Acadia National Park Late Fall SOLD

                                  
                                            Acadia Late Fall  12x16 oil on Ray Mar panel


I love going to Acadia National Park in the late fall. It is not very crowded. When you drive into the Sand Beach parking lot there might be four other cars there.

                                       

                                                                 The beach is quiet.

                                           

You might even get to see some wildlife.

This one makes me smile.

I  had several shows in the month of October. I am also working on a new web site. I will let you know when it  is done.  In the mean time I did get to Acadia to paint this plein air painting. It was so nice to get out and have a chance to do this!

Reworking Katahdin SOLD

 

Katahdin Colors Shine 6x8 oil on panel

 

Something about this painting has been bugging me ever since I posted it a few days ago.  I kept trying to figure it out and fooling with it. It was the section of the grasses going across the foreground. I tried lightening the dark areas and I was still not satisfied. Finally this morning it dawned on me that I had to totally take it out! It was keeping the eye from comfortably traveling into the painting. So even though this section of grass was in the real scene at the location I took it right out. Also I connected the yellow grassy areas on the left side to help guide the viewers eye back to where I wanted it to go. I adjusted a few other things and I feel it reads a lot better. Do you think these changes helped? Here is the new look.

 

                                  Katahdin Colors Shine 6x8 oil on panel SOLD

 

 

 

A Collage of some of the 30 day paintings

Signature Colors #30 of 30in30 SOLD!

                                        Signature Colors  6x6 oil on Ray Mar panel $150.00


 Every lobsterman has buoys such as this one that mark the location of all their traps. Each lobsterman's buoys are a certain color or combination of colors. Their signature colors.
 I just love all the different colors of lobster buoys. When I am out on a boat in the harbor I will try to get photos of the different buoys. I love the reflections they make and the way they bob on the waves.
  I had hoped to go out today to paint in one of my favorite locations but that did not work out. I will save it for another day. In the mean time I had fun painting this one.
 This is day 30 of the painting challenge. Even though this is the last day I hope that you will continue to visit my blog as I intend to visit yours. It has been a lot of fun getting to know the other artists work and see their progress. See you again!

To purchase this painting email me at sandy@sandydolan.com

First Boat Out- Is it Really Day 29 ? SOLD!

                                         First Boat Out  6x8  oil on Ray Mar panel     sold


  It has been a great experience participating in this 30 day challenge. It has also been just that
a huge challenge and made me see the possibilities. I hope you have enjoyed it too. What will tomorrow bring?  Could be some surprises....

What's For Lunch ? Donated

                                            What's For Lunch?  6x8 oil on Ray Mar panel

  I went over to Acadia National Park to one of my favorite locations to take photographs. I like the afternoon light in this spot. This fellow stopped over for a visit. I think this is what he wanted to know.

Public Transportation

                                               Public Transportation   6x8 oil on panel

     I saw this scene when I was down at the beach last week plein air painting. I was in my car headed for home and I saw this bike parked outside the post office. The colors, the light, were all  things I couldn't resist! I took a photo and worked on this today. A little different than my usual subjects but I really had fun with this! I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for stopping in for a visit!


 

7A.M. From the Ferry - Day 24 of the 30 paintings in 30 Days

                                          7 A.M. From the Ferry  6x6 oil on Ray Mar panel

  This painting is from a photo I took from the deck of the Monhegan Island ferry. I always take the earliest ferry possible when I am headed out there. That maximizes my time on the island on travel day. It is always such an exciting time to be pulling away from the pier as the engines on the boat rev up and the morning light is striking everything in it's path. Monhegan here I come!

Making the Sun Shine on a Rainy Day SOLD1

                                          The Greeting Party  6x8  on canvas panel

  It was pouring rain this morning and very windy too. I decided to use an old photo of a lupine field
and combine it with some imaginary sun and blue skies today.

This painting is available for purchase by emailing me at   sandy@sandydolan.com

Yellow Traps SOLD

                                                     Yellow Traps   6x8 oil on panel

 In recent years lobster traps started to come in bright colors such as these yellow ones. In some ways it has made it a lot more fun for painters who like color. Lobster traps used to be made out of wood but they needed to be replaced more often because the wood rotted more quickly in the salt water. Now they are made of wire that is covered with this brightly colored coating.

Acadia Tidal Zone SOLD

                                            Tidal Zone  6x8 oil on Ray Mar canvas panel

  Fall is a great time to play with color in the landscape. I have been having fun doing just that. This is a painting of a tidal zone near Acadia National Park. I love the morning light in this location and thought I would punch up the colors some.

Katahdin Colors Shine

                              
                                                    Katahdin Colors 6x8 on canvas panel

 The sun finally came out on the third day of my trip up to Baxter State Park. I was ready to jump into some color! Luckily this great mountain agreed and provided me with some beautiful light and shadow play. It was very early when the alarm went off and two painter friends and I jumped into the cars and drove the 45 minutes into the park to this location. We were all so thrilled when we saw the sun streaming across the mountain peaks on our arrival. Minutes later we were all set up by the side of the road and painting away! So lucky to have a sunny day as my last day for now below this beautiful mountain and two wonderful painter friends to share it with.  Thanks for stopping in to have a look!

Impressions of Katahdin

                                               Katahdin Cloud Shadows 6x6 oil on panel

  This past weekend I had the chance to visit Baxter State Park. It rained some of the time while I was there. On the third  day the sun came out to a reveal a spectacular morning in the park. I finally went out with two painter friends and got a couple of plein air paintings done. We had a grand time enjoying the good weather and good painting time. I will show you more tomorrow.

                                                                        

                                                       
                                                        

Iris Duet

                                          
                                                Iris Duet oil on Ray Mar panel $125.00


 There are several flower gardens in my yard. I have grown flowers for the past 26 years and truly enjoy watching them progress through the seasons. As you can imagine they are also a source of inspiration for me. Now I am finding out just how hard it is to paint them!

This is available for purchase if you email me at sandy@sandydolan.com

A Little Color Fun SOLD

     
                                           A Touch of Fall 6x8 oil on Ray Mar panel $125.00

 Soon the colors of fall will be creeping into the landscape here. Today in honor of that I decided to have a little fun with color in this landscape. I will be heading inland to the Katahdin area of Maine for a three day painting trip with several other artists. This is a great group of people and I always enjoy their company. I am not sure if I will be able to post my paintings while I am there. I am going to bring everything to do that with and hopefully I will be able to post paintings every day. If not I will have several paintings to share when I return. I am so excited.

A Rising Tide Sold!

 

 

 

  A Rising Tide  oil on canvas panel  $150.00

 

I love the light on these two row boats and the reflection they are making in the

water. This was a fun painting to do. I hope that feeling comes across to the viewer!

 

This painting is available for purchase just email me at sandy@sandydolan.com ! 

The Lucy Ann SOLD

The Lucy Ann 6x8 oil on Ray Mar panel

It was a very busy day down in Stonington Harbor. Lobster boats were coming and going
all afternoon.  This pretty boat was kind enough to hold still for a bit while I painted it.

This painting is available for purchase if you email me at sandy@sandydolan,.com
 

Confetti Roses SOLD!

 

Confetti Roses 6x6 oil on Ray Mar panel $125.00

 

I chose this subject as I thought I would continue the rose theme from yesterday. This one

was a lot harder than I thought it would be and at one point I considered giving up on it. I was trying to work with the warm and cool colors but it was difficult to simplify things enough.  I think including the word confetti in the title is appropriate here!

We are on to the second week of the painting challenge and I am looking forward to continuing. Tomorrow I will head out with a painter friend to do some location painting. I hope you will check back to see what I bring home. Thank you for stopping by to have a look today!

 

This is available for purchase. Please email me at sandy@sandydolan.com.

Cottage Roses - Donated

 

Cottage Roses 6x8 oil on Ray Mar panel $125.00

 

This is day 7 of the 30 day challenge. It has been a busy week and I have had a chance to paint a variety of subjects. I hope you have enjoyed seeing these 7 paintings.  

 

This is available for purchase by emailing me at sandy@sandydolan.com

Daybreak plein air! SOLD

                                                  Daybreak 6x8 oil on Ray Mar panel 


  The sun came out in Maine today after off and on rain. I had a chance to head outside to do some plein air painting. It felt so good to get out of the studio and enjoy painting on location.

This painting is available for purchase please email me sandy@sandydolan.com

Back Door Haven SOLD

                                       Back Door Haven 6x8 oil on Ray Mar panel   SOLD

  It has been raining quite a bit here in Maine this past week. Yesterday when the sun finally came out I went out scouting for some subjects. Everything outside seemed like someone had hit the refresh button.  I saw this colorful back door that was splashed with some great light and knew I had to do this painting. I had fun working with a limited palette while painting this. Thanks for having a look. Please leave a comment. I would love to hear from you.
This painting is available for purchase. Please email me at sandy@sandydolan.com.

Morning Commute - Day 4 SOLD

                                      Morning Commute 6x8 oil on Ray Mar panel

 This painting is done from a photo I took on Monhegan Island last summer. Fish Beach is where many fisherman keep their skiffs that they use to row out to their lobster boats. I love to go there to paint plein air and photograph scenes like this one. Many other artists do too!

This painting is available for $150.00 please email me at sandy@sandydolan.com to purchase.

Lupines and Daisies Day 3 SOLD!

                                     Lupines and Daisies 6x6 oil on Ray Mar panel $150.00

  If you have ever been to Maine in early June you have probably seen the spectacular landscape with many fields of  flowers called lupine. They come in white and pink but mostly they are purple spike shaped blooms. I saw this house while out searching for painting locations last June. I imagined that lupine season must be one of the owner's favorite times of year. This is painted today from a photo I took that day. Today I was trying to load my brush with paint and make decisive strokes and leave it. It really makes me think about what I will do next before I make a move. I wanted to have a loose feeling to get a shimmery light effect.
I think this is fun painting a new thing each day. I hope you are liking it too!

Available for $150.00 email me at sandy@sandydolan.com

30 in 30- Day 2 SOLD

     
                                            Stonington Special  6x8 oil on Ray Mar panel $195.00

  Stonington is a working harbor on the coast of Maine. I have traveled there many times to photograph and paint the unique sites to be found there. One of the things that I love about the town is how it is  built on a hillside. This offers many interesting layered scenes. It is always so much fun
to be there painting and see all the boats and working people coming and going.
This is day 2 of the 30 in 30 days challenge. Thank you for stopping by. Sandy

  This painting is available for $195.00 please contact me at sandy@sandydolan.com

30 Paintings in 30 Days - Day 1 SOLD!

                                        Friendship, Maine Buoys  6x6 oil on panel $150.00

  I heard about the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge put together by Leslie Saeta of Blog Talk Radio recently and I knew I had to give it a try. It seemed like good timing for me as I have been blogging for a while about my painting. I felt I was ready to take it up a notch and thought this challenge sounded like a good way to do that. I thought it would be fun to participate in this along with the other artists.
  Friendship, Maine is a favorite place of mine to paint plein air and gather ideas for future work. I saw this grouping of colorful buoys and liked the the mixture of colors and the way they were gathered together.
  This is my first painting for the 30 day challenge and I hope you will stay in touch as I paint and post the new paintings daily for the next 29 days. Here goes......

To purchase this painting please email me at sandy@sandydolan.com  I accept Visa and Master Card

Large Commission Painting and Story

 



                              


In the spring a valued customer purchased 5 of my small paintings of Maine. One of the scenes was of this view of a location in a little community called Bayside. This neighborhood is built mostly on a hillside overlooking Penobscot Bay. It has many cottages that have been passed down through generations of families. Lots of history there. Many of these cottages are decorated with gingerbread trim. Families return summer after summer to enjoy this place.
My customer liked the fact that this painting made him feel like he was standing in the cool shade and looking out on this scene. He asked if I could do a larger version of this. Now the original was 6"x8" so I thought it was pretty exciting to think of making it into a 3'x4' painting! He asked if I would add his dog Jack into the picture and I thought that was a great idea.
Above is a photo of the finished painting and I thought you might enjoy seeing some photos of the process of making this.

 

                                                                                  

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                              Jack

Bar Harbor Painting SOLD

        
                                                     Pots and Blooms  6x6 oil on panel

  Recently a painter friend and I went to Bar Harbor to look for subjects. I couldn't resist this mix of flower pots and blooms with all the colors and textures. This was a fun painting to do.
I am still working on the large commission painting and am closing in on the finish. I will share a photo when it is done.

The Maine Lobster Festival and Paintings

                
                                                            6x8 oil on Ray Mar panel


This week I am going to the Maine Lobster Festival. I have been selling my work at the outdoor art shows for about 9 years. This year I will be doing 10 shows. Usually I have to go and set up my own tent but at this show the artists are under one big tent. It is a lot less work and worry. Here are some photos to show you some of the hands on work today.

                                            This pile of stuff becomes...

                                      this.    I will bring in the paintings and photos tomorrow and hang everything.

This show requires lighting because we stay open until 10 pm. Long days.
Here are some of the paintings I will be showing including the lead painting at the top.

 

  

 

 

 

Arts in the Park Belfast,Maine

                                            
                                                 View for Two  Monhegan Island  6x6 oil

This week I am getting ready for the Belfast Arts in the Park show. The show runs for two days. I will set up my booth on Friday and the show opens on Saturday and closes at the end of Sunday.
So far the weather is looking good and I have found out that my booth will be located right on the water front. Nice to have a booth with a view!  This is my second year at the Belfast show. I have been busy doing some framing and making cards for my display.
 I have been meeting with a customer who has commissioned me to do a large 3'x4' painting. We have been going over the details of what will be included. I have never done a painting this large and I am excited to get going on this new project!

                                                


                                                            Monhegan Surf   6x8oil sold