Last of Maine for Now

On The Ledges

8x10 oil on linen panel

#17/#27

Our last evening on The Ledges

Unless I have missed one, I think this is all of the paintings from Maine.  What a great experience.  I am corresponding now with one of the other AIRs that was there.  If you're an artist, and can do it, this is a great opportunity.  Many of the parks allow your family to come along, and as long as they are ok with you taking off to paint, it works really well.  Just check it out on the Artist in Residence section of the National Park Service site.

This last painting isn't one of the best, but gave me a feel of what I wanted to paint.  I think too, my mind was already starting to wind down from the Acadia experience and I was starting to detach and head home.  Nice to leave home for a while, and really nice to get back home.

A show at The Art Center in Orange is being set up with three different artists who have painted scenes from Maine.  Tentatively scheduled for June 2011.  Myself and two others are in at this point, all of us with very different styles.  It should a very nice show with something for everyone.

Something else I learned from my trip to Maine was what kinds of supplies I need to paint what I want to paint.  I almost didn't take the small pochade box, but was glad I did.  I wouldn't have had the chance to paint a small oil on my lone hike.  Dragging the French easel up and down hills would have been impossible.  I love painting a little bigger, so the French easel worked when I could either paint right next to my car, or didn't have to go far.  I also have REALLY learned that I need to have ALL the paints I want in both the French easel AND the pochade.  That way I don't get out somewhere and find I don't have what I need.  One last lesson learned, among many, was that you can usually do without most of what you think you need.  If you have the basics, you'll be fine, and probably have an easier time in the long-run.

Light

Ledges Pine

10x8 oil on linen panel

#16/#26

Part of the same Pine tree, totally different lighting

Light is the main subject of most naturalistic painters' work.  Doesn't really matter what the "subject" is, light is still the main subject, because without it, there would be very little on our canvases, boards, papers and panels.  Consider a painting done in the early hours when the light is creeping up.  Or consider differences between the golden late evening light, a nighttime painting, a foggy, rainy day, or a bright, middle-of-the-day painting.  All very different, all very unique unto themselves.  Each moment of light gives a different feeling to a painting.  

The top painting here was done on a cool (chilly actually!), damp, grey day.  I was cold sitting on the rocks painting.  I was having a terrible time getting values right, while keeping things simple.  It gave me the feeling I wanted to keep, and will go back and work on one from this little plein air piece to create a more finished piece.  Part of plein air painting is all about the experience of being outdoors.  Here, I was cold, and finally gave in to going back to warm up, even though I didn't really "finish" the painting.  Enjoy!

Keeping the Feeling Alive

Low Tide at Little Moose

8x10 oil on linen panel

#15/#25

Sign as you drive into the SERC campus, or head to the point.

Even though it was last week that I got home from Maine, from the artist residency, I am still feeling the glow.  I haven't gone through the paintings I did yet, other than to be sure I had photographed them all while up there.  That was a lesson in organization.  I will slowly be deciding which paintings I might like to enlarge in the studio.  I will probably be enlarging the one that will be donated to the Acadia National Park.  I have up to a year to get one to them.  Since the SERC campus is being totally redone, there will be new places to hang AIR paintings once it is finished.  Great PR, as well as nice knowing one of your pieces is hanging in a location you enjoyed painting in.

I am also working on some shows/galleries to take some Maine paintings.  I am working on one show of my Maine paintings, and another artist's Maine paintings for June 2011 at The Art Center in Orange.  I may be sending some paintings back up to Maine, to the Chapter II Gallery.  So the feeling stays alive, and moves into another realm and life of its own, making up shows, galleries, blogs and websites.  Like ripples on a pond, artwork moves out to, hopefully, have an effect on many more people.

Seeing

Cormorants

8x10 oil on linen panel

#14/#24

painting along the loop road, Schoodic, Acadia National Park

"Drippy" trees and moss

The painting above was done on the same foggy day as #13.  I found the shapes of the Cormorants sitting on the rock interesting against the foggy background.  The photographs above show a really interesting way that some trees and moss seem to be dripping down over a rock.  I would drive past these trees and was fascinated by their shapes.

It is interesting how people see things differently.  When we had put out our paintings (the other AIRs and myself), I mentioned these interesting tree shapes.  The interns and teaching assistants, who also would drive past this spot, hadn't noticed.  I think as artists we are attracted and notice colors and shapes of things around us, that many people may not see.  Part of it is training ourselves to see things in a more "artistic" way.  But part of it is also the way that many of us are made up.  I firmly believe that people can learn to be more mindful and cognizant of our world around us.  When I teach classes, and workshops, that is something that I stress.  So many beginning painters particularly, paint what they think they "know" is there, not so much what they see.  Many have to slow down to really learn to see what they are painting.  Seeing is one of those things we keep developing as the artistic journey goes on. 

Sunny Days and Not So Sunny Days

Lies Below

16x20 oil on canvas

#12/#22

Fog

8x10 oil on linen panel

#13/#23

I've had a bit of all sorts of weather here in Acadia/Schoodic.  Although most of it has been bright and sunny with gorgeous pre-fall Maine weather.  The first painting above, #12 "Lies Below" was one of those amazingly clear days.  I sat on a cliff above some rocks and worked to catch some of the colors of the rocks below the water, and the water sliding by on top.  The second painting, #13 "Fog" was the opposite kind of day.  Foggy, so much so that at first I could just barely see this little island.  What great weather to paint in, as you could hear the fog horn in the background!

It is interesting how an artist needs to be able to shift gears and go from those bright days, to the more subtle color days, such as the foggy day.  Both are fascinating.  One for the wonderfully bright colors, the other where the values flatten out, and dull down.  Both make you think about color interactions and how everything works together.

Learning From Doing

After The Storm

16x20 oil on canvas

#7/#17

Below

20x16 oil on canvas

#11/#21

I have found both the frustration and occasional  successes that go along with plein air painting.  Painting here in Acadia, on the Schoodic Peninsula has brought both of these.  The waves and rocks have been an ongoing frustration for myself, and the other artist in residents.   We laugh about painting "more rocks!!"  At times I find the way to simplify the shapes and feel that I am making headway.  Other times I think, "oh no, one more rock!"  The one above, titled "Below", I found that there is a cinnamon bun masquerading as a rock!  That will need to be fixed.  The painting above that, "After The Storm", isn't finished, but I know that I want a wave to be coming towards the rocks.  I haven't had an indoor location to paint in why here in the park, but I will fix that painting when I get home.  I have more paintings which I have "finished" on-site, but I am still working hard to simplify shapes!

                                                             

Show & Tell

Birch

20x16 oil on cotton canvas

#8/#18

Lone Rock

16x20 oil on cotton canvas

#9/#19

Acadian National Park - Schoodic Eduacational & Reseach Center

Artist in Residence Show & Tell!

All I can say is that if you are an artist of any kind, the national parks are a great place to do a residency. So far I have done about 18 paintings, and met some wonderful people.  Today the three artists in residence had a little show of our work for the interns, volunteers, ranger, and educational assistants.  They are great people, of a wide variety of ages, and from all over the United States.  The Schoodic area of Acadia National Park is a wonderful place to do an artist residency.  I am learning, through doing this residency, that it is not just the act of creating many works of art, related to this location, but it is meeting and interacting with many other people, and feeling like a member of a community within the national park system.  You are learning on many different levels, in many different ways.  We had a small going-away dinner tonight with the three of us who are artists here, and my husband and one daughter.  One of our artists, Donna will be leaving tomorrow.  Sad to see her leave, but wish her well in art and life, and hope we meet again.