art Scene-Freeport Square Gallery

The summer art scene in Maine is very exciting and July is a busy time. My work will be in two shows that open within the next 12 days. The painting 'Midnight Auto' was accepted into the Pastel Painters of Maine 9th International Show at the Chocolate Church, 798 Washington Street in Bath, and the second is an exciting show curated by Bruce Brown of the Center for Maine Contemporary Art out of Rockport. Mr. Brown will be choosing one piece of artwork out of three submitted by each member of the newly formed Freeport(Maine)Creative Arts Initiative. This fledgling organization was started less than a year ago and has expanded to a whopping membership of over 80. FCA is an energetic and eclectic mix of local artists who are painters, sculptors, photographers, potters, musicians and writers. Obviously not all will be in this show but it will be very interesting to see which pieces submitted end up in the exhibit. I'm curious about which of mine was chosen.
Freeport Square Gallery, 140 Main St, Freeport is Maine's newest and largest gallery in the state with over 6,000 square feet of exhibit space in the former Copeland Furniture building. Kathleen Meade, the founding member and chair of FCA, along with five other members have partnered with art minded businesses to start this exciting private venture. The FCA show will have the first shot in the new gallery and opens July 13 with an artist reception and runs through 27th. Given the FCA activity and the new gallery in town Freeport is sure to make it's mark on the Maine art scene. As an artist who's lived in this area for over 30 years all I can say is it's about time!
The PPoM show in Bath opens with an artist reception on July 10 at 4 p.m. followed by a painting demo with Signature PSA member Doug Dawson who will present the awards. Dawson's work is atmospheric with a specialty in nocturnals(my favorite). He will conduct a plein aire workshop in Wiscasset the following weekend.
All work in both shows is for sale.
For more info
www.pastelpaintersofmaine.com
www.freeportusa.com
This is a pencil study of a Childe Hassam summery painting...appropriate I think.