I have been looking forward to painting in Maine again. Now that we are here it certainly does not disappoint. It's been over two years since we have been up this way and even longer than that since I really focused on painting this area. We spent our first eleven days just south of Portland in the Scarborough Marsh. This is a fantastic place to paint. The marsh is ever changing with the tides and the weather. It is most beautiful at sundown or early in the morning with fog hanging over the area. The above piece was done in late afternoon on a really wet, overcast day when the tide was going out...hence the muddy shoreline. The marshland grasses are really lush and there are abundant species of wildflowers along the trail and waters edge. I tried to convey the rich, green quality of the landscape in this work along with the softened atmosphere due to the moisture hanging in the air. The muddy shoreline was the most challenging aspect of the work... but I finally settled on it as you see it here and I am content with results I achieved.

We are now up in Camden, ME where the mosquitoes are the size of hummingbirds and hang outside the screen door with intense almost ferocious attitude and intent....waiting for you to open the door a quarter of an inch so they can sneak in and assault you. If I survive the bugs I plan to do a few pieces featuring the Camden Harbor and need to get out to pin down a few more locations to paint while here too. Anybody out there know the area and have a few suggestions? I love to get off the beaten path.

For anyone visiting this area don't miss the Farnsworth Museum in Rockland. They have a nice collection of Andrew Wyeth's work.

This newest work is of an area where we used to hang out when I was kid much the same as the last piece. This is a fresh water pond in the woods of Swansea near the old historic town center and Abrahms Rock. We used to fish, swim and canoe the waters here. Bethany and I hiked back the other day to check out the old dam and see what the area looks like after all these years. I was surprised to see a few houses on the other side of the creek but otherwise it's all pretty much as I remember. I like the results I achieved in this piece. I tried to capture the true light and atmosphere in mid afternoon on a sunny, humid day.

Today we drove into Providence to visit the RISD Museum of Fine Art. They have a surprisingly nice collection there. The museum houses several pieces from Sargeant, Monet, Renoir and an impressive array of other American and French Impressionists. The main hall of the gallery is hung in the traditional salon style from the late 19th century. It's brilliant to view upon entering the room but does make study of each individual work impossible which is a little disappointing!

I did photograph one piece which really accurately represents the technique of peinture claire I was discussing in my last post. The work is by Theodore Robinson and has that luminous quality I have been interested in. Even the shadows are infused with light in this landscape which brings the whole tonal quality up and creates an entirely different atmosphere.

This is my newest work to come off the easel this week. Having arrived back in New England where I grew up (we have been away for 18 months) I was anxious to head out to one of my favorite places... Sakonnet Point. As a kid we used to hang out on the point and snorkel for lobsters and crab. It is a really beautiful place with clear waters and abundant with bird species and sea life. I have had it in mind for quite some time as a place I wanted to revisit and paint. We hit it on a perfect clear, sunny day at low tide. The transitions in color in the water are incredible here and I knew the effect created on the shoreline where the water is as clear as glass would be a challenge to capture on canvas.

I came recently upon a term in reading a book on Impressionism... Peinture Claire. The definition given is this: Painting expressing light by means of a predominantly pale luminous tonality.

This concept intrigued me and I thought Sakonnet Point would allow me the chance to explore this technique a bit. I decided to try bringing the darkest tones up a few notches to infuse the entire piece with more light and hopefully a more luminous quality. This term continues to fascinate me and I am curious if anyone else out there has also experimented with anything in this realm? It seems something you could really push into with interesting results.