Dead Trees on Monhegan

While I was on Monhegan in September, I became fascinated by the groves of dead spruce trees that can be found in the woods and on the eastern ocean-facing headlands. There is a "witch's broom" disease that kills many trees when they reach maturity. Not a happy situation ecologically, but an interesting one artistically. There is an "aliveness" in their "deadness." The bleached skeletons can look as if they are dancing, twisting, gesturing, and striking various poses. While I was there, I spent a few hours making some pencil sketches of the trees, and since I've gotten back to my studio I have been painting some of my favorite compositions.

Some paintings from the summer

Here are a few of my favorite plein air paintings from my Maine trips.

1) Fish Houses, Monhegan, oil on canvas, 11 x 14

2) Orange Glow on Manana, oil on canvas, 11 x 14

3) Trees, Bass Harbor Marsh, oil on canvas, 11 x 14

Maine Landscape Guild on Monhegan!

Here we are, the Maine Landscape Guild, a group of six artists who love to paint in Maine. From left to right we are: Mary Walsh, Carla Tudor, Alex Tyng, Nancy Bea Miller, Eliza Auth, and Diana Ansley. In the background is the neighboring island of Manana.

Last year some of us spent a few days there and it was such an inspiring experience that we decided we needed to be there for longer. So this year we rented a house for a week. We had a great time hiking around the island, painting the scenery, eating delicious home-cooked meals, and enjoying wine and cheese with other visiting artists.

There is such a wealth of subjects to paint on Monhegan. For one thing, this small island has a variety of terrain, from open moor to deep woods to rocky seacoast. The buildings in the village can keep an artist occupied for a while, not to mention the lighthouse and accompanying buildings on the hill overlooking the village. It's a true microcosm, jewel-like in its beauty. You can watch the sun rise over the open sea on one side and watch it set over the sea, behind the next-door island Manana, on the opposite side.

Leaving Monhegan was especially hard because the return to the workaday world coincided with the end of summer.

Painting on Mount Desert Island

Once again I and my painting buddy Diana Ansley turned our beloved vacation spot into a part-time outdoor artists' studio. I had a week to devote to art, then another two weeks of family time with plein air painting sessions fit into our schedule.

We've honed our gear down even more this year. Our easels are light aluminum Stanrites with tripod supports that open into flat shelves when the easels are open. I retrofitted a plastic office organizer tray onto the platform by poking holes in three places and threading wire through the holes. The wire can then be attached to the legs and supports of the easel so the tray stays secure in a high wind. A camera or backpack can also be hooked to the platform and hung from it, giving the easel further weight.

This year I also bought a backpack with a rectangular shape and bottom cooler section to hold my lunch. The plastic tray, my palette, paints (in a gallon zip-lock bag), brushes, medium, solvent, denim apron and paper towels all fit into the pack. The pack is made by Kelty. It also has side pockets that can hold insect repellant and sunscreen.

Here is Diana painting the Ripples (Long Pond) while canoers talk to us. My easel is set up next to hers but I stepped back to take this shot. That was a beautiful clear morning with lovely cloud formations.

Monhegan Show in July

Two of my paintings are to be included in a show, "Monhegan," at the Dowling-Walsh Gallery in Rockland, Maine. The opening coincides with the grand opening of the gallery's new space. Please stop in if you are driving through Maine along Route 1--it's right across from the Farnsworth Museum on the waterfront side of the street.

Opening: July 18

Dowling-Walsh Gallery
357 Main Street
Rockland, ME

90th Birthday double portrait

My dear friends Beth and Joe Krush recently agreed to let me paint their portrait, and I am thrilled!

The Krushes have illustrated many books including some of the most well-known children's classics of the '50s and '60s. You may know them through their marvelously detailed drawings in The Borrowers by Mary Norton, The Gone-Away Lake books by Elizabeth Enright, several classics by Beverly Cleary, and many, many more.

When I was a child I adored their illustrations. They had a way of melding with the written word in my imagination. Not only were the people wonderfully lifelike and detailed, but also the settings were equally well-drawn, descriptive, with interesting perspective angles. In addition, the Krushes' illustrations faithfully followed the text, never using "artistic license" to go against the author's intent. The combination was irresistible to me. I used to trace their drawings to try to understand how they did them! Little did I realize then that I would need years of practice drawing the figure. Somehow I learned that they lived and taught in the Philadelphia area, and I got the idea that I would love to meet them. I even had questions planned out. The first question I planned to ask them was "How do you work together without getting into arguments?"

But it wasn't until a couple of years ago that I had the opportunity to meet them through another illustrator/mural painter friend. Interestingly, they are just as I imagined them to be.

Here they are at their 90th birthday party. Happy Birthday, Joe and Beth!

Summer Show at gWatson Gallery

If you are in Stonington, Maine this summer, please consider stppping by the gWatson Gallery to see the summer group show. Three of my new aerial landscapes of the Deer Isle/Isle Au Haut area will be in the show.

The gallery is a charmingly renovated old building right on Main Street in the center of town. The owner, Ron Watson, has recently purchased the entire building to create a lovely street level gallery with storefront display windows, and two gigantic new condos on the upper floors.