The Cape Elizabeth Land Trust Paint Out

This past weekend I participated in the Land Trust's annual paint out.  It is a one day event so we hope for nice weather.  It was a gorgeous day!

It was very warm, even in my lucky spot on the ocean at John's Cove.

 I was the honored guest artist of Anne & David who offered me a choice spot on their porch overlooking a view of John's Cove. 

I painted from 9am till 3pm and finished three  9x12s and one 11x14.  I decided to paint several paintings so I would have a choice of a favored one I would sell at the auction that evening. 

The auction was held at Breakwater Farm on Cape Elizabeth.  I parked in front of the house when I went to drop off my painting. 

This farm is beautiful . Its huge and old with acres of woods and fields rolling down to the ocean.

I walked down the lane to the meadow where the tent was set up for the party.  This was the welcome sign by the lane. 

The crowd was just starting to arrive . They are all supporting purchasing open land and keeping Cape Elizabeth from getting over developed. This area was once primarily farms and forest. Now it's a popular bedroom community of Portland, ME. 

The path went down a slight slope along the edge of the meadow toward the ocean.

It was still early so I was there in plenty of time to set up my painting in the preview area along the edge of the tent. 

The bartenders were busy setting up one of the bars getting ready for the arrival of the guests.

The tent started to fill up with the first guests with their bidding cards all ready to buy some great art. 

The brass quartet sounded fabulous in the ocean air.

It was a really hot afternoon so the wine, beer, lemonade and water were consumed in liberal amounts.  The icy cold beverages were great.  Of course I was so parched I couldn't stop drinking water.  The bartenders were so sweet they knew I was an artist and had been out all day painting so they kept me well supplied with icy drinks.

The early arrivals start to examine the paintings, deciding which ones they want to bid on. 

Here are a few samples of the paintings completed during the day.  This is an old church that is a landmark in Cape Elizabeth. 

Cape Elizabeth is a a large area and has lots of ocean front.  This large painting was done almost completely with a palette knife. The artist is Mike Marks.

Cape Elisabeth has a substantial amount of marshes. This marsh view was really popular with the bidders.  It found a happy home and a few were sad it wasn't going to their home.  

The caterers were serving up piles of delicious food during the viewing. That's their tent on the left.  They had a generator running all the stoves and ovens.  It was quite an operation.

A fresh water pond picture of a forested area in Cape Elizabeth. This is a pastel by Ellen Pellitier. 

The light house at Two Lights.  There are possibly  three light houses in this neighborhood...

An old original cape style home common to New England and Cape Elizabeth, oil painting by Berri Kramer.

This is the cloud scape I did of John's Cove. Little did I realize until after I finished it that the white building I painted on the distant peninsula was Breakwater Farm and the location where the painting was going to be shown! 

The crowd was arriving in full force and having a wonderful time There were so many people they ran out of chairs. Its nice to be so popular!  

One hundred feet away from the festivities you could cool off in the sea breeze and view the islands scattered across the bay.    Just think this meadow is only a few miles from Winslow Homer's beloved Prout's Neck!  Small world.