My travels have taken me to several really quaint places. Everywhere I go, lovely windows seem to greet me with their reflections of graceful trees and the sky.
I have always loved and admired old structures - for their character and fine detailing. Craftsmanship of the 18th and 19th centuries still stands on the East Coast today!
Below are seven little watercolor paintings I've really enjoyed creating:
~ Home, Sweet Home ~
5x7, December 2012
Painted as a gift for an old friend who grew up here.
It is a special place I have loved visiting for the past thirty years.
I love the mansard roof and the porch! "Monkey," the family cat, is included:
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. ~ Psalm 23:6
~ Evening Lights ~
5x7-ish, December 2012
Night scenes are fun to depict! I added a black cat in the window after scanning this piece, so put one in digitally. This painting is now part of an Alabama cat-lover's Collection:
The earth is the LORD's,
and the fulness thereof; the world,
and they that dwell therein.
~ Psalm 24:1
~ Summer Haven ~
July 2013, plein air, 6x10-ish. Sold to a Maine Collector.
Around one hundred years ago, the United States Supreme Court Justices took a steamer from Boston, north to the pristine, secluded coast of Maine for their summer break. This cottage is located among a cluster of those which remain. I painted it one morning for a library benefit and it sold later that afternoon. I'd just completed my large tugboat scene the day before and was entirely exhausted while painting this. However, it was said to have a "romantic" feeling to it. I'm glad!
~ The Appleman/Betts Home on 112 Perkins Street ~
Painted en plein air, Castine, Maine, August 2013
6x10
Built in 1860, I painted this home to preserve it's memory as it may soon be taken down:
~ Summertime in Castine ~
August, 2013
I made this tiny 4x5 into a gift card for someone special
Another view of my "home" this past summer, on Perkin's Street,
where I was honored to be Artist-in-Residence for the Wilson Museum.
For me it was one of the most enjoyed summers of the past eight years:
~ Afternoon Shadows ~
6x10 Plein Air, September, 2013
This is the happy home of a very dear family who have shown kindness to me on many occasions since I moved to Maine. They asked me to paint their house from the view where they gather most. A large encrusted anchor beside their porch as a symbol of the father's work - he is a lobster fisherman. The broken bell was found on the bottom of the ocean too, probably the remains of an old lighthouse:
Blessed is every one that fears the LORD; that walks in his ways. For thou shalt eat the labor of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee.
~ Psalm 128:1-2
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~ Good Samaritan Inn ~
5x7, September 2013
This Inn represents life to me. I was generously given their dining room last winter, as a location for teaching lessons. The Innkeepers now have this small work in their Collection.
And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise. ~ Luke 10:30-37
And so, the seasons come and go, leaves fall and then spring anew. May you find rest and peace, friends, amid life's many changes.
Blessings,
Elise
For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come. ~ Hebrews 13:14
