Dramatic Skies over Maine Farms

One of the great things about fall in New England is the dramatic, changing weather. 

In southern Maine it's been a sunny warm fall with the trees turning colors in start and stops...

The turning leaves have been bright and colorful in some neighborhoods and dull in others.  Some trees are bare while others still have their green leaves.

Marcus and I went out for an afternoon drive to check out some of the neighboring farms.

We parked at the golf course and I set up to paint.  I wanted to try for a few sketches of the quickly changing light on the landscape.

The Dunn farm is one of those rare small dairy farms that are still in operation. I love this farm!

I used my large Gloucester easel because there was a strong wind from the west and my other easel wouldn't have a chance in this steady onslaught...

The cows moved in slow motion across the pasture as clouds raced across the sky, alternately lighting and darkening the landscape. 

I moved briskly as I put colors on my palette.

It looked like mother nature had plans for a change in the weather.. the clouds kept building.

Ooh... it was getting pretty nice out there, the farm was face-lit, the trees and cows had nice shadows behind them and the distant trees were a deep wine color in the cloud shadows. 

Late afternoon low light offers such a nice dramatic contrast.  I was hoping there would be enough big sky holes so I could keep getting glimpses of sunlight on the farm.

The clouds got thicker, and soon everything was in shadow. 

I sketched in the outline of the farm.

The cows kept moving in and out of these great patterns across the meadow. I really like the challenge of painting cows, as they rarely stay still in one spot.

I had my panel set up facing the sun, so the light on it and my palette stayed consistent.

I put in more colors as spots of blue sky appeared overhead.

All the great dramatic contrast of shadows and light had disappeared from the meadow.

Hey, that's the nature of plein air painting...here one minute, gone the next.  That's what I love about it!

PAINT EAT SLEEP

Painting in the Dark

The moon was full this past week...with perfect Indian summer weather to accompany it... 

...so of course I stayed out late almost every night painting.

Cottage Lights, 8x10 oil 

It was clear that these were the last days of warm weather for a long time.

Low Tide, 6x12 oil

Marcus and I headed over to Long Sands Beach in York, Maine.

 I parked on the edge of the beach and set up to paint.

The summer people are gone.

I painted a beach scene as I waited for the moon rise over the ocean.

 The colors were vivid and beautiful and changing every few minutes.

The sun was still in the western sky when the moon rose over the ocean.

Moonrise, 6x12 oil

The sky was a bright blue for a long time after sunset.

Large flocks of migrating birds are on the beaches now with the sea gulls.

The sky slowly darkened and the moon got brighter.

The sun sets so early now ! 

It was dark by 7:30 pm.

I wear this great head lamp when I'm painting at night. 

I can see my painting and my eyes adjust easily to the dark.

There were lights across the street from the beach but I didn't notice them while I painted. 

My headlight is designed for cave exploring, so it is very bright. 

The tide was going out... the reflections on the water and sand were spectacular! 

I'm looking all around at night now...getting ideas for the next series of nocturnes.  With all these months of long nights coming up I'll have plenty of time to paint in the dark !

PAINT EAT SLEEP

In a Garden of Delights

We arrived at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay, Maine for a day of painting amidst the flowers...

It is a fairly new location which opened to the public in 2007. It features 248 acres of woodland, trails and landscaped gardens in addition to shoreline on a tidal river. Visit if you get a chance.

Marcus came along on this trip. How lucky can I be? He also offered to transport my gear to my painting location.

The garden is so large and varied I couldn't take time to tour all of it and still get a painting done. I was alerted about a predicted thunder storm so I decided to paint in the part of the gardens that wasn't too much of a hike from the car.  It was a summer Sunday, so the place was packed with visitors from everywhere. 

The first garden we entered was "The Lerner Garden of the Five Senses." 

There was running water that meandered throughout the garden traveling via brooks and rills from pond to pond to lower levels of the garden.  

The first painter I bumped into was Debra painting a view from the pavilion. The colors spread out before her were beyond belief...  

It is quite a challenge to paint this and all the other brilliant colors surrounding it...

And John...who was set up on a rise above the labyrinth and joked about his minimalist approach to all this overwhelming color!

Every view was another explosion of blossoms...

It's early July after all...what can you expect?  Summer in Maine!  All nature is celebrating.  

There is a small forest pond in this garden that I would love to have in my back yard. A path of huge flat stones crosses right through the water. In my search for the perfect place to paint I knew I had found it.

It is beautiful!  The only problem was I would have to set my easel up right in the pond or in the plant beds and there are rules about that.

I went back and set up on the wooden platform near the lower pond. No disturbing the vegetation that way. 

At midday some of the water lilies were open.  I'm not sure why some are closed unless its because they are baby blossoms.  They are smaller in size so that makes sense.   

I assembled my big easel which has now become my favorite set-up. Its so nice to have that shelf to hold my paint box and everything I need. 

There was color galore all around me. What is this attraction to flowers I'm having this summer ?  Maybe its my love of gardens.  I've always gardened and have even designed a few simple gardens. I think that if I wasn't a painter I would be a garden designer. 

I packed my gear on this trip so that everything I needed was in my paint box. I duct taped my brushes to the lid so they wouldn't get crushed and bent.  

The spot I picked was really nice. It was on a quiet cul-de-sac with two benches and a view up the lower pond into the gardens beyond.  

Here I painted several studies of the pond and the lilies.

It was perfect to focus in on a specific area and keep it simple in the midst of the overwhelming multitude of choices. I could paint here for days and in any season and still not run out of an amazing variety of subjects.

I didn't even get to see the "Birch Allee" or the meditation garden on the shore line...the garden was closing up for the night and so were the lilies...I'll have to come back and paint another time.