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"The Red Pea pod at McHeard Cove"  an oil on panel 12 x 16 inches by Michael E. Vermette

Welcome New Newsletter Subscribers!

We would like to welcome all those who attended our first Plein Air Connection show at the Peace and Justice Center of Eastern Maine in Bangor and who signed up for our newsletter. We  appreciate you taking an interest in our work and coming out to view the many plein air paintings that were on display by Becky Whight, Kay Carter, Nora West and myself, Michael E. Vermette. Please feel free to follow-up on any one of us particularly with any works that you still might be interested in.  Just click on our name above to go to our web sites. It completes an artist when they are willing to share their work and we thank you for making us feel we are appreciated for what we do. So welcome to our newsletter list and get ready to follow us throughout these exciting summer months.

The Paint-out at East Blue Hill Last Tuesday June 10th , 2014.

Last Tuesday we painted at the boatyard off the Curtis Road in East Blue Hill, Maine. The artists present were Kay Carter, Becky Whight, Teddy-Jann Covell, Karsten Kittlelson and myself, Michael E. Vermette. Some of us painted the view of the islands in McHeard Cove from the boatyard that had a very long dock with interesting crisscross pylon patterns that led out to a fishing shack at its end where the wharf was located. I felt as if I had a dream of this very dock and was intrigued with it right from the start. But when we arrived the tide had come in and made it impossible to paint under the wharf as in my dream. So I painted as near to the wharf as I could within talking distance to my fellow painters friends. In fact I painted right next to Karsten who I had not painted with since last summer.

 
"Islands of McHeard Cove, East Blue Hill" an oil 8 x 10 inches by Karsten Kittelson

The sun played peek-a-boo with us all day as it would come out and then hide behind thick cloud cover. The wind picked up near the day's end and we even broke out our umbrellas for a short period due to a light rain. But we all stuck it out and painted beautiful works. After we went to The Fish Net restaurant  on main street in Blue Hill. There food was very delicious and they even had freshly caught Halibut and chips! We were able to have a group critique in their outdoor screened-in building behind the restaurant, which became a perfect place to view at our paintings one by one as we ate and enjoy each other's company.

 
"East Blue Hill Harbor, Maine" an oil 8 x 10 inches by Becky Whight.

The Next Paint-out is a Plein Air intensive on Swans Island!

To kick off the summer solstice the Plein Air Connection is hosting a plein air intensive weekend in honor of Robert Henri and his book, "The Art Spirit. " In 1903 Robert Henri first painted on Monhegan Island and was so taken by the island, he created 50 studies in just a few weeks. A few years later he returned to paint with two of his students, George Bellows and Randall Davey, with this same passion by challenging them to paint as many studies as they could in one day. This challenge that originated between teacher and students was fondly called "The Race" and is often replicated today as a great way to collect studies of a single area. Just as these painters did, the painter goes to 4 to 5 different sites in one day, painting at each location within a two-hour block of time.
We will be doing this at Swans Island on Sunday, June 22nd and Monday June 23rd. There will be four different sites that we will be going to each day including sunrises, early morning, afternoon and sunset sessions all at beautiful locations on the island. Five of us will be staying at a cottage on the island from Saturday to Tuesday including Greg and Arrah Vanier, Kay Carter, Becky Whight, and myself Michael E. Vermette who be hosting and participating in this event. For directions and ferry service for any of these two days please go to  Swans Island Maine State Ferry Service. To get the Swans Island Ferry you have to go to Bass Harbor on Mount Desert Island. Their telephone number is 207.244-3254. Please bring a lunch and call me at 207-827-7573 if you are coming over for one of the plein air intensive paint-out days.


     
Kay Carter painting at east Blue Hill                     "Red Boat at East Blue Hill" an oil 12 x 16 inches by Kay Carter

Although we do not consider these two intensive painting days a competitive race, we feel it is more an intensive marathon paint-out that
is beneficial for the painter in creating many quality studies in a short period as Henri and his students did. These paintings were small from 5 x 7
inches to 8 x 10 inches in size. So if you are going to take this adventurous challenge onto yourself, please bring at least 4-5 small canvases
or panels for each day. Also bring a lunch since there are not many places to eat on the island. For as many of you who can consider
making it on either of these two days, we look forward to painting with you. 


Making Solid Oak Gypsum Gesso panels at Kay Carter's House. 

This last Monday Becky Whight, Karsten Kittelson, Kay Carter and myself prepared over 40 highly prized solid oak gypsum gessoed panels as the old masters painted upon as a substrate for oil painting.  We made these at Kay Carter's garage with some innovative help from her husband Darrel and my own shared experiences making these panel for over 20 years. It was a long day as we worked to put 7 coats on all sides of our panels with a mixture of rabbit skin glue, terra alba, and zinc white pigment.  We will be using these for our painting intensive weekend on Swans Island and are looking forward to some quality results in our painting! If you would like to try making these panels for yourself you can go to "artist instruction" on my web site or click here. You will need to set aside two days for preparation, but like us, you will be very glad you did. The boards are made of solid oak panels more than 80% kiln dried and 5/16 inches thick.


Becky Whight, Karsten Kittelson, and Michael E. Vermette discussing the method 
of applying a gypsum coat on an oak board in Kay Carter's Garage. 

A Father's Perspective


Happy Father's Day to all you who are fathers! My church honored fathers last Sunday for their source of wisdom for their children and even children that are not their own. Fathers are like artists-teachers who have gone through their ups and downs in the art world and who impart wisdom generously to their students and friends. They are often taken for granted but we all know that our lives would not be the same without them. My pastor, Sr. Minister, Russ Hewett, shared 3 pearls of wisdom that his father shared with him. The one I particularly liked was this one: "The Man on top of the mountain didn't fall there." Early this Friday morning, I will be hiking with my friend Glen to Chimney Pond on a mountain called Katahdin. The wisdom shared by Russ' father resonates in me of the life of a painter. It's a lot of work that you just don't fall into. People will tell you all kinds of things that can discourage you. But if you keep on climbing you will eventually get there with signs of the summit all the way. The secret is to have the ability to share what you have learned on the way. It qualifies you to learn more and climb higher.
So for you fathers, we honor you and hope you had a great day. And for you painters who might be just starting out, I'd like to give you some good advice.  That is, from a father who has painted for more than 40 years, "Keep on climbing, keep on painting, no matter what people say, and no matter what your present circumstances may look like. You will get to the place you dream of, if you are willing to share your experiences on the way. Never give up or give in and never, never expect your dreams to fall in your lap, you must climb to meet greatness!"

I hope you all have a week filled with expanded wisdom that reaches to new levels in your art,

Michael E. Vermette
The Coordinator of The Plein Air Connection