Wentworth-Coolidge Mansion

McGowan Fine Art is hosting a paintout this coming weekend at the Wentworth-Coolidge Mansion Historic Site in Portsmouth, NH (more info at www.nhstateparks.org/state-parks/alphabetical-order/wentworth-coolidge-mansion/). Steve and I went there today so I could "case" the place and give some of the NH Plein Air Painters (www.nhpleinair.com/) who'll be painting there a sneak peek. It's a very odd-looking building, right on the water, surrounded by rather sad dried-up gardens. The strange configuration is apparently because Governor Wentworth had all of the smaller buildings on the property brought together and assembled into one big one. We didn't take the tour, so I can't tell you about the inside, but the building and its surroundings are wonderful. The yellow building is the W-C mansion; the white one is Creek Farm, right next door and the last pic is of the island right across from the mansion, with a few sea kayakers posing/paddling by.

Come and watch the artists (I'll be there!) paint on Saturday, August 8, from 10 to 4 and on Sunday the 9th from 11 to 3. Right after that, on Sunday, there's a wet paint sale from 3 until 5 at the Coolidge Center for the Arts, on the grounds near the Mansion.

Another View

This is the same woodcut, printed with the same ink, as the previous post, but done on thin Chine colle paper, then glued to heavier Rives BFK. It looked to me as if Steve was paddling into the sunset. I like trying out different ways of using a block, which is partly why most of my editions are "open." 

Steady Drift

This is my latest woodcut print, done for another exchange. The theme this time was "Journey." My reference was a photo I took of my husband Steve on his first kayaking trip. He's wearing an enormous life jacket because he sinks like a stone when he tries to swim. This was a point where he had stopped paddling for a moment and was just enjoying the solitude and beauty of Hoit Road Marsh. However, he was still moving, as the ripples signify. I like the idea of a journey continuing, even if we stop our frantic paddling now and then. I started this image as a reduction print, but due to life getting in the way, ran out of time, so did it in one color instead, using a new block. At some point, I'll continue the reduction print and see what happens.