MAPLE JUICE COVE, MAINE

MAPLE JUICE COVE, MAINE

I think about my July/August trip to Maine a lot as it was a lifetime event.  I want to go back and often think about buying a little cottage in the mid-coast region.  If only.

I found it difficult to paint en plein air there because the colors seemed flat, the light key very high and the water vistas vast.  Can you see what I mean by comparing and contrasting the photographs below with my completed painting?

It took many days of plein air paintings and corrected paintings to see how important it was to zero in on a smaller area.  Paintings can't capture the vastness the eyes see.  But translating the view to a painting takes practice.  It is so important to sketch before painting.

On my last day on the mainland of Maine  I wandered looking for a coastal painting opportunity.  Way too often what I wanted to paint was on private property so it occurred to me to look for vacant "For Sale" waterfront property.  When I drove to this beautiful For Sale site, a handsome man was working in the yard giving me an opportunity to ask for permission.  He assured me it was ok to paint there.  

Maple Juice Cove, Maine by Carol Hopper
9x12, unframed, oil on gessobord
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 The gorgeous house on Maple Juice Cove is still for sale and you might like to buy it at www.maplejuicecove.com.   The owner told me even more than I had previously learned about the Olson House which is located directly across the water to the left, out of my photograph.  If you are a lover of history and famous paintings and painters you might like to visit the Olson house website.

Edward Hopper is a very famous painter too, who painted this area.  I have thought about telling you how he is a relative of mine...through marriage.  Would you be interested in hearing that story?

VENTURA HARBOR IV

VENTURA HARBOR IV

VENTURA HARBOR IV
12x12 oil on gessobord
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Besides painting en plein air in Ventura I also took many photographs so that once I returned home to New Mexico I could continue to paint the boats, water, harbor, and buildings.  I got a very good sense of the setting, could smell the salt water and feel the humidity so missing here at home.

I love the color the paddle and surf boards, flags and canvas sail covers add to the scene.  Adjacent to the building, there are many umbrellas under which to enjoy a fish sandwich or a spicy Mexican meal.

If you haven't been to Ventura you would be missing something.  There are quaint shops, hotels, restaurants and even a weekly flea market.  Ventura is fairly quiet with not a lot of traffic, my kind of place.

AT REST

AT REST

At Rest
6x8 FRAMED oil on canvas
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Framed with black frame outside measurement 11x13", charming boat painting of two dinghies at rest in a harbor.

I continue to be on a roll with water, boats, harbors, and seascapes.  My heart is on the coast where I will soon spend two weeks plein air painting in Andrew Wyeth country in Maine.  I want to smell the salt water, to study boats more in depth, to understand coastal industries and to eat fresh fish daily.

Harbor Sunrise

HARBOR SUNRISE

HARBOR SUNRISE
10x10 unframed oil on museum quality board
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Painting boats, ships, harbors, ocean, and water is a favorite genre of mine. A few years ago I was in Ogunquit, Maine at Perkins Cove. Ogunquit has a sandy beach, and more than a mile of picturesque rocky shore. It is a popular place for artists. I recommend the Barn Gallery there.

IN THE HARBOR

IN THE HARBOR

IN THE HARBOR
8x8 oil, unframed, palette knife
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I am thinking boats, harbors, lobstermen, fishermen, fish markets, waves
and
my summer trip to Maine

This painting is textural with thick paint layered on with a palette knife.
It is suitable for framing and looks best in a floater frame
but you can also display this on a beautiful tabletop easel

ON MY WAY...motoring out

ON MY WAY

On My Way
12x12 oil on gessobord
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There are definitely many sides of me in many areas
palette knife and brush
 desert, Europe, flowers, street scenes, buildings, architecture
still life, landscape, seascape, interiors
impresionistic, alla prima
studio artist and plein air artist


I cannot be put in a box in terms of subject matter
The world is too full of magnificent beauty

So paint I must
and
travel I must


Two more trip in 2014
two weeks each
Maine and France

I am proud of this painting: VENTURA HARBOR I

VENTURA HARBOR I

12x12 oil on gessobord
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I love coastal living but here I am in
the beautiful desert of
New Mexico

Within one month I have attended two workshops: one with Leslie Saeta and the other with Dreama Tolle Perry.  Their style of painting couldn't be much different, yet I love them both, style and subject matter.

I painted "VENTURA HARBOR I" with Leslie, en plein air, palette knife only.  We were set up so that the sun was not a bother.  Leslie uses a limited palette of five colors plus white:  Cad Yellow Med, Alizarin Crimson, Ultramarine Blue, Phthalo Green and Sap Green.  On the day we painted the ocean color didn't demand use of Phthalo Green though I have seen it used in many paintings, especially in the ocean paintings of Sorolla I recently saw in Dallas.  The colors I used to get the above ocean color were Alizarin Crimson and Ultramarine Blue (for a bit of purple), Sap Green and Cad Yellow Medium.

Yes, I am in love with harbor scenes and boats.  My Pinterest website has a board of gorgeous ship, harbor and ocean paintings.  You really should see it here.  My plan is to continue this thread of painting and I have already scheduled two weeks of painting in Maine, in Andrew Wyeth country near Rockland.

A photo of what I was seeing in Ventura Harbor
You can see I zoomed in and greatly simplified my painting.

VENTURA HARBOR III

PAINTING HARBORS AND BOATS

VENTURA HARBOR III
9x12 oil on canvas covered cradled board
Palette Knife Painting
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After my very recent trip to Ventura, CA, I have completely fallen in love with

PAINTING BOATS AND HARBORS
A few years ago I spent a week in Maine at York Beach getting salt in my blood.
I can't stay away from the ocean at the moment,
 nor studying famous seascape artists,
 so I have decided to return to Maine again in July, this time for two weeks.
 Of course there will be time for sightseeing,
but my main purpose this time is more painting than vacationing.

To see many awesome painting in one place
click here to view my Pinterest board on Ships, Boats and Harbors.
Click here to view my board of Seascape Paintings on Pinterest.

Ventura Beach Workshop with Leslie Saeta

PALETTE KNIFE PAINTING 

WORKSHOP 

with 

LESLIE SAETA

Ventura Harbor I
11x14 oil on gessobord

Avocado Halves
6x6 oil on gessobord

Ventura Beach Sunset

8x8 oil on gessobord

Carnation Beauty
6x6 oil on gessobord

Many of you have asked me about my workshop in California with Leslie Saeta. Did I like it?  Emphatically YES! Did I learn a lot? YES! The hardest part for me was painting en plein air boats and a full harbor scene.
I am completely unfamiliar with boats.
  As you would expect of me living in the desert.
 And I learned the silliest things about matching color, something I should have learned with my first ever art lesson.



THIS IS THAT LESSON

Mix the color on your palette using your palette knife (of course).
 Now hold that fully-loaded-with-color knife next to the item you are about to paint.
 Does it match in hue and value?
 No more of this "You don't know what color you have until you put it on your canvas."
Do comment but don't tell me how on earth I could have missed such common sense.



SECOND BIG LESSON
(aside from painting that is)

My very supportive husband has listened to me for years tell him I am leaving him for a few weeks in the heat of the desert summer for a cool place. (He likes heat.) Year after year after year, I ask myself where that summer place is.  Besides cool it has to be where I can't wait to paint every day. After being in California on the beach, I am now in the process of searching for my "few weeks of cool" in Maine on the beach. I have contacted someone and can't wait to hear back.