"TheCall Of The Gulls, Fish Beach, Monhegan Island, Maine"

Happy New Year Everyone! 

Elaine and I would like to wish all or friends a happy New Year! We will be going into the New Year with a lot of hope and encouragement that things will be turning around soon.

This is the last painting that I will be posting for the Super Sale/Auction on Ebay for the prices that I am currently listing them at. I chose this painting not only because it has never been listed before, but because the Call of the Gulls reminds me of the Call of a new year to make better connections and establish new relationships. Just as these gulls rely on each other, we must too in this season.

I hope everyone has been able to get their special painting and others have enjoyed seeing the work posted daily. If you bought a painting and you live out-of-state please hang in there, your painting will eventually arrive as the mail in your states returns to normal. Thank you everyone for supporting Elaine and I into the New Year.

Now it's time for me to write my book about my remote experiences in the Allagash Wilderness Waterway. I intentionally gave it some time so I would not be influenced by the daily battle or injuries experienced. I am now well and almost fully restored, and Now I can go over my work 51 paintings and journal with fresh eyes.

I wish you all an amazing New Year of hope, good health and renewed direction!

Michael E. Vermette

"The Call of the Gulls, Monhegan Island, Maine" 
Michael E. Vermette captured this image on the rock jetty made of granite boulders near Fish Beach while observing the Herring and Black-Backed SeaGulls on Monhegan Island, Maine. Michael used three boxes of Saltine crackers to feed the gulls and get them close enough to make multiple sketchs on several 19 x 24 inch drawing pages. The gulls were drawn in numerous positions in flight en plein air and then later composed into this composition using tracing paper overlays, traditionally called the "Cartoon" method. Then Michael painted the rest from his notes and memory in his resident studio on Monhegan Island in 1999 at the "Pink House" also called the "Carina House". He used only herring seagulls for this composition using translucent and bold colored washes to create the sea birds in flight and feeding on the rocky shore near Fish Beach. Michael intentionally leaves out the use of a horizon line and uses the scale of the seagulls to create space as well as bright to dull color.There is a lot of movement suggested in this watercolor and yet the color of the light is outstanding in that it clearly depicts a foggy day with light burning through as on an island off the coast of Maine. The position of each seagull complements the other as their wings create a folding and twisting bend that repeats itself as a compositional shape in the painting, making a pattern that is more hormogous.

Michael says, "I was struck by how luminous these herring Gulls are when they take flight. The simplicity of the repetitive action the sea gulls in the shape of their wings in flight make for a very exciting composition that is alive with activity. This is a composition that I have developed from memory in my studio relying mostly on my gestural drawings I made while observing Gulls in Flight at Fish Beach and transferring them onto the watercolor paper in a composition that felt right to me. It took three boxes of Saltine Crackers to get what I needed not only for this painting but to use in others. This painting also speaks on another level of Maine's ultimate coastal bird that coexists with the hard work of the lobsterman." 

This is an watercolor painting made in the studio in Michael's pure and bold style of transparent washes. Michael uses a descriptive stroke that describes lines of power, motion, and shape in describing the character of the the Herring Gulls in flight and while landing to feed, yet he paints with a subtlety that captures even the lightest veils of light upon the wings of the seagulls. He painted this study on a vintage Arnold English cold press handmade watercolor paper with a beautiful laid and ribbed texture. He used only pure Holbein watercolor and Daniel Smith mineral watercolor pigments to achieve the color and the textural grain that is most prized by watercolor painters who have painted on this amazing paper, specially designed and sized for the watercolor medium. He also wets the back of the paper to create a richer statement of color in his washes.

Michael also says, "I am intrigued with the timelessness in change in my paintings. They show a love of color and light with emphasis on the expressive painterly mark and form, which evoke a recognizable feeling, a nostalgic memory, or even emotional qualities such as the smell of salt and balsam in the morning ocean air." 

Carl Little writes in Volume 30 of The Island Journal, " Michael Vermette, who emulates the vision of one of Monhegan island's great painters of the past, James Fitzgerald (1899-1971), adds impasto oomph to iconic views"

Michael E. Vermette double majored in Painting and Printmaking at the Maine College of Art, receiving his B.F.A Painting degree in 1980. He received his Certification in K-12 Art Education in 1986 through the University of Maine at Orono. A full-time artist and part-time art educator, Michael has been painting in oil, watercolor, and pastel for over fifty years and has won numerous awards for his work, including the Marilyn Sabin, Lauran Coleman and the Beverly Awards at the 12th,13th and 14th Biennial North American Open Shows of the New England Watercolor Society where he has been awarded signature membership. Most recently, Has been been awarded the honor of being the 1st Allagash Wilderness waterway artist-in-residency for the summer of 2020 where he expects to paint another 50 small studies. Michael is also the 2018 first place winner of the Castine Plein Air Festival, and a 2015-2017 winner as well. He won Best of Show in the Kennebunk River Club Art Exhibit and Sale for his watercolor, "Sea Dog". Michael leads several oil and watercolor plein air painting workshops in Maine and New Hampshire throughout the year. He is a Monhegan Artists' Residency Fellow and the 2011 Baxter State Park Artist-in-Residence in Maine. He was also an Artist-in-Residence at Acadia National Park twice in 1999 and 2006. His watercolors, oils, and pastels are in private collections throughout the country and internationally. In Maine, his works have been shown at various galleries and is currently represented by the Frame and Art Gallery in Yarmouth, The Lupine Gallery on Monhegan Island, and the Gleason Fine Art Gallery in Boothbay Harbor, all located in Maine. Because of the very high quality of the painting the starting price is set at 1/4 of the painting's worth. Because of this high quality and the confidence with quality custom shipping, I do not allow money back returns at this time.