Maine Home+Design: Design Field Trip
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Down East Gallery and Color Field Coffee Co. were recently featured in Maine Home+Design’s article “36 Hours Exploring the Boothbay Region”. Give it a read and plan your trip!
Mosteiros, Sao Miguel, Azores
/These works of art were created en plein air, from a grassy bluff overlooking Atlantic breakers crashing on the black lava rocks of the Azorean shoreline of Mosteiros.
Mosteiros, acrylics on loose canvas, 12”x12”, brad betts, asma
“The churning sea
like a glass
turquoise bottle
tipped with white blooms,
waving and rolling
in an open field
of blue
broken by black ledges,
twisted and sharp diffusers,
round and swirling
where the molten memory remains.
Warming skin,
soft tickle of loose tendrils,
quick touchdown
of a small fly.
The chill of a shadow
cast by the crater’s windward clouds.
Lumps and bumps,
a bed of grass
on a path
worn down by many travelers.
A ceaseless roar,
birdsong,
doors slamming,
tourist chatter.
Languages you understand
when your eyes are closed.
The twinkling
of paint brushes
spun clean,
the turquoise of the sea
left behind,
captured in a glass bottle.”
Temporary Town
/This winter, we spent time on Great Salt Bay in the “temporary town’ created by ice fishing men and women each year. We were driving toward Damariscotta and the bright colors of the fishing shacks across the water caught our eye. Great Salt Bay is not entirely frozen; only the upper reaches freeze solid in the winter and the little temporary town was huddled in this upper cove of the bay.
“Temporary Town”, 11x14 oil by Brad Betts, ASMA
The first day we saw the town we pulled over on the side of the road and painted. We didn’t walk down into the village but spoke to some of the fishermen and women as they arrived with buckets or pulled their gear off the ice in large sleds.
“Ice Fishing Shacks” 11x14 oil by Brad Betts, ASMA
“Ice Shacks on the Bay”, 9x12 oil by Danielle Betts
Several weekends later, we packed our supplies and brought along buckets as seats so we could paint on the ice. It was a gorgeous mid-January day and even though we were sitting in nearly a foot of snow on many inches of ice, we felt warm and inspired by the sun, sky, the outrageously colorful fish shacks and the tracks through the snow that led to each one.
“Ice Fishing on Great Salt Bay”, 8x10 oil by Brad Betts, ASMA
After that weekend, we went through a warm spell and the upper few inches of ice melted into a surface of water. Within weeks, the shacks were removed and the temporary town was gone for another season.
Gift Ideas
/GIFT IDEAS FOR THE HOLIDAYS:
Fine Art Puzzles
2. Greeting Cards
3. Home Wares
Visit Down East Gallery to shop our home wares including Gull Rock Pottery, wooden spoons and kitchen wares from Maggie’s Farm and cutting boards by Steve Doe at Whitten Hill Studio.
4. Paintings by Brad Betts
Holiday special: select paintings are 20% through December 31, 2019!
5. Tapestries
Beautiful handwoven tapestries by Priscilla May Alden.
6. Sculptures
7. Glassware
Morning Walks
/The weather has warmed on Ocean Point. Our brisk morning walks are now slower paced as we stop to enjoy the season’s first beach roses, chat with summer visitors, or paint a surf study to capture the turquoise color of a breaking wave on an overcast day.
Italy: Tuscany
/After 3 days in Rome, we headed north for a week in Val d’Orcia, a UNESCO World Heritage site in southern Tuscany.
San Quirico d’Orcia, as viewed from one of the many hiking paths leading out from the town to the neighboring villages.
We stayed in a circa 700 stone house just outside the walls of the village of San Quirico d’Orcia.
Our Holiday Home for the week.
Flowers were blooming everywhere!
A walk through the narrow winding streets of San Quirico d’Orcia.
From San Quirico, you can easily drive to many well-known towns in the Val d’Orcia, including Montalcino, Montepulciano, and Pienza. One of favorite days was spent hiking from town to town, starting in San Quirico and taking paths through the rolling grain fields, past long-abandoned stone structures, to finally hike up to the hill town of Pienza.
We were very fortunate to have a private tour and wine tasting at Altesino, a vineyard and winery in Montalcino that makes, among other incredibly delicious wines, the world-renowned Brunello di Montalcino.
One of several vineyards at Altesino.
Oak barrels at the vineyard.
We could not visit Tuscany without at least one day on the coast. We spent the afternoon walking the beach and then enjoyed dinner in the hill town of Porto Santo Stefano.
One day, we do hope to return to the vast and far-reaching vistas of the Val d’Orcia!
