The Maine Landscape

I have been looking forward to painting in Maine again. Now that we are here it certainly does not disappoint. It's been over two years since we have been up this way and even longer than that since I really focused on painting this area. We spent our first eleven days just south of Portland in the Scarborough Marsh. This is a fantastic place to paint. The marsh is ever changing with the tides and the weather. It is most beautiful at sundown or early in the morning with fog hanging over the area. The above piece was done in late afternoon on a really wet, overcast day when the tide was going out...hence the muddy shoreline. The marshland grasses are really lush and there are abundant species of wildflowers along the trail and waters edge. I tried to convey the rich, green quality of the landscape in this work along with the softened atmosphere due to the moisture hanging in the air. The muddy shoreline was the most challenging aspect of the work... but I finally settled on it as you see it here and I am content with results I achieved.

We are now up in Camden, ME where the mosquitoes are the size of hummingbirds and hang outside the screen door with intense almost ferocious attitude and intent....waiting for you to open the door a quarter of an inch so they can sneak in and assault you. If I survive the bugs I plan to do a few pieces featuring the Camden Harbor and need to get out to pin down a few more locations to paint while here too. Anybody out there know the area and have a few suggestions? I love to get off the beaten path.

For anyone visiting this area don't miss the Farnsworth Museum in Rockland. They have a nice collection of Andrew Wyeth's work.