Blog

Hello everyone and happy Spring! By now we are all looking for better weather and personally, I am looking forward to plein air painting every week and keeping up with my studio painting schedule as well. I have also been leveling off my business and making updated changes. For one thing, I have changed my email from [email protected]to

[email protected] . The old one will still work for a while, but eventually it will be fazed out, so please make the new change to assure you are able to contact me. I will be doing more newsletters in the future and come off the shelf from my nearly 3 month hiatus , as it were. I hope to continue to share more about my stories and personal convictions as a full time Christian artist in this crazy world. we live in.

SPRING EBAY AUCTION STYLE AUCTION

I've decided th start out this year with a Spring Ebay Art Auction. I didn't get a chance to do this last during the last holiday season and now I feel like now is the right time. It will run from now until the end of April. You'll find a variety of small framed inland paintings to bid on from of my demonstrations of past plein air workshops, Plein air festivals and residencies. They include works from the Rangeley region, my inaugural residency on the Allagash Wilderness Waterway, the Mount Desert Island area, Wiscasset and even a few paintings from the Kenduskeag Stream in Bangor. There is something for everyone to connect with. The following works have been up for a week now, so please don't hesitate to bid or even buy your favorite painting.

WORKSHOP SCHEDULE

This year I willl be teaching 2 week-long workshops and three one-day workshops in various locations in Maine.

I begin this year with a week-long oil and watercolor painting plein air workshop in Rangeley called, "The Artist's Trail: Plein Air Rangeley". It will be July 13th to July 17th, 2026. The cost is: $275 -( lodging and meals extra). To check it out or to register: click here. This is open to watercolor and oil painters who want to paint with me on location in plein air as I will be demonstrating in both mediums.

I will not be teaching a second workshop in Rangeley because I am very excited to be teaching a workshop called, " The Race: A Monhegan Island oil & watercolor plein air painting workshop" in September 2026. I will be teaching along side my fellow colleague Eric Glass as my assistant. We will bring students into a routine similar to the painting production of Robert Henri and his students George Bellows and Randall Davey when they came out to paint in 1911. With the rugged beauty of the Monhegan Island as their inspiration, students will be challenged to paint as many painting studies as they can( up to 4 per day) in a 4-day schedule. The workshop will be September 22nd to September 25th, 2026. The Price: $ 450.00, (Inn , meals, and travel Accommodations are extra). To Register: CLICK HERE. This workshop is open to oil and watercolor painters who want to paint with Eric and I on location in plein air.

There will be a one-day plein air workshop at the Spruce Point Resortin BoothBay Harbor, Maine to kick off "The Race" plein air workshop that will continue on Monhegan Island in the 4 days that follow. On Saturday September 19th, that evening, there will be a welcome and introduction to the workshop followed by a presentation of the painters and their paintings and how they were influenced by the Race and Monhegan Island. The very next day, Sunday September 20th, " The Race" plein air workshop will continue just as it did with Robert Henri who also began by painting in BoothBay Harbor first. Students will be traveling by boat from Spruce Point to Burnt Island to paint for the day with Eric Glass and myself, Michael E. Vermette. There will be an engaging critique in the evening to capsulate the program's starting day.The price for the evening introductory program and the single day workshop on Burnt Island is $50.00 for the day (lodging is extra, but if you are staying at the inn the boat ride over to Burnt Island is included). We have blocked off rooms that will be discounted for students taking "The RACE workshop" To registerer Click Here, then call to reserve your blocked out room atSpruce Point Inn Spa and resort on Saturday night for a discounted workshop rate. at 800-553-0289 or main phone: 1-207-633-4152.

Then students will have a day, Monday, to get over to Monhegan Island, get acquainted, and complete their "Race" just as Robert Henri, Randall Davey and George Bellows did for the next 4 days. The workshop on Monhegan Island will continue on Tuesday morning, September 22nd.

Before then in July and August I will be teaching two day-long plein air workshops for the Maine Youth Wilderness Leadership Program Students in Baxter State Park. They see many instructors through their two week experience in Baxter State Park but they will paint with me en plein air on Wednesday, July 22nd and on Thursday, August 13th, 2026. This is a program sponsored by the Friends of Baxter State Park. Please contact them for a student who might be interested in this outstanding wilderness experience. Particularly one who will participate in this challenging outdoor program experience in Baxter State Park byClicking Here.

IN CONCLUSION

It is shaping up to be a very productive summer of painting. More newsletters will be coming out with information about shows and auctions that I am participating in. But for now I'll keep this as short as I can.

Have a amazing Creative Week,

Michael E. Ver mette