Gem sparkles
So much going on; so little time to blog. Good news: weather improved stupendously this past week. The air literally changed on Tuesday and I could tell September was near. I gallery sat at the Gem that afternoon, and was simply glowing in the collective sunshine of the work on display. Diane Wiencke and Carol Cartier are two consummate makers and shakers. They collaborated to hang a seamless show that radiated good energy and uncanny talents. On their price list, they didn’t even indicate who did what. Those of us that know them can tell their work apart and the rest, well, get with...
Read MoreIsland Inside Out/ Outside In
Summer marches on. Sigh. I sit inside on a cloudy day, overlooking a soggy flowerbox by the open window and listening to the shouts of tourists who are enjoying the lark of riding a bike for the first time in how long. I’m enjoying a moment of reflection on the idea of inside and outside, a theme explored at the Gem Gallery’s current exhibit: Island Inside Out/Outside In. Lane Williamson and Tim Nihoff have paired together to fill the back gallery with surprisingly complementary imagery. Lane’s paintings glimmer with reflections in ponds and marshes. She eschews the...
Read MoreIsland to island
People wonder why an islander goes to another island on vacation. Hmmm…curiosity? Every island has a unique character, yet in Maine they do share the elemental qualities of coastal edges. We headed to Deer Isle on a recent moto-adventure, easier to get to than Peaks, in that a bridge connects it to the Blue Hill peninsula. From Portland, Mapquest said it would be a 3.5 hour drive, but for bikers prone to stopping frequently (for lunch, photo ops, gas, ice cream, donning rain suits…) it was a 6 hour ride. And that’s the fun part! We stayed at the Pilgrim’s Inn, a...
Read MoreSummer lull
I did go climb the monumental Gull Rock after my last post, made famous by painters trekking to Monhegan for over a hundred years. You don’t have to spit far to hit somebody working at an easel right now on the island. I almost felt guilty that I hadn’t brought more art supplies myself. We realized this was our fifth year of visiting the Murdock family during their vacation. Every summer we climb the hill to the Monhegan Museum; this summer’s exhibit of Lynn Drexler’s work was fantastic. Here’s a shot I snuck in the gallery. I love Drexler’s colorful...
Read MoreMonhegan moment
This is Elena’s view. Staying on Monhegan, drinking iced latte at the Novel Two, with 15 minutes of internet running out! Good thing; I need to be climbing Gull Rock in minutes.
Read MoreMermaids on my mind
Finally, I am back at my drawing table. And charged with the delicious task of illustrating a month for next year’s NPR calendar. Yay! The piece must show my public radio listening experience. While I was sketching, I heard an interview on WMEA 90.1 with an author of a new book on biodiversity. He mentioned horseshoe crabs, critical to testing the toxicity of antibiotics. Who knew? There are so many species we know nothing about yet our very survival depends on them. I started drawing an underwater scene, which had to include a horseshoe crab and a mermaid. Plenty of mermaid folklore...
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