After a week painting outdoors in this limpid October light, my workshop students are showing their work! Join us tonight, Friday, October 10, 5–7 PM at the Carol L. Douglas Gallery, 394 Commercial Street, Rockport for my final gallery opening of the season — with new student pieces and some of mine on the walls too.
Their work is still wet and oh, so fresh. These students range from absolute beginners to experienced painters, and their progress this week has been wonderful to watch.
This is the last event of the year before I close for the season, as I’ll be heading for Arizona next week for the 21st Annual Sedona Plein Air Festival. It’s a wonderful chance to see both my students’ work and mine.
I’d like to regale you with stories about their courage in the face of rain, fog, sleet, wind and snow, but the weather this week has been absolutely wonderful. (I keep telling you that autumn is the best season in coastal Maine.) Other than a rogue wave nearly washing Dave and his easel off the rocks, it’s been a blessedly drama-free week. I’ve driven them hard, however. I know they’re tired, and ready to join you for a glass of wine and conversation.
Plein air painting is never boring. First, there were skinny-dippers, then these four scuba divers…
We’ve painted at Beech Hill, Camden harbor, Beauchamp Point and Owls Head, giving us granite rockscapes, the long view of Penobscot Bay, lobster boats and fall color. Come meet the artists, enjoy light refreshments, and take home a piece of Maine, painted with heart and immediacy.
Somehow my workshops always seem to involve dogs. That’s Ellie curling up with Mike and Sharron.
My 2026 workshop and Zoom class schedule will be published soon. Watch this space for more information.
Peace is one of two paintings heading to Sedona with me…
I stumbled through building my gallery at 394 Commercial Street, Rockport after I got home from Yorkshire. We finished on July 3. That was a day late and a dollar short for a season that’s as brief as it is here in midcoast Maine.
Therefore, it was no surprise that I’d barely breathed in and out before it was time to close again. I’m heading out west to the 20th annual Sedona Plein Air Festival, and it makes no sense to open back up when I return in early November.
Windsurfers at La Pocatière, 6X8, oil on archival canvasboard, $348 includes shipping and handling in continental US.
But first, an art gallery opening!
But before I do that, I’m holding one more shindig, and you’re invited. This is an opening for the students in the final workshop of my 2024 season, Rockport Immersive, which will be held next week. This is different from most of my workshops, because it includes one day with a model, a trip to the Farnsworth Art Museum, and an opportunity to hear Colin Page’s take on painting.
Those students who can delay their departure will hang their work in my gallery, and you and all your friends are invited to come by and talk art, have some light refreshments, and look at their (and my) work. That will be from 4-6 PM, Friday, October 11.
Why do you call it Richards Hill Gallery, anyway?
Richards Hill has been the name of our house through at least three owners. Until the late 1980s, it was still in the hands of the Richards family, after whom the hill on which we’re located is also named. My friend Cathy, who lived here before me, insists that it’s haunted, but I must be too simple a soul to be bothered by ghosts.
My buddy Jimmy Stewart admiring my palette.
And then I ramble
Immediately after that, I’ll winterize the gallery, pack my SUV and point it into the setting sun. Everyone I know has boggled at the idea. “Why are you driving?” they ask in incredulous tones. I’m heartily sick of flying and rental cars. Last year, my painting kit disappeared at Phoenix Sky Harbor, which wasn’t much fun either.
It’s not like I don’t have form at crisscrossing the continent. Two years ago, I buzzed out to Yellowstone for a weekend with my son Dwight. Four years ago, I went to Cody, WY to collect a pickup truck from my friend Jane. Eight years ago, I drove 10,000 miles across Alaska and Canada with my daughter Mary. This time I’m taking my dog and my husband, although only one of them can help with the driving. On the way back I’ll stop in Cody to see Jimmy Stewart the donkey. Then I’m off to Rochester for my goddaughter’s wedding.
But wait… there’s more
Even though my gallery will be closed for the season, you can still see my work at Lone Pine Real Estate, 19 Elm St., Camden, ME 04843, and North Pond Dental, 2467 Atlantic Highway Warren, ME 04864. Neither affiliation is accidental; I recommend both these businesses without hesitation.
Art show opening details:
Student show Richards Hill Gallery 394 Commercial Street Rockport, ME 04856 4-6 PM Friday, October 11, 2024
Be there or be square!
Registration is now open for workshops in 2026! Reserve your spot:
