Two Teachers, A Wyeth Painting and A Partial History of an Antique Cape

This was the house of Alan and Martha Ferguson who were neighbors of ours when we first moved to Castine. They were both artists and retired teachers from Stow, MA. Martha did pastel landscapes and Alan had settled comfortably into making humorous cartoons that focused on the doings and absurdities around town for the local paper.

What follows is a story they once told us, as I remember it:

Shortly after graduating from art school they were walking up Newbury St. in Boston when a painting in a gallery window caught their eye. They went inside to get a closer look and inquire about the artist. They were told it was by an up and coming artist, Andrew Wyeth, whose father was the famous N. C. Wyeth. It was one of Andrew’s early watercolors and they fell in love with it. They decided to splurge and pay the few hundred dollars, even though they were living on the meager salaries teachers received at that time.

For years they lived with and enjoyed the painting, but as Wyeth’s reputation grew and his works increased in value, they felt that perhaps they were being selfish by keeping the painting to themselves and that more people should be able to see it. They decided the best way to do that was to loan it to the MFA, which was only too happy to accept the loan. They both felt very pleased that the painting that gave them so much pleasure could now be seen and enjoyed by others as well.

Then one fateful day, years later, they went to the museum to visit with their painting and couldn’t find it. When they inquired about it, they learned that it was in storage. Well, this wasn’t the idea. They had loaned it to be seen not stored, so they asked to have it returned to them.

Now they had another dilemma. When they visited the gallery where they had originally purchased it, and learned what its value had become, it made them even more uncomfortable. They felt it was absurd to have such a valuable piece of art, uninsured and vulnerable to theft or damage, so they reluctantly arranged to have the gallery sell it. What the sale of that painting enabled them to do, was to buy the lovely antique cape pictured above, where they could spend their summers and in which they would live out their lives after retirement and enjoy wonderful sunsets like that pictured below. A nice story about two lovely neighbors who are sadly missed and what can happen when you invest in art.

Åarhus Gallery Show to Benefit Local Food Pantries

"Dory" 4x6" Watercolor, by Gregory Dunham, $500.00 SOLD

The dory watercolor pictured above will be a part of the 3rd Annual "44N 69W: Radius Belfast" at Åarhus Gallery, 50 Main Street, Belfast, ME.

Please join Åarhus Gallery for an opening reception Friday March 4th, 5-8pm for the third annual '44N 69W: Radius Belfast'. An all encompassing show running from March 3rd through the 27th, of work by Maine artists, living within a thirty-mile radius of Belfast. 20% of the proceeds of sales from this show will go to benefit local food pantries.

For more information: Åarhus Gallery "44N 69W: Radius Belfast"

When is a painting finished?

A few things were troubling me about this award winning watercolor from '04, as seen in the first image below. So, I decided to take it out of its frame and rework the areas that bothered me. I just finished it yesterday and I'm very happy with the result of the changes I made to it. Let's see if you agree.

"Dory", Watercolor, 19.5x29.5 in., 2004, Amee B. Davis Memorial Award for excellence in painting, Rockport Art Association

The image below is the painting as it now appears.

"Dory", Watercolor, 19.5x29.5 in., 2004-11

I'll let the words of a friend and fellow artist describe my changes. This is from an exchange of notes with my friend Margaret: "I think you changed the color of the hull that is in shadow to be slightly darker and warmer in tone - befitting the warm reflected light from the sandy/gravelly surface. It looks like you've made the shadow of the dory blend more with the surface and the rocks in the foreground. While the light conditions of your reference shot may indeed have made the shadow appear as stark as you initially painted it, in terms of composition, all the elements in the foreground are now more harmonious and pleasing to the eye."

She hit the nail on the head with her comments. All of the changes were made to the foreground and the dory itself. I thought the building, pilings and background were fine just the way they were and the changes to the dory and foreground made the entire painting more harmonious and unified. One small detail she missed, because she was looking at small images was that I also used a razor blade to scrape out the edge of the rope lines to better highlight them.

To answer the question posed in the title of this post "When is a painting finished?", perhaps it is only finished once a collector takes possession of it.

Morning Sea Smoke in Castine, 2/4/11

Castine takes on a surreal look as sea smoke engulfs it, briefly, in the early morning.

Glancing out my bedroom window this morning, I noticed a band of sea smoke over the Bagaduce River. I grabbed my camera and headed in town. What a surprise was awaiting me when I reached the top of Windmill Hill. The town was engulfed in a dense fog of sea smoke.

Living on the coast of Maine, sea smoke on cold winter days is not an uncommon phenomenon. What was uncommon about the sea smoke today was that it did not stay over the water, but moved over the entire downtown of Castine, creating a very surreal atmosphere. In the first photo above, the sun is seen dimly through sea smoke as we look toward the post office from Court Street.

Here are a few photos from this morning.

Looking out to the shrouded Bagaduce River, from Water Street

The Town Common and Unitarian Church from School Street as the sea smoke begins to disperse.

Looking toward Green Street from School Street.

Sea Smoke hanging over Hatch's Cove.

The sea smoke left a thick coating of frost or dew on the branches.

Happy New Year!

As the sun sets tonight, there is the promise of a new day and a new year. I wish you all a Happy & Healthy New Year and hope you enjoy this video of Scotland's gem, Eddi Reader singing the traditional end of year song "Auld Lang Syne". Be safe, fill your hearts with love, grow something this coming year, respect and nourish the soil and it will nourish you, reach out to someone in need and pray for peace.

Merry Christmas!

"After the Storm", Gregory Dunham Watercolor, 21x41", 2008, Private Collection

After the Storm, Christmas Day

Out on the river,

snow covers a thin layer of ice.

Clouds lift, skies brighten,

sounds are muffled as day begins,

transformed by a blanket of white.

Even birds are waiting

for the wind to stop,

as small drifts form waves.

The house is like a ship

anchored on a sea of white.

After the storm, the fields

are silent, no footprints yet.

Deer are resting among

islands of hedgerows and fence lines,

landmarks in a sea of white.

Slowly, the house awakens,

warmed by red oak and birch.

Down in the kitchen, coffee is on,

Christmas magic inside and out,

transformed by a blanket of white.

Though I in no way consider myself a poet, I was inspired to write the preceding poem to go along with the mood in my painting.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. May you experience the magic of love, the warmth of family & friends, peace both within and without, and a sense of joy, wonder, hope & fulfillment, as the season turns and the light slowly begins its return.

You can see a larger image of the above watercolor at my web site: Gregory Dunham Watercolors a Christmas Card

The Story of a Drawing and the Passing of Time: from the Real, to a Drawing, to the Real

The Story of a Drawing and a Knitted Hat

The Hat, 1976, Graphite Drawing by Gregory Dunham, Private Collection

Paris 1970

Nearly 41 years ago, on an extended stay in Paris during the winter of 1970, besides the outdoor produce markets, one of my favorite spots to visit was the Jardin du Luxembourg. I loved to watch the children sailing their pond boats, the kids on the carousel reaching for the ring with their sticks, old gentlemen playing boules, young mothers and nannies pushing strollers, lovers walking arm in arm and the many people on benches watching, reading or eating. They were all a wealth of material for future paintings. On one such excursion I noticed a young boy riding a pedal cart, wearing a knit cap and scarf with an elephant design.

Little Boy in the Jardin du Luxembourg, Paris 1970, Gregory Dunham photograph

I took a photo of him and stored the memory away in my mind, till six years later, in 1976, when I did a graphite drawing and a watercolor of the little boy in his hat. Both the drawing and the watercolor sold from a show I had that year at the Guild of Boston Artists.

Now the most interesting part of the story begins. Ten years later in 1986, we learned we were about to have a son, whom we would name Stow after my friend and mentor Stow Wengenroth. Giving thought to a birth announcement, I suggested we use my drawing of the young boy from ten years earlier. Unfortunately, I had no photographic record of the drawing or the watercolor, but I was able to contact the buyer of the drawing and she agreed to let me borrow it back for the announcement. Sadly, I was unable to keep track of the collector who purchased the watercolor and as a result do not know its whereabouts.

As the story continues, two years later, after the arrival of our daughter Abby some friends held a baby shower for us. One of our friends had had a hat, similar to the one on the announcement, originally worn by the little boy in Paris, knit as a gift for Stow. When we placed it on his head we were struck by the resemblance to my drawing and to the Parisian boy from nineteen years earlier.

Stow in "The Hat", 1989, Gregory Dunham Photo

Detail: Little Boy in the Jardin du Luxembourg, Paris 1970, Gregory Dunham photograph

I'll end my story of the passage of time from the real, to a drawing, to the real here. Stow turned 24 this year. The drawing is 34 years old and the little Parisian boy is probably about 43 by now and for all I know may have a little boy of his own wearing a similar hat.