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

John Cosby Workshop!

                                                     
                                                       Garden Days  6x6 oil on panel

This past week I had the privilege of attending a workshop with California Impressionist painter John Cosby. I traveled to Cape Cod Massachusetts for this. John comes to the Cape to teach once every two years. It is a 6 hour drive for me from my house.
I learned an amazing amount from this talented painter and teacher. I got a chance to try out some new painting methods that will be very helpful to me as I continue on. John's lessons on values, composition,and edges were just some of the important things covered.
It is always so much fun to be around and work along side other painters and share some of the workshop experiences together.

 

Heading In  6x8 oil on panel

 

Hope you enjoy seeing these paintings that I did at the workshop.

Thank you John Cosby!

 

 

Lunksoos Continued:

       

                                     Photograph   Morning Mist Lunksoos Camps         S. Dolan
    

   I wanted to share a few more images from the Lunksoos Aritsts Retreat.  Many of us would get up before the sunrise to catch the most interesting light. It was often so cold that mist would be rising off the waterways and valleys.

                                                                 6"x8" oil painting

I was drawn to the way the vibrant colors mingled with the cool water. I was painting this standing in the shade of the shoreline trees. It was very cold. At one point I had to put down my brushes and go for a run. I think the other artists got a chuckle out of me trying to warm up. In this painting I tried to capture the gesture of the water passing over the rocks and the reflection of the bright colors from  the surrounding trees.

 

                                                                   6"x6" oil painting

During the winter months I sometimes work on paintings in the studio that I have started earlier in the year outside.  These two paintings fall into that category. The one above I came close to throwing out. It is important to me to edit as I go.  I think I managed to rescue this one though with some extra work. I try to learn from each painting that I do.