An art holiday in Maine

"Telephone Booths" by Richard Estes (1968)
Typical of Estes' photorealistic paintings, this work shows a street scene in New York City.
The viewer is challenged to distinguish the reflections from the reflected.

I spent last week driving the coast of Maine, from Portland to Bar Harbor. Some of the pleasures of the holiday included looking at the Richard Estes photorealism exhibit at the Portland Museum of Art, visiting the Farnsworth Museum with its wonderful collection of paintings by the Wyeths, taking the ferry to Monhegan Island (pop. 75), which has served as an art colony for well over one hundred years, and enjoying way too many "lobstah" rolls. The small towns like Camden and Wiscasset are rich with galleries, showing high-quality paintings and fine crafts.

Are you familiar with the concept of "First Friday"? On the first Friday of every (summer?) month, art galleries open their doors for the evening, and offer visitors music, refreshments and sometimes opportunities to meet the artists. This event happens in many cities in Maine, New York and Vermont. It makes for a nice feeling of community and a festive atmosphere. Maps are printed with participating galleries and shops, and flags are hung by those enterprises involved. In Bar Harbor, the library and the YWCA were also participants in the Art Walk.

Some of my time was spent "casting my net" for some great images to use in my work.  Here is a sampling of my catch.

An alley in Boothbay Harbor. Notice the door to nowhere on the second storey.

Port Clyde. Love the web of wires overhead. The town reminded me of the fictional
Port Wenn, in the Doc Martin series, in part because of the friendly characters.

The museum beside the Monhegan lighthouse.  Great roof lines, plus a boat!
The museum covers the history of Monhegan and features paintings by famous artist
residents and visitors. Opens June 24.

Typical cottage on Monhegan. Coastal homes often have few trees planted nearby, 
allowing the viewer to fully appreciate their lines.

Just might get to use some of these images in my work in the months to come.