
Last weekend we opened up the island house for the summer - of course it was cold, windy, rainy, the seas were up. Little to encourage us that summer is indeed upon us, but things happen fast once spring arrives. People always assume I get a lot of painting done in the summer, but it just isn't true. We share the time with lots of family and friends, and the work seems (actually, is) endless. But I carve out bits of time. My big aha! moment was when I decided to set up to paint in the same location every time, eliminating the wandering around to find the "perfect" painting each time I ventured out. With the changing weather, tides and time of day the same spot is never the same. That's part of what makes Maine such a visually exciting place to be. So the image above is a photograph from our little pocket beach, taken two weeks ago on a reconnaissance trip to the island to see what the winter had wrought. And below are three paintings done en plein air of the selfsame rocks. And there you have it.