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"Otter Cliffs, Acadia National Park"  and oil on linen 16 inches by 22 inches by Michael E. Vermette

We had a wonderful painting experience in Acadia National Park last Saturday. We met at 1404 Broadway, Bangor, Maine at Abundant Life Church parking lot at 7 am.  The people who came to paint for the day were Becky White, Nora West, Kay Carter, Janice Hambelton and myself. Becky, Nora and I car pooled with Kay who generously offered once again her truck and Janice drove in her own car so that she could leave early to go to work in the afternoon. Kay knew all the short cuts and goat roads that got us there earlier than we would have if we went the usual way. We arrived on scene at about 9:30 am. We found that the park loop road was open and we were able to proceeded to travel along Ocean Drive, witnessing it's infinitely spectacular coastal views. We stopped at Thunder Hole, but it was low tide, so there wasn't much wave action. We decided to paint as a group near a special place I knew about from my artist residency days in the park, just off the Otter Cliff trail.  We helped each other with our gear and hiked down upon the flat rock with a canvas filling view of Otter Cliffs. There were rock repellers that showed up almost on que after we set up our easels and we all took pictures of them throughout the day to include them in future paintings in our studios. The day was much warmer in the morning than we expected. The wind coming from the Northwest, we chose this place because it kept us out of the wind for most of the day. In the after noon we were completely overshadowed by Otter Cliff's cast shadow and it got a lot chillier. We painted as long as we could stand it until 2 PM and made our way back to Kay's truck, which we are now calling, The Plein Air Connection pick-up truck. We joked about getting a magnetic sign to attach to the front door. 

With our paintings in cardboard boxes in our arms like waiters delivering a cake and after getting permission, we entered Galyn's Resturant, a Bar Harbor tradition since 1086. The place should be called Galyn's gallery restaurant because of the many beautiful collection of paintings of the area by local artists in watercolor, oil and mixed media. They had two floors of art and a gallery guide pamphlet that gave details for each piece. They allowed us to have our group sharing and critique in a separate room off to the main dining room and we even got to meet the owner who came by to see our work and told us he is also was a painter in watercolor and oil himself. The staff was very friendly and the host reacted positively about the quality of our work.  The restaurant writes about its colorful history, and we savored the views of the second floor bay window as we wished we could have painted views from their,

".... the building dates back to the 1890s when it was constructed as a boarding house for local seafarers. Although not much has been written about the building, old-timers tell us it has a colorful past. An illegal speakeasy occupied the downstairs during the prohibition era, and some say there was a gambling casino hidden in the back as well.

Today Galyn’s still retains some of the building’s original architectural details, including an exceptional pressed tin ceiling. The Galley Lounge is constructed nearly entirely of materials salvaged from local estates. Upstairs, a large bay window offers panoramic views of Agamont Park and Frenchman Bay."




Artists of the Plein Air Connection on location painting at Acadia National Park, Maine.

We returned at 5:30 PM in Bangor with a wonderful feeling of success. And their was talk about doing smaller studies on site within two-hour blocks so that we can get back before dark. I think that's a great idea. Our next paint-out Saturday will be November 24th and we're not going to be surprised if we find snow on the landscape because the island already received a dusting. Our destination is Schoodic Point. 

Our next meeting is November 17th, 2012 at the Holy Grounds Coffee Shop at Abundant Life Church. We will be going over week 5: Recovering a Sense of Possibility, Week 6: Recovering a sense of Abundance, and maybe week 7: Recovering a Sense of Connection of Julia Cameron's book The Artist's Way. My good friend Joanne Arsenault will be making for us her famous pasta fagioli. She is the best.  Hope you can make it, and if you would like to bring paintings to share with the group that we may not have seen that you painted on location, please feel free to bring them along with your sketch journals. Also don't forget the Art Walk is this Friday night, November 17th. Most of us will be setting up at 3 PM and participating with a great choice of affordable paintings to sell until about 9 PM. I know that Becky and I will be showing at the Mass Mutual Building along with other Bangor Art Society Members. Just look for the potter in the store window who will be doing a free throwing demonstration on the pottery wheel for the public, sponsored by the Creative Arts Center in Brewer. 

The Creator's best,

Michael E. Vermette
The Plein Air Connection Coordinator