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Lubec Narrows, oil on canvas

Coastal Garden, oil on canvas

Lubec Poppy Patch, oil on canvas

After this extended winter, it's time to get back into the studio with increased frequency and focus.  The Brunswick Art Walk season is coming up and I'll also be part of a two person show with Ed Morton at Points of View this June.  Time to get busy.  And then there's the Life Form drawing sessions at Centre Street Gallery in Bath on Sundays.  What a great space and nice folk.  Some of my latest work done over the winter is shown with this post.

Joshua Chamberlain, Hostas, Lubec

"Joshua", oil on canvas

"Hosta Blooms", oil on canvas

"Pope's Folly", oil on panel

Alex and I returned to Brunswick Maine from a week at the Chautauqua Institution in upstate NY exhausted and energized.  With the Brunswick 10by10 and a couple of one person shows coming up (more on that in upcoming posts) along with a commission to finish, I got busy in the studio.  The commission was "Joshua" and it's now on the wall in the office of a true Joshua Chamberlain buff.  It was fun and challenging to execute what with the varying types of detail in the fore-, mid- and background from spring blossoms to chiseled stone to bike riders.  Other recent compositions on a smaller scale are "Hosta Blooms" (next to a bank in Brunswick Maine) and "Pope's Folly" (as viewed from the Lubec Maine waterfront).  As a footnote to the Chautauqua trip, Vanessa German's show at the Strohl Center, "American JuJu: Root and Power for a New Century" was exceptional.  Her figural assemblages were magical and mesmerizing.  

Lubec and Quoddy Head State Park

"Pope's Folly", ink on paper

"Quoddy Head Cliffs", 10" X 10",
oil on panel

Just before the first days of summer, Alex and I spent a week up in Lubec, on the border with Canada across from Campobello. We had not been previously north of Bar Harbor but were very taken with the beauty, peace and pace of this DownEast town.   We also visited Quoddy Head State Park a number of times, and that has spoiled us for all the parks down here on the Midcoast.  Quoddy Head is spectacular.  Click here for an album of photos from Lubec and Quoddy Head.  Lubec's restaurants were very capable.  The library was welcoming and had free wi-fi.  Also, the SummerKeys program, a summer music program with many visiting musicians provided a wonderful organ recital while we were there.  I painted and sketched ("North Lubec" and "Pope's Folly" being examples).  On my return I completed "Quoddy Head Cliffs" from my photos and sketches.  I think we'll be heading back to Lubec sooner rather than later.