10 days left to take advantage of sale prices on my beach paintings.  Sale good until August 10.

Go to: www.mariegagnon.com/for_sale.html for paintings and prices.

My friend Matt spend Saturday evening with me on...stopping on his way to the Cape.  After a wonderful sushi dinner, we went to Waterfire.  There was a full burn scheduled that evening and it was his first experience.  

The vibe at Waterfire is pretty great.  When you stop...and sit, really engaging with the burn (ignoring the crowds), it's magical and centering.

Here are a few photos from the evening.

I'm holding a special ONLINE sale of some recent paintings. These are from the "Beach" paintings, the first series since I returned to the east coast. It is a month long sale beginning July 9 and ends August 10. In addition to checks and cash, I've set up a PayPal account to facilitate credit card purchases. The available paintings are on my website at: http://www.mariegagnon.com/for_sale.html After 14 years in Seattle my return to New England has affirmed that its coastline is my home. Reintroducing myself to the dunes on the Cape and Martha’s Vineyard I knew this landscape would become my first east coast series. The series first began as a love letter to this magical landscape and an exercise in light, space and color. It still is, but over the last few months I’ve watched the substance behind the paintings take hold. In painting the dune path I am painting the artist’s journey. We know the ocean is over the crest yet it remains hidden as we climb the hot sands. It is a landscape with an ever changing personality: its calm and dramatic nature. A character of extremes, it can feel isolating and yet that space is full of emotion, of ideas, and of color. (series still in progress) Email me at gagnon60@gmail.com if interested.

in progress

How to paint in really hot weather? I normally don't. My body doesn't work well with major heat. But after a week and a half of not painting, I couldn't not work. Mornings are fairly comfortable. I place the fans on the west side (living room and painting studio) to bring in the cooler air and so was able to paint for a while yesterday morning before the room became unbearably warm. Still taking it slow and thoughtfully with this painting.  I first began this painting last fall and hadn't touched it until a few weeks ago.

I haven't worked in this fashion in over 15 years, having instead just painted fast, furious and emotionally. Now, I'm trying to balance the emotion with thinking through the painting. This morning was spent warming up the painting after the cooler and greener undertones and also working on smaller sections. I will need to go in and redraw but will wait for better weather when my head is clearer. Also, I am totally falling in love with this painting.  

"Her Boys" (still in progress) 24 x 24 in., oil on canvas

It's been a while since I've posted.  Have been busy with work (my temp job) and looking for a permanent gig, quickie trip to my parents, and still working on my new place.  

I turned down an opportunity to spend the weekend on Martha's Vineyard because I really needed to stay put, rest, catch up on some work and attempt to get back into a routine with my painting.  Although I love having my studio in my home again, I've discovered that it is a challenge to paint out of my home after 5 years of having a separate studio space with essentially no distractions.  It requires a discipline and so I'm working on it.

So I've had a good weekend and staying here has been the perfect decision but it doesn't mean that I'm not longing for some great beach time.  I'm totally overdue.  I may hit the beach after work one day.  We'll see.

In honor of Pride month, here are a couple photos photo taken this past week.  It was a sunny, beautiful day and then within 20 minutes, the sky turned dark, it poured, it stopped and then…a gorgeous double rainbow.

Friday late dinner:  Chardonnay and Cheerios.  Not in the same bowl.

A perfect summer's eve…where I walked to friends' home and shared one of my favorite films, John Cameron Mitchell's brilliant "Shortbus", with them.  It was a wonderful evening of companionship, conversation and cinema.  

Photo taken from their living room.

Busy weekend that began on Friday night with five other artists at the Tipsy Seagull in Fall River, a pub bar on a floating dock.  You can even moor your boat right up to the dock.   For a hot summer day, it was a perfect evening with cool breezes, a wonderful sunset, lively company and good drinks.

Saturday was a day with my sis and her hubby.  They drove down to help me with the apartment.  I needed to get a 4 ft x 6 ft piece of 3/4" plywood to place between the mattress and boxspring and they lent a hand and a car.  In addition they assisted with putting up curtains and doing other few things.  We then spent a wonderful day exploring Providence.

Sunday was an outdoor party at my former roommates.  It was a lovely afternoon where I met another person who had also just moved from Seattle a year ago.  The photo was taken at that party.

Trying to get back into my routine of hitting the gym in the morning before work and then coming home and painting in my new studio.  Settling in takes time and it's happening slowly.

I finished setting up the studio today...as much as I could.  I'm on the lookout for another cheap bookcase to store supplies.  But, have to get to work.  There is something wonderful about making a salad in the kitchen, pouring a glass of wine and then walking a few steps into the studio to begin painting.  Not having worked in 2 months, due to the move, I am nervous.  It will be groovy once I settle in, but the anxiousness is part of my process. Taking it slowly with black, white and ochre acrylics.  As you can see, I'm so in love with the light.

I committed my weekend to sorting out the new studio space in my home.  It's been a challenge, but coming along and very much worth it.

Last night I had a wonderful break by meeting Mark for dinner.  We headed to the Grange.  My second trip, his first…and it was amazing.  Everything we ate was phenomenal.   What I really like about the food is that it doesn't pretend to be something else.  I love vegetarian & vegan dishes but am not a fan of vegetarian restaurants that try to seduce meat lovers by offering plates replicating meat dishes.

Instead, there is a mindfulness for the quality of each ingredient and how it is mated with others, highlighting the best of each.  Like great sex.

Afterward, M needed to return to his commitments and I chose to attend Waterfire, the first of the season.  I never made it last year and so was thrilled I had the opportunity.  It was a pretty fabulous evening, strolling the canal, looking at all the burns while music filled the air.  

And today, after two days of working...the studio is getting there! All the boxes on the left are art supplies and that's tomorrow's project. The bookcase now holds the art books of my fave painters on the bottom two shelves. Then the others are a shelf of written journals (which I still do because it is more personal than typing) and a shelf of sketchbooks. It feels good to have those accessible...referencing for future work. This photo was taken about 4:30 pm. Still nice light.

Since I've moved, my studio has been the holding tank for boxes and stuff as I'm slowly unpacking.  Part of this weekend's festivities is to finish turning this room into my painting space.  The bulk of my canvases is already stored in my living room closet and I've been tackling the boxes of books.  I'm very much looking forward to painting again.

Summer has arrived in Providence and all I can think about are the many beach trips in my near future.

it's been 19 months since i first began packing to move east. it started with packing my studio in the 619 and placing art stuff in storage.  the next 5 months consisted of prepping to leave a job of 12 years and packing my apartment.  since arriving in providence, i've been renting a room for the last year.

on friday, friends kindly came by to help me move furniture around and get a sense of where things should be.  i was too tired to think clearly.  now I can unpack my books, put up blinds, curtains and paintings and finally see the light that beckons home.

i had no idea how exhausted the last almost two years have made me until yesterday when i came down with a nasty cold and am essentially out flat. but…the bulk of the apartment will be done in the next few weeks.

friday night. 

five friends. 

fondue. 

fire.

perfect.

Still have things to do in the kitchen and the living room and the bedroom and the bathroom...but it will take time.  In a holding pattern.  So now I'm finally beginning to clear out the studio and make room for painting.

Before moving from west to east last year I got rid of a ton of extra clothes I no longer wore.   About an hour ago I finished going thru all my clothes.  Everything is sorted by season, unpacked, folded or hung up.   And now there is a large trash bag that will be full once I put the remaining clothes in it.   

This my friends comes from menopause.  After fluctuating very little for about 25 years, in 12 months my middle became thicker and stuff stopped fitting.   For me, it's the most frustrating part of this season of my life.

Yesterday and today I sat on my new front stoop enjoying the sunshine, the warmth, the smell of blossoming spring and the view.   This is what I see from my front steps.

Today I realized how tired I really am.   It's been a long two years, with having to leave the 619 Arts building in Seattle and then in a holding pattern for 6 months until I moved to Providence.

In Providence, although I've been working and painting and slowly getting to connect with folks and learn the area and staying in a wonderful place…it wasn't my home.   Renting a room is not the same, especially at 53 years old.

Today it hit me that I can't believe I'm setting up my house. 

I wonder what the future has in store.  

In unpacking I am going through boxes that I packed in February 2012 and haven't opened until now.

I am intentionally unpacking slowly because I want to get to know the space...feel its character.  In a way it's a meditation on this new relationship with another home, a mindfulness.  Here is a little study in white I created in my kitchen. 

It's been a crazy few weeks.  The day before my flight to Seattle I was in the studio completing all the packing.  The day before that was spent painting the kitchen and the living room in the new apartment.   Then a whirlwind few days in the Emerald City which was filled with love, joy and phenomenal music.  

Took a redeye from Seattle to Providence on Monday night.  I was in Providence by 9:30 Tuesday morning and crashed all day.  Up at 5 am Wednesday morning to take apart my bed and had to meet the movers at the studio at 8 am.    

Hiring movers was money well spent.  They had me all moved in by 11 am and then I could turn to the task of setting up my home.   

This is the living room in my new apartment which I will convert into my new studio space.   I will then take the largest of the 2 bedrooms for a living room.  Minus the bay window space, the new studio is 14 x 14 square.  The windows face west and there is a large tree in front so it will remain cool in the summer.  

And here is the studio on Wednesday after the movers left.

Wednesday night was the first night in my new apartment. Before going to sleep, I made sure the coffee and coffee maker were readily available for morning. Upon waking, I stumbled into the kitchen and a soft "ahhh" filled the room. The kitchen windows face east which makes for beautiful morning light.