Gone sailing

It has been such a busy summer and now it is time for our 3rd annual sail through the Penobscot Bay. Though I am not a sailor, I am with three very experienced life long sailors. So, I do what I am told and there always seems to be a lot of dishes to be washed. So besides being the head scullery maid, I am able to spend much of the time sketching and painting—lucky me! Now if we can just get this beautiful Maine summer to continue through next week...

Dinner party people

A business dinner/meeting about sustainable fishing. Since I was just "arm candy" I was able to some quick sketches of some of the guests between courses. Most of them thought I was taking notes—HA, fooled them!

On the waterfront

Portland Maine still maintains a working waterfront. Every morning bright and early the lobster boats set out in any weather. I can't imagine what it must be like out there in January.

Sophie and headed down to one of the piers the other day so I could sketch. I don't know why I take her, because I don't focus or concentrate as much. I am always concerned about what she is up to and having to reel her in, so these lobsters are a bit of a dark and muddy watercolor mess. It's good to have someone to blame...

Docked after a day out on the water. The seagulls go crazy, chasing after and swarming these boats. From our home we watch them swoop around the buildings squawking as they look for food and garbage along the waterfront. They often perch on our roof top near the deck or on the skylight which throws Sophie into a barking and growling frenzy. They are part of the sights and sounds of living here.

Portland Harbor night view

A hot noisy Saturday night in town—like a summer party. Sophie and I spent the evening on the deck. I painted and she was ever vigilant growling at seagulls and napping in between. I did this painting without ink or pencil. Just watching the lights and the boats in the marina across the harbor as the sun went down and the moon came up.

Hot summer days in Maine

Sea roses on my walk along the Casco Bay.

New bouquet for the table in my favorite lime green rubber vase.

Sketching potted flowers in front of one of the shops in Portland.

Using the rough watercolor paper that I bought years ago when I had no idea about watercolor paper.

Tried adding pastels to just to mix it up a bit.

This is Jazzy, the other of my two very large 13 year old cats.

She is usually sprawled on the floor like an area rug.

Settling back into Maine life

Now that I am no longer in tropical Bali, I am having to adjust my palette to capture the more grayish greens and blues of Maine.

Small bouquet from the grocery store. In Bali flowers grow all over the yard, Frangipani blossoms fall off the trees and float in the pool, orchids grow on all the trees and Bougainvillea spill over the walls so I never need to buy flowers to have in the house.

This is Bobo one of my two 13 year old cats. Being senior kitties they have slowed down quite a bit, sleep a lot and are on a big diet. Still hungry for more crunchies they meow like this "meow" and then lie down on the kitchen floor staring at the empty bowls. Eventually giving up and finding a chair to fill.

Unlike my big old American cats, my little Bali cat, Howard, couldn't weigh more than 4 lbs. When she wants something she meows like this "yeeeeoooooooow" along with serious ankle biting. She always gets what she wants!

A road trip to Georgetown Maine

Georgetown Cove

(3"x5" study in small Moleskine)

The cove at the beginning of Indian Point Rd. It was so green and I have such a hard time mixing and painting greens.

Indian Point View

(7"x9")

View from the deck of my friends house in Georgetown—Daylilies in full bloom, jagged rocks, tide pools, crashing surf and open ocean as far as the eye can see. I went up one day this week thinking I would find some relief from the heat, but along with the amazing landscape, I found giant mosquitos and man-eating deer flies. I was as hot as it was in Portland and when we took our 8 mile walk I frantically flailed my arms around my head trying to ward off the vicious beastly insects that live in beautiful Georgetown.

Portrait of Leona

Back to doing portraits for Julia Kay's Portrait Party but now I am at my desk as opposed to an airline seat. I am slowly adjusting to the time change and the heat has finally subsided so it's time to get out and paint beautiful summer in Maine.

A long journey home

I left hot humid Bali and arrived in hot humid Maine. 95° and no AC here so it has been impossible to blog or post. Today it has cooled down to the high 80's and a bit of a sea breeze off the harbor so it seems quite lovely and finally I am able to post from my travels.

From Bali to Singapore is a short 2 1/2 hour flight and then at midnight they put us on an 11 hour flight to Frankfurt where we get off with all our belongings, walk around a corner, go through security again and then re-board the same plane for a 7 hour flight to JFK. Then I still have to get to Maine. Door to door is 34+ hours...

They served us dinner at 1:30 am. One of my choices was Khor Moo Yang—grilled pork neck...so I asked for soup and got the above cup of noodles which I sketched as it cooled down.

I took printouts of some of the folks involved in Julia Kay's Portrait Party to work on if I had the energy to draw. Sometimes I just read and try to sleep, but I had 11 hours to kill . So, somewhere between Singapore and Frankfurt I did some portraits.

By this time I had put the watercolors away and just sketched.

This one was done on the Frankfurt to JFK leg.