Loosening Up in Kennebunkport, Turbat's Creek & Cape Porpoise, Maine

Early evening on the lawn of the Breakers I did a quick sketch to focus and decide on the motif of my painting. It was a beautiful, calm evening, a pleasant temperature, with a bit of sunlight hitting the trees. I was looking north into the harbor with clouds along the horizon.

There was a large party closeby on the lawn under tents and I wanted to do a 20 min field sketch. I knew I'd have interruptions and knew I'd also loose my light real fast!

I started out following the sketch. I painted on a 6x8 panel. I was about 15min into it placing a couple of boats in the fore ground when I decided the detailing of the boats was making the composition look cluttered. I was getting more onlookers at this point and people were starting to chat so I put a few highlights and accents in and called it a wrap. Here's the finished pochade. (Kennebunkport Harbor Evening , 6x8, o/p SOLD)

The next day I went to Turbat's Creek to paint and the place was awesome - a piece of old Maine seacoast tucked hidden in Kennebunkport! I walked around and looked at all the different views. There were many paintings to be painted at this great location.

The top sketch is of some of the fish cottages on Turbat's Creek. My focus was the great looking fishing shacks.

The lower sketch is looking out to sea at the mouth of Turbat's Creek.



These two sketches also made at Turbat's Creek were looking north out across the creek toward Vaghan's Island and east toward the tip of the island and the mouth of the creek.

A week later, I decided to do a color exercise with the black and white sketches.

I usually use the sketches on location as I paint my oil field studies but here in the studio on a rainy day I limited myself to a different palette of colored pencils. It was a great exercise. And it really makes the mind work when the color you want is not available to use nor can you mix it!

Checkout the difference in the colored pencil and black and white sketches above - these are the original sketches with color added.

It was a challenge to not have my usual three colors (yellow, red & blue) at my disposal to mix any color I wanted. It was also a great way to see how I think in color and how I use color. I was stuck with using a pencil of a fixed color to try and substitute it for another color I would normally mix to get the effect and mood I was after. It was fun and liberating to do this exercise !

Day I ~ The Plein Air Painters Invitational ~ Kennebunkport

The Maine Art Gallery hosted the Plein Air Painters Invitational as part of Arts in the Inns in Kennebunkport, ME. Thirteen painters arrived from all over the country to paint for 3 days in the Kennebunks and Cape Porpoise. My day's painting schedule started with a bright location in the marshes at Rachel Carson.

For a sketch at Parsons Beach at midday the light and clouds were already changing.


When I parked in the afternoon to paint on the Mousam River it was overcast.


While painting a quick sketch of the Pineapple in dry dock the sun peaked through around 6pm.




I started my last painting of the day at the mouth of the harbor in Kennebunkport at 800 pm. During the day I painted 6x8's, 8x10's and 9x12 's. It was a long day.

Day IV ~ The Opening & the Luminaries

The opening was in the Gallery on Chase Hill, a great spot overlooking the harbor. Marcus came so I'm in some of the pictures. Here I am with artists John Caggiano and Lori Putnam.

John caught up with his old friend Stapleton Kearns. He and Stapleton go back 30 years. They both lived and had galleries on Bearskin Neck in Rockport, MA. John's galllery is still there at # 66. Stapleton now lives in NH.
A pause with Stefan Pastuhov. Stefan hails from Linconville, ME.

Gallery manager Amy Boucher stopped to visit with Anthony Watkins and me. Anthony painted a portrait of artist Lucia deLeiris in the garden of the Nonatum just before he arrived at the opening!

Artist Kathy Delumpa Allegri of Portland OR. might be the artist who traveled the farthest to the invitational. Here she is with some of the watercolors she painted during the week.

To see the paintings on view in the Gallery at Chase Hill http://www.maine-art.com/OnlineShow.asp

Day II ~ Champagne & Artists in Kennebunkport

Thursday was sunny and warm for the Tattinger champagne reception in the evening on the lawn of the Breakers. Four artists painted the view from the lawn during the reception, Leonard Mizerek , Joan van Roden White, Stapleton Kearns and myself. Here artists Lori Putnam and Anthony Watkins chat as Leonard Mizerek (in the background wearing the brimmed hand) paints lobster boats in the harbor as guests head over to watch him work on the painting.

Three tents housed the food, drinks, guests and paintings on display.

Artists Anthony Watkins, Stefan Pastuhov and Paul Goodnow chatted with Stapleton Kearns as he painted a view of the harbor from the lawn's edge.


Here's my 6x8" sketch looking at Kennebunkport Harbor. I set up my EasyL behind Stapleton and looked to my right for a clear view of my subject. I set my timer and painted for 20 min. to keep it fresh and keep me focused as artists and collectors watched us paint and chatted with us .

Day III ~ Turbats Creek & Walker Point

Turbats Creek is a real treasure ! It’s a piece of Maine that used to be the norm around here. Up north you can find fish shacks but I didn’t know there were any around here till Paul, John & Stapleton painted them on Wednesday.

While painting at Walker Point the fog drifted in and out from a big fog bank out over the open water.

The view looking south from Walker’s Point toward Thunder Hole.

Turbats Creek has a village of fish shacks on stilts that at high tide are sitting over water. They are used as cottages for the summer months. Awesome places! A local told me they are called “sweep outs”.

Three of us were painting down by the boat launch. This location was so popular this week I think 1/3 of the painters went to paint there.