Cape Porpoise In Winter Light

Easter was a great day for Steve and I. We had a good hike in the morning then a short break before going to our son's home to celebrate the holiday and two family birthdays. The weather was cooperating for a change so we had a cookout prepared on their new hot dog cart that will be set up in Freeport this summer. Check it out on Depot Street.

After such a full day I like to go to the studio in the evening to paint. The act of painting has become almost like an act of meditation. I think it's the result of painting more often in the past two months and just getting into a rhythm. I care less and less about little mistakes and let them be.

I liked the roof shapes in this scene of Cape Porpoise, the dock with the light bouncing off the poles and the land across the cove. This little harbor will be busy soon...I like to remember it this way.

Painting a Day- Dusk in Bristol

I painted this small study of sundown on a winding road in Bristol. There are more great scenes from this area near Pemaquid to paint such as New Harbor, and Chamberlain to name a few. My husband's family once owned a small cottage in that area. It would've been nice to have it now...it was right on the water.

We have dinner guests this evening so I won't post another painting for two days.

As you can see painting telephone and cable lines isn't my forte.

Acrylic 5 x7.

Painting a Day - Two for One

I can't seem to get away from color no matter how hard I try....so, here are the next two offerings for the Painting a Day challenge.

There are countless ways to explore hue and tone in images like these and I'll try other studies with that in mind before moving on to a large painting.

Painting scenes from photos rekindles memories of the day trips Steve and I've taken through towns such as Pemaquid and Harrison, featured in these two works. Perhaps that's why the colors are so strong...we've gone through some interesting places in Maine. I'm using this daily painting regime as a way to find my bearings after being away from the easel for a few months and working small takes some of the pressure off.

These paintings will be added to my new website and available for sale.

Shipping will be included in the price.

Painting a Day & Sheets in the Sun

It's been raining cats and dogs for two days now and everyone I know is talking about the weather. Winter has been long and dispite all the rain we still have 4 ft snowbanks.

I decided to paint something I really look forward to in summer and that is hanging sheets on the line. They smell so fresh and sweet.. I think they absorb the sunlight.

This is on canvas board, a texture that I don't like for acrylic so I'll switch back to gessoed panels that are smooth for the next paintings.

Day two of the challange

Yesterday was day 5 of the March Painting a Day challenge..but day two for me. I started out of the gate late..so at some point I'll have to paint two in one day to catch up.

This is the fisherman's dock at the end of the point in Cape Porpoise. It was such a great day when we were there last week. The sun was very bright and the water was smooth and calm..just a few ripples with sun sparkling off the peaks. It made for nice reflections of the boats moored there.

The lobster traps lined up and the spot of red in the storage box and buoy added different textures and perspective. Hard to believe that this place is swarming with people at other times of the year. I won't be there then...

Acrylic 5 x 7.

Old Shoe

Arctic air has slipped into Maine and that means we have to face the fact that winter is just around the corner. It's not such a bad thing especially for a painter like me who loves to work in a nice warm studio as I did tonight .

Anyway..now that it's getting colder and all the "people from away" have hightailed it back to the city we Mainers have a chance to enjoy the scenery again..without getting stuck in lines of traffic, and fighting crowds everywhere. The light now is very intriguing too and casts a rosy glow with long shadows in the afternoon. Compound that atmospheric phenomenon with deserted summer homes and cottages and I find great subjects to paint.

This neat little place is on a favorite lake of ours and caught my eye while Steve and I were headed to one of his real estate jobs. I love the roof shape, the tidiness of it and the trees. Even the propane tanks provided inspiration with dappled sunlight hitting them just so. There was an old sneaker laying in the sand in front of the cottage..but I chose not to paint it. The deep snow will cover and protect it and it'll probably be there next summer when the owners come back, just like the old cottage.

This is acrylic 12 x 15

Blueberry Field - Friendship in the Fall

In a previous blog I mentioned our trip up the coast. One of our destinations was through a small unspoiled fishing village called Friendship.
It sits at the end of a peninsula just east of Waldoboro. Friendship is very much a working community and the lobster boats were still moored just off the main dock in their well protected harbor. The lobster season was winding down, traps were being pulled and stacked and summer homes were closed up tight for the winter. Friendship bustles with activity in summer but you'd never know it now. Only the local people remain, holding down the fort during the cold long months of winter until the sun warms the earth and the fishing season begins again.
It's interesting to travel through these parts of Maine when the 'People from away" are gone. The true character of a region remains.
We spotted this blueberry field as we headed northeast out of the village. The stark colorless sky of that afternoon, rich brown tone values and textures of the leaves and ledges were hauntingly beautiful and reminded me so much of Andrew Wyeth's melancholy paintings.
It's hard to believe that this field will brim with sweet juicy blueberries next summer, but the plants are there, hunkered down for the winter, hibernating just like the locals until the frost leaves the ground and life bursts forth again.
This is acrylic on prepared wood panel, size is 11 x 24 and available for purchase.

Birdman Cloud

I'm feeliing guilty because there is a beautiful stockpile of pastels packed away in the studio and they haven't been used in quite awhile. Acrylics have captured my attention, at least for now. Maybe it's because of a too busy schedule and this medium provides instant gratification. This acrylic painting(11 x 14) called 'Evening Clouds', is from a photo I took late this summer. We had some dramatic skies this year due to a weird weather system and this was one of them.

I had to paint it because the darkest cloud formation looked so much like a birdman to me. Nature provides the most interesting images doesn't she? I'll leave the meaning of this shape in the clouds for you to interpret.

I loved the bright yellow white light around the head and wings...couldn't have framed it better myself.

Christmas is just around the corner so there may not be another post until after the holidays.

I wish you and your loved ones the best of everything at Christmas time and a very Happy New Year! Let's hope for peace and prosperity for everyone.

Native Son

The opening date for Skyline Farm's Fall Exhibition is approaching fast. I'm so excited about this year's show because there are fine craftspeople included this year...I know many of them and the quality of their work is really outstanding. The Museum has made a concerted effort in the past three years to bring artists from Maine into their exhibitions and there is a wealth of talent to choose from here. Metal sculptures and furniture, blown glass, felted wool, jewelry, bone carving, wood engravings, just to name a few of the crafts included. There will be paintings and photography by 12 other artists as well. The artist reception is next Friday evening from 5-7. We hope you will come, meet and talk with the artists and craftspeople and enjoy what Maine art and craft has to offer. Everything is for sale and many of the participants offer commission work. The holidays are just around the corner and this a great opportunity to purchase something very special that's Made in Maine and help support the local economy.

This painting of Billy O'Reilly's working skiff is in the show. A little boat like this may be lacking in the beauty or speed department but it's seaworthy, dependable and used often....Rough and Ready! There are skiffs similar to this one in all the local working waterfronts, sometimes filled with baskets of lobsters or equipment being tranferred from the main boat to the dock. "Native Son", acrylic at 16 x 20.

The Promise

This fishing boat, filled with lines and nets is part of Billy O'Reilly's arsenal of equipment he needs to make a living on Cliff Island. I took the photo for this a few years ago and the image has haunted me since. The upcoming Skyline Show, "Maine Harvest, Land and Sea", provides a venue for this painting and two others I'll be exhibiting about this subject. These works are part of an ongoing series that was started a few years ago and I'm excited about exploring this subject again.

Billy's property in winter is chock full of equipment like this...and so much more. I'm amazed at the amount of work and resources it takes to bring food in from the sea. This rugged dory along with several others around the property are stored safely on land for the next season's endeavors. They might look clumsy on land but in the water these hearty craft can take on big swells with ease.
Winslow Homer's paintings of fishermen show many of them working on dangerlously high seas in the same type of boats. The bow and stern are pointed to ensure that they ride right over the waves.
This painting and others as well as fine crafts by some of Maine's finest artists will be available for sale through Skyline Farm.

I'll post more info about that very soon with a link to see work by other artists in the show.

There will be an auction of donated works too.....and you can bid on line.

This is acrylic on canvas.

Tools of the trade

I just finished painting the table and tray for the Maine Discovery Museum Auction..A little behind in my commitments..but it's been a bit crazy this month with so many deadlines coming at once. The base color for the table is Cornflower and the paintings are acrylic with a sealer to protect the images. I really hope the museum does well with their auction in November..I may bid on a table myself. It would great to own one done by another artist. All proceeds from the sales will go to the museum. I had some fun showing a few paints and a favorite small brush that has seen better days..but I love it anyway, scrunched bristles and all. The painted tray sits on top of this.

On to the next projects...The paintings for Skyline Farm and Carriage Museum..and a bench my son Eric just finished building for that show that will have more Tromp l'oeil images too....wonder what to paint on that...hmmmm. Portrait commissions to do also...

The painted tray was featured in a recent blog so check that out if you haven't seen it..some of my favorite artists are represented on that.

My favorite painters

The Maine Discovery Museum's asked 60 Maine artists to paint butler tables with trays for this year's annual auction called, "Tray Chic". What a clever name!

Last year my dog theme was a great success on a bench but this time I wanted to pay homage to painters who's work I admire very much. I have a small library of art books, so two books were chosen for the tray top..There will be a little surprise under the tray on the table top..and that come's later.

Trompe l'oeil, or "fool the eye", is a painting technique that looks three dimensional and I wanted the books to look real...even the tattered edges were added on the upper left corner of the book "Wonderous Strange", that features work by Howard Pyle, N.C. Wyeth, and Andrew and Jamie Wyeth.... one of my most often used reference books. The book of Remington's nocturnal paintings is just amazing..he was so good at capturing the subtleties of night light, regardless of the subject matter.

I'll post more info about bidding on the auction tables as November draws near, which is when the bidding will end. There will be on line bidding for those who can't view them in person at the museum or who can't attend the opening reception and the link will be provided here.

I used cornflower blue as the base color for this piece.

Nothing like a good book to read.

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.

Tied Up

I've been busy working on a small series of paintings for the Skyline Farm and Carriage Museum fall exhibition and this year the show is titled, "Cornucopia -Maine Harvest from Land and Sea".
I returned to a subject matter that I started a few years ago about a lobsterman from Cliff Island, named Bill O'Reilly.

The Lobstering Industry here in Maine is going through very tough times with government regulations squeezing many out of business and lobster prices at an all time low. The situation is tense in some coastal areas and violence among the fishermen has been reported. ..This is life or death for the men and women who earn a living on the sea and now feel that their livelihood may be slipping away.

The show, which opens at the end of September, is a great opportunity to feature someone like Billy doing what he knows and loves so much...lobstering. Joann Lapomarda, who is Billy's long time partner and sometime Sternman, will be collaberating with me on a statement about their experiences for the show catalog. Some of the photos used as reference material for this work were also taken by Joann.

I'm particularly excited for a another reason as well. Included in this exhibit are many of Maine's finest crafts people. I'll talk more about the show exhibitors in my next blog..so stay tuned...

This painting is acrylic 30 x 24 gallery wrap canvas and will be available through Skyline.

Studio painter

I really admire plein air painters for their ability to focus during outings and the scenery in this region provides all kinds of opportunities for artists to produce a wide variety of outstanding work. Lots of Plein air groups have sprouted up recently and offer artists a chance to meet other kindred spirits who enjoy painting out doors. The experiences of painting on site infuse work with an honesty that sometimes can't be achieved in the studio. It hones ones abilities of observation just as life drawing does. Dragging art equipment on site, fighting insects, the wind, rain, cold or heat, adds more drama and time than I can manage. I've painted plein air a few times and have to say..it's not for me. I'll stick with my camera for memory references for the time being. The comfort and convenience of the studio provides a place where I can focus completely on my work. (there are enough distractions right now). The studio is a place where I can get into "the zone"....which is solitary and peaceful(not to be confused with lonely), kind of like meditation. When I'm painting everything else is far away.... I believe the sole objective for each artist isn't just a finished work, it's also the individual experience it takes to get there...the journey is just as important and just as individual for each artist. Here are a few photos from a recent drive my husband and I took to a favorite place along the coast not far from here. These will be used for future work. We love this area...fairly lacking in the usual summer traffic.. a real gem.

April Bouquet

The weather and scenery haven't provided much in the way of inspiration lately. The landscape is gray and muddy, downright depressing if you ask me..so in lieu of that I decided to set up a colorful still life in my studio. A bouquet of yellow roses edged with red, together with pinkish purple chrysanthemums looked so lively and fresh..it was just the thing. The Chinese bowl lined with a lime green glaze adds an interesting jolt of color and the carved cat gives a little twist.

I prefer painting on hard panels as opposed to canvas and this is a 17 x 16 piece of prepared plywood. I covered it with Colourfix terra cotta primer too which adds so much depth and richness to the glazes. I'm still working with casein and acrylic..just love the earthy colors and wet, swishy medium..pastels will have to wait.

This isn't quite finished yet..but it's far enough along so that I can step back for a few days and get a fresh perspective on the final touches. I'll post this again when it's done.

Portrait of a young Havanese

This is a recent commission portrait of a Havanese puppy named Guapo. A bunch of great photos of this little guy were sent to me and I chose this pose because of the energetic expression and sparkling eyes.
How could you not love a mug like this?..He's just a pup but my understanding is that he is socializing very well with other dogs and learning to be a gentleman in public. This breed is known for it's endearing personality and undying loyalty. They also are a good choice for allergy sufferers. I'm sure he'll be a joy to his owners for years to come.
This painting is 5 x 7 size, suitable for desk top display and done with acrylics. I used all edges of a large flat brush to complete most of the image and was able to get all of the detail except for the eyes, nose and mouth which were finished with a small liner brush.
I thoroughly enjoyed working on this and was disappointed when it was done.. looking at him made me smile!
I have another commission coming soon and can't wait to get started on that...it's a completely different subject.

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.

Moored Off Little Diamond

I decided to try a little summer marine painting using acrylic. This scene is from a cruise taken on my dad's boat several years ago. He loved the ocean and was a skilled sailor. Every year he took our entire family out on his Grand Banks trawler for a day on Casco Bay. The bay is renown for it's many islands and is a mecca for boaters of all kinds. We'd usually moor off an island and have a cookout on the beach or pull up to a dock in a small harbor for a meal of fresh local seafood. There's nothing like a day on the water with the salt air filling your lungs and unrelenting sun to increase one's appetite. It rejuvenated our senses and everything tasted so good. We all enjoyed watching the variety of boats that traveled the bay from lovingly restored antique beauties to brand new power boats, sleek and built for speed.
These two were quietly moored off Little Diamond Island, a favorite and well known spot for the locals. The water was dead calm in this protected cove and I liked the reflections of the masts and lines on the gently rippled water.
This is 5 x7 .