The Vegan

The final idea for this composition came after ruminating on it for a few weeks. Sometimes paintings come quickly and I rush to the studio to get them down and other times...well.. they may take a while to congeal. I've been disatisfied with the 'usual' and wanted to try something different so the acrylics have been put away for now and the pastels are back in use. This medium is the most comfortable for me and my favorite of all.... there's no hesitation about mixing to get just the right hue or tone when painting because the rich color sticks are ready to pick up and apply to the surface.. Only a handful were used because the terra cotta toned ground pulls the painting together and shows through in many areas. I made the support ground with Colourfix textured primer that was brushed on. Some of the brush strokes show through too adding an interesting texture to the pig's hair and skin.

Influences came from paintings by Grant Wood and Thomas Hart Benton.....and strangely enough, the beautiful blackboard menus I've seen in local restaurants, cafes and a big chain supermarket that uses painted blackboards to advertise throughout their produce sections. I admire the religious icon paintings of the Renaisance as well.

The pig's eye portrays a different feeling than originally planned...it was going to be more of a sneer...but sometimes you just have to go with the flow.

When I showed this to two dear artist friends I got completely opposite reactions about the meaning ...

On a very personal note. One of my favorite Aunts passed away yesterday at the age of 80 surrounded by her loving family. When I was a kid she was the Aunt who always laughed and played with us. She was affectionate, funny and will be sorely missed. God bless and peace to you Aunt Joan.. I do hope we'll meet to play and laugh again.

Skyline Sleigh Rally

It's not often that one gets to see horse drawn sleighs up close and in use, but Skyline Farm and Carriage Museum presents that opportunity at least once every year. Today was the day of their annual Sleigh Rally and it was bright and sunny but oh so cold. The temperatures didn't dampen the spirits of the participants or onlookers though. It was a very good turnout of spectators and beautiful sleighs with drivers and passengers cloaked in fluffy fur hats, coats and blankets. All of the horses and ponies had thick wooly coats of their own. Puffs of warm breath from the working horses and the crowd watching the scene filled the freezing air. Luther Gray brought his team of Percherons and his big passenger sleigh so that others could enjoy riding through the snow covered fields behind the farm.

On my way home I stopped again to take shots of a nearby apple orchard. The gnarly tree branches and long blue shadows cast across the snow in late afternoon peaked my interest.

In the grip of a brutal winter like this its hard to believe these crotchety trees will come back to life and produce sweet juicy fruit in 6 months. This orchard will be green and the trees will be loaded with big red apples.

We do what we can up here to keep moving despite the weather conditions outside. Winter can be a season of beauty and enchantment and you can make the most of it..or not...I try but personally.... I can't wait for spring.

Weekend Art Show

I was invited to participate in an art show at the Northeast Horseman's Trade Conference at the Augusta Civic Center in Augusta, Maine, which is happening this weekend.

Five Maine artists are in the show and they include, award winning artists Beth Carlson from Bath, Pat Wooldridge of Saco, Penny Plumb of Deer Isle, Kathi Peters of Morrill, and me. We're all thrilled to be showing at this venue that features products and services for horse owners and lovers.

The show is open to everyone..not just horsemen and women, so if you're in the Augusta area stop in and check it out. The Civic Center is just off the Maine Turnpike and an easy drive for most southern and central regions.

Attached are some shots of the exhibit.

Winter Wonders

This region is beautiful in all seasons...even on a cold January day we find the fields, woods and rivers breathtaking and sometimes surprising in the most subtle ways.

The Chandler River meanders through our town and empties into the Royal River which eventually dumps into Casco Bay in Yarmouth about ten miles away. Part of the Chandler follows the road just a mile from our house and is the site of an old dam. A grist mill operated there more than a century and a half ago. None of the antique building remains but it must have been a busy place when farmers from the surrounding area brought crops to be processed.

In spring the dam is raging with melted ice waters that rush down from Runaround Pond just a few miles to the north.

In summer the dam is frequented by local fisherman, young and old alike, who are hoping to hook a brook trout, perch or other small freshwater fish. My youngest son dropped his wormed lines there many times as a kid and proudly brought his trophies home to show us. Most of the little critters were too small to eat so they were carefully released into our farm pond.

Today during our walk with Koda we stopped to watch the water tumbling over the dam as we have a thousand times before. The dams action had produced perfectly round icebergs with slightly turned up edges that looked just like pond lilies...only made of ice. The swirling water must've given them their shape. If I had painted them accurately..it might not be believed.

Tomorrow the bitter temps are due rise above freezing and so the icy rondelles will melt away, but I have photos and proof of the winter lilies floating in the sun..

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.

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.