Gift of Sunflowers

It was a time of Celebration,

marked by a surprise gift of flowers.

Happy, Thoughtful Sunflowers.

Art in the Park

 The above photo is from my display at Art in the Park, 2011. This year I had nowhere near the variety. Most of the above had sold, & this year I've been working in some other directions. I went this year to visit my old home & friends. I did sell some works, and it's always a delight to know that they make people happy. I loved seeing my friends and it was fun to meet some new folks too!

Thanks, Portland folks for the visits! 

See you again soon, I hope!

Landscape?

Watercolor, 3 X 4 inches

It might have started out as a landscape...

Meditations on Color

I'm wandering down paths filled with jewels of Color! 

I play in layered fields of Color! Gone for now are the small 

ink landscapes (though they will be there Saturday at

Art in the Park, Mill Creek, South Portland.)

An earlier journey into Color.

Epiphany by Robert Natkin, acrylic on canvas.

 This painting is from Sister Wendy's Book of Meditations which  serendipitously jumped out at me from a bookshelf at the library the other day. Her meditations are all on fine art paintings. In the chapter, "Meditation on Silence", she writes about Natkin's painting:

"Only the abstract artist can attempt to show us light in itself, free from any material context. This is pure silence, the experience removed from the concrete & celebrated as a transforming peace. Epiphany is a Greek word meaning manifestation, a revelation of glory. We are not meant to understand Natkin's picture, any more that we are meant to intellectualize during our silence..."

Time to Explore

I've been exploring new directions. A wise friend suggests that there are times when our art process must take us inward & must benefit from being private. In the meantime, it's nice to look back on a body of work...

 I look back to my old beloved home...

 on the edge of Casco Bay...

 And to my new home...

in such a beautiful area of the world... 

 I look back to my trips to France...Will there be another?

So where am I going with my art?
Picasso writes:

"Si l’on sait exactement ce qu’on va faire, à quoi bon le faire ?" 

My interpretation: 
"If one knows exactly what one is going to do, then why do it?" 
It's OK not to know for the moment.

Between my explorations & several projects with deadlines, it's  time for a blog pause. Have a great summer!

Fast Sketches: Small Town Farmer's Market

I had a feeling the painting class that I'd been a part of for 2 days would be at the local Farmer's Market. There was the teacher, right in the middle of things, doing a brilliantly colorful demo. This market is much smaller than Portland's but it too is filled with health & joy & the arts. Again, I walked into a bit of bliss.. sights, scents, art, & more Celtic music....

...played by 3 young men on fiddle, keyboard & recorder...

Proportion & accuracy are off here, but it is for me a souvenir of a moment...

Student & assistant, Deb, from New Hampshire. One of the sweetest people I've ever met...Good energy all around! Thank you, thank you, thank you, I seem to keep saying to summer in Belfast.

Happiness: Fiddling & Sketching

The Belfast Bay Fiddlers welcome an audience to their weekly rehearsals. I thought I'd died & gone to heaven, attending for the first time. About 20 musicians played tunes like Saint Anne's Reel, Golden Slippers, Angeline the Baker, Whiskey Before Breakfast, Boys of Blue Hill & Reel de Montreal. I used to kind of play guitar & then tin whistle until a wrist injury changed things. And I used to contradance before my knees started creaking. But how I still LOVE to listen!!

Their stands were ipads on which they downloaded the tunes! The smiles on some of their faces as they played were like mirrors for my own feelings. A few of the slow waltzes made me cry. A roomful of joy, you see it, & you feel it vibrating deep in your core. Out the windows the trees were swaying to the music, & whole families of children were dancing on the lawn.

I was shy about taking out my sketchbook. Then, a regular audience member, wife of a guitarist, whipped out a Moleskine. So I whipped out my Moleskine. I almost exclaimed, "Look! We're twins!" As we shared our books we discovered that we are/were both art teachers. Then we hunkered down to sketching as the the fiddlers went on fiddlin'.

Fiddlers & sketchers, working out, practicing, immersed in traditional music...I became a part of a lucky group of people in that room that evening...

Coastal Maine Art Workshop

I just finished 2 days in a watercolor class right in my own town! Folks have come to this 5 day class (I only took it for 2) from California, New York, New Jersey Iowa, Louisiana, & elsewhere, to learn in person from Tony Van Hasselt, a teacher they knew from his technique books! Coastal Maine has so many workshops like this with visiting artists! This one was sponsored by Coastal Maine Art Workshops. What a great way to follow one's passion while vacationing. Tonight they all went to the lobster pound down the road in Lincolnville. 

After a talk in the studio, Tony gave a demonstration outdoors & then we painted. Sunny, pleasant weather was with us in a lovely public spot just on the edge of the harbor.

Painting IS different from drawing. You define objects by masses of contrasting colors & values instead of by line. There's a lot more to consider like lights & darks & patterns of colors & shapes.

Part of my pleasure, in any class, is making sketch-notes. (Here, 3 X 5" journal by Semicolon) I've been sketching a lot lately. Summer & all the festivals & events here provide me with opportunities.

Tony has a relaxed approach to painting combined with formal study. While he's painting he says things like,  "Why not try?" "I'm just going to have fun. If it works out, OK." 

Tourist to Mainer: "How do you get to Lincolnville?" 

Mainer: "My brother takes me."

Back to the Landscapes...soon...

This is an older landscape that I took to the shop on Main Street

to replace one that sold yesterday. 

Now I REALLY have to get back to the landscapes.

 In the meantime, I'm still sketchbook wandering.

Very scribbly, I must say...

Every Thursday in summer they close one of the Main streets for concerts. 

Last night it was an excellent local big band.

Young families & children were dancing in the street to the music of their parents' & grandparents' era.

I love these events that bring out the community, & perhaps

tourists & summer visitors too.

I added a little detail at home, but it's still scribbly...

One More Abstract

I've been trying finish up my abstract wanderings

(just one more, just one more)

as I have some landscapes 

to get back to...

Sailing on Penobscot Bay

During the 1st part of a Senior College class, teacher-sailor, Peter Reilly presented history, ecology, economics, & geography of Penobscot Bay,& a lot of information that sailors need. I sketched, & madly took notes.

 The second part was a sail on the Amity, 

a Friendship sloop, built in 1901. 

The young captain, Peter's son Patrick, 

grew up sailing on Mount Desert Island. 

Patrick has many sailing adventures, 

including a recent solo trip across the Atlantic.

Peter assisted his son at times, 

but he also chatted with us guests

as they enjoyed the views

 and the cool sea breeze, so pleasant 
after the heat & humidity on shore.

Such beautiful designs, components & craftsmanship

 on this Friendship sloop.

So different from electronic technology.

You pass a variety of boats going out of Belfast Harbor.

They told us that this odd conglomeration of a vessel is part of a mussel farm operaton on Isleboro. 

It looked to me like a rig out of Dr. Seuss! 

 The Tugboats of Belfast, Maine. 

They do a lot of work in different places, but this is their home when they're not working. 

To see a great video about them, click here.

Thanks to Peter & Patrick Reilly & Senior College of Belfast

for a great experience!

Color Spree

Going on a Color Spree.

Railroad Tracks, 

Foot Prints,

Drum Beats, 

Polka Dots,

Seeds.

Birds in line.

Summer Roads,

Summer Sun, 

Summer Sea, 

Fog and Mist,

Pure Glee.

Going on a Color Spree.

Glazing Bands of Watercolor

Still playing, this time with "glazing".

Paint bands of color, let them dry.

Paint new bands of color, let them dry.

Paint newer bands of color, let them dry.

Keep going until it feels done.

(Not sure this one is.)

Sometimes let wet bands of color 

run into other wet bands of color.

Have your paper taped down to a board.

Paint holding the board with one hand & brush with the other,

tilting the board to let the paint roll around.

With each new layer, your colors become so vivid. 

And that makes it worth the wait!

Painted Paper Building Blocks: The Series

The painted paper building blocks are forming a series, 

as Barbara (Folkways Notebook) mentioned in her comment

on the previous post.

The 4th image no longer exists because it was too chaotic for me, 

even though the text inserted into it is about BALANCE. 

It morphed into the first two.

This is most definitely a natural form of art for children, 

as Monique (La Table de Nana) commented.

 I used to do it with 1st & 2nd grade art students.

I guess I'm going back in time. It's good fun.

Library Sketches on a Perfect Summer Day

Sketches direct from my watercolor sketchbook. 

It was another beautiful sunny-breezy day out, 

but there we were, indoors, in the quiet Reading Room 

of the Camden Public Library. 

ANY day of the year is a good day for the library in my book!

And some people have their work to do, no matter the weather...

Here's the thing about using water in the library: 

You have to be very, very careful, especially when there are big majestic oak tables.

(Bring lots of paper towels & baggies.)