Summer Memories II

“Summer Memories II”       2.5” x 3.5”         Pastel        $26.25       © Sharon Lewis
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            I’m ready for the cooler temperatures of fall but still holding onto the memories of the long days of light I enjoy in summer. I’m remembering looking out over the many blues and greens of  the sea against the background of fluffy clouds and a beautiful, blue sky. Ah, the end of summer and the beginning of fall is always bittersweet.

            Happy Weekend!

 

Summer Memories

“Summer Memories”        2.5” x 3.5”         Pastel        $26.25       © Sharon Lewis

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             Like many of my friends I have mixed feelings about Labor Day. I appreciate that it’s a holiday for most people but it also marks the end of summer. Although I love that fall will bring cooler temperatures and less humidity (eventually), I will miss the long days of light we enjoy during summer. Summer also gives us spectacular displays of clouds which I love. Yes, clear blue skies can be nice but for someone who loves painting interesting skies, I’ll take some huge clouds any day.

            Happy Weekend and Happy Labor Day!

 

Lissome Lilac

“Lissome Lilac”          Pastel      12” x 9”       $100       © Sharon Lewis
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                  For the last few summers, once the beautiful spring weather has vanished and the heat and humidity of Georgia have arrived, we flee up north to the coast of southern Maine for a brief stay. Here, we enjoy my idea of perfect summer days: cool nights and mornings and long days filled with light. One of the first things I do is to visit the beautiful lilac bush in the back yard and cut a few branches to bring into the house. The whole time we’re there, they fill the kitchen with this sweet fragrance. One day, the light was shining perfectly on this vase and it looked to me like the lilac had struck a graceful pose. It was so much fun to paint this symbol of summer in the middle of winter.

                  Happy Weekend!

Safe Harbor

“Safe Harbor”          Pastel          9” x 12”        $100           © Sharon Lewis
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         I look at this painting and remember the end of a beautiful, relaxing day of hiking and painting in Maine. It helps me to remember sometimes, in the midst of my mad rush to complete one work task after another, to take a deep breath and look up and around. There’s always something in nature that makes me smile, makes me curious, or look in awe.  The natural world helps me regain perspective, to remember what’s really important at the end of the day. Here’s to good friends, the beauty and wonder of nature, and a happy weekend!

 

Ocean Solitude

“Ocean Solitude”             Pastel             18” x 24"            $ 350            © Sharon Lewis
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             I was born in a city with a vast inland sea (Chicago) and then grew up near the ocean in southern Florida. I now live outside a major landlocked city (Atlanta), far away from the ocean and I find myself really missing it from time to time. There’s something so mesmerizing about standing on a shore, whether sandy or rocky as in this case, and just watching the force and beauty of the incoming waves.

            For this painting, I used photos I took while climbing out on the rocks and shooting the shoreline all the time hoping I didn’t lose my balance and become part of the crashing surf below. 
            Happy Weekend!

          

 

A Summer Day in Bar Harbor

"A Summer Day in Bar Harbor"         Pastel        9" x 12"        $100         © Sharon Lewis

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             In the middle of one of Georgia’s typical, very hot August days, it’s wonderful to remember visiting Maine. I remember even when the days are warm, there are wonderful ocean breezes to cool you off. Maine has a kind of beauty that I never tire of painting with it’s warm, peach-tinted rocks catching the sun and contrasting with the cool greens of it’s majestic trees.      

          This is based on some of my photos of Bar Harbor, ME.

Repose

  "Repose"             Pastel           5” x 7”              $50             © Sharon Lewis 
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           On a rainy day in Bailey Island, I decided to paint from reference photos one of my other favorite areas in Maine – Bar Harbor. My friend Jim Brown and his wife are now running a wonderful Bed and Breakfast there called, the Coach Stop Inn. It’s not only a gorgeous place but also has wonderful food! After one of their meals, you might want to hike along this rocky coast or maybe relax as this woman is and just stare out to sea.

Distant Lights

“Distant Lights”          Pastel       9” x 12”      SOLD     © Sharon Lewis
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             One of our favorite places to eat when we’re in Maine is the Dolphin Marina and Restaurant, on the Harpswell Neck peninsula.  It is perfectly located on a rise with a panoramic view of a cove filled with sailboats mixed with a few fishing boats, and off in the distance, the islands of Casco Bay.  I love that if you look this place up online, they give you directions by land, sea, and air. Apparently, some of their guests arrive by sailboats and others by helicopter, landing in the meadow behind the restaurant. How cool!

            The owners are really nice and welcoming and huge blueberry muffins come with every meal! We usually try to time our dinner there so that as we leave on the narrow road back, we get a view of the sunset. I’m not sure why but I have seen the most gorgeous sunsets here and of course I just had to paint it.

Out to Sea

“Out to Sea”    Pastel     5” x 7”     $50     © Sharon Lewis
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            I’m back from beautiful Bailey Island, Maine where we had mostly wonderful weather and mostly terrible internet connections. Normally, I wouldn’t have really cared about the internet but I had big plans to paint daily or as often as possible and post daily. Unfortunately, I only managed to post once because we kept losing our connection altogether.

            Nonetheless, I got to enjoy cool (and sometimes cold) morning and evening breezes, hiking through the woods and along the rocky coast, and falling asleep to the sound of the waves. I also got to paint every day, usually outside. My biggest problem was selecting which beautiful view to tackle for a painting.  I’ll be posting some of these over the next few weeks.

            Have a happy holiday weekend!

Sails at Sunset

“Sails at Sunset”        Pastel         2.5” x 3.5”        $20           © Sharon Lewis
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             I’ll be spending some time in Maine this summer and I can’t wait. I’m looking forward to cool morning and evening breezes, hiking through the woods, and falling asleep to the sound of waves. I’m also planning to paint plein air. I’m still a little uncomfortable painting around strangers unless I’m with a group but since we rent a house, I can paint all around this beautiful property.

            This petite painting is based on some photos I took while in Portland, Maine several years ago.

            Happy Summer Solstice!

 

Is It Summer Yet?

“Weekend Escape”     Pastel    12” x 9”     $100    © Sharon Lewis
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            Ironically, I don’t have much time to write my usual art blog post because I’ve been working on a presentation on my art and my art blog. Crazy, isn’t it?

            For some reason, maybe because we have been discussing plans for future trips, my mind has been on summer. I have been painting beaches and sailboats like this one. I know it’s a bit premature to be thinking of summer on the first day of spring but we can always dream can’t we?

            Hope wherever you are that spring has arrived or is on her way.

            Happy Weekend!

Tranquility and Elizabeth Barrret Browning

                         "Hear the Green Woods Sing"          Pastel            9" x 12"         $100       © Sharon Lewis

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           In this busy time of year when many of us are in a mad rush, perhaps trying to work and simultaneously prepare for the holidays, I thought a painting of a tranquil scene might be desirable.

            I also thought Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poem, “The Autumn” might be a good accompaniment for this painting and for this beautiful autumn day.

        The Autumn

Go, sit upon the lofty hill,

And turn your eyes around,

Where waving woods and waters wild

Do hymn an autumn sound.
 The summer sun is faint on them –

The summer flowers depart –

Sit still –

as all transform'd to stone,

Except your musing heart.
  How there you sat in summer-time,

May yet be in your mind;

And how you heard the green woods sing

Beneath the freshening wind.
 Though the same wind now blows around,

You would its blast recall;

For every breath that stirs the trees,

Doth cause a leaf to fall.
  Oh! like that wind, is all the mirth

That flesh and dust impart:

We cannot bear its visitings,

When change is on the heart.
 Gay words and jests may make us smile,

When Sorrow is asleep;

But other things must make us smile,

When Sorrow bids us weep! 

The dearest hands that clasp our hands, --

Their presence may be o'er;

The dearest voice that meets our ear,

That tone may come no more!

Youth fades; and then, the joys of youth,

Which once refresh'd our mind,

Shall come -- as, on those sighing woods,

The chilling autumn wind.
Hear not the wind -- view not the woods;

Look out o'er vale and hill-

In spring, the sky encircled them –

The sky is round them still.
 Come autumn's scathe -- come winter's cold –

 Come change -- and human fate!

Whatever prospect Heaven doth bound,

Can ne'er be desolate.

Heading Home

“Heading Home”     8” x 10”     Pastel     $75      © Sharon Lewis
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          It was the end of a great vacation spent traveling in the Atlantic provinces of Canada and ending in Portland, Maine. We were unable to take a whale watching tour which I love doing, not only because catching sight of these huge, but graceful creatures is so exciting but also because I love any excuse to be out on the ocean. Instead, we were only able to get onto a boat tour of the Portland harbor area which involved stopping at various islands all around the area. This turned out to be much more interesting than I expected it to be, especially as the tour lasted until sunset. As a result, I was able to get some spectacular shots of the sun setting, illuminating the sky and water with amazing, almost lurid pinks and oranges. What a show!

First Light

“First Light”       9” x 12”      Pastel      $100       © Sharon Lewis
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            Every summer for the last several years, we have been lucky enough to spend a week in June on Bailey Island, Maine. For reasons that remain mysterious to me, I, a very definite non-morning person, always wake up at first light. And I love doing this! Maybe it’s because that first light occurs in June during a time that most people would call night (around 4 AM) but for whatever the reason, this first light is just absolutely gorgeous! I have taken quite literally hundreds of photos of this time (during which time I have sometimes been bitten by what feels like a hundred mosquitoes) because you see beautiful colors that you don’t see any other time. In addition, each “first light” is different from all of the others. The sky presents itself as a unique and dazzling masterpiece each morning. What a gift!