PLEIN AIR PAINTING WORKSHOP ON MT. DESERT ISLAND, MAINE

Alex at the Easel

In July Alexandra Tyng and I had a great time running a plein air painting workshop on Mt. Desert. The first night we had a little get together party at “Willowbrook” in Somesville where we were staying.We had Maine crab, Seal Cove farm goat cheese, and mozzarella and tomato canapés made from our very special Beech Hill organic market.

Monday the workshop began with a demo by Alex showing participants her palette and painting theories. This was followed by my demo on how to set up for an effective plein air painting day. The weather was not cooperating, but fortunately Alex and I know all the good places to paint. My swimming friend, Becky, offered us her wonderful covered porch overlooking the natural sea wall in Southwest Harbor. It was a lovely foggy day and everyone was inspired. That night we began our gastronomic tour of Mt. Desert's restaurants. We began with McKay’s, Jordan Pond House, Cleonice, and even went to Jordan Pond twice by popular demand.

Mary in the shade at Thunder Hole

Tuesday was a full day beginning at nine we headed to Ocean Drive in Acadia National Park to paint near thunder hole. We had lunch on the rocks from “Mother’s Kitchen” in Town Hill.

Deena, Alex, and Joe

Afterwards we headed up to the summit of Cadillac for an afternoon paint. The weather was gorgeous and we had to take advantage of it.

The next day we had one of those milk toast skies which is perfect to do the views from Somesville. We ended the day at the Beaver Pond and finished just as it started to rain! What timing!!

Thursday we had a porch critique and painted at Eagle lake in Acadia National Park.

The final day we painted at the historic Claremont Hotel in Southwest Harbor. This site is one of my favorites as Fitz Henry Lane painted this view as well in 1852. For lunch we went to the Claremont Boat house for salads and tea. In the afternoon everyone had individual critiques of their work by Alex. We ended the day with a return trip to Jordan Pond with many indulging in three popovers! All in all, it was a great week for us and we know everyone enjoyed the house, the wonderful views, and attentive instruction! Thanks to our participants you made it such a pleasant week!

Mt. Desert Island Summer 2008 Paintings!!

I am thrilled to be back painting after our recent move.  This summer has been great despite a few weeks of rain in Maine.  I have painted every possible moment it seems.  You just have to go when the weather is right.  Yesterday it was lovely and then the clouds rolled up Somes Sound and then spilled over Beach and the Western Mountain range. So you have a blue sky with these wispy grey clouds with patches of bright sun as well. I have been waiting for this day to paint from my friend Nan's house.  I left about 6:45 AM and took my outboard to her house which is only accessible by a hike or boat.  I had such a great morning trying to capture her view before it changed.  I have done one painting from her house before and everyone is always drawn to the view. As a bonus Nan made me a crepe filled with blackberrry jam.  What a treat it was.  Her jam is like no other with blackberries, a few blueberries and she sometimes mixes in some of her strawberrry jam to get just the right taste.  Here is my view of Beech Mountain from Nan's.

This summer I have done fourteen plein-air paintings.  I began by myself and then my childhood friend Alexandra Tyng ( Alex) joined me for three weeks of painting.  So far we have done two paintings on Ocean Drive of Otter Cliffs, two paintings of Long Pond from the Ripples Road, two paintings from Cadillac Mountain, one from Loapus Point, a street scene in Southwest Harbor and a view from Eagle Lake.  We have fought off the bugs, wind, and elements!!!  My easel and backpack have worked really well and we are all ready to go to Monhegan to paint for a week.  What I really love about my setup is that my easel can be bungeed on my backpack, and my gamsol, brushes, and paper towels can be placed in a wooden silverware box on my easel.  I drilled holes in the box and used picture wire to tie it to the center of my easel in three places.  It has withstood huge winds on the top of Cadillac!  I used my camera and backpack to weight my easel and it was great.