The Rocks of Pemaquid

The Rocks of Pemaquid   6" x 12"   Pastel   ©Sheila Ashley Liston
Available $145

Hurry! You still have time to make it!  Put it on your calendar for Sunday, November 26, 2017....Santa arrives briefly via helicopter at Pemaquid Point Lighthouse Park in Bristol, Maine.

This is a beautiful, well-maintained park that makes it well worth the time to visit for a day while taking in Maine's lighthouses. There's a wonderful museum that houses much information about the fishing and marine heritage of the area. In addition, I was thrilled to see some lovely art by local artists in an art museum on the grounds.

The weather was perfect that day, with a wonderful sea breeze that coaxed us into staying much longer than we had planned. The lighthouse makes a fabulous scene, but today I chose to focus on the unique rock formation. We'll definitely plan a day here on the next trip! 

  

Maine Estuary

Maine Estuary     6" x 12"    Pastel       ©Sheila Ashley Liston
Available $145

Sometimes the ordinary scene has so much to tell, that it becomes an extraordinary painting subject. I'm drawn to these areas of transition between the ocean and the rivers, that offers some protection to the inland from extreme weather events.

After drawing in an outline, I used black watercolor to establish the value pattern.

Here I began to use Inktense sticks to begin laying in the local color

This is the fun part where adding water to Inktense causes a burst of color and dripping.

After the sanded paper (UArt 500) has dried, I began to add pastel. First, I used hard pastels. I worked with lighter values in the backgound and used peach, lavender, and pale blue pastels to paint the overcast sky, and then to use the same to add the final details in the water areas.

At this point I used soft pastels to add final details along with some hard Nupastels to add the grasses and weeds in the foreground.

Twilight at Portland Head Lighthouse

Twilight at Portland Head   6" x 8.25"   Pastel    ©Sheila Ashley Liston
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Portland Head Lighthouse in Portland, Maine.

I decided to paint from the photograph below. The more I thought about it, I began to fantasize about how it might look as the evening sun sets and the twilight begins.  We weren't fortunate to actually see that happen, but I decided to create that vision in my mind and then transfer it to my new UArt dark pastel paper. Since the paper is almost black to begin with, it seemed like it would be a good start to a painting at that time of the evening.    

It's interesting to me that sometimes a song comes to mind while I'm working. This time it was the hymn, "Be Thou My Vision" 

Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;

Naught be all else to me save that thou art.

Thou my best thought, by day and by night,

Waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.

Marginal Way

Marginal Way   6" x  8.5"   Pastel    ©Sheila Ashley Liston

Available $95

Day 5 of Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days September 2017, Marginal Way, Ogunquit, Maine

Our first experience in Maine was to Ogunquit in a pouring rainstorm. Not wanting to miss anything, we purchased ponchos and headed out to a trail along the ocean called Marginal Way. What a way to see Maine for the first time. The ocean was slapping against the rocks with high winds in a sideways pouring rain. We loved every minute of that storm!

This trail is now an asphalt walkway perched on the high rocks along the coast.  Marginal Way has many stunning views. On that evening in October, that bare tree spoke of the winter that would be on its way soon.  

Deer Isle

Deer Isle        8.5" x  11.5 "       Pastel          ©Sheila Ashley Liston
Available $165

Day 5 of my self-challenge of 7 paintings in 7 days.

 What I used to paint from, is the reference photo below, from our vacation trip last fall. In Maine, it seems that frequently there's another lovely roadside view, just waiting to be painted, everywhere we traveled. This was on Route 15A through Deer Isle, as we drove back from our stay at Stonington. I wanted to jump out of the car with pastels and easel in hand, however this was on private property. I had to be satisfied with a "drive by" photo from my cell phone.

I enjoyed painting this scene and I plan to do another larger painting in the near future with a similar view of rocks and water.

Portland Head Lighthouse

Portland Head Lighthouse   6 x 6    Pastel     ©Sheila Ashley Liston
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Portland Head Lighthouse....a favorite!

This is Day 3 of a self-challenge of painting 7 paintings in 7 days. There's more to follow.

My husband and I have visited this lighthouse before our trip last fall. It will always be on the itinerary for any future trips to Maine. I could spend hours there. Last fall these prolific wildflowers begged to be painted . I have painted this lighthouse focusing on the rocky cliff and the ocean waves. This time, I wanted to include those flowers. 

Late purple asters

This is the more common view that you may have seen before. I took over 50 photos that day and some will become paintings in the future. The first year that we were there, the Tall Ships were sailing by. What a sight!. 

Fishing Camp in Maine

Maine Fishing Camp   4 x 6   Pastel   ©Sheila Ashley Liston
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View from a roadside in Maine one October morning.....

We found this roadside treasure on the way back from Stonington, Maine. This was a perfect fall day for travel, although I admit that I was reluctant to leave the town of Stonington. Stonington is a picturesque old seaport on Penobscot Bay located on the southern part of Deer Isle. From the deck of our hotel, we enjoyed watching the lobster fishermen unloading their early morning catches. 

We stayed here at the Inn on the Harbor. Here we found a pleasant surprise that the owners, Dana and Jay, were from our home state of Ohio.