Docent For A Day



Yesterday morning on Cob Cottage Farm

This past weekend the fall color was brilliant. Every year that we have been here on our small Maine farm, we marvel at the beauty surrounding us and feel so blessed to have this spot to call our own.

So having in mind that the driving scenery would be lovely this past weekend, we headed down to Skyline Farm and Carriage Museum in North Yarmouth, Maine to work as docents for the art and crafts show that is taking place there this fall. My art is hanging there, along with some absolutely beautiful pottery, glass work,quilting, jewelry and hand crafted furniture. There is art work from other Maine artists too.....a great show to be in or to see! Our dogs came with us. We had a busy day, but it was fun to talk to folks about the paintings and carriages that highlight Skyline Farm. I enjoyed be a "docent for a day"!



Skyline Farm's Art Exhibit has something for everyone!

One of the many interesting carriages at Skyline.

Now back at home today, I am working on commission paintings and some new ideas I have brewing, The wind is whipping the color off the trees out side. But the pups and I are cozy in the studio and will be here for the rest of the day. Galleries are asking me for new work..... I have my paint out on my palette...time to do what I was born to do, here on our small cottage in the woods.

Horses and Deer, JRT and Camera

Our fawn.....who eats with our horses in their pasture.

We are surrounded by deer.They are taking over Cob Cottage Farm,eating my gardens and grazing with the horse quite comfortable with the arrangement. Me??? Not so much! I have been playing with my new camera trying to learn what buttons do what....all so I don't make a complete fool of myself when we are in Kentucky where I will be taking oodles of shots for reference for future paintings. Where else but in horse-country USA!! Lexington,KY. I am sure our farm-sitters will love seeing the deer around the farm. Something special to keep the New Yorkers amused!!

Nellie and her new chewy bone.

So I HAVE been reading and reading the manual on the camera and I must admit I am easily confused... Nellie has been helping my studies. [As you see above]. I am hoping that I can capture some action shots...something that I could capture before with my old digital. I am not even taking my 35 mm camera.....too heavy and too much film to develop when we get back!

My new camera is Fuji 12 mp and has a 18x zoom......this should help!

What has been "perking" in the studio???? Two new oils on copper,but I have to admit  that I have not been in the studio much of late.Too busy chasing deer out of my gardens and orchards! The below oil is one of the two, almost done......and will be one of the paintings headed to Skyline Farm for their 5th annual Fall Art Exhibit, which opens next month. I will tell more about this as we get closer to the opening reception.

 WIP of my Concord grapes and squash vines  - oil on copper 10 x 10"

I have to run ...deer in the orchard.....horses in the fields... and dogs in my face... saying it is their dinner time!!!

Come to the Show Opening!

Come one, come all, to “Maine Harvest: Land and Sea,” a benefit sale of fine art and crafts inspired by Maine’s farmland and ocean. For six weeks Skyline Farm’s 4th annual invitational exhibit and sale will showcase talented Maine artists and artisans whose paintings, photographs, sculptures, and fine crafts are inspired by the cornucopia of Maine’s bountiful harvest - both from the land and the sea.

--- Please join us on Friday, Sept. 25 from 5-7 p.m., to help kick off the show, where you can buy artworks or bid on intriguing silent auction items. Enjoy light refreshments while meeting talented Maine artists, sculptors, photographers and artisans of fine crafts, including fiber, jewelry, wood, glass and metal.

Original creations to appeal to every taste and budget are for sale just in time for the holiday buying season for your gift-giving pleasure. The show is complemented by vehicles from the museum’s carriage and sleigh collection.

A Silent Auction, featuring artworks and related items donated by the artists and local businesses, will run concurrently with the art show. Bidding action will begin on Sept. 25 and conclude at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 8. Artists are generously sharing a portion of each artwork’s sale and 100% of the funds raised from their Silent Auction donations to benefit Skyline Farm’s programs and operations.

Done - Fall Gray

This morning I am heading out with hubby, two dogs and my painting to help hang the Skyline Farm show....
This painting is done..and framed, ready to hang. It is a 18 x34" casein on canvas and it is titled "Fall Gray". The scene depicts Maine Carriage Day at Skyline Farm, a very old and traditional pleasure driving show that originated in Maine many years ago!

Gotta run....it's long drive [ by car ] to North Yarmouth!!!

Skyline Show and Painting Almost Done

I think I have been saying that a lot lately. "Almost done"... but I look at a painting and when I am not completely happy with it, I can't let go. I am at that point with this painting....I will let you know!
This is one of the paintings that I will be sending down to the Skyline Farm's Fall Exhibition which has it's opening reception on September 25th at 5-7 pm...on the farm.... in the Carriage Museum. The invitational exhibit is titled "Maine Harvest, Land and Sea", and this year showcases fine art and crafts too. My work in the show will cover the gamut.. from bovine to equine...and a bit of ocean too! I am looking forward to seeing the work of the invited artists and craftsmen. It should be a neat show for folks to come to, to find that very special Christmas present for their very special someone!


And speaking about someone.....Nellie , our resident Terrier-ist has taken to following me up into the studio...and then making a nest for herself on our bed amoung the pillows. She thinks if she hides her face...I can't see her! Silly girl!! So she sleeps amoung the pillows, like a princess, while I work!

I CAN SEE YOU, NELLIE!!!

Belfast Dock & Maine Seagull

This small casein will be hung in the Skyline Farm Art Show with the opening reception September 25th. Titled" "Dock On The Bay"......it is sized at 5 x 7" !

It is a beautiful day on the farm...and I will be most of the day in the studio.I am all stoked on a new work started today! But also need to finish works still in the process. It ever ends....and as Martha would say "That's a good thing!!!"

Side-Saddle Watercolor

It has been a while since my last post...The Skyline Farm art exhibit went off well last week. It is always so gratifying to see the works all hung and then stand back and take in all the beautiful artwork that is year's Maine artists sent for the show "Fertile Ground". The work was mostly landscapes.....but all off Maine. My co-curator for this show, Karen Pettengill, and I hung it all in record time. I guess we have had enough practise over the years...and have always worked well together. We have worked together in a green house, as grooms for a four-in-hand driver and now this!


I managed to get works shipped out last week and then my husband and our Corgi and I headed over to New Hampshire to see my brother and his family. It was a long week for me...but fun and I survived it!!!


Today I finished this watercolor and then I attacked my studio mess.....I feel like I deserve a break now, so I am headed out to mow lawn. This grass must stop growing soon...??!! but I think I I like mowing over shovelling snow!


"Kentucky Side Saddle" is 15 x 10" and is a watercolor on watercolor board. The rider looked so comfortable on her horse, as she sat talking to folks. I HAD to paint her. The watercolor is more about her than her horse, though he was a handsome fellow.

Fenced In Up Close

Again I have been asked for a bigger up close shot of this painting. I hope this works as being up close enough. This painting is varnished and will be going down to Lexington's Gallery B.

Today I am busy getting works labeled and wrapped to head down to Skyline Farm 's "Fertile Ground " Art Show 2008 that opens next Friday night. Sept. 12 th, from 5 to 7 pm to meet the artists!

I am looking forward to seeing everyone there!!

Lipizzan Work Ethic

In spite of weather that is calling me to come out and dead-head spent perennials in my flower gardens…and to pick zucchini that are growing bigger by the second….I have been working on a watercolor and an new mixed media work. The watercolor is done, 18" x 8" and is called ‘Lipizzan Work Ethic”. When I saw the intense eye on this Lipizzaner and the power in the neck…I knew I had to paint this. Consider it done. And again I want to thank my good friend Juliet for your inspirational photograph.

I also finished the watercolor of Herefords and sheep, a winter scene from our old farm in North Pownal. For years we raised our own meat and veggies during our ‘ back to the earth” phase. Talk about being ‘green’? We were green before it became politically correct!

The mixed media piece I am doing, I did first in graphite to get my values right and to decide how I wanted to put the composition together…and I have now decided to do this one in acrylic and casein. I will be using the paints together, and this gives the work a different finish………another farm inspired work…getting ready for the Skyline Exhibit in September.

I am loving my new website and the fact that I can update it and change ” whatever” whenever I want. Check it out……… and the new artworks !!