Near Home

 Before the craziness of the 4th of July took hold I sketched the street scene in Sayville. This was done as a direct watercolor with no pencil lines.

We had a number of really hot days going into this weekend, so I made sure I had a lot of time to relax in the pool at our complex or time to sit in the shade. This was done on my iPad with Procreate.

Kalers Pond Barn

 Right after I got home from Maine my plein air group went to Kalers Pond in Center Moriches to paint. There is a rustic brown barn there that was a good subject to paint.

Boothbay Harbor

On our last full day in Maine, the three of us took a ride to Boothbay Harbor. We walked around in and out of some of the shops. Neither of them planned on sketching so I left them shopping and went down where the harbor boats take people out on cruises. I sat on a bench and sketched the colorful ticket booth in front of me.

A man came over to see what I was doing and started telling me that his 12 year old loves to draw and is very good, but she has no confidence in what she creates and is very shy and also autistic. He asked if he could bring her over to see what I was doing. By the time I finished the painting they hadn’t come over so I packed up my stuff and went over to meet my sisters. The family happened to see me there and came over so I got to show her this painting. She was really sweet and told me she has been doing a lot of Procreate art lately, so I asked her if she had any of her work on her phone. She didn’t but I gave her my card and asked her to send me something that she did. We all had a nice chat about sketching and painting and I stressed how important it is to keep practicing. I hope she got a little encouragement and continues to make art. I love encounters with young budding artists.

Again I took some photos during my morning walk in Damariscotta.

Sketches from Pemaquid

 One of my musts to visit when I go to Maine is Pemaquid Point and Pemaquid Lighthouse. I usually sketch some part of the lighthouse but this time I sketched the rocks below it. It was a very foggy day and the horizon kept appearing and disappearing. There are always people climbing around down on the rocks so I included a few. I no longer have the agility to climb down there and back up again.

Seated off to my left were a few people having lunch. I sketched them and again this was done on paper that is the size of a bookmark.

Both of my sisters brought along their sketching supplies and were seated a bit behind me. Chris took this photo of me sketching.

Here are a few photos from my morning walk in Damariscotta.

From the Patio

 I recently took a short trip with my sister, Michelle, up to Maine to visit our other sister, Chris, and her family. We spent a lot of time catching up with each other, but I did head outside the first day and paint from the patio. Across the street there was this wonderful very tall pine tree. This is a very small painting...maybe the size of a bookmark, but perfect to show the height of the tree.

There is a birch tree in my sister's yard that she planted years ago in memory of my dad. It is now huge and provides lots of shade to the yard and the house. It is here against their barn.

In the morning I took a walk for exercise in Damariscott. Here are some of the flowers I saw on my walk into town.

At the Marina

 I've sketched at this marina in Bayport a few times. I like that they are always ready in case a boat needs to be lifted into or out of the water. Kayaks are also ready nearby and boats along the dock too.

Family Picnic

 Sometimes when I am down by Sayville beach there are families picnicing on the grass rather than sitting on the beach. This particular family looked very content in the shade of the big trees.