art roamings

I'm blessed to be immersed in art wherever I go. We visited the Portland Museum of Art last week to see A Cat in Paris, an animated film with a lush texture and fluid story-telling. LOVED IT, especially that some of the environments were done with pastel on Canson paper, a favorite paper in my stash.

Where do artists always go in a museum? The shop, duh, to ogle books and goodies. Quelle surprise!
Found my wee book there:

From there I headed over to rendezvous with fellow RISD chum visiting from Brooklyn, Madeline Sorel. Caught her in a frenzy at Portland Fiber Gallery, fondling wool roving. Here she is with her latest creation:

 

Whoa, I spotted another book with my illustrations: Cast On, Bind Off!

Even though I don't knit, I'm a total sucker for anything color sorted.

Really, anything.

We parted ways promising to visit again. I took the boat back to Peaks and strolled into another fine show at the Gem Gallery. Kat Ferrin's "Sticks and Dots" was mesmerizing.

 

She paints on salvaged wood, driftwood, found sticks, and even sticks chewed by beavers, plentiful on Peaks Island.

As a part-time member, I have a pastel in the front gallery, seen here hanging above work by fellow members Diane Wiencke and Paul Brahms.

Diane's show in July absolutely glowed. Founding curator of the Gem, Jane Newkirk, stands in front of a Diane piece from the show, "Scrap Heap," a sublime alchemy of texture and sheen.

Prior to this show, Carol Cartier's "Gloves Off," filled the back gallery with all manner of assemblage.

For a two room cooperative gallery, the Gem packs a mighty punch.

Earlier in the summer, I took in a show at SPACE Gallery in Portland, "Rum Riot Press," curated by Amze Emmons. A zine fest, huzzah! Another surprise to find art by someone I know, Torie Leigh.
Small world we lives in.

And some classy broadsheets, printed by Carl Haase, a MECA alum and local artist who takes nothing for granted, not even the humble paper cup or remote, objects of every day use with informative histories, chronicled within.

Hey, I can find art at the grocery store, too. Check out these beer packages illustrated by my better half, Marty.

Speaking of Maine College of Art, my former student, Thomas Dowling, showed this in "Critters and Creatures" at the Richard Boyd Art Gallery on Peaks Island in July. He calls this Ulia.

Currently showing is the work of Jeanne O'Toole Hayman, an island neighbor, whose oil painting, Alizarin, I am now owning, along with one of Rick Boyd's signature vases. This gallery is a must-see when you come to Peaks.

I got into the art action with my daughter at the annual Art on the Porch at the Fifth Maine on Sunday.
The day was off to a rainy start, but sunshine and smiles prevailed.

Um, can't believe we've been doing this for like, 5 years???

I sold prints of this piece, Luminous Lowtide.

And this original pastel, titled Thirsty Cove, went to a happy patron who knew Spar Cove when she saw it, and loved the strong resemblance to her dog.

My daughter added a new print, done especially for the show, Night Ride.

Fellow island artist, Paul Brahms, set up on the lawn, with his son, Lucien, drawing away. Some parents know what a good pastime a pencil can be!

I loaned my tent to photographer, Whitney Fox, who braved the rain with aplomb. Bravo!

Yes, the island keeps us out of trouble with art-making, art seeking, and all that the tide washes in.

With so much to see and do, it's hard to get much done in the studio.

Tomorrow I am visiting the South China Public Library to discuss Nest, Nook, & Cranny.
I'll be heading over to Great Diamond Island this Saturday to give a talk at Fort McKinley at 7 PM.
And signing books at Take a Peak on Peaks Island on Sunday from 1 - 3 PM.

 Who said summer was lazy?

touristas

It's a little known fact, even among my island neighbors, that I ride a motorcycle.

As my husband and I get older, the bikes wind up in the barn more often than not. But every summer, we blast off. The first trick is making it onto the ferry. 

Our pair of Hondas make a tidy fit next to the freight.

Our first stop was Hallowell, where we visited the heavenly Hubbard Free Library.

You gotta love a library that feels like a sacred space, and one in which the children's section is at the very front. A divine place for reading if ever there was one!

I entered a raffle for this bear carved with a chainsaw by Dan Burns.

 

We hit the back roads again, passing a herd of belted Galloways.

And, another friendly crowd up close.

We made it to the Wings Hill Inn a little drenched by a sudden shower.

 

Any getaway is not complete without some art viewing. We found a unique exhibit, "Humanity in Nature" at the L.C. Bates Museum in nearby Hinckley. The art was hung amongst the most curious of displays, between taxidermy, busts, and historical artifacts. The black and white piece on the left below is by Michel Droge, graphite on paper.

These turtles, cast in concrete, by Elliott Katz, were almost camouflaged among the various specimens. Not a great photo, but can you see the turtles shell backs are corporate logos? Titled "Ornaments of Paradise" they made an indelible impression of the human imprint our world makes on nature.

The museum has room after room of ducks, birds, owls. I had never seen a lyre bird before.

Back on the bikes, we passed fragrant fields of corn and hay.

We even found a perfect spot to renew our vows, 24 years later.

 

Lakes and lakes and lakes mirroring billowing skies....

All the way back, as satiated tourists, to our own destination island.

Just in time to draw a bit of scenery in my back yard.

 

This will be for sale in the upcoming Art on the Porch, the annual event held at the Fifth Maine on Peaks Island.

Motorcycles back in the barn, and time to draw.

And GUESS WHAT? I won the bear!

sketch book project

Today's the deadline for the Sketchbook Project! It's been a fun engagement, and I'm almost sad to see it go.  A recent Snow Day helped, allowing time for natural wonders and drawing. A walk with the dog begins the day, sharpening my powers of observation. Noticed Perry's wheelbarrow ready to cart some powder.

The fresh air invigorates my need to organize. Sharpen every pencil and take stock of my tools.

 

With the MECA semester about to begin, I have class on my mind. Here are some drawings done for the Sketchbook Project during a model session. I usually draw along with my students and did a few of the model, and a few of them. This is Zoe.

Here is Spenser. I realized too late that charcoal pencil, my favorite thing, is too smudgy for this purpose, and I gave in to the mirror shadow that falls on the opposite page.

The paper is really thin and you can see multiple drawings showing through. Here is Bri:

Here is Bret:

Good thing I am not hoping to lecture about drawing, since they are listening to someone else.

Here is Joe, with his Rye character.

Here is Seumas, Austin, and Eric, who visited the illustration class with a character of his own.

It was fitting that I spent the last hours with my sketchbook at Mary Anne's, fine fellow faculty in the illustration department.

Our daughters are sharing a sketchbook. Love this collage by Mary Anne on Eda's door.

Mary Anne's a master of fun lettering, and the cover of her sketchbook says it all.

Her book is filled with funky still lifes of her habitat: objects of affection, studio tools, kitchen utensils, and several lovely cat portraits. Our daughters shared the topic It's Raining Cats and Dogs. Eda mostly drew cats, and Daisy mostly drew dogs. Here's one she did of our mutt, snoozing in her favorite chair.

The girls decorated their cover with silver pens, and here both Mary Anne and Mei find contentment in the project.

The books are shipped off today, as another storm drops new snow. They will be like snowflakes in a massive drift: the rumor is there are 28, 000 sketchbooks! Such is the enormous power of drawing.

Meanwhile, I hope to keep up the practice, without the promise of display. Back to the drawing table!

epic tale of history comix camp

Thwack! I still have sea shanties stuck in my head.....what's a comix camper to do?

The week of history about piracy and privateering in Casco Bay combined with comic creation turned out to be too darn fun.

Thanks to Casablanca Comics and the Fifth Maine Museum for help in
launching the pilot program!

Campers got off to a fierce start, working on a 4 panel comic about their journey to camp.

This one by Ruby has energy and character.

This is Annika's, also direct and graphic.

  I like the bad hair moment
that leaps to the hot air balloon.

Nicholas gives a lot of sound to his panels:

Love the final panel, where he's on the
ferry from Portland....HOOONK.

But it wasn't all drawing. My intrepid matey Patricia Erikson told fantastic tales of actual events
happening right out in the bay, like about the ghost ship, the Dash, that disappeared without a trace
in 1815.

Campers also learned about tying knots, like any good sailor, such as the figure 8 knot, the
clove hitch, and the bowline.

Every pirate helped cook cod chowder. Campers spent time in the galley, flushing the cod from Browne Trading Company and chopping potatoes.

More drawing time down at Hadlock Cove....where the girls started plotting their story lines.

Day 2: a tour of the schooner, the Wendameen!

Our intrepid tour guide Holly showed us the ropes.

We had a little time to sketch on board. This is Vincent's drawing, full of quick details..

Next we headed up to the top of the Casco Bay Garage for a change of view and perspective studies.

Daisy got the panorama.

Frederick drew the huge cruise ship in port.

We went below the pier for another point of view.

Back to the Fifth Maine, with time for drawing characters.

Day 3: Fort Gorges! Captain Mark Green buzzed the campers out to the fort in no time at all.

Lucky campers got to have a seat in the bow.
I've lived on Peaks Island for 18 years, ferrying past the Fort countless times. It was a thrill
to set foot on that old stone.

We heard more stories about ships seized right at the base of Munjoy Hill.
I handed out little viewfinders to aid in finding compositions, but the fort's arches
and windows provided excellent natural frames.

It was a challenge to capture all the repeating architecture. Jerzy managed to
simplify it beautifully.

There were several dark places that we could not go.
We had to leave sooner than we wanted to: it was a tide thing.

Thanks to Mark Green!
That much water time meant only one thing: swimming!
Girl pirates like cold water.

But there was still more work: cranking the ice cream. Arrrgghh! Rum Raisin!

 Day 4 got serious about paneling. Deadline time. There was a lot of
pencil sharpening, shanty songs on the boombox, and lots of erasing.

Day 5- time to assemble and sew the final comic books!!!

This is not as easy as it looks.

But there were plenty of comic books to read when you were all done
with illustrating your cover.

Each camper got 4 pages of panels to tell a story, and there's a fantastic variety.

Grace makes use of a floating title and a spooky shadow to open up her story.

Owen creates a talking helicopter scavenging the skies.

 Frederick has great humor.

Daisy used a cliff-hanger device.....

And Caleb threw in some WW2 elements, perhaps noted in the Fifth Maine's second floor exhibit.

This sparked a trip to Battery Steele, now part of the Peaks Island Land Preserve.

The walk provided some great nature sightings.

The last of the afternoon was spent at Picnic Point, playing pirate games, making forts, and
getting hungry for home-made ice cream.

Folks came along to share the refreshments and see the comic results. A few hardy campers sang
the comic shanty, which still sticks in my head, and we were done.

Huzzah to all pirates who can draw as quick as they laugh! Thanks for a sunny, silly week of art and history.