moto 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 Moreon the elephant trail
Ever since I read about Hope Elephants last November in the Press Herald, I’ve wanted to see them. Who isn’t captivated by these grand yet gentle animals? We headed north yesterday through Wiscasset, where I can’t pass up a stop at Rock Paper Scissors. And what did I spy there? We wound our way to the hub of Hope, the Hope General Store for a great lunch. Found another hint that we were on the right trail. We arrived for a pre-arranged visit, along with about 20 folks. Dr. Jim Laurita first met the two Asian elephants, Rosie and Opal, at Carson & Bailey Circus in the...
Read Moredrawing loop
Sometimes it’s about noticing the connections. We got a ride back to retrieve our bikes from neighbor, Dick Reed. The weather looked more promising, so we rode to New Gloucester to check out the new Bresca spot and then loop back to Portland to see the Sketchbook Project. When I began my 2013 Sketchbook last October, I drew the bench in front of Bresca with my lovely cohort, Kirsten. Chef/owner Krista Kern Desjarlais has moved her operation to Sabbathday Lake. I knew we’d found it when I spotted the same bench! They weren’t open yet, but we delighted in the location. This...
Read MoreB is for bikes, barnacles, and bears
Pretty soon Marty and I will be married 25 years. How did we get here? I can honestly say the romance began on a motorcycle. Zooming around Marin County hills and feeling like it was Ireland. Fog, eucalyptus, and Dogtown, a heady mix back in 1987. There were many miles of touring California once we got married. Delivering illustration jobs to Fed Ex on Harrison Street in San Francisco made deadlines more fun, as seen here in Marty’s work: Then he surprised me with a gift certificate for a motorcycle safety class. At first I was slighted: you don’t like me as a passenger? Yet...
Read Moremany moons ago
On Wednesday, as I was zooming down the highway to Boston, it occurred to me it’s been 25 years since I left. Driving around there with the radio tuned to WERS brings it all back. This is an illustration I did in the early 80’s, a call for art for Peter Wolf’s first solo album. I was so nervous when I met him. I never saw the art again, or him, but it still captures those nightclubbin’ years under a full moon. I met Nancy, my longest running client, at the Boston MFA. She publishes the Lunar Calendar, to which I’ve been a contributor since 1982. As we entered...
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