OpSail2012CT

 "Red Right Returning" 15"x30" oil on stretched linen

In honor of the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812 and the writing of "The Star Spangled Banner", OpSail2012CT brings 22 vessels into New London Harbor, and the city adds some local flavor with Sailfest and its fireworks over the Thames River.

Boats will begin assembling at 3pm Friday in Niantic Bay, where East Lyme officials have scheduled a street festival in downtown Niantic and a dinner at McCook Point Park for the crews.  

I'm happy to be included in the fun - I've been invited to be one of the featured Plein air artists along Main Street in Niantic this Friday afternoon, July 6th!  Come by and see me, I'll be painting at Cafe Sol on Main St.

Check out http://www.opsail2012ct.org/ for more info!

You may want to be at McCooks Beach on Friday afternoon to see the USS Carter Hall, a 610 ft. Navy dock ship (visualize landing hundreds of Marines via hovercraft) deliver it's captain on the beach in a big Hummer! The ships will be in Niantic Bay Friday evening until Saturday morning when they head over to New London for the Parade of Ships!

New England Summer By The Shore

6"x8" oil on museum quality Belgian linen board

"Don't follow the critics too much. Art appreciation, like love, cannot be done by proxy. It is a very personal affair & is necessary to each individual."
~ Robert Henri


My fellow artist & friend Don Watson found this quote by Henri. I was so glad to come across it, it was like another reminder to pull R. Henri's book, "The Art Spirit" off the shelf for another read through.

What a fabulous day we had again today! Now I know if you've followed this blog for more than six months, you've heard me wail about bleak New England winters. But summer is here and life is GREAT! Here on the shoreline, we even get the 'bonus- breeze'. It'll probably get all muggy in a few days, just because I took a notion to brag on the weather up here. Everyone else is sweltering with the heat & humidity....but I think as it moves up past the mid-Atlantic, we'll be having a "fire-cracker" 4th of July like the rest of the Atlantic coast.

We are so lucky to have Harkness Park as a state park, here in CT. It is one of the lovliest places I've ever seen...and that's in all seasons. Right now, everything is blooming like crazy! There's a large rose arbor to the left, it's tall enough for even very tall people to walk under. Today I could hear the birds echoing inside the thing from across the lawn while I painted. The day lilies are in full bloom, in so many wonderful colors, from pale yellow, peachy cream, orange, all the way to a deep burgundy red. The air was clear and the water sparkled off in the distance, and the breeze was certainly welcomed today. Ahh, can you tell I'm loving summer? By the sounds of all the happy people today, I know I'm not the only one!

While it's wet & unframed:

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Price: $125 USD plus $10 USD s/h
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