'East Beirut' in an open studio

"East Beirut" is the name of this 'postcard.' A composite image of East Boothbay, I found it when I was cleaning up and getting organized for an open studio on September's First Friday here in Boothbay. I dug it out and refreshed the inks with some watercolors, and here it is. The name, East Beirut, dates the original to the days of the Great Water Main Project in 2009-2010, when a camel resided on my lawn, and East Boothbay was called Baghdad West. But the water is flowing happily now, so we have sunk back into the ordinariness of being East Boothbay.

'Postcards' is what I called this show. They are just simple images of places and things that I have started 'en plein air' with Tombo pens and inks, and then finish in the studio with watercolors. Included were Sumurun and Oliver Weyant, all colored up now, and Damariscove's Outer harbor which is still a bit rough...plus some Fishermans Island summer and fall light pics, one of which is at River Arts now...

What really seemed to galvanize people, however, were some of my old Squares, painted for the 'Art in the Square' Christmas show, plus some drawings that I am really into at the moment. The squares are mostly dinghies and dories, in sunsets. One sold - hooray! But the drawings were what held big interest. I have not made any photo images of them yet, though there are some early ones on www.artcollectormaine.com. But I will soon.

One has to be careful with drawings of nudes, both male and female, and even ordinary images of people. Even Westerners don't always like to be identified in portraits, cartoons, and photos, including me! But other people seem to like my images of people, so I will try and take some interesting photos soon.