Consider the Lobster!

Lobster with Brioche, oil on canvas, 18 x 24 inches, 2009

Alex and I just had a wonderful road trip to our favorite state (that's Maine of course!) dropping work off at three different galleries. It was a long drive but it was lots of fun! The first destination was Portland, where I dropped several pieces off at Susan Maasch Fine Art. She has a lovely new gallery space in the perfect location: right across the street from a coffee shop and within one block of the Portland Art Museum! We had a fun visit with Susan and her gallery assistant and then Alex and I explored Portland a little: what a fascinating city!
The next day we made it up to Stonington, where we were both bringing work to gWatson Gallery. Alex shows there regularly, and I had just been invited to participate in a summer show "Consider the Lobster". I absolutely had a blast painting this lobster: can you tell? (I blogged about it here, if you want the back story on how I rented the lobster in the painting!) I enjoyed meeting Ron Watson who could not have given us a warmer welcome. His gallery is amazing: I feel honored to be included. This was my first time in Stonington and even through the mist of a mizzly day it was utterly gorgeous. Can't wait to get back there and paint!
We headed back down the coast after that, and our last gallery stop was in Rockland, where Alex was dropping off work at Dowling Walsh Gallery (see previous post for show details!) It's a beautiful gallery space with lots of art stars on the walls: including our Alex! In fact, I was chatting to someone when my eye was caught by a gorgeous painting on a far wall in one of the main galleries and I disregarded the rest of the show and went right up to it. I was probably about 5 feet away when I suddenly realized it was one of Alex's paintings: way to go girlfriend!
If you are in Stonington soon I hope you will stop in and see

Consider the Lobster
Consider the Lobster opens on Friday, June 26.
A Celebration of artists and their lobster images will take place on Friday, July 3 from 4 to 7 PM.
gWatson Gallery
68 Main Street
Stonington, Maine 04681
207.367.2900
http://www.gwatsongallery.com/

"Monhegan" show at Dowling Walsh Gallery

For the second year in a row, my work will be included in a summer group show entitled "Monhegan" at the Dowling Walsh Gallery in Rockland, Maine.

The gallery is located on the main street of Rockland, right across from the Farnsworth Museum.

Please come if you can to the opening reception:

Wednesday, July 15, 5 - 8 p.m.

MORNING GLOW ON MANANA

Manana is creeping into my dreams!! Summer is approaching and I am really looking forward to our return.  Keeping in the Manana frame of mind, this is what I was painting which Alex has now painted in her new painting of that wonderful glow on Manana in the morning.  

painting and model

Painting and Model
meet up at my recent Episcopal Academy show! Eliza stands in front of the painting she posed for on the cliffs on Monhegan Island. Recognize that inimitable Eliza hair? Well, maybe it is imitable...when this painting was first exhibited an acquaintance sought me out to ask if the figure was Eliza Auth? The face is turned away, it is a seated figure wearing baggy clothing...it is amazing how little information our eyes need to make recognition.

To the right is another painting of Monhegan, done from the porch of the Monhegan House hotel one afternoon.

New Monhegan Painting

Though I think about Maine all year, I notice a heightening of excitement in my thoughts as spring moves toward summer. I find myself reliving the outdoor painting experiences of last summer and planning new compositions. Here's one I just recently finished of my MLG friends Diana and Mary painting the orangey glow on the island of Manana from the rocks on Monhegan's western shore in the early morning.

It was composed from a photo I took, and the color information and the feeling of "being there" was inspired by a small oil sketch I had done on two successive mornings at the spot. In my larger painting, I made a direct reference to my process: the third (higher) easel in the painting is mine, with the sketch on it. At the top I've posted my oil sketch so you can see the relationship.

Can't wait for the summer and Maine!

PLEIN AIR PAINTING WORKSHOP on Mount Desert Island, Maine

PLEIN AIR PAINTING WITH ALEXANDRA TYNG
MOUNT DESERT, MAINE July 26-August 1, 2009

Thomas Cole and Frederic Church first popularized Mount Desert Island in the mid- 1800s. Their works inspired families from New York and Philadelphia to make the journey by steamer to "rusticate" and enjoy the untouched beauty of Mount Desert.

Artists will be painting outside in a group for approximately 3-5 hours a day. Sites will vary from the spectacular summit of Cadillac Mountain to the rugged shores and quiet lakes and ponds of Acadia National Park. The group will focus on plein-air painting techniques and strategies. Participants will stay in the Abraham Somes III house built in 1800. Daily critiques, individual instruction, and demonstrations will be provided. Alexandra Tyng and Diana Ansley will lead the group.

Tuition is $500.
Lodging and lunch is $575.

For further information on the lodging, travel arrangements, and daily schedule, or to enroll, contact organizer Diana Ansley at DianaAnsley@aol.com

Three other Maine paintings  donated by MLG members to the Family Support Services auction: Daina's landscape, Nancy Bea's painting of a Maine apple and Eliza's pomegranates (painted on a recent trip to Maine). 

 All of the paintings received multiple bids and the event raised almost $20,000. Yea!