Blog

Camden On Canvas

Camden on Canvas was an incredible experience for my wife and I this summer. I got a chance to paint with 19 other notable painters in Maine and out of state whose plein air paintings were auctioned off by the entertaining and charismatic auctioneer, Kaja Veilleux, of the Thomaston Place Auction Galleries in Thomaston, Maine. The auction took place outdoors in the pavilion of the Camden Library. It was a very hot weekend, but the paintings were amazing, displayed on the easels that they were painted upon.

I decided to paint a subject I first saw two years ago during a boat parade. I was able to witness the parade again on Saturday morning and was able to recreate the image I remembered in plein air and from direct observation from the village green near the library in Camden. It was a very hot few days and I relocated my easel twice. My subject was of the Yawl boat that fairys out the schooners in and out of the harbor, since they do not have motors.

I am very thankful for the Camden Public Library who put my wife and I up at the Hearthstone Inn & Hideaway, within a short walking distance to the library. They really went out of their way to reserve for Elaine and I a special place to honor the fact that I had recently retired from public school art teaching after 36 years of service. I thought that was very welcoming and made my stay that much easier. I was very thankful too that I was selected as one of the 20 painters and hope they do it again next year. I'm not sure how much was made, but the event was well attended and bid high on many of the paintings, which lead me to believe that they made over $50,000.00 as judged from last years inaugural event. Well done all staff and voleeteers involved in this wonderful event. It was a very successful event!

OIL PAINTING WORKSHOP IN RANGELEY

Next week starting on Monday the 15th I will be in Rangeley, Maine conducting a week-long plein air oil painting workshop through the Rangeley Friends of The Arts. This will be the first time I will be painting en plein air in oil in Rangeley and I'm very excited to return to many of the sites that I painted in my watercolor workshop back in July. That first night on that Monday between 6PM and 8PM I will be demonstrating and discussing the Venetian method of painting solvent free and using my Black Oil Wax medium to paint all prima and in an impasto technique. I will also demonstrate using acrylic and oil stick on paper for those who would like to see a demo that is more expressive.The class will be at SOJO's Marker's Space at 2491 Main Street. right next to the Lakeside Theater on Maine street in Rangeley.

There is still room for students to join the following 4-day plein air oil painting workshop from Tuesday, August 16th to Friday, August 19th at the Lakeside Theater in downtown Rangeley. We currently have a small class of 5 students so far and would love to have more who would like to join us painting on location at the Artist's Trail in the mountains of Rangeley. The focus of the workshop is going to be on painting in opaque mediums such as oil paint on canvas, panels or wooden boards, oil pastels on paper, oil stick over acrylic on gessoed paper and acrylic paint on canvas. Artists can choose to paint on canvas, wooden panels or paper that will be demonstrated in the free introductory class at SOJO's on Monday. All materials will be the responsibility of the individual artist and some art supplies are available at SOJO's for purchase. I am preparing 10 of my birch wood 11 x 14 inch cradled panels currently and in-between writing this newsletter. It is always good to imagine the end in sight.

NEW 50 PLUS ONE SHOW OPENING AUGUST 19th

I am also very excited to announce that the workshop will culminate with my new 50 PLUS ONE show of my paintings that opens on that Friday night at the Lakeside Theater with a reception on August 19th, between 5PM to 6PM. My solo show called "50 PLUS ONE" will include the paintings I painted on my Allagash Wilderness Waterway Residency back in the summer of 2020. I will be including plein air oil paintings and watercolors that I painted to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the waterway as well as watercolors that were painted on the workshop in Rangeley that summer of 2020. The Rangeley watercolors were painted in the week between my two-week residency in the Allagash in August 2020 and that following year in my studio. There is expected to be over 40 paintings on display, most of which were done en plein air. A new edition of the 50 PLUS ONE book will also be available for purchase for $35.00 that will include most of the paintings and their stories in the exhibit. I hope to see many of you who can attend at the show, all are welcome!

Michael E. Vermette