Blog

"Champlain Mountain, Acadia National Park, Maine" 

Michael E. Vermette captured this image en plein air as seen in the late afternoon from the Schooner Hewad Road in Bar Harbor, Maine. Champlain Mountain is one of several mountains on Mount Desert Island, Maine in Acadia National Park. It's elevation is 1,058 feet above sea level. There bare a few hiking trails that lead to the summit and at its base is a beautiful mirroring pond. He is using an impressive range of color tones that are translucent and pure, yet boldly presented as the mountain itself when the light of the afternoon sculpts the surface of the monolith. The dark pond highlights lilly pads and other grasses that reflect and shoot out of the shallow pond.

Michael says, "This scene I have passed many times on my way to Schooner Head, Great Head and even the back trail to Sand Beach. But this day I intentionally went out to capture it in the early to late afternoon. I wanted to emphasize the color of the pinkish -orange rock of the mountainside and the warm olive green tree line and shrubs against the deep shadows of the afternoon. The passages of Light and shadow are so beautiful at this time of day that it can only be called stunning. It creates a clarity of the shape of the mountain that is usually flattened in any other time of day."

This is an watercolor painting made in the on location on a calm sunny day in the Fall and rendered in Michael's pure and bold range of transparent washes. Michael uses a descriptive stroke that describes lines of power, motion, and shape in describing the character of Champlain Mountain and it's reflection, yet he paints with a subtlety that captures even the lightest veils of light upon the descending orange-pinkish granite. He painted this study on a handmade Twinrocker heavy weight watercolor paper. He uses only pure Holbein watercolor and Daniel Smith mineral watercolor pigments to achieve the color and the textural grain that is most prized by watercolor painters who have painted on this amazing paper, specially designed and sized for the watercolor medium. He also wets the back of the paper to create even more of a richer statement of color in his washes.

Michael also says, "I am intrigued with the timelessness in change in my paintings. They show a love of color and light with emphasis on the expressive painterly mark and form, which evoke a recognizable feeling, a nostalgic memory, or even emotional qualities such as the smell of salt and balsam in the morning ocean air."

Carl Little writes in Volume 30 of The Island Journal, " Michael Vermette, who emulates the vision of one of Monhegan island's great painters of the past, James Fitzgerald (1899-1971), adds impasto oomph to iconic views"

Michael E. Vermette double majored in Painting and Printmaking at the Maine College of Art, receiving his B.F.A Painting degree in 1980. He received his Certification in K-12 Art Education in 1986 through the University of Maine at Orono. A full-time artist and part-time art educator, Michael has been painting in oil, watercolor, and pastel for over fifty years and has won numerous awards for his work, including the Marilyn Sabin, Lauran Coleman and the Beverly Awards at the 12th,13th and 14th Biennial North American Open Shows of the New England Watercolor Society where he has been awarded signature membership. Most recently, Has been been awarded the honor of being the 1st Allagash Wilderness waterway artist-in-residency for the summer of 2020 where he expects to paint another 50 small studies. Michael is also the 2018 first place winner of the Castine Plein Air Festival, and a 2015-2017 winner as well. He won Best of Show in the Kennebunk River Club Art Exhibit and Sale for his watercolor, "Sea Dog". Michael leads several oil and watercolor plein air painting workshops in Maine and New Hampshire throughout the year. He is a Monhegan Artists' Residency Fellow and the 2011 Baxter State Park Artist-in-Residence in Maine. He was also an Artist-in-Residence at Acadia National Park twice in 1999 and 2006. His watercolors, oils, and pastels are in private collections throughout the country and internationally. In Maine, his works have been shown at various galleries and is currently represented by the Frame and Art Gallery in Yarmouth, The Lupine Gallery on Monhegan Island, and the Gleason Fine Art Gallery in Boothbay Harbor, all located in Maine. Because of the very high quality of the painting the starting price is set at 1/4 of the painting's worth. Because of this high quality and the confidence with quality custom shipping, I do not allow money back returns at this time.