Busy busy bla bla
If you’re thinking island life is this bucolic ho-hum of tidal backwash: au contraire. Summer in Maine means more people. It is, after all, Vacationland. Which makes it distracting as hell to keep up with your own work. Everybody and their brother is riding idly by on tandem bikes, sporting the latest trend in sneakers. Meanwhile, life goes on here. Between ferry trips on the Island Romance, I was breathing pastel dust making scenes of island skies for the annual Color of Peaks show down at the “club”…the Trefethen Evergreen Improvement Association. Yeah, the summer...
Read MoreRovers in the house
School age campers at the Peaks Island Children’s Workshop are known as the Rovers. I had the honor of hosting them in my studio recently, during Art Week, the first of many themed weeks of activities. Kristen Chalmers, lead Rover who coincidentally owns the Gem Gallery, brought them to my house after a full morning of swimming, finding jellyfish at the marina, and picnicing at Rover Rock. Six Rovers, including my daughter, squeezed into my cluttered studio (11′ x 14′) and got a quickie show-and-tell. They had the same curiosities I have about people’s collections and...
Read MoreMore wanderings
Does it seem like I am procrastinating on my own work? Is it obvious? Well, there are times that an artist needs to look around, and smell the turpentine in other places, for like, inspiration. Or procrastination. Whatever! I checked out the Addison Woolley Gallery in Portland recently. The owner, Susan Porter, is a neighbor on the island. We met, like many of us do, at a yard sale. Their yard sale, in fact. She and her husband bought a cottage chock full of vintage stuff, several years ago. This is a particular high point of island life: when an old cottage changes hands. Deals are bound to...
Read Moreart wanderings
Another PeaksFest has come and gone. This annual “celebration of community” is highly anticipated and always delights. We began our roving downfront, at the library, where an exhibit sponsored by the Peaks Environmental Action Team (PEAT) was hanging out to dry. Quite a few photographers responded to the call for art about laundry, doubling the aesthetic and environmental value of this humble fact of life. In particular, I liked these two by Craig Davis (left) and Ruby Murdock (right)… Inside the library, the Peaks Island School’s Chair Auction was underway, an effort...
Read MoreFull strawberry moon
Some things are sacred around here: when there’s a full moon, there’s a bonfire. Last night’s Strawberry Moon was a sight to behold, as red and awesome as they come. The moment it breaks the horizon is a bit surreal. Is that the moon?!!! We gathered not just in awe, but in celebration of the milestone moment of the island fifth graders’ graduation, all seven of ’em. Now they’ll move on to Big Ole Middle School in Portland! Plenty to contemplate….all while the moon got higher and brighter. Is it any wonder the moon is so often a muse? This one is...
Read MoreWho needs Hallmark?
It goes without saying that we usually make our own cards in this house. Not that I don’t shop for lovely cards (usually at Ferdinand or Edith and Edna’s, but some occasions require the personal touch. Like with scissors and a gluestick. First, I made this for my friend, Ged, who was throwing himself a shindig in his brother’s backyard. Ged and I were cohorts at RISD and both moved to Boston following graduation, eons ago. We were both in CA for awhile, but now I must catch him on the fly when he’s in from LA. He is the Communications Director for the Aids Healthcare...
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