daily paintings

It’s time for some family camp painting for me and my brother. 🙂 Since the age if 2 & 3, we have been spending some summertime on the shores of Lake Champlain in Northern Vermont. Driving onto the Champlain Islands always makes me feel like I’m coming home and I know the same holds true for my brother–it’s just a really special place and I’m so happy to be spending time here! This week we decided to paint this pretty sunrise over City Bay in North Hero. I love the bold colors, the sky and that shimmering lake water that I so love swimming in.

I’ve noticed that I like cropping in on images and my brother tends to pan out and do bigger skies or water, in this case. I hope you are enjoying our sibling paintings.

Note: I swapped a sailboat in for a pontoon boat in my painting because I love sailboats!

🙂

Purchase Michael’s painting / Purchase Elizabeth’s painting /

Purchase both paintings (Free Shipping)

I went for a couple of paddles on the Spurwink River in Cape Elizabeth this week and it was so pretty. It was actually the first time I had ever taken my standup paddleboard to the marsh and now I’m wondering what I was waiting for! Floating with the current of the tides while watching the marsh grass go by and the birdlife fish is a dreamy way to spend a hot summer day. And the swimming was divine too. See my video below to get a taste of my marsh paddle with a friend. 🙂

We decided to keep our Acadia theme running this week for our Sibling Saturday/Sunday post. Here we have a spectacular summer morning from the shores of Mount Desert Island, somewhere along the park loop road. Everything about this scene screams Maine summer … the rocky shore, the pine trees, the islands and the fragrant beach roses in the foreground. Can’t you smell them? We used the same reference photo but each cropped in on it in a different way and painted on different size wood panels.

I tagged this photo I took last fall of an Owl’s Head sunset from the ferry from Vinalhaven and today was the day I decided to play with it in paint. I like the simple lines of the composition and the stripes of color throughout the painting. We had gray skies and rain on and off most of the day, so I don’t think I’ll be witnessing a sunset here tonight, but I hope we all get to enjoy the magic of a sunset soon!

For tiny tuesday this week I decided to play around with a couple of panoramic gouache paintings that celebrate summer. This week I witnessed many magical moments on the Maine coast, so it was hard to narrow my selection down … but I decided to capture a sunrise from the Eastern Prom and a nighttime view from the ferry leaving Peaks Island. Enjoy! xo

We took the ferry out to Peaks Island last week and caught a stunning sunset that I couldn’t resist capturing in paint. The monotone sky and water with the bright pink sun and reflection reminded me of a Monet painting. And this beautiful sailboat was headed right into the reflection–so pretty! I know this unusual and striking sky is due to the wildfires out west which is sad and concerning. Ugh. It’s just crazy–I hope everyone in those areas is safe and may the fires subside soon. xox. Be safe and enjoy summer. xox

This week my brother and I decided to paint this amazing vista from atop Cadillac Mountain at sunrise that I was lucky enough to witness last summer. Breathtaking. The colors, the water and those Porcupine islands. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! I don’t think I will ever tire of painting these little islands.

Last summer I took my paddleboard up to Acadia and paddled around a couple of the Porcupine islands after watching the sun come up. It was such a treat to experience them from the water and to get up close enough to see how dense the growth on them is.

We’ve had so many floating rain clouds and fast moving storms this month, and I love it! The skies have been incredible and to see the warm summer rain hit the water and pavement is so soothing. This particular rain cloud missed us, but I sure had fun admiring it from the shore.

It’s so fun to see how my brother and I can look at the same thing and see it in such a different light.  This week my we decided to paint a Kettle Cove view for our sibling set.  It doesn’t matter how many times we head down Kettle Cove Road, getting that view of the ocean and Richmond Island always takes our breath away.  It’s just that pretty.  We both worked from the same reference photo, but I managed to not see a little detail my brother picked up on.  Can you spot it? I’m just going to blame it on my shifting vision. 🙂  Wishing you a lovely weekend!

A sweet friend gave us a beautiful bouquet of black-eyed susans from the farmers’ market last week and I just couldn’t resist painting these little beauties. They are just soooo happy! They are painted on small 4×4 inch wood panels with 1 inch deep edges. I loved painting on this surface because it felt so smooth and hard against the brush. I think there will be more of wood panels in the future. I was able to focus on gestures and strokes and I love the light and cheerful feeling these evoke. Purchase all 3 and get free shipping. 🙂