Hey there friends. I've been out painting as much as this clear weather and my own motivation allows.  The harvest moon has come and gone and fall feels like it's here for real.  I'll be making the shift to working indoors once the temps drop toward freezing, but that time is not yet.  I hope to be working outside through November.  I still have paintings for sale around the state, at Landing Gallery, George Marshall Store Gallery, Thos. Moser, Trove, and Littlefield Gallery.  I just brought fifteen recent paintings to the Littlefields for their last show of the season, with me, painter Alec Richardson, and sculptor Don Best.  The show is up now and the opening reception is on Saturday the 21st, from 4-6.  I'll be there and hope to see friends and family too.  Here's a painting from the show:

September light, Schoodic, Maine - oil/panel, 14 x 11", 2023.

The whole show is available to view on my page at the Littlefield Gallery website.  Here's one more for good measure:

​Cloud light, view to Northport and Islesboro from Moss Acre beach, Castine, Maine - oil/panel, 14 x 11".

Thanks for looking.  Sending my good wishes from here for a quiet fall and winter, and my thanks to everyone who came out to the openings and my studio and saw paintings and purchased paintings in 2024.  I appreciate you. I'm working on a new solo show for June of 2025 in Rockland at Landing Gallery.  The paintings are almost finished.  I'll be living with them and making some final decisions over the coming months.  Peace. 

Hi friends and art enthusiasts.  This spring I've been working hard to frame paintings for the upcoming season, and here it is.  In some ways it feels like summer already.  Right now I have 11 paintings at George Marshall Store Gallery in York, 3 paintings at Thos. Moser in Freeport, 3 paintings at Trove in Searsport, 11 paintings at Littlefield Gallery in Winter Harbor, and last but not least, 35 paintings at Landing Gallery in Rockland, for my upcoming solo show A New Season.  The show opens during the First Friday art walk in Rockland on June 7th.  I'm planning to be there from around 4 p.m. on, and would love to see friends and family who feel like venturing out that evening.  Here's a painting from the show:

Summer shadow on Walker Pond, from Caterpillar Hill, Sedgwick, Maine - oil/panel, 20 x 30", 2023.

And here is my statement from the show:

"Every day I make a few choices and set some small achievable goals.  Each painting in this exhibit is the result.  First comes the decision to gather my art supplies and set forth.  Then there is the choice to inhabit the day and season as fully as I can.  I begin again, often with a pencil and sketchbook, then brushstroke by brushstroke with paint, panel, and canvas.  I believe in observational painting.  Getting outside to look works for me.  Over time I’ve come to consider painting as mindfulness: an awareness of the present moment alongside a losing of oneself into the whole, into the timeless sacredness of everything.  These days I feel like I’m in the middle of some new way of being, even as I continue to struggle with the difficult changes I did not want after the death of my husband Ryan.  This is apparently a new season of life.  The landscape keeps asking for my participation in it, through painting.  I don’t question it; I get out the door and do it.  I think these new paintings reflect my determination.  They feel solid and true, full of radiance and shadow, movement and color.  They accurately describe my experience.  I’ve been working with the landscape for over twenty years now.  And for over ten years of solo shows at Landing Gallery: thank you, Bruce and Roberta."

Another painting from the show:

Clearing, end of March, Northern Bay, Penobscot, Maine - oil/panel, 9 x 12", 2023.

I've also been out painting quite a bit, close to home.  I find myself seeking out new views of familiar landscapes and seascapes.  And working on this website too.  I've added several new pages.  First, to share some of the paintings I've made as elegies for Ry, who I miss beyond measure, daily.  Then, some other paintings I've been wanting to see together for quite some time, these nocturnes, which tell where I'm at.  And some of my new coastal landscapes are here.  I also have some work available in my studio for sale, and I welcome visitors (with a little notice).  Finally, two of my paintings are shown in the beautiful new book by Carl and David Little, Art of Penobscot Bay, which was published this spring by Islandport Press.

That's all my news for now, thanks for looking.  I hope to have paintings in a few other places later this summer, as well as being a featured artist with Littlefield Gallery in September/October, so I will write again about all that when the time is nigh.  Until then, peace.

Dear friends, I feel like I have paintings for sale all over the state of Maine/Dawnland right now, and just want to say thank you to everyone who has looked at the galleries, openings, and shows.  A few of note, right now, which include my paintings:

The show No Small Thing is up through the end of July at George Marshall Store Gallery in York.

The Parsonage Gallery in Searsport has a small show (Devotions) of my work along with a great group exhibit.

Thos. Moser in Freeport has a huge splendid exhibit up now through January to accompany the forthcoming book by Carl Little and David Little, Art of Penobscot Bay.

In August one painting of mine will be in the Art of Penobscot Bay group show at the Blue Hill Public Library.

I have a few paintings up at The Hichborn here at home in Stockton Springs, and will have a few small works at the annual one-day Pie and Art Festival at the Stockton Springs Community Library in August as well.

Some of my paintings are at Littlefield Gallery now, and I will be bringing about fifteen more to Winter Harbor in early September, as a featured artist.  

And at Landing Gallery in Rockland, I had a moderately successful solo show in June and the gallerists Bruce and Roberta keep some of my work up for the rest of the summer.

I also just added some paintings to the available work section of this website.

Meanwhile I've been out painting as much as the rainy weather allows, either in the car or close to home.  As I come up on the two-year mark of losing my husband Ryan, I find myself struggling every day, but I am able to work somehow, and remain grateful for that not-so-small mercy.  And the decades of good times that Ry and I had together.  They live on in me and in our friends and family.  We miss him so very much.  He was the life of the party wherever he went.  I count my remaining blessings and they are many, but oh I miss his companionship and good humor.  I keep painting, for him and for us both.

One of the paintings in No Small Thing, at George Marshall Store Gallery: radiant morning, east from Searsport, Maine - oil/linen, 8 x 20", 2022.  Maine = Wabanakigok.  Thanks again, and peace.

Hi dear friends.  Spring is upon us in this neck of the woods and I'm watching the landscape turn a little more green each day.  I'll miss the subtle colors of winter.  Here's an update about where to see my work this year, besides in my studio.  A lot is happening, and I'm doing my best to say yes: to life, to painting, and to new opportunities to show paintings.  Everything is deeply bittersweet without Ryan.  Some days I can't seem to do much of anything, but then I keep going.  The series of paintings I'm making for him continues.  I'm so grateful to the galleries and art buyers who work with me to make my life as a full-time painter possible.  

Paintings of mine will be in several shows around Maine/Dawnland this year.  Roughly in order, here we go:

Right now I have two paintings in the biennial Maine: The Painted State, at Greenhut Galleries in Portland.  The show will be up through May 27th.

And I have nine paintings in the group show Holdfast at Zero Station in Portland.  The show opens on Thursday April 27th and runs through June 8th.

In June I will be having a solo show entitled Coasting, of thirty new coastal landscapes, at Landing Gallery in Rockland.  Four paintings are already spoken for (thank you!).  The show will open during the first Friday art walk on June 2nd, and run through June 28th.  I'll be bringing the paintings to the gallery in mid-May, however, and if anyone would like to see images from the show in advance, please email me and I'll send you the images.

In June I'll be bringing eight paintings to George Marshall Store Gallery in York, for a group exhibit called No Small Thing, which will be up from June 17th to July 30th.

In July a series of ten small paintings will be on display at The Parsonage in Searsport, and I will have a few paintings in their winter holiday exhibit as well, in December.  Dates to follow.

Some of my paintings will also be with Littlefield Gallery in Winter Harbor for the summer, and then I will be a featured artist from September 11th through October 9th, with around twenty fall and winter paintings, alongside two other gallery artists, painter Scott Baltz and sculptor Don Best.

There are a few other places I may be showing paintings this year, but I'm waiting to hear more information, so I will send along an update if and when those possibilities come to fruition.  In other news, two of my paintings will be shown in the forthcoming book Art of Penobscot Bay by Carl Little and David Little, with Islandport Press.  The book is due to be published in September.  And, a second edition of Art of Acadia by David and Carl is coming in August, a softcover this time, from Down East Books.

All for now.  Thanks so much for reading.  Peace and best wishes, and I'll sign off with a painting from my solo show at Landing Gallery in June:     

Summer day, low tide, Sandy Point Beach, Maine - oil/panel, 20 x 30", 2022.  Maine = Wabanakigok.

Hi friends, family, and painting people.  A brief update about 2022 and where to keep on seeing my paintings this year.  A few hardy souls visited my studio recently to look at and purchase work (thank you!), and my solo show at Landing Gallery in Rockland was successful.  Thanks to everyone who went to the gallery, and came to see me.   You are greatly appreciated.  Both Landing Gallery and Littlefield Gallery in Winter Harbor have work of mine on hand as we speak, for the rest of 2022.

Also, three of my paintings are currently hanging up alongside some great local painters at The Hichborn restaurant here in Stockton Springs.  Thank you to owners Kirk and Charlie for their support of art and artists.  Their latest venture is a gastropub on Route 1 in Searsport, Hey Sailor! which also features local art.  Please check out and support their endeavors, whenever possible.

And, the annual fundraising exhibit at the Blue Hill Public Library is coming right up, for the month of August.  The show is Summer Dreams, curated by Jennifer Mitchell-Nevin and Marcia Stremlau, and I have four small paintings in that show.  Here's one of them:

Cloud shadow, July, the reach, Brooklin, Maine - oil/panel, 11 x 14", 2021.

Lastly, a few small paintings of mine will be available in the one-day Pie and Art Festival at the Stockton Springs Community Library on Saturday August 20th.  And, I still have some paintings up in several other venues - the Monson Arts Gallery in Monson, Maine, the Chocolate Church Arts Center in Bath, and the Penobscot Marine Museum in Searsport (please see my last post for details on these ongoing group shows).  Phew, I think that's it.

But no, one more item of note:  I'm a featured artist in the summer issue of The Maine Arts Journal.  The essay that accompanies the images of my paintings is an edited excerpt from the memoir I wrote, Autobiography of an Island.  Thanks to the Union of Maine Visual Artists and the editors of the Journal for thinking of my work for this issue, entitled Beyond Plein Air.

Both outside and in the studio I'm painting steadily, as I continue to address the ocean of grief I find myself adrift upon since losing my husband Ryan almost a year ago.  It has been a difficult series of days and months, to say the least, and I am so grateful for the kindness, compassion, empathy, and care that so many have sent his way, and my way too.  Wherever you are, may the remainder of your summer be filled with ease, peace, and plenty.  Love from me, here, always.

An update about my paintings, from here in Stockton Springs.  Several are making forays to upcoming exhibits that are about to open.

First I have three paintings in Picturing Penobscot Bay, curated by Carl Little, at the Penobscot Marine Museum in Searsport, Maine.  The show opens on June 2nd, and will be up for the summer/fall season.  Wonderful painters from all over the bay are in this exhibit, including Brita Holmquist, Jill Hoy, Anina Porter Fuller, Colin Page, Scott Moore, and many others.

Then, two of my paintings are in the Monson Arts Gallery for their exhibit The Art of Monson, for the summer season.  The show runs May 23rd - October 31st and was also curated by the omniscient art-angel Carl Little.  More great art to be seen in this show, including work by Roberta Weaver Jarvis, Jemma Gascoine, Ed Hoovler, Milton Christianson, Alan Bray, Todd Watts, and more.

Also, two paintings were selected by painter/curator/professor extraordinaire Breehan James for an exhibit called Summer Breeze at the Chocolate Church Arts Center in Bath, Maine.  The show is up from June 10th - July 30th.

And, last week I delivered 37 paintings to Landing Gallery in Rockland for my upcoming solo show in June, Portraits of Place, which runs June 2nd to June 26th.  Bruce and Roberta at Landing Gallery will have some of my work up all summer.  Rockland has become an art destination, and I'm fortunate to have another season there with these wonderful gallerists.

Littlefield Gallery is also carrying my work for the summer and fall, and the paintings of mine they now have on hand are viewable on their artist page for me, at their website.  Jane and Kelly Littlefield are looking forward to a busy summer at the gallery.

A last note, before I sign off and go paint for the afternoon: the not-enough-superlatives-to-describe-him Carl Little has written about my memoir Autobiography of an Island in the June 2022 issue of The Working Waterfront, published by the Island Institute.  Page 23.  Thank you, Carl.

Below is a painting from my solo show at Landing Gallery.  Thanks for reading, and for looking at my work.  I appreciate your continued interest and support, always.  Love from here.

October barren off Old County Road, Stockton Springs, Maine - oil/panel, 24 x 48":

Hi friends.  A few notes about the year ahead.  I've been painting steadily, and framing older work for sale, for the upcoming season.  I'm glad to be showing work with Littlefield Gallery in Winter Harbor, Maine again this year (please take a look at my page on their website for their current inventory of my available paintings).  I will also be having a solo show of some older paintings along with a few new ones from early last year, at Landing Gallery in Rockland, Maine in June.  This will be a retrospective of sorts, as I've been looking back at over twenty years of working with the landscape here in Maine/Dawnland.  The show is called Portraits of Place.  I consider the paintings I make to be portraits of individual sentient places, as well as self-portraits.

With that in mind, copies of the memoir I published in late December of 2021, entitled Autobiography of an Island (about painting and living on Bear Island in Penobscot Bay) will also be available at both galleries this year, and from me directly.  The book is a small hardcover, 282 pages, text only.  It's dedicated to my husband Ryan, who remains utterly foundational to who I am as a painter and person.  I miss him beyond words (even though I write about him, and to him, in my diary, daily) and am doing my best to work through each day without him as it arises and passes by.  I've been making a series of paintings about the experience of losing him and still loving the world.  Some of this work I show on my social media accounts as I make it, and other paintings remain private for the time being.  The series is called the tree, the rock, and the field.  Nearly eight months has passed since Ry stepped away, and everything changed.  I'm grateful I can still paint and express my emotions in that way, at the same time that I continue to describe the experience of being with the landscape, and working together to create images.  I remain committed to painting.

I will have more paintings news to share in a month or two, about some other exhibits my work will be in ths summer.  Thanks for reading.  Peace, and love from here.  

Dear friends, a brief note from here.  As many of you already know, my beloved husband Ryan died at the end of July.  He was 51.  Even after more than three months it's still so difficult to write those words, much less live them.  Since he died I've been attempting to come to terms with life as it now is.  There have been many details and things I had to deal with, and did, and many details and things I cannot yet deal with, but may be able to someday.  In the meantime I paint, to keep my hands moving, fill the days with work, and engage my whole self with the world.  Many of my recent paintings are of the landscape, but it's a new landscape.  An interior one I'm learning about.  So many of us love Ry, and life without his presence is unthinkable, but here we are.  Please bear with me, as I find my way.  Thank you for walking through this new territory alongside me, if you're choosing to do so, and thank you for reading.  A new painting, for Ry, with all my love.

elegy for ry, fieldstone, end of october, mount ephraim road, north searsport, maine - oil/panel, 11 x 14", 2021

Hi there painting enthusiasts.  It's that time of year - I'm preparing to bring sixty paintings to Landing Gallery later this week for my solo show, Local Color: an almanac of Maine painting.  Show dates are June 4 - June 29, and we will not be having an opening.  Gallery hours are Thursday - Sunday, from 11 - 5, and other times by appointment, if anyone prefers to be in the gallery without other people coming in.  The gallery will have the catalogue for the show, and I also have copies, plus a low-resolution pdf of it, and image files for the complete show, for those who would like to take a look at everything from afar.  Just send me an email ([email protected]) or contact Bruce at the gallery ([email protected]).  Ten paintings are already reserved or sold, for which I say THANK YOU to the folks who keep a weather eye on my work.  I appreciate you very much!

This is one of the paintings from the show, made last fall during the solitary residency I attended in the northwestern part of the state:  Late September view to Attean Mountain and Attean Pond, from Jackman, Maine - oil/panel, 24 x 48", 2020.

And here is the catalogue cover, showing a companion painting:  July morning, view to Attean Mountain and Attean Pond, from Jackman, Maine - oil/canvas, 16 x 20", 2020.

Ken Woisard photographed 31 paintings for the catalogue, Dee Yocom prepared the layout, and Modern Postcard printed lots of copies.  It's a quiet thrill to hold them in my hands, after months and years of work.  Thanks for looking, and be well, friends!  I hope to see you at an art opening again someday, even if it can't be this summer.

Hello, friends.  Like the meadow voles and flocks of robins in the yard this week, I'm beginning to take a decided interest in the imminent spring.  How welcome it is; what a long year it's been.  Working outside when I could and painting in my studio when I couldn't has carried me through, so far.  I'll be glad to see the pandemic go, whenever it does go.  Over the winter, I've been staying close to home and keeping safe.  Right now I'm working on framing paintings for my upcoming solo show with Landing Gallery in Rockland.  In mid-May I'll bring around fifty paintings to the gallery, and the show will be up around June 1st, for the month of June.  A catalogue is in the works and if anyone would like to receive a pdf of it in May, or photos of the paintings in the show, I will be ready to provide such things probably by the first week of May, if not the second week.  The gallery will have paper copies of the catalogue, too.  The show is called Local Color: an almanac of Maine painting and will feature mostly small works made over the last two years, as the seasons changed, one to the next.  There's some snow, some fall color, some June flowers, some wintery shorelines, some hot summer sun, some fog, and some of the new growth of spring.  Being out in nature throughout the year remains my joy.  Here's one of the paintings from the show - harvest moon, white pines, Stockton Springs, Maine - oil/panel, 8 x 10":  

I will also be showing paintings again this year with Littlefield Gallery in Winter Harbor.  They keep some of my available work up throughout the year, and on my page on their website, then around fifteen paintings of mine will be in a group show in the gallery in mid-September into October.  I feel very fortunate to be represented by two such wonderful galleries, in two different parts of the state I love so very much.

Thank you to friends and collectors who purchased paintings last year.  2020 was a banner year in that regard, and the extra funds allowed me to complete phase one of my studio renovation, in the little old cape house across the street from where my husband Ryan and I live.  We bought the cape several years ago, gutted it completely, down to the hand-hewn beams, and it now has a new roof.  Phase two will follow later this year, if all goes well.  I appreciate the support and interest more than you will ever know.

I will write again with more news before summer, since I also spent much of the winter finishing the book I've been working on, about painting on Bear Island, in Penobscot Bay.  The book itself is done, and now I'm doing some final housekeeping chores related to it.  I hope to self-publish copies in July.  Please stay tuned for more news about that, keep an eye out for crocuses - any day now! - and take care, in the months ahead.