DREAMS OF LAKES & MOUNTAINS

Early this summer I fell in love with waterfalls. 

 In late summer I fell in love with lakes...especially ones surrounded by mountains...

...with big pines and islands sprinkled across them.

Lake Wentworth is a gem.  It is in the "Lakes Region" of New Hampshire where the distant White Mountains are dusky blue in the distance. 

This week is our vacation week which means;  My husband Marcus and I don't have to be anywhere at any specific time for six whole days ! We grabbed this big open window to wander and paint wherever the impulse took us.

On this perfect late summer day a fellow painter spotted us near a bridge between Rye Marsh and Lake Wentworth.  Frank paints watercolors and spends his summers at his house near by.  When he spied us working away he pulled over to check out our paintings and chat for a bit. 

I sketched a bunch of different views today. I loved the bright open water on the lake in front of us and the intimate scene on the marsh behind us.

Marcus set up and dove into his huge painting of the lake and wind whipped waves.  Marcus is on a "huge" painting trend this summer. They keep getting bigger and bigger.  Pretty soon they won't fit into the car...we will need to get a trailer for them!

 We had a great view facing west across the water. I knew the light would change drastically as we moved toward sunset. To be ready for anything I set up two easels  and palletes waiting to go at a moments notice.

The bit of land we were parked on between the lake and the marsh was very narrow. I had to pay attention. If I stepped back from my easel too far I'd fall into the marsh! 

I looked in the direction of the sun and started a small study of the lake, islands and mountains back lit by brilliant sunlight. 

The smallest brush I am using today is a 10 bright. I'd use the edge and corner of the brush for small spots.

I keyed in my painting and only put the colors I was using on this limited palette. 

The sun dropped down in the west and the light started to reach the "luscious" level.  I finished the "sun on the water glow" and put the wet panel in the car. 

I moved to a new canvas and started painting the marsh behind me that was now face lit by the setting sun.

The wind was calming down, and the surface of the water became still. The colors of the trees and grass were warm and golden in the setting sun. 

 I didn't have a lot of time left to paint this scene.

There was barely a cloud in the sky as the sun set over the distant mountains.  

Small breezes skipped randomly across the water.

Up close to me near the shore line it was very still and the water was a deep inky midnight blue.

I had the colors on my panel and most of the scene painted as the sun disappeared behind the mountains.

People drove past us on their way home from work.  A few lights came on in cottages across the lake. We cleaned up our paints, put the new paintings in the car and headed back through the woods toward home. 

PAINT EAT SLEEP

Painters at Turbat's Creek

Turbat's Creek in Cape Porpoise is a piece of southern Maine coastline that has the same look as 40 years ago. The cluster of traditional fish shacks is still there. The water in the creek is cleaner now than it was then. 

It's a favorite spot for painters. When you visit you will know why.

Island View, 16x20, oil

At low tide the creek is so shallow you can wade through it and walk out to the nearby island.

All kinds of old dock pilings poke out of the sand on the edge of the creek near the fish shacks.

It was sunny and warm on this day. I chose this location for a meeting of Plein Air Painters of Maine. When I arrived Ellen And Flo were already busy painting.

Flo had a big solar umbrella that kept both her and the easel out of the direct sun, so she could see her colors clearly.

Barbara arrived and tucked herself in under the shade of some small trees for a good view of the back of the fish houses.

Carol went out on the pebbly beach near the harbor. Painters were all over the place! It was a hub of productive activity on the creek today.

I spied a nice patch of marsh grass with tidal pools looking toward Vaughn's Island. 

I sketched my design in pencil.

Next I painted in the view on my panel in burnt sienna. I marked my dark areas and looked at the shapes I was placing. 

I put in colors and kept building the shapes in a three dimensional form as I went.

The day started out perfectly clear. In the early afternoon clouds began to fill the sky. 

It was actually nice to have some relief from the sun. The cast shadows made the landscape look more interesting.

When I had arrived at Turbat's Creek in the morning the tide was low and still going out.

Recently I've been painting larger on location. Today I was painting a mid-size painting and finished most of it on site. 

My husband Marcus arrived by mid-afternoon and set his easel up by the boat launch near a fish shack. 

Painters arrived and departed all day long, some came early, others came late in the day depending on their preference for lighting conditions.  Suzanne arrived to paint the late afternoon light from a nice vantage point on the the rocky beach. 

There were many visitors coming by all day. It was great! I saw friends I hadn't seen since last summer. I'd stop to talk to them then continue on with my painting. 

The sun dropped lower in the west, and the colors on the land, sky and water were beautiful. This is my favorite time of the day to paint. 

Long shadows stretched across the sand.

I had recorded enough information to call it a day. I can finish the painting in the studio.

I went to over to the beach to tell Suzanne I was heading home.  She and I were the last painters left. 

Suddenly a police car and big red truck towing a boat pulled into Turbat's Creek Road. I  had to move my easel out of the boat launch area - fast!  

The police launched the boat in the water and took off for Vaughn's Island - hot on the trial of some outlaw reported to be over there. 

It was an exciting day at Turbat's Creek. I was happy to head home with an almost finished  painting! 

PAINT EAT SLEEP

Midsummer Marshes

Summer marshes have a certain mood. They are full of misty air. Painters call it atmosphere.

The distant tree line often has a thin veil of blue color over the far away green leaves.  The shadows of the nearby trees can even be blue violet.

Egrets, 8x10 oil on panel

There is always lots of water in the marshes. I call them a water world. They have salt pans, creeks and rivers, everything is tidal. The place is a big sponge.

I live very close thousands of acres of marshes. Its great to go there its like instant wilderness in a highly inhabited coastal area. I make many sketches of the marshes.

Its very quiet in the marshes. I don't quite understand why. Its close to the main roads that travel up and down the coast but the sound of the cars doesn't carry out into the marshes.

It may be all the sea grass. I think  the grass acts like cotton batting. You hear the wind blowing in the grass next to you but some one trying to talk to you from twenty yards away has to shout to be heard.

My neighborhood of marshes stretch in a linked green necklace along the southern coast of Maine from Kittery north  to Cape Elizabeth.

On the southern side of the Piscataqua River in Portsmouth, New Hampshire they stretch miles south into Cape Ann, Massachusetts.

The Rachel Carson Wildlife Refuge owns many of the marshes in Maine. They are keeping them open and in their natural state so the wildlife is abundant. There are millions of birds in the marshes, some live there others are just passing through when they migrate.

At the Refuge headquarters in Wells there is have a mile long trail of groomed paths and boardwalks that follow the edge of a high peninsula of land bordered by the Merriland River and Branch Brook. When friends and I paint there, we hike in with our gear and set up along the trail.

At the refuge really large trees grow right next to the marsh. There are hills of high land through out the marshes.  Large pines and hard woods grow on them. I found a shady spot with a view. There was a nice ocean breeze keeping it cool.

The rivers and brooks running through the refuge are deep channels that empty and fill rapidly with the tides.  

The salt pans are another entity entirely. They sit full of water all the time. The tides have no effect on them. They are very shallow.

They sometimes  look like lots of little ponds sprinkled across the marsh. A favorite painting spot of mine is Rachel Carson land along the road to the harbor in Wells. 

Some of the bigger salt pans are connected in irregular patterns and filled with lots of miniature islands.  

I 've never tried to walk out among them. I'd need to wear some really tall rubber boots. I've seen scientists out there and they sometimes sink in up to their knees in the mushy places.  

The tide comes in really fast on Branch Brook at the Refuge.  As we were painting we could almost see the river banks disappear inch by inch.

The board walk down to the edge of the river is a popular spot for bird watchers. Visitors come from all over the world to this spot. 

Ellen, Libby and I visited the refuge headquarters last week. Ellen sketched before she set up to paint.

 I went to work and got my design painted in before the tide changed too much.

While Ellen and I painted Libby stretched out on a bench at the overlook reading and enjoying the sun.  She actually fell asleep it was so quiet and peaceful !

The incoming tide swept through the marsh grass at the river's edge.

When we are painting together Ellen and I often discuss what we are painting.

I'm working on painting a series of the marshes in a variety of seasons and weather.  

I painted at this location a few years ago. This island was in my first large marsh painting.  As we were finishing up the tide was almost at peak high tide.

I'm lucky that I live close to this beautiful location.

Summer is definitely the easiest time to come here to paint, but winter is my favorite. 

Salt Pans, 24x24 oil on panel