New Work at Dowling Walsh Gallery...

Mending Traps 14×18″ oil on linen panel.

Currently on display at the Dowling Walsh Gallery is a show of paintings I created on the waterfront in Rockland, ME. For this show I focused on a small part of Rockland harbor, around the municipal fish Pier and the adjacent beach. I’ve done a few paintings in this area before, and I’ve always seen a lot of potential for subject matter. The fish pier is busy all day, 7 days a week. This is not the glamorous part of Maine’s waterfront. It doesn’t even have the old world quality of old wooden docks and cedar shingle buildings. The primary purpose of this pier is to get a job done; bring in lobster from the islands, supply bait and fuel, and truck lobster and fish out. The people I met while painting were funny, authentic, crass, interested and enjoyable to share stories with. The subjects I painted felt the same way.

There were definitely moments of beauty that caught me off guard: realizing that there is an apple tree full of flowers in the corner of the lot where lobster traps are piled 8 feet high, watching the weather patterns moving along the horizon as the sky would change, seeing birds quietly glide around the pier, feeling like I was alone on the edge of the ocean as I painted on a rock beach right next to a bustling pier.

I was also interested in finding beauty where I wouldn’t normally look. A pile of lobster traps could catch the afternoon light in an amazing way. A toilet sat outside among a pile of trash looking so out-of-place that I wanted to laugh every time I saw it. Staring at the deep blues of the sky I noticed that the power lines and utility poles divide the sky beautifully. Fuel pumps at the end of the dock stand watch over the pier. Piles of mooring balls litter a field of dead grass, surprising me by the harmony of the shapes they create and colors they reflect.

This show has been a big project for me, and I’m very proud of the result. I hope you get a chance to see it while it’s hanging through June 26. The opening reception will be Friday, June 4 from 5-8pm, followed by an artist’s talk on Saturday June 5 at 2pm.

Group Exhibit in Door County, Wisconsin...

Pasture 12×16″ oil on canvas
On display at Fine Line Designs in Ephraim, WI

This weekend I’ll be flying out to Wisconsin for an opening of a group show at Fine Line Designs in Ephraim, Wisconsin. The opening reception will be Saturday, May 29th from 4-7pm. The following day, on Sunday May 30th, I’ll be doing a painting demo from 11am-2pm. If any of you are in the area, it would be really wonderful to see you at one of these events.The gallery has a nice selection of paintings, and I’m really looking forward to seeing how the show looks now that it’s hung.

I was introduced to this part of the country last year through the Door County Plein Air Festival, which I will be participating in again this July.

New Workshop Announcement...

Above: “Jordan Bowl, Acadia National Park” 30×34 inches

This fall I’ll be teaching a workshop from September 27 through October 1 at a lakefront camp in northern Maine.

Debsconeag Lake Wilderness Camps are situated in the heart of Maine’s North Woods on an exquisite chain of lakes and ponds that are permanently protected as an ecological reserve. The sporting camps on Fourth Debsconeag Lake date back to the early 1900s when then vice president Theodore Roosevelt visited the region to hunt and fish.

This small cluster of camps sits at the base of a magnificent set of granite cliffs that rise 800 feet from the lake, surrounded by a mature forest of pine, spruce, hemlock, maple, and oak. The camps are the only buildings on an otherwise entirely protected shoreline that provides privacy, abundant wildlife, and endless opportunities for exploration.

We will have a cook preparing delicious meals, included in the price of the workshop, and there will be ample time for painting, discussing art and enjoying the beautiful surroundings of the north Maine woods.

In these workshops we’ll be working on fundamentals of good picture making, focusing on painting the landscape outdoors in oils. There is a great amount of value in painting from nature, and this is a great way to improve your painting skills in a supportive environment. I’ll use demos and one on one time with students to teach about paint handling, composition, color, drawing, and how to see more carefully.  Each session of the class we will start by discussing a different idea, and how to improve that aspect of our paintings. We will talk about basics of good picture making and also the more challenging task of taking an already good painting and make it better.

I am really excited to paint and teach in such a beautiful place, and I hope you can join me. Contact Chris Riley at the Chewonki Foundation for more information or to make a reservation for this course. Also feel free to email me with any questions.

Rain Delay...

I’m stuck inside on a very rainy day trying to get things done. I have a lot of things coming up soon, including a solo show at Dowling Walsh Gallery, which will open June 4. More coming on that soon. I also have an extra workshop this fall that I just added. It will be in northern Maine and should be a really fun class. I’m putting together some promotional materials for that class, so keep an eye out for info coming soon.

Right now you can see a nice selection of my paintings on display at Fine Line Designs in Door County, Wisconsin. I am part of a group show there, and will be flying out for the reception on Saturday, May 29. I’ll then do a demo at the gallery the following day, Sunday. If you are in the area that weekend I would love to see you at one of those events.

On top of all of the painting I’ve done in the last few months, I’ve also been making a lot of bread at home. I tried a recipe for no-knead bread.  It’s really easy to make, and much less of a time commitment than other breads I’ve done. And best of all it is DELICIOUS wheat bread. When I know I’ll have a rain day I mix up the dough the night before. So this bread was just baked and is now cooling, waiting for me to cut into it. I’m having a blast trying out variations in the recipe. If you get a chance, you should give it a try: recipe

Overwhelmed...

This painting of Camden is from a day when the sun was soft. 8×10″ oil on linen panel.

In the last few weeks I have sold my house and bought another. A week ago I moved everything over to the new place, including my studio. It was an incredible amount of work, and I’m still settling into the new house. I had to do all of this while I’m in the middle of preparations for several group shows and one solo show of my paintings this summer. I feel completely lost in all of this work, and I’m just trying to catch my breath when I can. Soon I’ll be posting info about these upcoming shows. With all of this work, I’ve been making some really fun paintings that I look forward to sharing. But until then…. I need to get back to my new studio and put some paint down on canvas.