Benefit

Over the summer, MLG member, Eliza Auth, took part in an auction to benefit the Boothbay Region Land Trust. Her painting "Summer's End", along with work by wonderful painters like Donald Demers and Tony van Hasselt, raised a substantial amount of money to help preserve the land in this state we love to paint.

Maine Landscape Guilders Back to Monhegan!

Gull Cove

We arrived on Monhegan Saturday with a smooth crossing and gorgeous weather. Alex and I are enjoying two new painters in our house this year. Sue Braswell an old painting partner of mine from the Art League in Alexandria and Linda Brandon a fellow portrait painter of Alex’s. Fellow Maine Landscape Guild artists Mary Walsh and Eliza Auth will be coming next week to the island. Nancy Bea Miller has gone off to grad school! Judy Carducci, Greer Jennison, and Carrie Lewis have also joined us and they are staying at the Monhegan House.

Island life of course can be fun. I had totally forgotten that my phone actually goes dead in it quest to search for service. We really feel like official islanders as we have now outlived the propane crunch. It gets down to basics. If we want to cook then we don’t bathe or have heat!

Maine Landscape Guild Members Diana Ansley and Alexandra Tyng with new members

Sue Braswell and Linda Brandon.

This is the View of Manana and the Johnson house where we are staying.

Sue and I got to work painting this scene and then we did the truck below

Light rain today so we have been regrouping, stretching canvas, and finally washed our hair after seven days! Propane arrived last night. We went to the museum and the curator, Jenn Pye, pulled out some wonderful Alice Kent Stoddard portrait paintings for us to see. She Studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts with Thomas Eakins, and William Merritt Chase. Like many of our Maine Landscape Guilder's she was an artist from Pennsylvania and lived on Monhegan as well.

Alex and Linda were so inspired they had a paint off this afternoon in the fog.

Linda Brandon

Alex's Sketch of Linda

Linda Painting Alex

Alex sits for 30 minutes and Linda paints and then Linda sits and Alex paints. Each have very different approaches to capturing the face. It is amazing to see the faces emerge. Painting, a fire, and tea can’t get much better.

Gorgeous day and Sue and I took advantage of weather to paint the expansive view from White Head to Blackhead.

Deep fog this morning lasting most of the day, but we were all anxious to paint. Sue and Alex at their easels.

Alex in Gull Cove

Fog in Gull Cove

Gull Cove where Alex, Sue, and I painted the lovely pool of water, the cliffs, and the rolling surf. The sun broke through in bits and pieces creating these layers of soft hues.

Heavy Rain today and great for a much needed rest. We spent several hours discussing painting and photography with our painting friends Judith Carducci, Greer Jennison, and Carrie Lewis. We also had time to see their plein air work in oil and pastel.

It has been a stimulating week with such taleneted artists, interesting discussions, and thoughtful critiques. Many Thanks to Everyone!

Vicarious Maine Painting

I started grad school the last week of August so very reluctantly had to forgo my part in the annual autumn painting pilgrimage to Maine. I am currently engaged on a project called "Women in the Act of Painting" and perhaps to compensate for missing the Maine trip, I found that I am stepping up my inclusion of images of women painting IN MAINE! Here are a few from recent days:

"Two Girls Painting in the Woods", Robert Henri (1865 – 1929)

"Self-Portrait", Alison Hill (contemporary)

"Paintings and Cocktails", Alexandra Tyng (contemporary, of course! ;-)

"Painters on the Beach", Don Stone (contemporary)

"Sketchers in the Woods", Robert Henri (1865 – 1929)