Color and Blooms

Paul and I jumped at the chance to spend a fews day at some friends' getaway home in Strafford, Vermont. It's due west of Portland as the crow flies...but it's certainly not a straight line to get here.

We took the quickest way on this end going south then north and west. We'll take the scenic route through the white Mountains on our way home on Thursday...and I'm looking forward to that.

It's also day 4 of the ICAD challenge. I knew what I wanted to do...so I prepped a card ahead of time with gesso and drew in the black geometric design with a black permanent marker.

Then I colored it in with watercolor markers....which was a little tough in the car. But it was a good way to pass some time on the highway while Paul was singing along with Bob Dylan on the radio.

It was inspired by artist Maryanne Shakyhand who is a master at these intricate designs. You can find her here on Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/maryanneshakyhand/

After I finished the coloring...I went over the black lines again....also a little tricky in the car. 

Still on my roll with my day 4 of the ICAD challenge!

Then we settled into Dana and Sean's beautiful home...in a spectacular setting. 

How lucky are we! So much to soak in and explore. There's color and blooms everywhere and an amazing creek running through the property. 

A Maine Marsh

"Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influence of the earth."  Henry David Thoreau

Paul and took a little field trip to the Scarborough Marsh today. It was a lovely day....a little windy....but it was good to be out soaking in the sun....and saying hello to mother nature in a new and different setting.

The tide was high....so there may not have been as many birds up close....

.....but we enjoyed seeing the egrets....and a few other other marsh loving birds.  There were lots off in the distance...and a few up close.  I tried to use my new zoom lense...but it was a little difficult to maneuver in the sun and wind.  I'll be better with it sitting still in the backyard.

Marshes are interesting places....and Maine has lots of them.

Becky sent me this today....and I thought it was worth sharing.  

In 2006 a high school English teacher asked students to write a famous author and ask for advice. Kurt Vonnegut was the only one to respond - and his response is magnificent:

 “Dear Xavier High School, and Ms. Lockwood, and Messrs Perin, McFeely, Batten, Maurer and Congiusta:

I thank you for your friendly letters. You sure know how to cheer up a really old geezer (84) in his sunset years. I don’t make public appearances any more because I now resemble nothing so much as an iguana.

What I had to say to you, moreover, would not take long, to wit: Practice any art, music, singing, dancing, acting, drawing, painting, sculpting, poetry, fiction, essays, reportage, no matter how well or badly, not to get money and fame, but to experience becoming, to find out what’s inside you, to make your soul grow.

Seriously! I mean starting right now, do art and do it for the rest of your lives. Draw a funny or nice picture of Ms. Lockwood, and give it to her. Dance home after school, and sing in the shower and on and on. Make a face in your mashed potatoes. Pretend you’re Count Dracula.

Here’s an assignment for tonight, and I hope Ms. Lockwood will flunk you if you don’t do it: Write a six line poem, about anything, but rhymed. No fair tennis without a net. Make it as good as you possibly can. But don’t tell anybody what you’re doing. Don’t show it or recite it to anybody, not even your girlfriend or parents or whatever, or Ms. Lockwood. OK?

Tear it up into teeny-weeny pieces, and discard them into widely separated trash receptacles. You will find that you have already been gloriously rewarded for your poem. You have experienced becoming, learned a lot more about what’s inside you, and you have made your soul grow.

God bless you all!"

Kurt Vonnegut

I did the assignment....I just used 6 words in my poem....rather than 6 lines...I'm calling it "My Wish."

I have fond memories of a six word story art exchange that Tracie, Becky and I did back in 2013....I loved the challenge of saying something meaningful in just six words. I wrote about it in 2015....the formatting on this post is terrible....it was still all pretty new to me back then:

https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2015/01/six-word-story-booka-shared-art-project.html

I've Got Mail

"Don't wait for the perfect moment....take the moment and make it perfect."

I put three postcards in the mailbox today for the shared art trade with Becky, Tracie, and Brenda.  We'll see how these little art cards survive their journey to Wisconsin.  More on them to come....I really enjoyed this project!

And....I took something very special out of my box too.

It's a good day when you can say:"I've got mail from Scotland!"

Susan sent me a lovely homemade card and a beautiful fall bookmark.  I love having art friends all over the world! 

Thanks Susan!

Paul and I seized the perfect moment on this spectacular early day and took a field trip to Wolfe's Neck State Park.....a 244 acre peninsula in Freeport Maine.

It's only 30 minutes from home....and neither one of us remember having been there before. It did not disappoint.

Quintessential Maine coast view!

There were trails all along the water with these little views through the trees that were just spectacular.   

This island was an Osprey sanctuary...no humans  allowed.  

Do you see the nest high in the trees?

There were several places with paths or steps down to the rocks along the water.

Down this particular path....Paul went right....

And I went left. 

It was a good day in Maine today!

Friday Fieldtrip.....

....and a few found objects.

Paul came home with a couple found objects from his bike ride....and I couldn't love them more!

This paintbrush is well used....and the bright blue bristles are beautiful....and very soft. I'm going to put it to good use in the studio. It will be perfect for my pan pastels.

 

And this little green dragon absolutely captured my heart!

Then we took a little late afternoon field trip to Two Lights State Park....

and picked up Tacos from Taco Trio our our way.

Great spot for a picnic!

And I found an object on a side trip to Kettle Cove.

Found objects....and a Friday field trip = fabulous!

Wandering Wednesday

"Not all those who wander are lost." J.R.R Tolkien

This quote just came on a card from Becky....I've always liked it.

It wasn't  Field Trip Friday....but Paul and I took a little drive this morning....so I'm calling today A Wandering Wednesday.  

I gave Paul a State Park pass for Christmas....so we're trying to take in as many as we can this summer and fall.  Today it was Two Lights State Park...just 30 minutes away.

We have been there before....but it was a LONG time ago.  We were pleasantly surprised at how beautiful, accessible, and quiet it was...hardly any of us there! 

The rocky coast and the open ocean views were spectacular....with dozens of benches and picnic tables tucked in here and there. Paul and I are most certainly going to go back...with a picnic.

There are short little walks around the park...with easy trails and stone stairs. We tried to scope it all out....but we're don't think we saw it all.

I like to give a little location context for our field trips....and I kind of like making these maps.

It's right around the corner from the Lobster Shack a spot we frequently take guests. The little beach I just took Patty and Liz to to pick up glass pebbles is next to the Lobster Shack. It was about time we drove down into the State Park Section.

And in honor of our Wandering Wednesday....I assembled another simple bird calendar collage. The colors capture the coast so well....and don't you love that leaf?

Foggy Friday Field Trip

It was time for a field trip...and today we embraced the fog. 

Popham Beach was our destination...just an hour north on the down east coast of Maine.  The map at the bottom with help that make sense.  Much of the coast of Maine faces south.

I hope you don't mind that I'm taking you along.

Along with the fog...driftwood was also a theme.

I was quite taken with this carving.

I found a couple small driftwood treasures to bring home.

A foggy Friday field trip is just what we needed.