Lakefront Workshop-spaces left...

I am teaching several workshops this year, all of which have been sold out but one. The workshop with spaces left is the one I am most excited about, because of the location for the class. This workshop will be in northern Maine in late September, when the leaves will be changing and the bugs will be gone.  We will be focusing on painting the landscape on site and trying to capture the light and feeling of a scene.  The workshop is being held at a camp sitting on a point of land that sticks out in to a remote lake, near great hiking trails and beautiful views. Housing and meals will be provided for us, so we can spend all of our time either painting or playing. I’m hoping to get a lot of painting time in, and will be happy to spend the evenings sharing ideas about art and painting. There will also be plenty of time for relaxing and enjoying the beautiful setting. With all of my workshops I try to give as much of myself as I can. For this class I hope to have a really enjoyable time with everyone and give as much information and time as the students want. This week will be a great chance to immerse ourselves in our art in a beautiful place.

This workshop is being offered through the Chewonki Foundation, a school that I’m proud to be partnering with. If you want to see some more details about this course you can visit their website. You can also  contact Chris Riley at Chewonki, who is organizing this workshop, or email me to follow up with any questions that I may be able to help you out with.

Maine Summer Day...

This is a commission that I painted this week. I was thrilled with how well the lake came out. I am usually a bit more comfortable painting the ocean than I am with lakes. With this painting I think I did pretty well with the deep colors of a Maine lake, and the reflections of the trees in the background. My favorite moment in this painting is where the ladder disappears into the water. And compositionally the dock leads the viewer right into the scene, giving the viewer a place to feel like they are sitting in the middle of the painting.

Door County Plein Air Festival...

This week I’ll be in Door County, Wisconsin for a plein air painting event. Forty artists from all over the country will be getting together in Door County to paint the landscape. This event was a lot of fun for me last year, and I’m really looking forward to having a good trip again this time. If you are in the area you should try to catch a few of the events.

Circus in Camden...

The circus came to Camden and set up right down the street from my house. This was just a small circus, but still lots of fun to paint. They were only there for one day so I did a few sketches and tried to get a little bit of the color. The painting above is where they do pony rides once the kids showed up, 11×14″.

Before the crowds arrived I was able to stand in the middle of the grounds and paint the ticket booth with the big tent behind it, 11×14″.

The ticket booth as people are showing up for the first performance, 10×8″.

Jazz Not War...

This car is parked on a corner in Camden, Maine. Every summer this car shows up as an advertisement for the Hope Jazz Festival. On the other side of the car is the lettering “JAZZ NOT WAR.” I have always wanted to paint this car and finally got to it this year. While painting here I met the car’s owner, who also has a fire engine restoration business out in Hope, Maine. His barn is full of old fire trucks and ladders and water pumps, which may also make it into a few paintings.