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Got back home Saturday night and the cats have been purring!
Settling in and will add more soon.

Memory Lane

While visiting my parents,
I'm also revisiting my old oil paintings,
done many years ago, a very different style.

Now I love working on small ink and watercolor
paintings of all subjects.

The view through the window of my

Grandparent's cottage at Old Orchard Beach when I was
a teenager.

Pine Point Maine...an oil painting of the
beach I loved when I spent summers at
my grandparents cottage while growing up.

...a still life from an oil painting class
while I was in college majoring in art.

Drama at the Beach

In the early afternoon, D and I thought we'd
just take a quick look at the beach.
The tide was high and the surf was pounding
against the sea wall then up and over it onto the
road. The sky had the shades of blue that
I so love. A very invigorating sight to behold!

Fog

... watching the fog roll by the window first thing
this morning...

The fog lent an air of mystery to the everyday
landscape on the way to town.

The Artist's Supervisor

When not sitting on the artist's lap, Ellie May
settles into the comfort of her basket for a
bird's eye view of the artwork.
Her purring presence provides inspiration and serenity.

Work to Be Done

Being cold and gray outdoors made today a good
day to stay in and get some work done.

After having the rough pencil sketch approved,
I'm now working on Monty's portrait with ink and watercolors.
It's slow going but you can see some
of today's progress by clicking here.

Here and There

The Harvest Moon rose in the
late afternoon.

a hint of England in New England

Yesterday as we were heading home from a walk
on the beach, traveling along the back roads,
it struck me that this scene could be in England.

Veterans Day

Thank you to our Dads
and to all who have served and serve.

WWII France February 1945 ... my Dad

WWII Okinawa 1945 ... my father-in-law

Cutting Mats

Working under the inspection of Ellie May.

I still cut mats for my art
the old fashioned way, with
a simple Dexter mat cutter and
a straight edge and I work on the floor!
I'm worried that I will run out of blades
one day and not be able to replace them!

Tiny the Horse

(prints available of Tiny and others at my website)

Here's "Tiny" at his job in Kennebunkport.
He can often be seen around town with
tourists and wedding couples touring the
town at a leisurely pace.

We saw him on Sunday morning
getting ready for his day.

A Foggy Day

The fog greeted me through the window
this morning and lingered throughout the day.

Later we took a walk along the beach.

Reaching the jetty, I looked down the
Kennebunk River and through the fog I could
barely see the soft outline of the building
where our gallery had been.


...while walking down the beach near the jetty,
I turned the corner and there, sitting on a log,
was a perfect little pumpkin, that must have floated
in with the tide... the sand still clinging to it.


In the distance, a father and daughter
walked along the jetty.
Their little dog joined them.

...there's something special about a foggy day!

Studio Work

Ellie May is taking a break, she's
been helping me with some pet portrait
commissions.

She's just checking out Prudence (the cat)
and Punkin ( the bunny) to see if they
need any final touches before I mat them.

Bicycles

I still have my old favorite Raleigh 3 speed bike.
I fondly recall how excited I felt when I had saved
enough money that I earned as an artist while living
in Old Town Marblehead, Massachusetts to purchase it.
The bike it replaced I had since childhood and it
didn't have any speeds and had fat tires. Difficult
to pedal up the hills.

Years later, for one of our anniversaries,
D surprised me with a new bike that had 5 speeds!
I was thrilled. I had been using
that til several years ago.
The brakes were so loud people could
hear me from great distances away!
My niece got a new bike and
gave me her old one which has
many speeds, maybe 18! What a difference!
It makes bicycling to the ocean a breeze,
so to speak!
Today was so mild for a November
day in Maine, that I dusted off the bike
and headed for the ocean with stops
along the way to notice the little things that
are often overlooked when traveling in a car.
Here are some of the sights and things
I noticed along the way.

This sign has always been puzzling..
what do you think it means?


Paused along the way at Mast Cove to take
in the beautiful reflection below.



There's many sign posts in
town, which might help or totally
confuse you! (we still have an
old sign there pointing in the
wrong direction)

Must go and work on my art so I will
post more photos later today.

I'm back with more photos of today's
bicycle journey.

Here I'm approaching the neighborhood of
our old gallery... we used to have a shop in that
building before it had been renovated. Ellie May,
my studio cat, actually lived in the upstairs
apartment as a kitten with the couple who
owned the building. As she grew she became
very adventurous and discovered every nook and
cranny in the neighborhood. Eventually, she moved
into our gallery when we moved our shop into the
building next door and she never left and now resides
in my studio at home.

Ah, I've reached the ocean..
Here's one of the last beach roses
to be blooming in November!
it is a gray day but the color in the foliage
and berries is warming.


Just a little further along are benches by the sea.
A good place to pause.
I'll be back a little later with more from today.

Sorting through the photos I took, I'm overhwhelmed!
I took so many photos...everywhere I looked I saw
something that inspired me to paint later in the studio.

(click to image to see it larger)

On the way back, I stopped at a special spot

behind our old gallery, where the river meets the sea.
Even on a gray day it's a place of beauty and serenity.

(prints are available of this sign post in Dock Square,
Kennebunkport and many other scenes of the Kennebunks,
just click on the sign post painting)

I'm going to jump ahead to my return home
but will fill in later as I find time.

Yesterday and Today

Yesterday slipped by...the clocks set back one hour.
Very cold in spite of the sun...caught the
sunset...so calm and and clear...
the sky pale pink and a soft blue
as the ocean gently rippled. Very peaceful!


After a night in the low 20's, the layers of clouds added a
winter feel to this day. To our surprise, a sliver between
the lower level of the clouds was enough to reveal
the sun setting tonight.

Salute to Veterans

Thank you to all Veterans and those who serve.

(that's my Dad saluting (on the left) as he marched in the Veterans Day Parade)

His philosophy is
"No act of kindness, no matter how small is ever wasted." Aesop

He was a combat medic in WWII with the 45th Infantry Division
and served in Italy, France and Germany. The 45th Division
liberated Dachau Concentration Camp on
April 29, 1945.

He came across this on the internet a few nights ago
and saw himself there, to his surprise!

click the above image to see it larger
(PS. The Connecticut Veterans Day Parade this year was
Sunday, November 2, 2008 and my Dad marched again.)

My father-in-law is also a Veteran.
He served in the Navy during World War II
in the Pacific.