Acadia National Park Plein Plein Air Painting Workshop - Days 4, 5

Although the last two days of our workshop week were predicted to have rain, the rain didn't arrive until late Friday afternoon, and by then, we were back in the studio for critiques and final questions.  Thursday started off with clouds, fog and a sprinkle, but the clouds thinned, and some of us even got a sunburn.  That day, we went down to Seal Cove, which is a favorite for kayakers.  In the photo below, you can see my friend Pat LaBrecque, maker of the Art Cocoon, with the first of two groups of kayakers in the background.  Curiously, neither this group nor the next ever returned to the launch area.  I leave you to imagine their fates.

On Friday, we headed down to Steamboat Wharf in Bernard and the area around Thurston's.  Thurston's is a famous lobster pound, and we ended up having lunch there.  It's the yellow-roofed structure in the photo at the top of the post.  I like to paint this building, as it offers a nice spot of color on grey days.  Below is my rendering of it and also a close-up of the painting.  I originally painted the roof the color it was, a somewhat warm orangey-yellow, but it was much too warm a color for the cool painting; I ended up scraping out the roof and using a cooler and more lemony yellow instead. (9x12, oil.)

We had a strong wind off the water, and it was cool.  Pat and I found shelter behind a boatload of lobster traps:

One other attraction in Bernard is what I call the Stephen King House.  This was the house featured in King's made-for-TV movie, "Storm of the Century."  It's where the old lady lived in the opening scene in which Andre Linoge arrives and wreaks havoc.  Linoge has mostly one line throughout the movie:  "Give me what I want, and I'll go away."  It's one of my favorite movies.  Here's the house:

All in all, it was a great workshop.  I'm looking forward to my next one at Acadia Workshop Center in October 2012.  In the meantime, I still have space left in some of my Campobello Island workshops.  Visit www.PaintCampobello.com for details.