To know ME is to love ME.
(ME as in the state of MAINE, that is!)
Ah, Maine! That dreamy place where I cast aside all my cares, to-do lists, and obligations and just relax and absorb the wonder of it all.
We just returned from almost two weeks in Maine, and it felt so good to be back in the land of rocky coastlines, towering evergreens, cute houses, and meadows filled with wildflowers.
My mom and I drove up together and spent a few days with friends near Surry, ME, which is near Ellsworth and Acadia National Park. Then we picked up my husband, Fred, at the Bar Harbor airport and drove down the coast to meet the rest of the family for a week in Camden.
I took along a new 5-3/4″ x 8-1/4″ Etchr Perfect Sketchbook to try out, and I’m finding I really like it. The size is perfect for a travel journal, and the 140 lb. cold-press watercolor paper works well for my style of painting. The creamy white paper has quite a bit of texture, but I’m still able to use any pens I want to without a problem.
It’s a two-day drive from my home in western PA to midcoast Maine. We usually stay near Boston the first night, so we have the whole next day to meander up the coast. Our first stop is always….
This time, after wandering through the outlet store and the huge flagship LL Bean store, I found a spot to sit, pulled out my sketch kit, and dashed off a quick drawing of the 16′ tall boot sculpture that sits near the main entrance to the store.
There’s even a traveling “bootmobile” that I just had to add to my page.
My mother always manages to keep herself occupied while I sketch. 🙂
Instead of keeping a full-fledged travel journal on this trip, complete with daily diary and itinerary, I decided to take a different route. I was thinking about how people always ask me what it is that’s so special about Maine and why I love it so much. I find it difficult to describe the connection I feel to the place. There are so many little things that speak to me. Things that spark joy and make me smile. Things that make me say, “Oh, look at that!” Places that give me a deep sense of happiness and contentment, like I’m where I’m meant to be. It’s a spiritual connection that feeds my soul.
With those thoughts in mind, I decided that maybe the best way to explain what I love about Maine would be to keep a visual list of all the Downeast things that are near and dear to my heart. This new “What I Love About Maine” sketchbook will be a continuing project over the next few years. Each page will feature a particular place that I love or a generalized subject such as pretty villages, snug harbors, rocky beaches, or fields filled with lupines. I’ve been having fun thinking of ideas for things I want to include.
The first page of my ‘love letter to Maine’ may be a little bit silly…
but it captures the fun and excitement we always feel when we arrive in Freeport, knowing we have a whole week (or two) of good times ahead of us. After 15 hours of driving, we’re finally IN MAINE!
Stay tuned for more Maine sketches coming in the days ahead.
I hope you’re having a wonderful summer!
17 Comments
I know exactly the place you stayed- it’s just down the road where I daughter and family stayed when we first moved up here from CT 18 mos. ago. We now live in Penobscot- on the other side of the Blue Hill Peninsula and will eventually live in Blue Hill. So many painting opportunities up here- I love it!
Schoodic Point is my very favorite spot of all up here -we’ve been coming here for 40+ years!
My great grandfather was a lighthouse keeper at Owl’s Head so I’m familiar with that area as well.
You chose your locations well!
P.S.- check out the Blue Hill Library website- it’s Paint the Peninsula time- online auction.
The house was on Newbury Neck Road. What a beautiful spot! That’s the first time we’ve stayed on the Blue Hill peninsula, so it was fun exploring some new places. Everywhere you turn, there’s a scene waiting to be painted.
Owls Head is where we’ve been going for many years – I love that area too. How cool that your grandfather was a lighthouse keeper there!
Beautiful photos and illustrations! I’m so glad you had a wonderful vacation (your Mom looks pretty happy!). You visited Maine in the prettiest month (June), when the lupine is blooming and everything is so fresh and verdant. I grew up in Ellsworth and you’ve covered many of my favorite places. We’re so blessed to have such a beautiful place to call home. I paint full time and I never run out of fresh material! Your first photo is near the start of Ocean Drive in Acadia (MDI portion), with Otter Cliff in the distance. That’s the best photo I’ve ever seen of it (the tide, the light were all working with you). I used to make a quick pass through early in the morning before work and would often see deer licking salt on the rocks. But Schoodic and the whole Downeast region are also spectacular. And Blue Hill Peninsula and the Midcoast. The whole state! Thank you for sharing these!
I love it all! Whenever I visit, I don’t want to leave and I’m continually plotting how I can stay longer next year. Two weeks isn’t nearly enough time.
Leslie! Thank you so much for letting us look at the scenes and your work from the Maine trip!
I loved the picture of Saundra!!!!! She is a very special lady!!! You could do a watercolor that fine lady seated in front of the Ice Cream store!!!
Thanks again, Nancy Hoffman
Thanks, Nancy. She does love her ice cream! I have pictures from almost every trip we’ve taken together showing her with an ice cream cone or sundae or gelato. I’m just so glad we are finally able to travel together again.
Aloha Leslie,
I was so happy to find your post in my inbox. Your sketches and words were a great way to begin my day. It also primed my pump to visit my sister in law and husband in Calais, Maine. Flying from the islands has been challenging. I surrender to the chaos and will stay put in Hawaii till travel becomes easier. Being in Hawaii is not a bad place to stay stuck. Your post has motivated me to go to some of my island favs and start sketching thanks for the motivation.
That would be a long trip, from Hawaii to Maine! But you sure can’t complain about the sketching opportunities where you are, can you? I’d LOVE to sketch in Hawaii some day. Lucky you!
Let’s make it happen!
I love to read your blogs and look at your wonderful sketches. Someday hope to go to Maine and see those wonderful places. I know how you feel, about the Maine coastline, as I have the same feelings about the coastline in Calif which I have traveled many times.
I hope you can visit some day – you’ll love it.
I’ll look forward to more of your Maine entries. It’s a lovely state, the little I’ve seen but I have seen that big boot (and spent more than I should in the store!). I need to check out that sketchbook. I’m guessing it lays flat? Sounds like a good one.
Yes, the Etchr Perfect Sketchbook is hard bound with a padded leather-like cover, a ribbon bookmark, and an envelope inside the back cover. There’s also an attached elastic strap to keep it closed. It lays nice and flat when opened. The only thing I don’t care for is the color of the paper. I prefer bright white rather than the creamy white that this one has.
What a fun trip! And your Mom went too!! Love your sketches! ❤️ Beverlee
When we set out across Pennsylvania, heading for Maine, we were almost giddy with happiness over finally being together again for a road trip. I must have said at least three or four times, “I feel SO HAPPY!” 🙂 We’ve really missed traveling together.
I Do love your posts and eagerly look forward to a glipse of what your latest adventure is this one was no exception. Thanks as always for sharing your creativity with us whether its homebound or far afield. So as always we stay inspired.❤
Maine is SO beautiful! I would love to take a trip there. I hope you sent this post to LL Bean! Maybe you’ll have a new job doing ads for them. Your paintings are so charming. I love what your Mom chooses to do while you paint…LOL! Enjoy.