In Love with an Island - Monhegan's neighbor Manana

Each summer we spend two weeks on Monhegan Island in Maine.  It is 10 miles east of the coast of Maine, sitting in all its 1.5 mile by .5 mile gloriousness.  Monhegan has a small neighbor island, Manana, which forms the sheltered harbor here.  I have written about Manana many times, here, and again here, or here, here, or here, and again here.  In fact, if you search my blog for "Manana" you'll have a lot to read, and/or see.  This week I have added a number of Manana views to my sketchbook.  Here are a few of them.  I will add another post soon with some more.  
I love painting Manana from above, below, through windows, beyond boats... just love it.  The Monhegan Museum has a splendid collection of work, including fascinating paintings of Manana in all its personalities, seasons, and times of day.  A couple of favorites are my Aldro Hibbard and Andrew Winter.  As always, thank you for looking at my work.  I appreciate your thoughts and your comments.   

Day 301 "The Harbor" 8 x 5 ink & pencils

I love Monhegan Island's harbor.  Manana sparkles beyond it, providing an exciting backdrop.  With a fifteen minute walk, you can be standing in the water at Fish Beach, technically "in the harbor" or 110 feet above the harbor (according to my phone) looking down on the harbor.  It is ever present from the west side of the island and has various personalities.  The fog can lie in the harbor while the surrounding ocean is clear.  The water can sparkle like tropical aqua, or charge through as an angry gray blue. It is gorgeous and alive.  On this day, I stood with my feet in the bracing water, looking across at Manana.  The sight fills me up. 
This is my three hundred first daily drawing.  Thank you for looking.  

Day 300 "Fish Beach" 9 x 8 ink, marker, pencils

This year, there was a beautiful addition to the path to Fish Beach.  This large Japanese fish windsock.  Maybe it is there to highlight the fish market in the building by the beach.  Maybe it is hanging there because it is beautiful, as is the rest of the island.  I like the scale, liked it breaking the view of Manana, and flowing in the wind.  I did a little research and these are commonly called "Koinobori" windsocks.  
This drawing shows a pedestrian approaching the beach and the windsock.  i like the pedestrian for scale, and the  peak of Manana through the second floor door.  
This is my three hundredth daily drawing.  Thank you for your continued interest.

Day 297 "Ferry Due" ink, marker, pencil 6 x 9

This morning we meandered down to the dock to say good bye to a couple of our visitors.  There were several jumpers from the dock as the ferry pulled away.  It's a Monhegan traditional way to say farewell, doesn't happen every time the ferry leaves, but pretty often considering the water is about 60 degrees, and at a low-ish tide like today, it's a 15 foot drop, and then climb up the dock's ladder.  We said good bye to our friends, then hung out for a coffee, chatted with a few locals we know and watched the pick up trucks line up again for the next incoming ferry.  Everything is beautiful against the backdrop of graceful Manana island across the harbor.

This is my two hundred ninety-seventh daily drawing.  Thanks for your continued interest.  

Day 295 "Triple Overview" 9 x 12 watercolor & ink

Today I sat half way up Horn Hill on Monhegan and drew what was below and then what I could see in the woods to my left.  Then I added another sketch of Manana from our deck to fill the page.  I decided in the upper sketch only to add color to the parts of the view that nature made, not man made, making it an exercise in near and far greens in different combinations of blue/green and neutralizing reds and oranges.  

You can see my drawing in progress below.  
This is my two hundred ninety-fifth daily drawing.  I am enjoying my travels around Monhegan these two weeks.

Thank you for your continued interest.

Day 294 "Over Eider" ink & watercolor 9 x 9

Another beautiful day here on Monhegan.  We went to a Chowder Festival to benefit the Monhegan Memorial Library, then I headed over near the church under a shady tree to draw lovely Manana, through the cottages.  The cottage to the left is called "Eider Duck" and sits on Fish beach.  I love the back drop of Manana behind and above the structures.  While I was sitting there, a nice couple in a golf cart stopped to ask directions. We wound up talking for about 1/2 hour about art, the island, their journey here and mine.  It was a very sweet exchange and lifted my heart.  Thanks, Joanne and Ed.  
This is my two hundred ninety-fourth daily drawing.  Thank you for your continued interest in my day to day activities.  

Day 292 "Among the Rocks" ink & watercolor 12 x 5 - and a visit with some artist friends

Social media is an interesting thing, and sometimes very beneficial.  Yesterday I saw some beautiful photos of the Monhegan sunset from down in the village as we watched it from up on our deck above the village.  Turns out they were posted by an artist friend of mine.  We didn't know the other was here, so happily connected this morning over coffee! She and her husband are Monhegan artists now living on mainland Maine, and are over for a few days.  

Check out their work:  Amy Williams Beers, and Kevin Beers.  

After catching up, I walked over to Dead Man's Cove to sit on the rocks and paint.  I love it there, the views are spectacular, and there is a small rocky island were the birds congregate noisily.  Their chatter makes a nice backdrop.  You can see from the photo below that there are lovely vistas including my favorite, Manana.  Today, however, as I sat down, I saw this intrepid weed.. maybe a thistle, not sure.  It grew straight up among the rocks, and cast a beautiful shadow beneath, and it caught my eye. The crispness of the shadow is a reminder how strong the sun is.  If I had this plant in a studio with a lamp casting the shadow, I would expect the shadow farthest from the plant to be softer-edged than the shadow closest to the plant as ambient light invades the shadow.  Not so with the sun; 93 million miles is the same as 93 million miles 8 inches, give or take.  

View from Dead Man's Cove

This is my two hundred ninety-second daily drawing.  Thank you for looking, as always.

Day 290 - "From the Harbor - Two Views" watercolor and ink

There has been intermittent sun during our first five days on Monhegan Island, fog, rain, sun, clouds, wind... beautiful New England weather.  And, we can hear the surf from the south end of the island, crashing into Christmas Cove due to the weather.  My new knee won't carry me that far yet, but I am determined to visit my favorite spot before we finish our two weeks.  This morning I could see the waves crashing against the southern tip of Manana, Monhegan's tiny island neighbor that provides the sheltered harbor here.  I walked down to the rocks, found a place to perch, and spent some of my favorite type of time here on Monhegan, surrounded by the sounds, smells, occasional spray and the view of wave upon wave crashing and tumbling over one another.  The first is a watercolor of the southernmost end of Manana and the rock called "Washerwoman".  For the second, I turned to my right from the same seat, and drew the village in the distance beyond the rocks and scrubby vegetation on the shore.  Interestingly, the vegetation seemed to come in three  distinct layers as it receded.  First, some small, low plants that looked like they may have had berries on them at one time, then Queen Anne's Lace with some beach grasses, then some yellow-topped weeds, among a different beach grass.  I added color only in the vegetation, and like the effect.
This is my two hundred ninetieth consecutive day drawing and posting. Thanks for following along.   

Day 289 "Fishing - Three Generations" ink & watercolor

We walked down to the dockside coffee shop today, The Barnacle, to see off our friends' daughter and her fiance.  There is a a lot of choreography to the arrival and departure of the ferries here; arrival of passengers and friends, pick up trucks backing onto the dock to transport luggage, hugs hello, hugs goodbye, occasional jumpers from the dock into the frigid harbor waters as a send off, riders tossing wildflowers into the harbor as they pull away as a sign they will return.  It is fascinating.  Before and between all of that, there is quiet time on the dock for fishing, or sitting with a sketchbook, or listening to the waves lapping.  Today, these three generations were fishing on the dock together, comfortable.  I grabbed a quick sketch. 
This is my two hundred eighty-ninth daily drawing.  Thank you for continuing to look.  I appreciate your time. 

Day 197 "After Fitzgerald" marker 6 x 9

I was thinking about Monhegan Island today, and looked up artist, James Fitzgerald.  His work is so powerfully designed.  Here is an example, "Frank Pierce, A Fisherman of Monhegan", oil, 1944, 17 x 23.  Look at the activity in this painting, it is roiling with the action of those gulls swarming about the fisherman's table. The gulls are tied together so well, with beautiful Manana Island as their backdrop.  I did a quick sketch of the design in marker, only darkening Manana in the back. Look how some aspect of each gull is aimed at the fish we can not see Frank Pierce cutting, but we know that's where the action is.  This painting builds space within itself.  It is exciting, dynamic... makes me want to hold it up to people on the street corner, proclaiming its mastery.  Really.  Sometimes you just want to share the joy.  
This is my hundred ninety-seventh daily drawing.  Thank you again for the pulpit.  

Day 120 "Field of Lace" pen and ink 9 x 6

As I walk along Monhegan's west side, I love looking through the wildflowers to a few of my favorite houses out to Manana.  The view shifts every few feet, always fascinating; the light, the air, near and far greens; perhaps why it is one of my favorite places.  My hundred twentieth drawing is one of those views, across a field of Queen Anne's lace.
Thank you for looking.  I am so appreciative of the interest in my drawing explorations.

"Harbor Watch" 9 x 5 mixed

I am enjoying exploring old photos for my daily drawings.  I captured this image of one of Monhegan's cottages along the harbor, with an unknown gentleman looking out at Manana and the harbor beneath him.  His silhouette intrigued me.  I added only a hint of color to the buoys in the foreground to move the eye around, but otherwise, all color is in or through the building.  
This is my seventy-eighth daily drawing.  Your feedback lets me know you are enjoying this exploration.  Believe me, I am having a wonderful time exploring.  Thank you.

"Harbor Evening" 6 x 9 mixed

There is a special, quiet time by Monhegan's harbor as the sun sinks below Manana.  Birds start settling down, people drift back to their houses, and the dark begins to descend quickly.  It's a lovely time of day, and as I climb back up to the house we rent, the last glimpse of light disappears and the sky glows.  Ahhhh.  
This is my fiftieth daily drawing.  Thank you for looking.

"Monhegan - Man at Work" 6x9 mixed #dailydrawing

This lovely house overlooks Monhegan Harbor and Manana. You can see the harbor through its lower windows.  On this day, the local resident was working in the studio.  I like his silhouette against the beautiful beyond.  This is an ink drawing, overlaid with gray marker, then watercolor pencils.  I added some warmth to the indoor spaces.  
This is my thirty-sixth daily drawing.  Again, thanks for looking.

"Birches" 6 x 9 ink and watercolor #Inktober

This lovely peek through the birches caught my eye one day on Monhegan Island, ME.  Over to the left behind the shrubs, you can see a glimpse of my beloved Manana, the little island that provides Monhegan its sheltered harbor twelve miles out to sea.  I like the way the graceful birches frame the distance.  
This is my 26th entry into the #Inktober challenge.

Day 13 "Island Transport" pen, ink, watercolor 5 x 9 #Inktober

Sometimes a truck needs to visit Monhegan Island to deliver gravel and other heavy loads, or to pump the septic systems, or for a variety of other reasons.  In my many years visiting the Island, I have seen this complex operation a few times.  The "Island Transport" arrives at Fish Beach.  The tide must be at the right height, and the chop low, as the transport crosses from the mainland to Monhegan's harbor.  Fish Beach is tiny, and sheltered.  The truck-carrying barge backs in, truck disembarks, takes care of business, returns to the barge, is loaded and leaves... quickly.  I love this image of the industrial barge filling Monhegan's tiny harbor, dwarfing Manana as it pulls back out of the harbor.  The scale is disconcerting, but accurate.  The woman sketching on the foreground rocks was hardly disturbed by the incongruity of the exiting barge.  

This is my thirteenth drawing for the #Inktober challenge.  As always, thank you for looking.

"Above it All" ink and watercolor 6 x 4 #Inktober 4

Each summer we visit Monhegan Island in Maine, no surprise if you read my blog.  This brazen gull spent a lot of time on the railing of our deck, keeping an eye out for a possible crumb or nugget of food.  
My #Inktober 4 drawing of an image from the deck, above Monhegan's village and Manana.  The mainland is 12 miles distant.

As always, thank you for looking.

Monhegan Sketchbook - MISCA art Auction today

There was an art auction on the island today to benefit MISCA, the Monhegan Island Sustainable Community Association. Follow the link to read about this worthwhile organization which works to make island living accessible to those who want to make a year round life here. 

 I attended the auction last year as well.  It is interesting, funny, and people are generous in their support.  Both years, the auctioneer has reminded the audience that this is NOT an auction in which to look for bargains, rather an auction during which we should aim to spend as much as we can afford.  Both last year and this year I bought donated ferry tickets for our round trip to the island.  I did a little bit of drawing during the auction, but tried not to make any sudden moves as the auctioneer had a hair trigger and I might have been toting home something I did not intend to buy.

Happy to support MISCA and happy to have next year's ferry trips taken care of.

 

 

"The Bog" and a Birthday Card watercolor & ink 3 x 5

  Each year we visit Monhegan Island for the same week(s).  Turns out lots of other people visit the same way.  We have met some wonderful people during these weeks, see them year after year, have become friends, watched their children grow, etc.  We look forward to catching up each summer.  In fact, we have a standing date for the 1st Thursday in August with a friend and her daughters for dinner at our rented house.  She brings the fish, we provide the rest.  This particular friend stays in the Abraham Bogdanove House, affectionately known as "The Bog".  
Abraham Bogdanove visited Monhegan in 1918, bought a house here shortly after, and spent time painting on Monhegan every year for the rest of his life.  His seascapes are powerful and energetic.
Our friend, Laura, rents his house for a couple of weeks each summer.  I created this card for her birthday today so she can have her own painting of the house she loves to visit each summer.   

"Blustery Day" colored pencil and ink 7 x 12

Yesterday we moved to a new house on the island, next door to last week's house.  The 50 yards and maybe 15 feet of altitude provide an entire different view over Manana, and of the houses layed out below.  Yesterday we were fogged in, and last night we were "treated" to a crashing thunderstorm with wind-driven rain.  As often is the case, the day after is sparkling and dry... true of today, but also with forceful, gusty wind.  I tried setting up my easel in a few places but it was

just too blustery for what I had in mind.  So, I hung out on the new house deck, studying this new view of Manana, so beautiful.  Feeling blessed.  

Again, thank you for looking.  I love your ideas and comments.