Tall Pines Late Light

I'm really beginning to think about why I paint en plein air... why, after 5 years of painting all most exclusively out doors its so hard to come back indoors... 

I get to be in the most awesome places... often with very few people around and with a great variety of wildlife. Once upon a time you only found fishermen and hunters in these places ... its clear to me that for them the "sport" aspect is only part of the attraction...

When I go out painting for a week or more, I don't bother with the news or internet. I call home daily to report on my travels and painting progress. If I'm not too tired, I read art books before I fall asleep.  I don't have a habit of watching TV.  Did I mention that I don't watch TV at home either? I don't miss it . Ever.

When I return home from a painting trip I can catch up on everything important in about 30 minutes...the bank crash of 2008 happened when I was out west in Idaho painting in the Teton Valley with Scott Christensen's advanced group... someone heard about it one night and told the rest of us the next day...

Did it affect our painting?  Can't say it did. We were totally immersed in painting the land and the challenge of doing it every day, trying to grow beyond our limitations...the world with all its information didn't disappear, it was waiting for us on our return home.

The perspective I gain from this process of entering and reentering the landscape is one that is a connection that lasts beyond the temporary...The earth is old. It was here before I was  and will be here after I'm gone, I'm visiting for a short while ... 

I am very lucky. I can leave my house, drive 10 or 20 minutes in several directions and arrive in a quiet place where nature dominates the landscape. I'm not saying I don't like painting in cities. I sometimes do. Its just that on life's journey I somehow ended up in this beautiful place called Maine.

  

And I'm glad I did.

The photos above are from my recent trip to Vinalhaven, an island off the coast of Rockland, Maine. The last twilight picture is a view from the west side of the island looking toward the mainland with the first lights coming on in Rockland, Maine. 

Tall Pines field sketch 11x14, oil on canvas panel.

More paintings at PAINT EAT SLEEP 

Painting the Perfect Maine Island

The ferry ride from Rockland, Maine to the island of Vinalhaven is about an hour and 15 minutes long. When you get there you feel like you've traveled back in time about 30 years.

You can't figure out why. Its a funny feeling you can't quite put your finger on.  First of all there are only about 1300 people on the whole island.... the town is full of old New England houses and the views are quintessential coast of Maine. 

 

I went here to paint as a friend recommended it as "untouched", "the real Maine".  I've been to Monhegan painting ... this is the real deal...a Maine plein air  paradise!

  There was so much to paint.  It was a visual overload.  Every view had that wonderful Maine flavor.  Old granite docks, fish shacks, houses clustered against the rocky hillside, a multitude of  tiny islands strewn across the bay and those spiky pine trees everywhere.  

When we arrived on a Monday afternoon- the Main Street was quiet & empty...  No people, no cars.   The ferry terminal gave us a map so we could find our way around.  Good thing as there was no one to ask if we were lost...

The town dock and the harbor were the only places that showed signs of life.  Boats were coming in with the day's catch and  pickup trucks were all lined up at the dock waiting for their owners.  

I headed off immediately to scout out painting locations.  The island is sprinkled with old granite quarries. It's famous for its granite. The Washington Monument, the Brooklyn Bridge and the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine are built of Vinalhaven granite.

It has this wonderful variety of islands of all shapes and sizes. 

Pointy dark green pines grow on any bit of earth on top of all this rock. 

Docks and wharves are built of solid granite making you think you are walking on land then you realize its a man made peninsula...

Every jagged edge of coast line around the southern protected harbor is full of fish shacks and busy docks. 

Big round boulders of granite sit on ledges and are scattered across islands.

Every paved road turns into a dirt road that becomes a dead end with a gorgeous view of a harbor, another island or the mainland.  

At low tide Carvers Pond empties into Carvers Harbor and makes a sound like the rapids of a big river. 

When evening comes the town is dark and quiet, only one third of the houses light up.  That's when you see how few people there really are here...  

A Nor'easter ~ Surf & Salt

I had to wash my car yesterday. I couldn't see out of my side view mirrors. They were  covered with salt!  It was like looking through dry fog.

  Sheets of driving rain hit the car as I sat parked at the town dock in Vinalhaven, Maine working in my sketchbook...

There was big surf in the well sheltered harbor.

The sideways driving rain soon stopped. The winds were still whipping around.    The ferry had not run all day.  Everyone at the dock waited for the captains decision.   

Yes, that's how it works, the captain decides if its safe enough for the ferry to run. We boarded the first ferry of the day, and were happy with the steadily improving weather conditions. 

 This nor'easter had moved in from the west the night before when I was up painting at Browns Lighthouse. 

That was my last day of a week painting on Vinalhaven, an island off the coast of Maine.  It is an hour and 15 min ferry ride from Rockland, Maine. 

The island is the real Maine thing packed with views just waiting to be painted ! 

The town of Vinalhaven has a working harbor with lobster boats and fishing trawlers. 

When the nor'easter hit it really made everything screech to a halt.  The fishermen did not go out.  The harbor was full of moored boats. The ferries stopped running. The waves were too high and dangerous.

My friend Libby and I were sitting in my car during the ferry crossing.  I was going to sketch - forget that !   When the waves hit the boat, the bow lifted skyward and the cars shook like jello. It was better to be out standing on the deck.  There we had fresh air and  a clear view of the waves as they hit us !

 I was happy.  I just put my back to the wind and waves and kept my eyes on the distant islands that didn't jump up and down.  When we passed Owls Head we were on the home stretch. The captain kept tacking till he got us to the ferry dock.  I love the drama of extreme weather ! It reminds me of those great Winslow Homer paintings of the sea. However much I wanted to capture the scene, its  difficult to draw in a bobbing sketchbook and impossible to paint in a 45 mph wind! 

More paintings & sketches at: Paint, Eat, Sleep