Time Away

Last month, we spent a couple of weeks at a friend's camp on Hosmer Pond in Camden, Maine. It's an idyllic spot, out of the way, yet near enough to town to be a tourist, if that's on the menu. 

A pair of loons has lived on the pond for as long as I can remember. In fact, the first eerie loon call I ever heard was probably from ancestors of this pair.  

The Maine coast is a gold mine of painting opportunities! One day, I went to Belfast Harbor, where my brother works, to paint the tugboats. One of them was off on a job somewhere, so I tucked my easel into the shade beside the ice machine and painted the "Taurus." 

Our daughter Jessica took advantage of the beautiful weather to photograph Camden Falls, which is where the Megunticook River flows into the harbor. 

There were beautiful little things around, too, like these Indian Pipes that seemed to appear suddenly after a rainy day. 

One afternoon, I heard the loons making a greater-than-usual racket, calling loudly over the pond. They sounded almost panicky, so I went down to see what their problem might be. There, on the little island in the middle of the pond, was a bald eagle! It refused to pose formally as the National Bird, but I did get this slightly-out of focus photo before it took off behind the trees. Apparently, eagles aren't welcome in loon territory. 

Vacation!

Steve and I spent most of last week as guests at a wonderful seaside house in Maine. I got a little painting done, but nothing to write home/blog about, so instead I'll show you what the week was like. 

Sunrise over Fire Island was beautiful! This was at low tide, which actually turns the island into a peninsula. That's Islesboro in the distance. 

As at any seaside place, there were lots of little things to find.

Seaweed, of course....

and a sea urchin. If you look closely, you can see a tiny shrimp caught in the spines. 

The kids had a great time!

Here's Nina, walking the plank over a little waterfall.

And Jack, exploring at low tide. 

One day, it rained, so we stayed mostly indoors.

Some windowsill critters kept us company.

Love this little seal pup.

Finally, it stopped raining and we were rewarded with a rainbow. It was hard to photograph; maybe a trip through Photoshop would get rid of the washed-out look. 

The full moon and its reflection, looking like an upside-down exclamation point, was a great ending to a wonderful day. What a week! Thanks, Jason & Lucy!

Painting in Maine

A couple of weeks ago, I was painting along the water in Wells, Maine. It was a cold day, so I set up with the truck door open to keep out of the wind as much as possible. Notice the guy picking up rocks.  

Last week was warmer, so several more folks showed up from the Plein Air Painters of Maine. We came back to Wells, along the sea wall. My old station wagon was back from its trip to the garage.  

This summer, I'll be painting often at Tarbin Gardens in Franklin, New Hampshire. This is one of their magnolias, which lost many flowers in the frost after the 90-degree weather brought them into early bloom.

Even in early May, some daffodils were still in bloom.

Tulips, too, were in profusion that May day. I ran out of time after taking many photos, so I'll be back to paint in Tarbin's five acres of plants, trees and flower gardens soon!