Whoa! The summer pace of activity has reached a sweaty pitch. I’ve been dashing to art events, scribbling towards deadlines, and swatting mosquitoes. Who said summer was a lazy idyll?
I blasted down to Kennebunk for the MEIC exhibit opening at the Kennebunk Free Library. What a lovely gathering of talent and delectable food.
I saw some familiar faces, like Cristina Siravo, a busy MECA grad who creates sweet whimsy with her watercolors and sushi cats.
And I made a new friend, Robin Swennes, who I swear I met years ago, maybe at the former Imageset. She now does every manner of design, illustration, and creative service as chocolatedesign. Here she is, standing next to my two pieces.
Only two days later, I was part of an island group show, The Color of Peaks, at the TEIA. The Trefethen Evergreen Improvement Association is a beloved island summer establishment, the classic “club” right down the hill from my house, also built by Trefethens, a pioneering Maine family. The building has often been the subject of my pastels, along with the nearby shore and sky. As a perfect venue for art and art lovers, the TEIA draws a loyal crowd.
I did this pastel, “Glow”, after one of my evening walks with the dog at low tide. Portland and Little Diamond are so close, yet so far.
The best part about the TEIA is the porch. Rock on.
Only a few days later, it was Marty’s turn at Pecha Kucha, a brisk event sponsored by the Maine Center for Creativity. Doug Green is a killer MC, providing up tempo intros of each of the presenters who, in PK tradition, must show 20 slides, each for 20 seconds. That’s a total of 6 minutes and 40 seconds, but who’s counting?
Marty decided to show a central image of illustration, his “Visual Bait” along with a small inset of his moto adventures, “for those of us who need to multi-task” and a counter in the corner, for “those who need to be somewhere else.”
Yeah, he was a little nervous. He got in the groove quick. He showed a few slides on process. His tool of choice: the Paasche airbrush.
He closed out with this slide, featuring his “Big Catch” for the Down Front ice cream store on the island. And me, his other big catch.
All those pix of motorcycle rides made us need another one. We rode over to Ossipee, NH on Sunday, through Buxton, Waterboro, Limerick. I just had to document this funny diner sign with my space cowboy.
Can it really be 40 years since man walked on the moon?
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