Friday, December 23, 2011

Friendship, Maine in December

It was a cold and gray Monday morning, a chilly 14 degrees as we headed up the coast of Maine.

When we arrived in Camden there was ice on the harbor and the schooners were wearing their winter coats. 

In the summer you can't see the water in Camden harbor because it's so full of pleasure boats...not true in winter.

The docks were quiet and the sky, land and water colors were muted and silvery.

I stopped by Camden Falls Gallery for a visit.  My paintings will be shown there this summer. Its namesake is a crashing waterfall at the head of this picturesque harbor.  

On our way down the peninsula to Friendship, Maine the road twisted and turned as we passed farms and rolling fields covered with fresh snow.  

In Cushing, Maine I spotted this incredible old farm. It looked like no one had touched it since the 1950's. It is in the neighborhood of the famous Olsen farm from Andrew Wyeth's "Christina's World."

Even on a gray winter day there is nothing as beautiful as a midcoast Maine pennisula.

Friendship has a great harbor with lots of large and small islands. 

All along the edge of the harbor are docks and buildings for lobstering.

A change was coming in the weather. After an overnight snow storm and frigid morning, a warm wind started blowing off the water. 

The bright colored lobster traps glowed in the muted light.  

I walked around sketching different views.

Whitecaps appeared in the harbor. The wind really started gusting.

I knew I couldn't set up on the docks to paint. 

The dock community in Friendship is amazing. There are all kinds of buildings on the docks out over the water.  

I parked my car near the town landing. I found a perfect spot to set up my easel out of the wind.  

Some of the fishing shacks on the docks are brand new and well kept. 

I did several sketches from the view in front of me . 

I wanted to paint the soft colors of the small islands in the harbor.

The clouds were breaking up and the sky was getting brighter.

I kept it small and simple.

There were stacks of traps everywhere with their colorful floats tied up in bunches near them.

The floats were very interesting to look at. Their colors were eye popping...

...compared to the muted blues and grays of their surroundings.

To my eyes It felt like their colors were lit up from within especially after looking at all the subtle grays of the landscape.

Even the traps which are very colorful, looked slightly grayed next to the psychedelic float colors.

The afternoon started getting brighter with spots of blue sky holes in the clouds.

The wind was still totally wild. But I didn't care.

It was warming up. I kept painting.

There are many scenes waiting to be painted in this neighborhood. 

 A fishing shack had rows of floats hanging from the ceiling.

The docks reach out into the harbor one after the other all the way down the point. 

It looked warm and cozy inside the small lit buildings. 

Some of the shacks were heated like little houses.

Others were simpler, more like storage sheds.

It really feels like a little fishing village out there, though no one lives on the docks.

The sun set just after four.  The best and brightest light of the day came right before twilight.

As we left Friendship the Christmas lights were coming on in the village.

Someone had taken two of their boats out of the water, parked them next to their house...

...and dressed them in holiday finery !
It's time to celebrate Christmas in Friendship, Maine.

Friday, December 16, 2011

Vermont Farms, Snow and Mountains

 It was a fine December day when we drove from the seacoast up into the hills of Vermont to deliver paintings to Galleria Fine Arte in Stowe.
An early morning storm was clearing out. 


Fresh snow covered the landscape...

...the higher the altitude, the deeper the snow.

We arrived at the gallery shortly before sunset.

Giancarlo and Maria helped Marcus and I bring the paintings into the gallery. They hung the paintings so fast that by the time I came in from sorting out my car they were already on the walls! 

We reviewed my videos and set up the laptop for easy viewing by the collectors.

The gallery is a cluster of intimate rooms. It has a wonderful feeling to it. 

Giancarlo and Maria are gracious, warm and friendly.  Did I mention they are Italian?  

You might enjoy espresso and biscotti as part of the viewing experience...

...from cozy chairs with great art all around you. 

The a gallery is on one of the most scenic thoroughfares in Vermont.

Stowe is in a picturesque valley in between the Green Mountains and the Worcester Range.  It is close to Mount Mansfield, the highest mountain in Vermont.

All across the valley you can find many old farms with great barns.

This area is in the snow belt.  It snows here even when the sun is out 30 miles away.

The mountain ranges hold the clouds on their peaks. When a snow squall moves in you can no longer see the peaks beyond the nearby trees.

The light and color on the fields reminds me of paintings by Russian painters. They would be quite at home in northern Vermont!

Johnson is a neighboring town to the north of Stowe in the Lamoille River Valley.

I love this place !  The old farms are my favorite.  I used to live nearby in Burlington and visited often. 

The Bryan Memorial Gallery in the town of Jeffersonville is a special place. On exhibit were a great collection of Vermont paintings.

Jeffersonville is on the west side of Mount Mansfield.  Smugglers Notch is a gap on route 108 through the Green Mountain range. 

The road is closed from November to May because snow and ice make it too dangerous to drive across.

There are a thousand paintings waiting to be painted near Jeffersonville.  The landscape is dramatic and it has a distinctive character.

It is crisscrossed with narrow dirt roads.  It was on these roads that I got my expert driving experience to navigate single lanes in rural Scotland when I visited there. 

It was almost time for the opening !

Lights twinkled at the gallery. 

The Stowe Community Church tower was lit up as well. 

Giancarlo arrived to light tall candles in glass boxes along the walk way.

The guests started arriving and the party began !

We were a happy trio after long weeks of preparation.
The show stays up until January 22nd. Please stop by  Galleria Fine Arte if you are in Stowe, Vermont.