Drift
Before the pandemic struck in March, our daughter, Daisy Braun, was living in Pittsburgh, working at the Children’s Museum in the Art Studio. She’d been invited by SPACE Gallery in Portland, Maine to be part of an event on First Friday in April. But Covid-19 had other plans. Fast forward to June, when Daisy returned to Peaks Island after being furloughed for three months. Her proposal to install sculptures in SPACE’S window gallery on Congress Street was approved! She visited the gallery in late July to check out the space, where posters by Martha Rich were on display....
Read MoreArt Camp
My island neighbor, dear friend, and author Nicole d’Entremont, has taken up drawing with a passion. She began creating what she called Trumpoons back in 2017 as expressions of satire fueled by outrage. This led to drawing more, taking sketchbooks on her travels to Vietnam and New York. She took her first drawing class this January with the legendary artist, Martha Miller, at Maine College of Art, and was transformed. Nicole enrolled in a portraiture class with Martha in June but it was cancelled because of Covid-19. She approached me about teaching her, and I was honored yet unsure I...
Read MoreVote by mail
Readers of this blog may be aware that I am a devout snail mailer. This valentine I made a few years ago attests to my love for letters in all ways. collage © Jamie Hogan It was of course gratifying to illustrate a post office scene in Island Birthday by Eva Murray, where islanders congregate. illustration by Jamie Hogan from ISLAND BIRTHDAY by Eva Murray And with the writing of letters comes the collecting of stamps. I made this drawing/collage for Carson Ellis’ #transmundanetuesday drawing prompts on Instagram with a swell batch of stamps from Petronella Periwinkle. “Is...
Read MorePatterns pre-pandemic
Are you as upside down as I am? These past two months have been deeply unsettling. As a freelance artist for almost 40 years, it’s not the working from home that’s an adjustment. It’s everything else. The global deaths, economic fallout, social distancing, mask-wearing, and swabbing of surfaces are overwhelming. Although it’s often hard to concentrate, finding a daily creative moment has kept me grounded. Back in January, before all this hit my world, I had eagerly signed up for a Maine College of Art Continuing Studies course, Pattern and Surface Design, taught by...
Read MoreNative Gardens
We saw the newest production at Portland Stage last night, Native Gardens by Karen Zacarias. Directed by Jade King Carroll, it’s a rollicking take on border relations in more ways than one. I worked on the poster a year ago, in the bleak mid-winter, when drawing botanical motifs was a quite welcome task. I presented a dozen rough ideas, here are some of them. The play centers on two couples, one older, white, and established in an upscale neighborhood in suburban DC, the other new homeowners, young and ambitious, and expecting a baby. The contrasts are striking and conflict ensues...
Read MoreBear and the Oxbow Island Gang
It’s for real! Rae Chalmer’s debut chapter book is here: Bear and the Oxbow Island Gang is an environmental mystery set on a Maine island for readers 8 – 11. Last fall, after reading Rae’s manuscript, I began illustrating the story by doing small, preliminary sketches for the cover. She’s a fellow Peaks Islander, so instead of scanning and emailing my rough ideas, I brought my sketchbook to her house a few minutes away. So analog and refreshing! These are a few more ideas, which all reflect an island setting that residents of Peaks may find familiar. I also did...
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