Pemaquid Summer

 It's a spectacularly beautiful day here in midcoast Maine today, which is a wee surprise since the last week and a half has been all over the place, weatherwise. Record high heat (with attendant humidity, ugh) followed by almost record low temps, clouds, and rain. Wacky.

Somewhere in there I managed to carve out this little linocut of the lighthouse at Pemaquid Point. Although it's about 6.5 miles from my house, it IS literally at the end of the road I live on... so it's always nice to think of it as the lighthouse at the end of my street. In the winter time it's a favorite place to walk (in the summer it can be very crowded with visitors), and I have really loved watching many of the different aspects of coastal weather from this spot.

"Pemaquid Summer" is 5 x 7 inches, printed on 300# Arches watercolor paper and then hand painted. I waffled for a long time about whether or not I should limit the edition or leave it open, but in the end I decided that the projected lifespan could be 50. I haven't printed nearly that many yet (ran out of paper!), but it will be nice to have something that I can print in small batches from time to time when I'm either avoiding work on another project or longing for studio time when other commitments are keeping me away. A rather summery sort of attitude, in more ways than one.

There went June! What's next?

Sneaking in work on a little single-color linocut

Wow. Talk about mental and physical whiplash. I don't know how it is where you are, but in my particular corner of the universe things went from zero to warp speed in the space of about 48 hours. In May we were still masking, distancing, isolating, and, I admit, hand-wringing about the future. Suddenly it's the end of June and I feel like things are not only back to the "usual" summer busy-ness... but beyond it.

So far this month, let's see... I've led 7 days of in-person workshops, narrated three Puffin Watch cruises, designed and illustrated a big interpretive sign project, and framed a pile of artwork for galleries and shows. Oh. And I took a class and had visitors from out of state. 

Whew. Is the summer over yet? Oh, wait. It's only just started!

SO. What's coming up in July? More puffin cruises with the Hardy Boat out of New Harbor. (Look for me on weekend trips.) An online class for the Farnsworth Art Museum. Workshops and a presentation for the Wendell Gilley Art Museum. And, hopefully, I'm going to get a little studio time in there somehow!