here come the humpbacks FOR REALS!
Ever since visiting Nova Scotia two summers ago, I’ve been longing for a glimpse of a real humpback whale. Sure, I did my homework, reading books, watching films and videos from whale sightings while illustrating Here Come the Humpbacks! During that trip I saw plenty of signs for whale watching, but we traveled constantly, with no time for a cruise. I began working on the book in the fall of 2011, just past the season when humpbacks are in the Gulf of Maine. My wish for our recent return to Nova Scotia was to see some whales at last. We drove from Pubnico, Nova Scotia with our host,...
Read Moremoto anniversary 25: stonington
Marty and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary with a wonderful rain-free ride to Stonington, Maine. Our romance began with travels, so it’s fitting that we spend our anniversaries with a journey, this time to a pretty harbor about 170 miles north of Portland. We don’t get on our bikes as often as we’d like, so when we do, we take a LOT of pictures of them! The sign above is just down the road from the South China Library, one sweet stop, being the oldest continually operating library in the State of Maine, founded in 1830. We also stopped in Belfast for a break and to...
Read MoreOcean Park visit
I had the honor of visiting Ocean Park last week for the first time. This historic seaside community near Old Orchard Beach, Maine dates back to 1881, built for the purpose of interdenominational assembly, where people of all ages still come to vacation, learn, worship, and play. I made a presentation in Jordan Hall about my work and process, specifically for Here Come the Humpbacks! by April Pulley Sayre. I even shared this peek of my messy studio, taken at the end of a long day of drawing humpbacks, early winter twilight outside. I introduced a pile of my supplies I brought to share: hard...
Read MoreMECA Sketchbooks on Peaks Island
One sunny Saturday seven artists filled swell sketchbooks by the sea. Yes, they did! I joined up with Maine College of Art CS faculty, Judy Labrasca, to lead a sketchbook class along the ocean side of Peaks Island. She ferried over with students from the mainland, doing quick contour sketches on the boat. We gathered in the ferry shelter to introduce ourselves, choose papers and sketchbooks, and get these nifty watercolor sets Judy made, complete with brush pens. We walked to Sandy Beach, where the tide was too high to see any beach, but everyone found a spot on the rocks. Anne did a...
Read Moredrawing with color
Peaks Island’s TEIA club house, above, is a daily view upon walks with the dog. It’s a well-loved setting for sailing, tennis, weddings, and cultural events. I was honored to lead a workshop, Drawing With Color, last week. We gathered on the porch for a discussion of the color wheel, examples of the relativity of color, color contrasts and associative properties. I shared my favorite books about Monet, Connie Hayes, Wolf Kahn, Fairfield Porter, Matisse, and Alex Katz, all masters of color. I laid out a selection of pastel varieties and papers of various textures, asking them to...
Read Morestory and craft: humpbacks!
Pat Crowley Rockwell, well-loved teacher and perennial star of the Peaks Island Library’s Story and Craft program, featured Here Come the Humpbacks! last week, to my utter delight. Hearing her lilting delivery of astonishing facts, like that a new-born humpback calf would be longer than the blue carpet upon which the audience was perched, made me feel like I was on open sea. She handed out coffee filter and washable markers, for kids to “make an ocean.” Next, they went outside armed with a spray bottle, to splash the oceans, not each other! They heard more of the book, and...
Read MoreVisit JamieHogan.com
