The French Series

Based on a book shop in Arles

I will be visiting some old French study group friends 

who asked me to bring some of my pictures 

of France, the ones I used to sell. Most of them have sold.

Here are a few of the old ones:

 Based on a street scene in Paris.

Artist's collection.

La maison aux volets bleus, Venasque

 Two hilltop villages in Provence

 
Arles

Paris

 
Paris

Paris

Maybe someday I'll go back to France...
These days my sketches and drawings are made 
right here in my beloved Maine. 

From the Sketchbook: MFA, Boston

Going to Boston means going sketching. 

Above, the MFA permanent Impressionist Gallery, 

a place  of familiarity & comfort for me,

 a place that on this day was not crowded.

The crowds were at a temporary show of Leonardo drawings.

Leonardo said that recording observations

with your own eyes was more important

than any established philosophy or religious principles.

Leonardo's concept of beauty was found in the 

"study of the living" in all its complexity.

"Drawing was an essential part of artistic practice during the Renaissance." 

"Drawing became the artistic equivalent of writing poetry 

or thoughts in a journal."   

 Unlike some European art museums which I've visited, 

the MFA is filled with loud, LOUD adult VOICES, 

sometimes talking about the art, oftentimes, not. 

In Blockbuster shows, it is often difficult to get near the works,

 especially when they are small.

So inbetween reading & seeing what I could of the drawings, 

I guess I stepped back & recorded my observations of

 "the living."

Backroads of Maine. Haystacks

Looking East to the Camden hills from route 52.

For me, it's one of the most beautiful backroads in Maine.

It's all the more beautiful in early evening light after

an afternoon of kayaking on a very blue Lake Megunticook.

In my childhood I dreamed of living on a farm.

Haystacks were a symbol of that life. 

Those haystacks were cone shaped in the fairy tales, 

formed by hand instead of rolled.

In childhood I always colored the grass a flat green color.

It is interesting to me how differntly colored it really is! 

On the Road in Maine

This summer,

I've been traveling some Maine backroads. 

Destinations:

Augusta, Camden, Appleton, Rockport.

Portland, Freeport, Union, Searsport.

And Twice to Quebec City...

"Life is a journey, not a destination," 

said Ralph Waldo Emmerson. 

But on these trips, 

the journeys & the destinations

are equally pleasant parts 

of my summer life.

Summer Colorplay

A little collage to wish you all

a most playful summer!

Maine's Glendarragh Lavender Farm

I always associate lavender with France, Italy & England.

But yesterday we visited a Maine lavender farm! 

After a beautiful ride through green, green, green, 

woods, farms & fields, overlooking rivers & lakes 

& the Camden Hills to the east, 

we arrived at a 26 acre farm in Appleton,

 nestled in rolling meadows & 

filled with French & English lavender, 

flower gardens, bird houses, & old oak trees, 
not to mention happy wanderers.

Glendarragh Farm is open to the public 

only 3 days a year, during the harvest. 

Young student farm workers guide you , 

explain the growing, harvesting & drying processes, 

and share some history of how the farm came to be.

The gift shop, in an old barn, allowed us to bring back home

 a little healthy, therepeutic, aromatic, cheerful Lavender, 

in my case, in the form of a bouquet.

The Glendarragh Farm Lavender shop 

on Camden's Main St. is open year round!

When the front door is open, enchanting, enticing 

fragrance wafts out the door & lures me in, to luxuriate in

the scents of dried lavender,  & lotions & balms,

made by Glendarragh's owner.  

 They are interspersed with lovely treats such as 

blue & lavender scarves, pottery, sachets, & candles... 

The Fourth of July: 

It was a, pastoral, lavender filled summer day...