Hi friends and painting enthusiasts. Wishing you all well. What a time. My husband Ryan and I have been staying home for five weeks, going on six. He does his work remotely now, as do so many others, with his phone, the internet, and teleconferencing. I'm working as usual, even though everything is different, and I'm not finding it easy to focus on painting, or much else beyond small everyday activities and projects. In other words, we take it day by day around here. We are very fortunate to live where we do, on a quiet residential street, with wonderful neighbors, in a small village, on the gorgeous coast of Maine. The ocean is visible from our house (we live halfway up a hill that faces south, down Penobscot Bay), and we often walk the mile it takes to be standing right by its side. We take longer walks too, all around town. Sometimes we pack a lunch or snacks, and last weekend I even took my watercolor kit and did some sketching. Spring is slowly budding, here. No leaves are out yet, but the grass is rapidly greening. I've been digging up the garden beds and thinking of transplanting and planting. We already have chives and other herbs showing vigorous signs of life. And I am trying to do likewise, by preparing for my summer painting show season, even though so much remains unknown at this time.
Here is what I do know. My upcoming solo show at Landing Gallery in Rockland will happen either in the gallery itself, or virtually. I have 55 paintings framed and ready for At Sea: new paintings of the Maine coast, and will have the catalogue in hand in a few weeks, if all goes well. A few paintings from the show are already spoken for (wow, thank you!!), but the majority remain available. If you would like a preview, just ask, and I will be happy to send you a file of photographs of the paintings, and the price list. The gallery will have the paintings in mid-May or shortly thereafter, if the Maine stay-safe-at-home order is lifted by then.
Also, as I mentioned previously, Littlefield Gallery now has paintings of mine, for inclusion in a group show in late June and July. Again, several paintings have already sold (and again, wow, thank you!!), but many are shown on their website on my artist page, and are currently available. They will probably have a virtual show only, but that is still to be determined, depending on how the state safety recommendations develop. Stay tuned.
Meanwhile, I've been adding some new paintings to this old website of mine. Over the past two years I've spent a lot of time far inland, away from the coast for a change. Ryan and I bought a piece of land in Monson and hope to build a camp in the future. It has been a delight to discover remote parts of Maine I've never seen before. We've hiked all over, and driven dirt roads for miles. I keep returning to certain places, as I do here at the coast, to paint and paint again as the seasons change. I've put some of this new work in its own section, inland, here. I hope to continue to add to it over the coming years. Being outside, either in the woods, at the ocean's edge, or right here in our backyard, is the primary thing that brings me peace during this difficult period in history. I say history, because it sure feels historic, doesn't it? As if we reached a major turning point, and actually did make the turn, into a new way of living, a new era. What is most important has become glaringly obvious and the superfluous has fallen away. I must say that I do yearn for frivolous treats from time to time, but even my definition of those has drastically changed, along with everything else. Art remains necessary, I hope and believe. The paintings we live with in our home, many made by dear friends and acquaintances, bring such joy, daily. So does good food, and visiting with neighbors in the street on our daily walks, and speaking with friends and family on the phone.
I'll end this with one of the paintings from the Landing Gallery show: morning clouds over Isle au Haut and Hutchins Island, from Islesboro, Maine - oil/panel, 11 x 14", 2019. Made last September, in love with the world, with good friends painting nearby, on one of the islands visible down the bay from here. I hope to return this September and paint there again. Stay safe, and thanks for reading.
Here is what I do know. My upcoming solo show at Landing Gallery in Rockland will happen either in the gallery itself, or virtually. I have 55 paintings framed and ready for At Sea: new paintings of the Maine coast, and will have the catalogue in hand in a few weeks, if all goes well. A few paintings from the show are already spoken for (wow, thank you!!), but the majority remain available. If you would like a preview, just ask, and I will be happy to send you a file of photographs of the paintings, and the price list. The gallery will have the paintings in mid-May or shortly thereafter, if the Maine stay-safe-at-home order is lifted by then.
Also, as I mentioned previously, Littlefield Gallery now has paintings of mine, for inclusion in a group show in late June and July. Again, several paintings have already sold (and again, wow, thank you!!), but many are shown on their website on my artist page, and are currently available. They will probably have a virtual show only, but that is still to be determined, depending on how the state safety recommendations develop. Stay tuned.
Meanwhile, I've been adding some new paintings to this old website of mine. Over the past two years I've spent a lot of time far inland, away from the coast for a change. Ryan and I bought a piece of land in Monson and hope to build a camp in the future. It has been a delight to discover remote parts of Maine I've never seen before. We've hiked all over, and driven dirt roads for miles. I keep returning to certain places, as I do here at the coast, to paint and paint again as the seasons change. I've put some of this new work in its own section, inland, here. I hope to continue to add to it over the coming years. Being outside, either in the woods, at the ocean's edge, or right here in our backyard, is the primary thing that brings me peace during this difficult period in history. I say history, because it sure feels historic, doesn't it? As if we reached a major turning point, and actually did make the turn, into a new way of living, a new era. What is most important has become glaringly obvious and the superfluous has fallen away. I must say that I do yearn for frivolous treats from time to time, but even my definition of those has drastically changed, along with everything else. Art remains necessary, I hope and believe. The paintings we live with in our home, many made by dear friends and acquaintances, bring such joy, daily. So does good food, and visiting with neighbors in the street on our daily walks, and speaking with friends and family on the phone.
I'll end this with one of the paintings from the Landing Gallery show: morning clouds over Isle au Haut and Hutchins Island, from Islesboro, Maine - oil/panel, 11 x 14", 2019. Made last September, in love with the world, with good friends painting nearby, on one of the islands visible down the bay from here. I hope to return this September and paint there again. Stay safe, and thanks for reading.
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