Hi Kay, What a treat to enjoy what is happening in your life. The paintings are simply wonderful. I am offering you an answer to your dream. I have married (the day after my 70 birthday in September 2013). Eva and I live half the year in Maine (on Little Pushaw Lake) and the other half in San Antonio, TX. We have a large home in both places and would love for you and Daryl to come and stay as long as you want so that you can paint the Southwest. If you have never been here, San Antonio is a beautiful, eclectic, diverse city. My cell phone number is 207 852-5179. We are coming back to Maine the middle of May and will be there for about a month, and then back to Texas until October. We are switching our time to winter for Maine and summer for Texas. Sandy
Blog
Say 'yes'
Lookout Point, South Harpswell, Maine
Oil on Panel 11x14
A bowl of apples sat on our table this morning, winter squash has been harvested from the garden, the sun's arc has slipped toward the south. These are harbingers of Fall. Along with them comes the invitation to paint in clear, crisp air no longer heavy with the heat and humidity of summer.
Doubletop Mountain - Baxter State Park
Oil on Panel 11x14
Two weeks ago I read about the Trails End Festival and Paint-out in Millinocket that weekend. Quickly I cleared my schedule so I could paint there on Friday. At 6:00 AM my husband Daryle and I left Hampden and headed north. We checked in at the North Light Gallery at 7:30 and then headed up to Kidney Pond in Baxter State Park. I remembered a winter ski trip 8 or 9 years ago when some friends and I skied into Kidney Pond for a two night stay arriving in a blizzard. The cabins were a great comfort on that trip. On day two, after the blizzard blew itself out, we were treated to an amazing, crisp view of Doubletop Mountain. I went to paint that view, sure that there wouldn't be a blizzard and just as sure that the mountain would hold me in its grip. It did. The clouds playing with the sun, the newly emerging fall colors, the wind ruffling the water, and the amazing air bracketed a perfect day of painting. At the end I took the painting, framed and ready to hang, to the Festival Show at North Light Gallery and headed back to Hampden. The painting sold that weekend!
Last week Daryle and I enjoyed a late summer/early fall camping trip to mid-coast Maine. It being mid-week, with night-time temperatures predicted in the 30's and 40's, we were the only people camping at Thomas Point Beach. When the sun went down we were awfully glad to have a small propane furnace in our camper. The days, however, were radiant. Rock formations in Harpswell include a lot of mica schist (Or that's what I think it is as I try to remember what I learned in Geology 101 many decades ago!). The rocks glow as the sun hits them. Reflections bounce the glow back, even as the tide recedes. I completed the painting of Lookout Point over two days while we enjoyed the area, painting when the light and tide allowed for it and exploring this area, rich in history, strong with working waterfronts, and inviting to explore.
Fall plein air plans include a day trip back to Baxter park this week and a five-day trip to the same area in October. Recently I drew a fortune cookie which had the following message: 'You are offered the dream of a lifetime. Say yes!' It feels like I have been offered a series of dreams. When my answer is 'yes' my Spirit dances. It is in this spirit that I share my paintings and adventures in painting with others.... and, oh, if offered the opportunity to paint in the south-west, a dream, I'd say 'yes'!
