Back in Northern Vermont - Summer 2023

The best views are from the water! Lots of early morning and late evening paddles
with cameras and sketchbooks!

Coming home seems like an easy path that you have traveled countless times in the past two decades. This time it included a transatlantic move, remodeling of a new home studio space, adopting a dog, reconnecting with family and community, and dipping back into teaching both former students and new friends. As an artist, it also means digging into a new project and body of work! Needless to say, it has been a very busy four months!

Regardless of where I am or what medium I am infatuated with at the moment since I like to create works of art in a plethora of different ways, there always seems to be threads of home woven into my work. Sky, mountains, water, reflections--these are the elements that intrigue me and what I am always seeking out in landscapes all around the globe. My little house on the shores of Lake Memphremagog, still the most beautiful of all the lakes I have seen in my life (and there have been many) pulls these strings like a siren call, luring me back with its peace and solitude of sunrises and the lull of the water as a background to the day’s activities. The familiarity of every rising mountain slope and island, and ever-changing mood in different light, weather, and season, has echoes in all my work as I find similarities to my ‘homeview’ in every place I travel. As an artist, my fascination with this singular place always draws me back to see it all anew at dawn and dusk, in the fog or rain, as the winter ice forms and spring thaws, and of course, during the spectacular sunsets! So, this summer I have dedicated myself to answering that call of the lake that has always been there, sometimes as a whisper in the back of my mind and other times as a roar with my fingers itching to get it down on paper. Amazingly, after all these years, Lake Memphremagog has never been the center of my artistic attention…until now!

100 Days on Lake Memphremagog: An artist’s exploration sky, land, lake and light. An artist’s investigation of place – a place that many call home. With that, June 1st I set out with my camera, sketchbook, and easel, on foot, by car, and via kayak to fine new viewpoints and perspectives, favorite iconic vistas, and capture magical moments of light and weather. The more I looked, the more I saw, the more I wanted to explore MORE! It has been early mornings, crazy weather (which this summer has brought in spades to Vermont), cloudy chasing, and late-night paddles back to the dock after watching a sunset. These experiences have materialized in hundreds of photographs, multiple sketchbooks, and final paintings in oil, watercolor, and mixed media! Here is a glance into what I have been doing up until now:

A glimpse into my sketchbooks and process…

The 100 days are not over yet and some of the greatest color, light and views are yet to come this fall! Those who know me well and have followed my journey as an artist know that my passions extend beyond my own personal work to teaching and mentoring, as well as using art as a voice and platform to bring awareness to things and places I care about. So, when I decided to dive into this series of artworks centered around my home lake, I wanted to do more that create a beautiful body of work, I wanted to use that work and my exploration to bring awareness, appreciation, and potential action to help protect it. These new pieces will debut themselves in an exhibition with opening event in late October in Newport, Vermont where a percentage of proceeds from sales of this work will go to local organizations to help educate and protect the lake including: Memphremagog Watershed Association, DUMP: Don’t Undermind Memphremagog’s Purity, and the Memphremagog Science and Education Center. Anyone interested in a specific work can reserve the piece prior to the opening by contacting me. After the impact of the July floods and heavy rains in Vermont, support for these organizations, along with clean up and protection efforts for our waterways is more vital than ever. I hope you will join me for this visual celebration of our beautiful corner of the world and contribute to the works of these important organizations - stay tuned for details!