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THE PLEIN AIR CONNECTION NEWSLETTER September 9th, 2013


"Morning Channel, Kenduskeag Stream" an oil on canvas 16 x 20 inches by Michael E. Vermette BEST IN SHOW Award Winner!

It was a cool early  Saturday morning September 7th. The Downtown Bangor Wet Paint-Out and Auction began with registration for all the artists at 6 am in the morning. It was a beautiful late summer day between the 60"s and high 70's, a perfect day for painting. Two members of the  Bangor Art Society, Jim Toothaker our treasurer and stained glass artist Lyn Bolduc manned a table in front of the entryway of the Bangor Public Library for those who wanted to register for the first time or to confirm pre-registrations they made online. They stamped their canvases, painting boards and paper substrates and sent them off with a bottle of water donated by Husson College. There was a huge banner with "Paint Bangor Day 2013" marking the site where artists not only registered for the day but also where they would bring their finished paintings back by 3:30 PM in the afternoon. There were approximately 30 artists who painted from sites all over Bangor.
 I arrived at 6:15 am and quickly scouted out areas in downtown Bangor. I was first drawn to the morning light on the small bridge that crossed a channel of the Kenduskeag Stream on Franklin Street. Several painters were already registered and painting, including Jo-Ann Fleishman who painted a beautiful oil of the next channel down from where I painted. My wife drove us to different locations including Market Square which to me is the very heart of Bangor. Many artists chose this area to paint their works for the day including Bangor Art Society member Susan Roberts and this year's poster artist Carol Brooks.  Our presidentUlrike Guthrie, who says," this my favorite view of Bangor," painted the day before so that she could be present at the library all day. I walked around the square and just was not satisfied. Nothing seemed better than that channel with the morning sun illuminating the bridge. I had painted it once before as a vertical in watercolor and won a 1st place prize in a previous Bangor wet paint auction. The possibility of doing it in oil this time and as a horizontal was just too much to resist. So Elaine and I rushed back to find that the spot was still not taken. So I set up and began painting by 8:00 am. 
The spot where I painted is right next to Northeast Reprographics on Central Street, looking up the Kenduskeag Stream channel toward the bridge on Franklin street. It reminds me of a channel in Italy which is just what the auctioneer said about my work and Becky Whight's oil painting. Becky and Kay Carter both stopped by to talk with me. Kay Carterand her husband were on their way to Grand Mannan. I met Becky Whight before she selected a place to paint near the water with a similar view of the Kenduskeag channel through downtown Bangor. Becky won 2nd place in the live auction. Congratulations Becky!


   Michael E. Vermette painting "Morning Channel, Kenduskeag Stream"  Photo by Glen Gerrity


What I loved most about my subject was how the light totally illuminated the bridge in the morning as the precious moments in a Beethoven symphony when his musical scores reaches the crescendo. My whole day focused on that one moment when the sun struck the bridge at its most climatic brilliance, that one moment when the painting subject was at it's best. The tide at the time was going out revealing large stones in the bedrock of the stream. Some were sticking out of the water as the current rushed by in the foreground. They would be entirely covered at high tide later in the afternoon.  I finished up at about 1:30 am and in the course of the day met all kinds of people and handed out art cards with a sample of my painting on one side and my bio information on the other. One such acquaintance actually played a beautiful rendition of "Amazing Grace" on his harmonica. He continued to tell me a story of how Steven King once threw out in the trash the draft of "Carrie" and how his wife Tabitha fished it out only to tell him something like, "I've gone through six months with you on this and you are going to publish this!" The rest was history.  It reminded me of how we should never throw out anything and the people God puts in our lives who have saved works we thought were junk.  For me, that person has also been my wife Elaine.
I attempted to frame my painting in the back of my car when I realized I had forgotten my framing equipment box. So Elaine and I had to go all the way home to frame the painting. It also became a chance for me to cleaned up and get dressed up for the auctions that started at 6 PM. When I returned to the registration site I made it with only 5 minutes to spare at 2:55 PM. 


Jim Toothaker  the treasurer of the Bangor Art Society painting in front of the Bangor Public Library.  Photo by Glen Gerrity.


Some of the paintings were sitting outside of the Bangor Library so I volunteered to bring them in to the hold over room on the second floor of the library where they would be judged for the silent or live auction and awards.  In fact there was a lot of work to do after 5 PM when the library officially closed. I offered my help along with my good friend Glen Gerrity who was there to also lend a helping hand. Lisa Frazell the public relations and public programs coördinator of the Bangor Library also joined in the effort, not to mention their energetic facilities manager Terry Bladen. We moved artwork, put out chairs, hung banners, carried platters of food donated by Schooner restaurant and Steve Wong from The Creative Arts Center in Brewer. We filled out silent auction forms, and so much more. All of us worked hard to help make a smooth transition and make this a success with the library director Barbara McDade who personally assisted our president with the judging of all the artwork and overseeing every aspect of the event. Jo-Ann Fleishman transformed a small room of the library into an amazing make-your-own sunday parlor which quickly became a favorite for all the children and brought the kid out of all of us at the same time. Great idea Jo-Ann!  Jim Toothaker as treasurer was in charge all day of greeting people as they arrived, selling tickets and being the cashier for sold artworks in both the silent and live auction. Barbra Clark also assisted in all of this and together they made a fantastic team. A huge thank you to them and especially Jim whom I'm sure is still accounting for all the checks.
The silent auction was held in the children's story room in the Bangor Public Library and started at 6:00 PM and closed at 7:00 PM.  Most of the pieces sold including student and adult pieces at very affordable prices. There was even a 2-burner gas grill donated by Home Depot, and gift certificates by The Sea Dog, Schooners, The Creative Arts Center, and The Art Barn at the Mill Mall in Ellsworth.  
The awards ceremony took place  up stairs around 6:30 PM on the second floor directly over the children's section. This allowed for easy movement to and from one auction to another. As you came upstairs from the children's section you walked right by the open bar sponsored by Noctumen Draft Haus of Bangor that offered red and white wine, beer and seltzer water. Then as you went down the aisle and passed the book stacks there were five tables of food platters made up of a fantastic assortment of vegetables, fruit, mushrooms with bacon & cheese, chips & brechetta with 2 kinds of sultza, Chinese chicken fingers, crab ragoons, and platters of deviled eggs to die for. The kitchen staff at Schooners Seafood really prepared an excellent spread along with Steve Wong who cooks for Yoshi's restaurant and is owner of the Ceative Arts Center in Brewer. Schooners added a personal touch as well with the owner's wife Sharine, serving as a host for the catering that evening. 


                                                                  Photo by Glen Gerrity


The awards went as follows: In the Children's Division


1st prize in the Children's division went to Kristen Robbins who won $50.00.
 2nd prize in the Children's division went to Jo Jo Picone who won $30.00.
 3rd prize in the Children's division went to Katherine Higgins who won $20.00



                                                                                                     Photo by Glen Gerrity
In the Adult Division
 Best in Show went to Michael E. Vermette who won $250.00.
 1st Place went to Margaret Beaulieu of Bar Harbor who had never sold a painting in her life. She won $200.00
2nd Place went to Becky Whight who won $100.00.
3rd place went to Sue Roberts painting of west Market Square who won $50.00.


                                                                                                      Photo by Glen Gerrity


Each of the prize winners were among the highest paintings sold in the live auction with only a few paintings that were passed up. If the paintings did not meet the reserve price, the participating bidders were asked to seek out the artists to negotiate with them personally. Perhaps the biggest success for this day was seeing the many artists who chose to paint downtown Bangor in visible sight of everyone that passed by. Many people asked the artists what was happening and if there was a class going on. All of the artists were able to tell the public directly that they were painting to raise money for the Library roof campaign and they all invited them to come to the auction. There were reporters who interviewed and filmed artists painting, and radio station interviews who also helped to get the word out. The silent auctions drew quite a crowd and the live auction drew a lot of excitement with auctioneer Susan McKay at the helm.
I would like to personally thank everyone who did such a great job planning and executing this terrific event. We will find out the exact amount we raise for the Bangor Library Roof Campaign at the next Bangor Art Society meeting on Tuesday, September 24th. This event just keeps getting better each year.  I hope we can do it again next year here at the Bangor Library. This  event was certainly a lot of fun and frankly an encouragement for everyone who participated in such a worthy cause.


                                                                                                     Photo by Glen Gerrity


At the next art society meeting I will be giving an hour-long presentation on my own personal insights on Robert Henri's four keys to painting multiple studies en plein air fondly referred to as "The Race." There will be some familiar paintings of Monhegan Island and many that you may not have seen before made by the impressionist school that painted small studies side-by-side with Robert Henri's students. I promise it will be a feast for the eyes! If you are looking for a workshop to attend this fall, I will be offering a workshop at The Katahdin Lake Wilderness Camps between Friday, September 20th and Monday, September 23rd. Then I will be conducting another workshop through the Appalachian Mountain Club at the Beautiful Highland Center in Crawford Notch, New Hampshire. This was voted among the best destinations  in Maine and New England by Outdoor Magazine and is the very cradle of where plein air painting in America began. It it scheduled from Friday, October 18th to Sunday, October 20th.  For more information please go to my web site at www.michaelevermette.

Have a creative week everyone and don't throw out anything. It just might be a masterpiece!

Michael E. Vermette
Coordinator of The Plein Air Connection
Vice President of the Bangor Art Society