Monhegan…

A license plate on the Monhegan Trucking truck.

A welcome site when you arrive to the island and need your bags taken to your location. It’s cool how the few trucks line up ready to take your bags. The Island Inn, the Monhegan House, Monhegan Trucking and others picking up mail, packages, etc.

They have it down to a science!

Back to normal posting next week – catching up after a week of being out with a cold. Back to the land of the living, woohoo!

📸 IMAGES ARE MY OWN UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE. PLEASE CONTACT ME IF INTERESTED… CATCH YOU BACK HERE TOMORROW!

Peaceful Maine Water…

Calm Maine Water

Peaceful, isn’t it? Sometimes when the world seems out of control you need to take time to focus on something serene.

This will do it!! Happy Sunday! I’ll catch you back here tomorrow

📸 Images are my own unless stated otherwise. Please contact me if interested…

A walk through town… Monhegan.

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A Monhegan street scene for all of you Monhegan lovers! The building on the left was the Carina and is now the studio of abstract artists Steven & Katherine Aimone.

This is walking from the church towards the Island Inn. We’ve been in it many times as the Carina (grocery, sandwiches, etc.). It would be fun to be back there right now!

Enjoy your Saturday! Catch you back here tomorrow!

📸 Images are my own unless stated otherwise. Please contact me if interested…

First day of Winter…

Tree

My calendar says WINTER BEGINS… It depends on where you live from what I’ve read, some places it’s today and others it may be tomorrow, in any case the Winter Solstice is the shortest day of the year, the day when the sun is up for the shortest amount of time. After this, days will begin to get longer – hard to believe, ha ha… it’s a slow progression no doubt, one that I am thankful for!

This is my desktop image for the month of December, I just love it! This is a tree that my dad has made from the table and umbrella that sits near the river – how clever is that? Just look at that sky! LOVE IT! This image brings good memories of a happy holiday season!


🖼 IMAGES ARE MY OWN UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE, PLEASE CONTACT ME IF INTERESTED…

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Featured Artist: Kate Chappell!

Path to Blackhead by Kate Chappell

Path to Blackhead by Kate Chappell  9×12″  Watercolor

Kate Chappell, an artist from one of our favorite places, Maine!  She has incredible paintings (among other things)! This painting (above) is the Path to Blackhead (Monhegan Island). The path with the shadows is delightful!

The Road Home by Kate Chappell 15x11" Watercolor

The Road Home by Kate Chappell  15×11″  Watercolor  (Sold)

This wonderful painting, The Road Home, was at the Lupine Gallery (Monhegan, Maine), but has recently SOLD… What a lovely painting! Just look at those dramatic shadows, I love the bits of dark – This is a wonderful path. Just beautiful!

Kate is quite amazing, her talent doesn’t stop at painting, I swear this woman can do everything! Check out her website and you’ll see what I mean!!

Read a bit about Kate, from her website:

“Kate Cheney Chappell was born Katherine Pope Cheney in Hartford, Connecticut, the daughter of George Wells Cheney, Jr., an insurance executive, and Mary Frances Pope, a trained artist and champion of the visually impaired. She spent her childhood in Manchester, close to her paternal grandparents, many cousins, and the family business, Cheney Silk. At the age of 12, she and her family moved to Farmington, Connecticut, and she entered the Oxford School for Girls (later Kingswood-Oxford School). With encouragement from Art teacher, Rebecca Jones, she entered and won a Gold Key in Connecticut’s Scholastic Art Competition, and was in her first show at age 14. Kate Cheney Chappell attended Chatham College in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (now Chatham University), distinguishing herself in Art, Creative Writing and French Literature. Read more …

Images via KateChappellArtSpace.com and LupineGalleryMonhegan.com, used with permission…

Images are not for reproduction, they are property of the artist.

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Better than Botox!

Me in San Fran

Posting an older image (2005) is better than botox, hee… We had such a good time in San Fran back then, we really should go back, but then that would mean missing Maine and all our friends, so that’s really hard to do. We bought a CityPASS and it was so worth it! Travel has never been easier! There is no way I would want to drive in San Francisco… hop on a cable car or MUNI (bus) – and away we would go. I think we discovered every part of the city, and some by accident, ha ha…

🖼 IMAGES ARE MY OWN UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE, PLEASE CONTACT ME IF INTERESTED…

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Flash from the past – San Fran!

San Francisco, CA

Ahhhh, San Francisco (photo from 2005). This was the last year that Fred and I have been in CA… we decided on that trip to alternate between east coast/west coast and settled on Maine as our east coast location. Problem is once we went there we never stopped! San Fran was so much fun! We stayed at a cool boutique hotel (The Inn at Union Square), that had a wonderful breakfast of yogurt, fruit, nuts, juice, coffee and pastries – then they offered wine and cheese around dinner time, and after that a hot cookie at bedtime. I KNOW! I never wanted to leave, ha ha. All that and it was about a one minute walk to the cable car and a two minute walk to Union Square! We walked so many miles that trip, it was fabulous!

🖼 IMAGES ARE MY OWN UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE, PLEASE CONTACT ME IF INTERESTED…

Back to normal posting next week – Catch you back here tomorrow!

Festive door in Rockport, Maine!

Festive door in Rockport, ME

While in Maine earlier this fall, Fred and I drove around Rockport – a cool city with some really beautiful homes. When we came upon this house, whhhoooooa! STOP! Backup! Need a photo! Thought this would be the perfect Happy Halloween/Happy Fall photo! What an inviting entry, a beautiful door (fabulous paint color!), love the star, the American Flag is so stunning against this backdrop, the pretty flowers and of course, the pumpkins! How creative!

Wishing you a 🎃 Happy Halloween 🎃, and most of all a joyous fall! Catch you back here tomorrow!

Thinking of fall…

Fall is in the air!

Fall has got to be my favorite month. Spring is nice with all the flowers and trees blooming, but it also means hot weather is on its way. Summer is just hot and humid. Winter is nice here in South Carolina, so I have no complaints, I like it, but… Fall is my favorite – when those humid days change to something beautiful where you can be outside without melting – definitely my favorite. It’s so beautiful, even with all the leaves and acorns. It’s all good, I love to be outside this time of year!

These are Monhegan (Maine) pumpkins, I thought they made for a pretty fall photo!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Featured Artist: Cat Bates!

Image: Cat Bates

CB1BDBB and PC1BBB – Image: Cat Bates Jewelry Instagram

Cat Bates. This man has some incredible jewelry. The bracelet at the bottom in the image above has what is called a “sister clasp” – it’s the most amazing thing! I bought this for my husband while at Rock Paper Scissors in Wiscasset, Maine. It’s incredible how if you line up the openings of each clasp just so, the bracelet will come right off, but never fall off. Cat hand braids these bracelets and necklaces and makes the clasps from a mold. When we bought this bracelet, the color of the clasp was darker like the bracelet at the bottom, after wearing it for a while, the clasp turns lighter, like the top image.

While visiting Monhegan, Maine, we saw many people who had his jewelry on. I love it! Take a peek at his website, he has so much to offer and I’m sure will always be coming up with new things that you have to see to believe! We are fans!

Read a bit about Cat, from his website:

“My name is Cat Bates.

I spent my early childhood, and summers through grade school, on Monhegan Island off of the Maine coast.  I remain strongly influenced by the island’s nautical history, rugged landscape, and the resourcefulness and hard work that one needs to live there year-round.  For an extended biography, please click here.    

14 years ago I began studying metalsmithing.  I started working as a professional jeweler in 2004, and graduated from Maine College of Art in 2009 with a BFA in Metalsmithing and Jewelry Design. I have received scholarships to study at Penland School of Crafts, Peters Valley, and Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, and have taught workshops on basic metalsmithing, sand casting, and decorative sailor knotting.  For a resume, please click here.

I employ a variety of techniques in the design and manufacture of my work, from sand casting to sailor knotting, 3-d modeling to forging. I utilize the skills of other professionals when economically  and/or conceptually appropriate, and in these instances give credit in the product description.  I believe that the method used to produce a piece of jewelry (or any object) resonates within it, even if it is not obvious to a casual observer.  For more information on my process please click here.

As a designer, I find a distinct beauty in utilitarian objects, and often notice that through use such objects become more beautiful still.  I think of a bronze oarlock, its exterior caked with oxide from exposure to salt spray, its interior buffed to a warm luster by the rubbing of a dinghy’s wooden oars.  I design  jewelry to be durable, so that use may compound its beauty.  If you wear one of my pieces, I hope that you will take pleasure in knowing that you are part of what makes it beautiful.

I sell my work through this site, at a number of small craft shows throughout the year, and select retail locations around the United States.  For information about making purchases through this site please click here.  For a list of retailers currently carrying my products, please click here.” 

All images via Cat-Bates.com, used with permission…

Images are not for reproduction, they are property of the artist.

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Monhegan Island – Maine

Fred

I know, I post too many Monhegan photos. If you’ve been there you would understand. It’s what gets us through until the next year when we head that way.

Walk, eat, talk, visit, then walk some more… That’s what we do on Monhegan Island. To just BE where it is so incredibly quiet, especially in Cathedral Woods. The air is so fresh and clear, what’s not to love?

Catch you back here tomorrow!

James Fitzgerald Painting – Monhegan Museum

Almost there! Trying to catch up after several days of no wifi and lots of yard cleanup after hurricane Matthew, back to normal posting next week (artists, recipes, house plans), for now enjoy the images!

Frank Pierce by James Fitzgerald 1968

I took this photo with my phone, so it’s not the best in the world, but you can see what a fabulous painting this is! This painting is by James Fitzgerald, and you can see it at the Monhegan Museum when they reopen next year. If you’ve never been to Monhegan Island, it’s amazing! The museum is a must see – do not miss it! The talent is unbelievable!

Back to normal posting tomorrow!

Monhegan Flowers

Trying to catch up after several days of no wifi and lots of yard cleanup after hurricane Matthew, back to normal posting next week (artists, recipes, house plans), for now enjoy the images!

Monhegan Flowers

There are beautiful flowers everywhere you look on Monhegan. The bees are so happy. I wish you could have seen the Farmer’s Market. Many people waiting for the bell to ring, once it rings the produce, flowers, white pumpkins, food, etc. are quickly sold out. I do mean quickly! It was fun to watch!

Back to normal posting in a few days – Catch you back here tomorrow!