Last week in Maine

I joined my friends, by invitation from Ruth and Harry Montague, for three days of painting on Swan's Island, ME , a very special working island with great people and sweet lobster. We had two beautiful days of painting and one bad day. I don't like painting outside because I don't like coming back with paintings that just don't fit into my body of work . This time I came up with a solution: don't come back with any paintings at all.

So my first painting, small post card size done with a brush on canvas was of a red fish pier shack and skiffs - I traded with a Paul Joy, lobsterman /minister, for three excellent lobsters. I didn't get a picture of it.

My second painting was given to Richie, at he Swan Island Fisherman's Co-op, as a thank you for letting me paint on the docks AND for all the free coffee (Chock Full Of Nuts) that they gave me since Paul Joy, the lobsterman/minister befriended me.

The third painting was a beauty of a famous schooner in the morning, The "Grace Bailey", 1882 . It was moored for only two and a half hours and Richie,of the Fisherman Coop suggested I paint the Schooner. I would have never chosen a Schooner but I took this as a challenge and much to my astonishment the painting was a little beauty. I could have sold it five times over to the on shore guests of the Schooner BUT I had already decided to give it to Ruth and Harry, our host and hostess as a thank you.

The fourth painting , a pretty lobster boat named "Daddy's Helper", was given to my friend Dennis . I gave him a painting because he had told me to stop giving my paintings away. That kept him quiet.

The little orange skiff painting was given to my other painting companion, Dr. Ed, as a souvenir of our trip.

And on the third day I painted all day in the rain and fog. I scraped out three paintings and had nothing to show for seven hours of work. So it goes.

However, I have decided that when I paint "en plien aire" I will paint post card size studies and call them "post card paintings". I'll have fun with them here and there. It takes the boredom out of doing paintings I don't typically choose to do. Why do them at all? Well, I will always rise to a challenge, I like painting with friends and I LOVE being in Maine on working docks. Any excuse to watch men in rubber boots.