I treasure these few days when I can’t blog, answer texts, or pay bills.
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| Aboard schooner American Eagle. |
There is no cell phone signal over the water on Penobscot Bay. It’s not a complete blackout; you might pick up something from the mainland, but it’s very spotty.
My husband is an electrical engineer who works with radios. Like most people in his profession, he’s an inveterate fixer. When he first realized I was going to be out of contact on the water, he launched into a technical soliloquy involving buoys and repeaters. “That would be an easy problem to fix,” he mused.
I looked at him in horror. “Don’t even think about it!” I remonstrated. I treasure these few days when I can’t blog, answer texts, or pay bills.
Yes, my blog is going dark for the next week. I’ll be cutting around Penobscot Bay teaching watercolor to an avid group of new students. Many of these people have waited patiently for a year for this workshop, as their long-planned trip was canceled due to COVID.
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| The Gam is the season-opening raft-up of the Maine windjammer fleet. It didn’t happen in 2020, thanks to COVID. |
I love being on the water, and teaching on American Eagle gives me the opportunity to sail without the effort and expense involved in keeping up a 90-ft. long historic boat. That’s Captain John Foss’s problem. This is the part of windjamming the public never sees: the sheer hard graft to keep these boats in perfect nick.
I have a knack for choosing back-of-beyond places for painting workshops—places where the signal is spotty and nature is stupendous. This is what’s left on my schedule this year:
Our second trip is September 19-23, 2021.
As with this trip, you’ll learn watercolor on the fly on the magical waters of Maine’s Penobscot Bay, aboard the historic schooner American Eagle. In September, the bay is still warm from summer and autumn colors are just starting on the islands. All materials, berth, meals and instruction included.
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| Jack Pine, 8×10, oil on canvasboard, by Carol L. Douglas. Available through my open-air gallery, $522 unframed. |
SEA & SKY AT ACADIA NATIONAL PARK
AUGUST 8-13, 2021
This trip has three openings left. It’s a perennial favorite: five days of intensive plein air in America’s oldest national park. Lodging and meals included at Schoodic Institute. All levels and media welcome.
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| Yes, there are places in America where buffalo still roam. This one’s near Cody, WY. |
SEPTEMBER 5-10, 2021
Study in an authentic western ranch setting just minutes from the restaurants, museums, and resorts of Cody. We’re based on a ranch above the south fork of the Shoshone River, surrounded by mountains. Five days of intensive plein air, all levels, all media welcome.
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| Linda DeLorey painting an old adobe building near Pecos, NM. |
SEPTEMBER 12-16, 2021
This is another favorite, and is about half-filled right now. It’s high plains and mountain wilderness above Santa Fe in historic, enchanting New Mexico. Five days of intensive plein air instruction, all media and all levels welcome.
SEPTEMBER 26-OCTOBER 1, 2021
This is a new offering, in conjunction with the Sedona Arts Center. Sedona is a geological wonderland, with world-class restaurants, galleries, and accommodations. Five days of intensive plein air instruction, all media and all levels welcome.
MOSS-DRAPED OAKS IN TALLAHASSEE, FL
JANUARY 17-21-2022
I’ll be returning to gracious Tallahassee for another great session of painting through Natalia Andreeva Studio. This is a great opportunity to get away to the warmth and sun of Florida during the worst of our northern winter! Five days of intensive plein air instruction, all media and all levels welcome.