"Hillside Home"

Hillside Home

8x8

click to bid

starting bid $85

oil on panel

framed

I loved the way this birdhouse sat among the rocks and spring flowers in Stonington, ME. Lupines, roses and phlox are abundant and just tumble down the hillside and over the rocks.

Spine of the Forest

Spine of the Forest

7x5

Watercolor and Prismacolor

$140

This is a second piece discovered lurking in my drawer that I decided I like. It was done from the forest floor found at Haystack Mountain School Of Crafts in Deer Isle, Maine. The amazing boreal forest there is rich in lichens, mosses, roots, balsams, ferns, and  tiny sea urchins dropped by the gulls. It is a most wonderful collage. I love walking there and especially love the roots that ladder the surface in wonderful twisting ways and they spread over the massive rocks and ledges. 

"Let's Get the Paddles" (framed)

Let's Get the Paddles

Oil on Canvas

11x14

gold frame

$325

I was in the Deer Isle "downtown", about a block of small gift shops, food and galleries, looking for a place to paint. Just past the bridge, I saw a small park I'd never seen before, with lovely gardens, a nice bench, shade, and a beautiful view. Counting myself lucky, I set up and spent quite a bit of time on this one, and also worked it a bit in the studio afterward, adding glazes to bring out the canoe contrast, and softening the background. What a nice day! It would certainly be a great place for a paddle!

"Fog Coming In" (framed)

Fog Coming In

11x14

Silver frame

Oil on Panel
$325

This is another view of the yellow house by the sea (in Stonington, ME) with it's turretted neighbor. I loved the space between them, the contrast in architecture, and the sea beyond with its many moods. This is the Deer Isle Thorofare and the  I loved it when the view softened as the fog settled. The foreground light was even and stood out because of the contrast with the fog. I also loved the way the ledges of stone rolled on their way to the view. It made you want to go out and walk on them, which I did. The silver frame complements the soft greys and blue.

"Just Past the Birch" (framed)

Just Past the Birch
12x12
Gold Frame
Oil on Panel
$330

This is the view from my balcony in Stonington but we are looking the other way from the previous paintings. I loved the way the birch, with it's wonderful energy, seemed to guard the entrance of a path that leads out eye to the harbor.

Deer Isle Thorofare

Deer Isle Thorofare

11x14

oil on panel

$375

This is the long range view from my deck in Stonington. All kinds of boats, brom lobster boats to schooners were constantly going up and down the area. Almost too special to paint.

Beach Near Sunset (framed)

Beach near Sunset

8x10

Oil on Panel

Gold frame

$255

The sunsets are lovely on this side of Deer Isle, which faces west just north-west of Stonington. This piece was painted at Burnt Cove, again with my steering wheel easel. There is a gift shop just past where I parked, and all I saw was a long old interesting looking building. After I had been there a while, a woman came over and told me I could go down to the beach if I wanted - and then she said oh,you are painting. Then she said she needed to get back to work. So after I was finished, I went around the bend a bit and found her with her mother on a picnic table creating some crafts. The gift shop, called Clam Factory Gifts, was in an old building that seemed to go on forever. I stayed quite a while and had a personal tour through it. The most impressive were the dollhouses the woman made, but there was also a large variety of other gifts in the jumble in the back including photography and paintings/drawings. It was a real "downeast experience"!  And just a short way up 15A north, you will actually come to a town called "Sunset".

"After the Rain" (framed)

After the Rain

8x10

Oil on Panel

Framed

$255

Now that I have my "Steering Wheel Easel" that hooks over the wheel, I tried it out in Maine. The first day of my trip, I did three paintings in the car using the easel. I have to be honest with you. There is a limit. When I was painting this piece, it started raining, hard, and I discovered the limit on the use of the easel. You cannot paint out the window if you cannot SEE out of the window. But I did the best I could and when I got this piece home I took a good look and said "no one is going to want that, it is just too grey and boring" So I worked on it in the studio and that's how it got it's name. I think it actually looks like it could be a wet, after the rain scene! This scene is on the causeway that runs from Little Deer Isle to Deer Isle.

"Yellow House by the Sea"

Yellow House by the Sea

8x8

$195 Framed

Oil on Panel

This was part of my view off the deck on the place where I stayed in Stonington. Fabulous. The waterway is called the Deer Isle Thoroughfare and it is just studded with island after island and a gazillion lobster boats. It was heaven being there! I loved the way the little yellow house kept watch.

Matted "Off the Haystack Deck"

Off the Haystack Deck

7x10

archivally matted

watercolor

$125

Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Deer Isle, Maine, is a special place, almost sacred to me. It is the place where I go to get deeper into everything I am thinking of, and to move ahead in my art. I haven't been recently, but have been there 8 times, each meaningful in a different way. It's a community of 70-80 artists living and working and playing together. It sits in a balsam boreal forest with rocky boulders and many lichens and mosses and magic spots. Most of all, it tumbles down the hill to the sea, with wide steps good for sitting, and if you step off the stairs you find places to work and places to dream, to wonder, and to relax. I am remembering when we all took our blankets one night in August and stayed into the night watching the meteor showers until I left at 3. Some stayed all night. And the art! It is the best fine crafts in the world, and each session they have one paper studio that offers things like printmaking, drawing, bookmaking, and papermaking. That's where I usually land. This small painting is done from the deck right outside my cabin. All this beauty under your nose!