There will be a wonderful juried exhibit called 'Passionate Color' at Roux & Cyr International Art Gallery, 48 Free St Portland, Maine in October. The show runs from October 6th through October 27th featuring many skilled and talented New England artists. 'Lobster Cove' 8x10" oil on linen that I painted during my recent trip to Monhegan Island will be on view. If you can, I'd love to see you at the opening reception held October 6th from 5:00 - 8:00PM at the gallery. Be sure to say hello. 

I had been working on a 9x12 seaside plein air painting for about an hour when the green back flies started biting my ankles right though my socks! Meanwhile, the bug invasion continued with mosquitos trying to bite my face and neck. After about ten minutes, it was obvious that I would not be able to ignore this issue. I would need a MacGyver approach to be able to continue painting. Fortunately, I happened to have a fishing face net that I could tuck under my coat which would protect my face. Once on, I found the netting posed another challenge in seeing and mixing the colors, but it was an obstacle that had to be overcome. Since I did not bring along any boots, I needed to come up with a solution for my feet. As the photo shows, my easy fix was a couple of plastic shopping bags tied around my legs. Not the best look but it worked keeping the bugs at bay. Painting en plein air is great even if it can be fraught with little nuisances along the way.