Summer's Over – And About Next Summer: Part 2, The Retreat

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Shaun Painting at Low Tide

In my last post, I promised I'd write about the retreat.  Here's a little about it, plus some photos and paintings.

The retreat for experienced painters followed after the all-level workshop. Although my retreats don't include formal lectures, I offer plenty of opportunities to learn from each other, plus I give demonstrations and critiques.  (Click here to learn the difference between my workshops and retreats.) For this one, my twelve participants came from as far away as Colorado, Virginia and Quebec.  The weather this week was similar to the previous week, but with an addition of a half-day of rain.  During the rain day, I gave an oil demonstration on painting rocks and discussed some specifics on plein air gear and methods.  The week ended on a sunny note, and several participants said they couldn't wait for next year's retreat.  Me, too.

As much as it's sad to see my summer coming to an end, I'm looking forward to next year.  With that in mind, I've scheduled the following for Lubec, Maine:

• All-level plein air painting workshop:  July 31-August 3, 2023
• Painting retreat for experienced painters: August 7-11, 2023

Both weeks filled up very quickly when I announced them last year.  If you'd like to join me next year, I urge you to sign up soon.  Lodging can also be difficult to arrange if you wait too long because these weeks are “high season.”  And after this summer of record temperatures across the northern hemisphere, I imagine people will start booking for next year as soon as they can.  

I've also got two more retreats scheduled for this year, 2022.  I have space in both:

• October 2-7 / Taos, New Mexico
• November 7-10 / Sedona, Arizona
• I'm also considering one based in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, for September or October 2023.  If I get enough interest, I'll pursue it.  If you're interested, let me know!

You can find all the details at my website.  Now, here are some photos and paintings!

9x12 pastel

9x12 oil

12x9 oil - this was a studio demo on our one rainy day

9x12 oil

5x8 gouache

5x8 gouache - low tide under some old fish buildings

5x8 gouache - more low tide

5x8 gouache

5x8 gouache

Rainy day demo

We had fog most mornings

Ann and Janet

Suzanne

One of my paintings on location

Charles

Mary

Late August means goldenrod

Erin and Liz

Suzanne, Shaun and Mary

Charles

Janet

Ann

Suzanne and Janet

Linda

My new friend, Ralph, who visited with us
while painting the old smokehouse complex.
Ralph worked in the canneries for 40 years until
they closed in 1991.  He insisted on having
his picture taken with me.

Summer's Over – And About Next Summer: Part 1, The Workshop

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Find the painter!

Summer's over—well, for me, anyway.  After teaching an all-level plein air workshop and then running a painting retreat for experienced artists here in Downeast Maine, it's time to start packing up the studio.  (But wait!  I'll be teaching at Pastel Live, starting August 17.  You can find details on that here.)  I can't believe my time on Campobello is over.

The all-level workshop took place the first week.  Students came from Arizona, Pennsylvania and New Brunswick to enjoy the cool oceanside.  We had a few hours of fog some days, but we could still see plenty, and it gave us the opportunity to really study and understand values—an essential skill for beginners.  At sunny times, we focused on how color temperature differs between sunlit surfaces and shadowy crevices and with distance.  While going from easel to easel offering help, I observed porpoises playing just a hundred feet offshore while lobster boats came and went, checking their traps.  Painting from life immerses us not just in our subject but also wholly in the environment around us.

Here are a few photos from the workshop week.  In my next post, I'll write about the painting retreat.

9x12 oil on one of the sunny days.

9x12 oil on one of the foggy days.

You can't beat early morning fog for atmosphere.

The fog didn't give students any problems and,
in fact, kept us cool!

One day, we painted on the main street in town.

As much as it's sad to see my summer coming to an end, I'm looking forward to next year.  With that in mind, I've scheduled the following for Lubec, Maine:

• All-level plein air painting workshop:  July 31-August 3, 2023
• Painting retreat for experienced painters: August 7-11, 2023

Both weeks filled up very quickly when I announced them last year.  If you'd like to join me next year, I urge you to sign up soon.  Lodging can also be difficult to arrange if you wait too long because these weeks are “high season.”  And after this summer of record temperatures across the northern hemisphere, I imagine people will start booking for next year as soon as they can.  You can find all the details at my website.

On the Road: Downeast Maine Plein Air Painting Workshop and Retreat

End of Bar Road, 9x12 oil/Multimedia Artboard

I just returned from a whirlwind trip to Lubec, Maine, where I taught a workshop one week and then ran a retreat the next. Normally, I'd be there for the entire summer, but because the Canadian border was closed to me, I was unable to occupy our family home on Campobello Island, my usual base camp for workshops.  Having rescheduled these two events from last summer because of the pandemic, I didn't want to disappoint anyone yet again, so I decided to fly up and rent car and lodging.  Despite the extra expense and trouble, I had a fantastic time and enjoyed working with everyone.

Because of the unusual heat wave baking New England, a good deal of moisture pushed toward Lubec and the cold waters of the Grand Manan Channel, making for some foggy mornings and drizzly afternoons.  Even so, we had some stunningly brilliant hours.  Of course, one of the charms of Downeast Maine is the fickle weather, and as plein air painters, we are all used to rolling with whatever comes along.  We painted at a variety of locations, including West Quoddy Head, where the cliffs and the ocean swells are most dramatic; in Lubec itself, where we enjoyed a bounty of ramshackle fish buildings and fishing boats; and in spots nearby, where we lingered on quiet beaches or near tidal streams that created interesting patterns among the seaweed-cloaked rocks.

For the workshop, students lodged where they pleased, but for the retreat, we all lodged at West Quoddy Station, just a mile from the lighthouse on West Quoddy Head.  A beautifully-renovated US Coast Guard campus, it gave us immediate access to some of the best scenery and provided a comfortable place where we could be together and build the friendships that are so important to the retreat concept.  I am scheduling this retreat again for next summer.

I wrote that the Canadian border was closed.  This is not entirely true, as it did open up while I was at the retreat.  Fortunately, I was able to fulfill the requirements for entry, and I went over for an afternoon, which was all I had time for.  (The border agent asked, “You went through all that trouble just for a few hours?”)  I checked on house and studio—it'd been two years since our last departure—and I'm happy to say all is in good order.  I hope next year will be better for international travel.

In this post, I'm sharing some of the work I created while in Maine.  They are all for sale at $200 each, shipping included to the lower 48 US states

By the way, if you are interested in my plein air painting retreats, here are two coming soon that I still have space in.  Please let me know if you would like to join us!

Taos, New Mexico.  September 26-October 1, 2021.  $300, lodging and meals not included.  Join me for some of northern New Mexico's best scenery!  We'll paint at such beautiful locations as the Rio Grande Gorge, the scenic village of Arroyo Seco, the aspen-clad slopes near the ski area and, of course, in Taos itself.  Our retreat will include visits to such historic sites as the Mabel Dodge Luhan House, the Nicolai Fechin House and the Couse-Sharp Studio.

Sedona, Arizona.  November 2-5, 2021.  $300, lodging and meals not included.  I lived and painted in the Sedona area for over ten years, and I'm eager to share some of my very special painting spots with you.  We'll paint among Sedona's stunning red cliffs and explore its rich riparian areas.  At this time of year, we should have some good color in the cottonwood trees, which make for a beautiful pairing with the red rocks.

Unlike my all-level workshops, the retreats have no formal instruction.  However, we'll have daily critique sessions, informal art talk, and I'll demonstrate my painting methods in both oil and pastel.  The retreats are a great way to connect with the other participants and to learn from them.  And, of course, I will be your in-house expert and happy to answer any questions!  (You can learn more about my retreats here.)  The retreats will be held entirely outdoors, and we will follow CDC guidelines for masking and distancing.  Let me know if you're interested in any of these retreats.

Fog in Purples and Greens, 9x12 pastel/paper

Fog in Greys and Greens, 9x12 pastel/paper

Low Tide, 9x12 pastel/paper

Bay View, 9x12 pastel/paper

Fish Buildings, 9x12 pastel/paper

Standing Tall, 9x12 oil/Multimedia Artboard

The Village, 9x12 oil/Multimedia Artboard

Fog and Rocks, 9x12 oil/Multimedia Artboard

Staying Put, 5x12 oil/Multimedia Artboard

Reaching Out, 9x12 oil/Multimedia Artboard

Pirate Cove in Fog, 9x12 pastel/paper

Downeast Maine Plein Air Painting Retreat

Painting Retreat, Maine, Lubec. August 8-13, 2021

I'm always surprised when other landscape painters tell me they've never heard of Lubec, Maine.  Just two hours east of Bar Harbor, this incredibly scenic and historic fishing village, perched on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean, offers plenty for the painter:  ramshackle fish buildings, a working fleet of lobster boats and scallop draggers, cottages that date from the 1800s—not to mention an abundance of natural scenery that includes bold seaside cliffs, quiet coves and stunning views of the islands of Passamaquoddy Bay.

And it's quiet.  Even on what you might think would be the busiest summer weekend, you'll see only a few people walking the beach.  When I go off to paint, I have no problem finding a place of solitude with a stunning view.

This summer, I'm hosting a special plein air painting retreat for experienced painters in Lubec. Our base camp will be the beautifully-renovated West Quoddy Station, a historic US Coast Guard campus, just a short drive from the Quoddy Head Lighthouse. I have reserved the entire week for our retreat, with check-in on Sunday, August 8, and departure after lunch on Friday, August 13, for a total of five nights.

The Station is perfectly located for our retreat, as it is very close to Quoddy Head State Park with its trails and lighthouse. If you've never been to this park before, it offers stunning views of the Grand Manan Channel with rocky cliffs and rugged beaches as well as interior trails that wind through bogs and spruce forests.

From the Station, a ten-minute, scenic drive along the ocean takes you to the village.  It has several restaurants and shops, as well as a nearby medical center and grocery store. Beyond Lubec, there are several trailheads that offer painting opportunities, such as Hamilton Beach and Boot Head. You will need a passport, as we may visit my studio on nearby Campobello Island, which is in Canada, and also paint in the Roosevelt-Campobello International Park, which has 3000 acres of natural beauty. You won't want this retreat to end!

Each day will start at 8 a.m. with critiques of the previous day's paintings. Following this, I will give some helpful pointers on painting in the area. After that, we'll paint as a group for the morning. Although I won't be giving any formal instruction, I will be offering demonstrations to anyone who wants to watch, serving as your local guide to painting locations, and also painting along with you. After lunchtime, I will give you optional painting assignments for the afternoon. Or, if you prefer not to paint, you can explore—go on a whale watch, take a hike, or visit some of the other villages.

The price of the retreat is $300, which does not include lodging or meals. (You will book lodging separately, directly with West Quoddy Station.)   For full details on the retreat, download this brochure.  I hope you'll join us!

Here's a short video about the retreat from last time (link here if you don't see it below).  (Yes, I know it talks about 2019, but I no longer have the software to edit the video. You'll get the idea, though.)

By the way, if the retreat doesn't work for you, I also am offering two workshops just prior to the retreat in Lubec, July 27-30 and August 3-6.  You can see full details on these workshops here, at www.PleinAirPaintingMaine.com 

Another Snowstorm...and Thinking of Summer

Are you thinking of summer yet? I am!

Although we haven't had many snowstorms this winter in northern New Mexico, the snow we did have isn't going away very fast.  It's been colder than usual.  And now, we are in the midst of another storm, which is predicted to drop about 5" here at the studio...and a little farther up the hill, perhaps a whole foot.

This has me thinking already of summer.  If you're snowbound, iced over or just darn tired of overcast, wintery skies, then maybe you are thinking of summer, too.  Now's the time to sign up for one of my summer plein air painting workshops in Lubec, Maine.  I have cut down on the weeks this year, so space is limited!

Find out all the details here:  www.PleinAirPaintingMaine.com

Now I'm going to go look at some pictures of sunny, warm beaches!

Summer Painting Retreat Report

Perched 14x11 Oil - Available

From the trail, edged with beach rose and meadowsweet, I enjoyed a broad vista of miles of ocean, dappled with sun diamonds.  The swells broke so  gently against the dark rocks that they created just a whisper of white foam.  Although my thirteen painters had strung themselves out over several hundred yards, all the way from the candy-striped West Quoddy lighthouse to the dizzyingly-tall cliffs of Gulliver's Hole, I didn't mind the walk as I visited each of them in turn. 

This was my second time offering the Lubec painting retreat, with participants coming from—it's a long list—Quebec, Vermont, New Jersey, Georgia, Texas, Florida, Colorado, Michigan, Pennsylvania and, yes, even Maine.

Base camp for our forays into the field was the beautifully-renovated and well-appointed West Quoddy Station, a restored US Coast Guard campus.  Perched right at the water's edge on Quoddy Head, a narrow arm of land thrust out into the cold waters of the Grand Manan Channel, it offered us views of Campobello Island and the Lubec Channel.  What's more, because it is only a half-mile from Quoddy Head State Park, it gave us quick access to the West Quoddy Lighthouse, an historic icon and the park's jewel.  From the lighthouse, trails led us to cliffs with views of Grand Manan Island and the Wolf Islands, and when the tide was right, crashing waves cascaded over knife-sharp rocks at the base of the cliffs, kicking spray high into the air.

During the week, we painted not just at Quoddy Head but also in the fishing village of Lubec.  Although the sardine industry is long-gone, some of the historic structures of that time—a smokehouse, skinning shed and others—remain.  Fishing boats, moored in the harbor but swinging with the tides and wind, challenged us, and views of Pope's Folly, Treat Island and Dudley Island gave us more stable subjects to paint.  We also traveled across the border to Campobello Island in Canada, where we drove dusty carriage roads to spectacular views within the Roosevelt-Campobello International Park.  A group dinner on the island with a view of the sunset and a scallop dragger toiling in the bay deepened our friendships as fellow artists.

Each morning during our week, I moderated a critique session—a show-and-tell—in which we talked about the previous day's work, painting by painting. This is always one of the most valuable and anticipated events during my retreats.  Although it's important to enjoy a relaxing week of painting, feedback from others helps us to gain an understanding of where we might go next in our craft.  This understanding will help us in our next period of artistic growth, which will happen some time after we have checked out of our hotel rooms, headed home and returned to our own studios.  I encourage retreat participants to add observations to my own, and I always learn something, as well.

I have already scheduled another painting retreat for next year.  The dates are August 9-14, 2020.  I do give preference to past students for the workshop.  If you haven't taken one with me yet but are interested in the retreat, I encourage you to take a workshop with me so you can join me in this adventure.  Please visit www.PleinAirPaintingMaine.com, www.PaintTheSouthwest.com or my main web site, www.MChesleyJohnson.com, for more information.

In the meantime, I offer a few photos and images of some of my paintings from the week.

August Light 9x12 - Available

Swell 9x12 Oil - Available

View to Ragged Point 9x12 Pastel - Available

View to Campobello 9x12 Oil - Available

What's a painting day without Gamblin Artists Colors?

Yes, this is me - photo by Trina Stephenson