Painting Maine

Blueberry fields are stunning in the fall when the leaves turn a brilliant crimson .The feeling I have for a scene like this is difficult to capture in a painting. Red and orange paints don't do it justice and my ability to execute it. This field is on a back road in Union, just inland from Camden and Rockland. We were there two years ago for a long weekend enjoying the countryside and celebrating my birthday.

We visited Savage Oakes Vineyard which isn't too far from this spot. Their grapes and blueberries grow side by side on a sweeping hillside way up behind the tasting house. We bought a bottle of their blueberry wine and saved it for the family's Thanksgiving dinner. It was so delicious..that bottle of wine defined this time and place as well as any painting.. This is 8 x 8 deep birch panel.

A Taste of Maine

It's fair to say that my landscape paintings are inspired by Maine so I thought this blog would feature the "before" images that may end up in my work.
We took a three day getaway trip to Camden last week and enjoyed a stay at the Windward House B & B on Main St.. Our room was charming and included a private deck that faced the well known landmark, Mt. Battie. The deck was peaceful in the evening as you can see from this shot with the cresent moon overhead. I sat with a glass of wine in the chill air watching the light fade.

We had a mission the next day to check out one of the local wineries, Savage Oakes Farm, in Union. The
weather was sunny and clear so I was able to get photos with good color and shadow along the way. Our digital camera is my sketchbook and invaluable when it comes to capturing scenes for paintings. The second photo is of the blueberry fields we passed by in the town of Hope. The reds, oranges and purples of the leaves stopped us in our tracks! There were several fields like this on our way to the vineyard in Union. Blueberries are big business in Maine.
Savage Oakes Farm is located on top of a hill on a back road. When we arrived, the tasting room was full and in progress so we joined the group(at 11 a.m. on sunday no less). We were surprised at the number of varieties offered and the superb quality. Their grape wines are elegant and very smooth and they offer two blueberry dessert wines that were also quite delicious.. The farm is open to the public so we walked through the fields to see the animals and vineyard. It was astonishing to see blueberry fields flanking the vineyard..who knew these plants could thrive side by side here in Maine. We bought bottles of Rose and White and enjoyed them with our family on Thanksgiving. Both wines were made only with grapes grown on the Savage Farm.
I'll post other photos of this trip in another blog featuring scenes of detours to places neither of us had visited before(even though my husband is a native!). So much to see..so little time.

Some of these images will show up in future paintings ..maybe you'll recognize a few.