End of Week 1

I'm concluding week 1 a little more sunburned than I began it, and with a few more paint-stained items of clothing but otherwise, no complaints! I'm feeling good about the progress I've made and am excited for more adventures next week. On Wednesday I drove to the end of Route 24, over Orr's and Bailey's Islands to Land's End where the road dead-ends at the Ocean. It was finally a gorgeous day after a few days of rain. I shot quite a bit out there and then pulled over several times on the way back and took a few walks so I could capture all the beautiful views along the way. I also stopped at Cundy's Harbor on the way back which was a sleepy little harbor, but has several cute general stores and a coastal photography gallery (which was closed at the time but I intend to go back). Thursday I ventured down to the end of 123, very similar to 24 but much bumpier, which took me to South Harpswell. Another beautiful day with glassy water but somewhat ominous skies. Not many people were out other than a few dogwalkers and a father teaching his kids how to catch fish (fabulous eaves-dropping material!). Took a billion photos and also played with my watercolors some. Today was a water color day too. I still don't have anything I'm happy enough with to post on this blog, but I'm learning a lot. Oil paint is so much more forgiving! I made myself do lots of exercises to try to learn some better technique so that I can really get a handle on it by the time I start trying to figure out how to incorporate the painting with the cyanotypes. But there's lots to do before that happens! Today my plans to go to the Giant Steps were foiled due to scattered showers as soon as I arrived at my destination. I changed plans and drove back to Land's End where I could see the ocean from the parking lot and set up shop in the trunk of my car. It stopped raining very soon after that, but it actually would have made a cozy little studio, so now I'm prepared for the inevitable next time (since the weather here tends to be pretty unpredictable). Anyway, that's enough for now. Below is a random selection of shots from the last couple days. (Click on the photos to see larger versions. They're much more interesting that way.)