Day 1

Day one of Maine Audubon’s Brush with Nature was exciting. My car was packed and I was ready to go, after I tended to the monarchs I raise. I had been looking forward to this event for weeks, so a little rain didn’t stop me, and it set the mood for a lovely color palette. I painted under the gazebo when it got drizzly, but I kinda like the rain drop effect in my watercolors.

One of my daughters came along with me and she also drew in her nature journal.

We saw a banded Red-tailed Hawk on the trails, a Green Heron in the pond, honeybees clinging to goldenrod, a couple flocks of wild turkeys (but how wild are they, really?), and we kept an eBird list of more.

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 Day 2

Day two of Maine Audubon’s Brush with Nature plein air painting event was sunnier than the first! I’m so glad to be part of this 4-day program, (along with 24 other Maine artists) where our paintings created during this time will be auctioned off online for Maine Audubon!

On day two, I was happy to have the sun and both of my daughters with me. I tried to cover the field, the pond, and make multiple smaller paintings, thinking I would create a variety of work that would appeal to all budgets. At this point, I still thought that lots of work was the goal. The Green Heron was still there, and the Mallard ducks were delightful to have around. Not so much, the bugs.

We also kept another eBird list.

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Day 3

Day three of Maine Audubon’s Brush with Nature was all about the garden— zinnias and monarchs, to be exact. But as I worked on my watercolors, I had a question in the back of my mind. Why were all the other artists working on one large painting. Was I missing something?

Both my daughters were with me and they enjoyed taking walks around the sanctuary, birding, watching the Green Heron, drawing, sketching, just being here.

Today, after a conversation with an artist who had dropped off her piece, I asked the question. At that point, I realized I’ve been doing it all wrong. I’ve been painting as many small works as I could, and somehow missed the fact that we were supposed to be working on *one* solid painting for the auction. Artist fail. I mean, I guess I had three days of warm-up because tomorrow, I’m bringing out the oil paints and a large canvas and we’ll see what happens.

Time in nature is never waisted, and I enjoyed meeting the community gardeners, talking to folks, watching beloved monarchs and being able to be here in this amazing time of year. It was hot, but when a dear friend visited, it made my day!

And we kept another eBird list.

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 Day 4

Day four of Maine Audubon’s Brush with Nature event closes with a painting I’m proud of. I showed up around noon time, after tending all my monarchs, with a giant blank 24” x 36” canvas.

I looked at the field. Considered what color I felt would be a good undertone and chose a rich shade of violet, on the raspberry side. The purple asters and dying foliage emitted a burgundy hue when I looked out over North Meadow, and with the striking golden tones, I knew that purple would set off the yellows. Complimentary colors sing together and they were right in front me. I couldn’t resist.

My daughters were both with me again. I took a short time lapse video. There were some serious gusts of wind that day and they blew my easel over twice! Can you spot the blip in the time lapse? It’s quick!

About six hours later, and several bugs rescued from an oil paint demise (and some not), the painting was drying in the trunk of my car. I used a small heater to “bake it” overnight and managed to get it dropped off to Gilsland Farm before the 5pm deadline the next day. The online auction for this painting, and artwork created by other artists for this plein air event opened for bidding on Friday, September 17th and closes September 26th! Visit Maine Audubon’s Brush with Nature page for more info!

We also made another eBird list, of course!

Thank you to Maine Audubon for having me, and for hosting this Brush with Nature event!

BIDDING CLOSES SEPTMEBER 26TH!