Fire Island Paint Out & News

On the Friday of Memorial Day Weekend, the Wet Paints Studio Group organized a paint out at the Fire Island Lighthouse. Artists were invited to come on Friday or Saturday and paint somewhere on the grounds near the lighthouse. I've done his paint out several times and always enjoy it. The pieces created are now hanging in the lens house of the lighthouse and are for sale, with part of the proceeds going toward the lighthouse.

My first painting is 8 x 10 and was painted from the eastern end of Robert Moses Field 5. I like that view with the lighthouse peeking out behind the dunes.

The paintings had to be brought to the lens house which is about 3/4 of a mile walk from the parking lot. I framed the painting above, put it in my cart, and took another 2 frames (I was being optomistic) and the materials I would need to get them ready to hang. I walked nearly to the lens house and found another view of the lighthouse that I liked. 

There was a lot of foot traffic going back and forth to the lighthouse and a lot of people stopped to see what I was doing and chat with me for a few minutes. One person who stopped by came over and asked me if I was Joan. He recognized me from Facebook where we are friends. We hadn't met in person before. Needless to say that with all the socializing I only got one more painting done. When I finished framing the painting I headed over to the lens house. A few artist friends were there painting, so I relaxed for a few minutes before I turned in my paintings. My thanks to Carol Corbett who always organizes this event. The paintings will be hanging there for sale until the end of the month. This painting was smaller...5 x 7.

This weekend the South Bay Art Association had their 64th Annual Members Show. I had been out painting on Saturday but made it back in time to head over to the reception in Bellport. When I got there I found out that I had received a ribbon for 1st place in watercolors. I was surprised and thrilled. My painting is at the top.

 

Assorted Gelli Prints

I've been working a little on gelli prints with both my round and my rectangular gelli prints. I've been using flowers and leaves in the prints. 

Brookhaven Farm

 Down along Main Street in Brookhaven there are a few areas of farmland. This one is behind a farm stand, but I focused on the farm this time.

Maine Visit - Heading Home

 We were only up in Maine for a few days. Sitting in my sister's living room I did a sketch of her dog, Toby, relaxing on "his chair." It was done with a simple digital program I downloaded to my phone while I was sitting there. I knew if I moved to get up and get my sketchbook Toby would be off that chair in a second. lol

For a Creative Spark scavenger hunt I sketched an indoor scene. This is part of the bedroom I was sleeping in which was my nephew, Christopher's room. He now lives in Japan. 

We left early enough to make a stop at the Cape Neddick Lighthouse in York, Maine. There wasn't time to do any sketching, but I took a few photos.

Then there was the last obligatory lobster roll for lunch at Bob's Clam Shack in Kittery, Maine.

Maine Visit - Day 2

 We lucked out with our trip to Maine and had really nice weather. On our second day we headed down to the Boothbay area. We wanted to see how the storm had affected that area, and I wanted to sketch. Michelle was more interested in going into the few shops that were open. We were a few days early for the start of the season. That meant no crowds and free parking.

We drove out to Ocean Point. Almost the entire road down along the point had to be completely replaced after the winter storms, and they are almost finished. There was a section that had beautiful pine trees, but all of them were knocked down by the waves.

There is a foot bridge that crosses the Boothbay Harbor which had been repaired recently, so we headed out there to sketch. There were benches which was nice, but the top railing ended up being right in our line of sight. It was foggy and what we were sketching kept disappearing. lol

Chris and Michelle went to go into a few stores and I sat outside what is one of my favorite stores there. They have nice t-shirts. Usually it is a difficult spot to sketch because of the cars and trucks coming through, but it was quiet when we were there. I did go into the store when I finished, but I didn't buy anything.

Just in case you were wondering about our meals up there we made sure to fit in the required fried scallops and clams.

Maine Visit - Day 1

Last week I picked up my sister, Michelle in NJ and we drove up to Maine to visit our sister, Chris & her family. Michelle hasn't been up to Maine for quite a few years, so we decided to visit a few places near Tina that are special. The first day we drove down to Pemaquid Point where the Pemaquid Lighthouse is located. The landscape changed a lot after the strong storms that hit the Maine coast back in January. Huge boulders were knocked off the rocky ledge, smaller boulders moved up near the lighthouse, and the bell house was damaged. Luckily the lighthouse itself wasn't affected.

Both Michelle and Chris sketch, but not to the same extent as I do. They both sat and did one sketch, and left me alone while they explored and chatted a bit while I did two.

This sketch is of some of the trees and rocks between the lighthouse and the rocky ledge.

I also did a small painting of the Pemaquid Lighthouse.

Here is a photo of the three of us...left to right are Chris, myself and Michelle.

Down Bellport Avenue

One of my favorite streets in Bellport is Bellport Ave. It runs straight down from Main Street all the way to the Bellport Dock. There is a guard gate, a social club, a parking area for residents, a parking area for visitors (like me), a playground, a small beach, and assorted docks for private and town boats.