close encounters with mooses

This lovely cow moose welcomed 4 of us artists to Sandy Stream Pond in Baxter State Park last Thursday. Munching her way towards us, here she is considering her next move - towards us or across the pond. She opted for across the pond which was good since we were close to her, and it is rutting season. After this confrontation, we artists separated - 3 went to a rock facing Katahdin, but in the wind. I went to a small viewpoint, close to the water where I could sit in my chair, and behind some bushes, protected from the wind. I sat there happily painting for a couple of hours. Several clumps of people came by during this time, so I thought nothing - at first - of the sounds of clumping footsteps.
As they got closer, however, I also heard some munching sounds, at which point I began to think that what was behind me was not human. I carefully put down the little painting in a protected place, and turned my head around to the left. I was staring into the eyes of a huge bull moose, whose snout I could have patted. If I thought, I cannot remember what. So I slowly stood up, so that whatever might happen, I was at least looking eyeball to eyeball with him.
He was on the trail; I was at the side of it. I stood there, thinking to myself, "OK, Mr. Moose. I'm yours now."
If he had decided to come down the trail, I would have had to step backwards into the pond. But after staring at each other for a while - God only knows how long that was - Mr. Moose decided that I was not what he wanted, and he carefully went around me, and some bushes, then back onto the trail. Here he is:

Note the pulled back ears! He was still a bit worried about me, but not half as worried as I was. He was BIG, with a good sized rack!
Later that afternoon, as I was tottering back to Roaring Brook Ranger Station, I saw two moose in the woods, attempting to mate. I went from tottering to scurrying at that point, and was quite glad to get back to the Station.
Moose are not generally aggressive, except in rutting season which is now. I can remember my father coming home from a timber cruising trip, and telling a story about getting chased up a tree by furious bull moose. Perhaps it was my dad's testosterone that wound up his bull and my lack of it that kept my moose calm. Who knows? All I know was that I was at his mercy; he was way bigger than me and could have stomped me easily if he'd wanted to.
I am very grateful that, for whatever reason, he decided that it was better to chase after the cow we saw earlier that day, than it was to do something about me.
These encounters were the emotional highlight of my 5 day trip with 3 artists, led by Suzanne Brewer, artist in residence this summer at Baxter Park in the North Woods of Maine. We camped in a cabin at Daicey Pond, where I had been as a child with my cousin Jeanie. We painted each day at different places - Ledge Falls, Sandy Stream Pond, the eastern end of Ripogenus Gorge, always focussed up at Mt. Katahdin. Some times we went out of the Park and onto the Golden Road, a road built by the logging companies across the north woods. Most times we painted inside the Park, cooked dinner, visited with Charity and Dean Levasseur, rangers in the Park, and went to bed only to get up again at 6ish, when it got light and we could make it to the outhouse without flashlights. It was a fabulous time; the Park is a special place; the mountain is a very special mountain. But beware, you might confront a moose!

Crystalline Blue: the perfect ending

Last Sunday, I took some friends out for a sail. There were more sailboats out that day than practically any day last summer. It was a perfect day. Like this extremely blue 'postcard' above, it was crystalline blue that day, too, with a NW breeze blowing 10-15 knots, which of course, dies down in the late afternoon.
We sailed down the river with the tide, out towards Fishermans Island, passing near the Hypocrites to check out the seals, then down the Thread of Life to check on the osprey nests, and around Witch Island. I do love the names of things! Then we went back up Herring Gut and through the South Bristol bridge - a very narrow, wonderful old swing bridge, and across the river to check out the new Bigelow Lab, and home again.
It was quite spectacular. You could almost see Mount Desert Island from the bay. You could certainly see Monhegan, Matinicus and the Camden Hills. But we saw only one seal, no porpoises and no whales. I think they're still farther up north, or maybe there were just too many boats out that day. I have seen all of them in the places where we were last Sunday, and, except for the seal, I missed them that day.
But when we got back to the Marina, we sat in the sunshine for a bit drinking some beer, and eating Triscuits, on the boat. Then, unwilling to give up the pleasure and the sunshine, we walked over to Lobstermans Wharf, and ate supper - fresh oysters from the very river we were sailing on, crab cakes and lobster rolls.
I cannot conjure up more pleasure than what we had that day. So I've decided that it will be the last sail of the year. I cannot imagine a more perfect sail in October, so out the boat will come. She needs some work on the mainsail rig - its rolling furling isn't working well, and the traveller is stuck. So we'll work on it for a bit, and then haul her out. Friends think I'm crazy to give up the possibility of more perfect sails. But I prefer the memory of this one, this year.
I will search for another perfect sail next year.

'East Beirut' in an open studio

"East Beirut" is the name of this 'postcard.' A composite image of East Boothbay, I found it when I was cleaning up and getting organized for an open studio on September's First Friday here in Boothbay. I dug it out and refreshed the inks with some watercolors, and here it is. The name, East Beirut, dates the original to the days of the Great Water Main Project in 2009-2010, when a camel resided on my lawn, and East Boothbay was called Baghdad West. But the water is flowing happily now, so we have sunk back into the ordinariness of being East Boothbay.

'Postcards' is what I called this show. They are just simple images of places and things that I have started 'en plein air' with Tombo pens and inks, and then finish in the studio with watercolors. Included were Sumurun and Oliver Weyant, all colored up now, and Damariscove's Outer harbor which is still a bit rough...plus some Fishermans Island summer and fall light pics, one of which is at River Arts now...

What really seemed to galvanize people, however, were some of my old Squares, painted for the 'Art in the Square' Christmas show, plus some drawings that I am really into at the moment. The squares are mostly dinghies and dories, in sunsets. One sold - hooray! But the drawings were what held big interest. I have not made any photo images of them yet, though there are some early ones on www.artcollectormaine.com. But I will soon.

One has to be careful with drawings of nudes, both male and female, and even ordinary images of people. Even Westerners don't always like to be identified in portraits, cartoons, and photos, including me! But other people seem to like my images of people, so I will try and take some interesting photos soon.