Last weekend, Rob and I visited our son Ian at his school, the Maine College of Art (MECA) in Portland, Maine. I got up early and walked around the city, taking pictures.
There is nothing like early morning light with its warm, soft glow.
We walked down one of the piers and ate breakfast at the Porthole Restaurant, which has been here since 1929.
We liked Portland and can see why it’s listed as one of the most livable cities in the country.
I love the moss growing on the roof.
A few weeks ago, my husband and I went in our motor boat across Vineyard Sound to Oak Bluff’s harbor. We took the launch ashore and walked the short distance to see the cottages in the Martha’s Vineyard Camp-Meeting Assoc. Campground.
The 300 or so mini cottages look like gingerbread-styled play houses, all nestled closely together, with barely a path between them. The cottages have an interesting history, with their plots originally holding tents for religious revival meetings started in the 1840’s.
In the 1960’s, cottage owners began to have fun, painting them bright colors. The early Methodists who formed the campground had a long “Do Not Do” list. I’m sure that they would be appalled at today’s collection of flamboyant cottages.
The original canvas tents were built on wooden platforms. Then, wood sides were added, with canvas tops. By the 186o’s tiny prefabricated “Carpenter Gothic” wooden houses were built in place of the tents. Today, 320 cottages remain, with 52 winterized and occupied year-round.
I’ve been here many times, but found new inspiration looking through the camera. Here are a few of my favorites.
South of Woods Hole, most of the islands in the chain of Elizabeth Islands are private and protected from development. The only public settlement is on Cuttyhunk, which we visited earlier this summer (see post here).
Lately, I’ve been doing more adventuring than sewing, although I am working on something that I can’t show until later. We went to this particular island to visit our friends Heydt and Barbara, who are the caretakers.
We walked to the top the highest hill and took in the view, while Heydt shaded himself under an umbrella.
I brought Barbara some dahlias from my garden. Their old boat sits on the lawn near their house.
There were scrub pines in a low, sheltered area.
And bursting milkweed pods.
This monarch larvae was happily eating a milkweed leaf.
I found many dead horseshoe crabs washed up on the beach by the storm, Irene.
What a beautiful, peaceful day!
Continued from cruise to Cuttyhunk (part 1).
The next morning we took our dingy to the Cuttyhunk dock and walked through town.
We went to the Cuttyhunk Fishing Club for breakfast.
On the way we came across this “Bed and Breakfast” garden.
I love this flower bed.
There was an incredible view of Vineyard Sound from the dining porch.
We walked back through the village a different way.
With just a few short roads and no gas station, golf carts are the prefered transportation method.
From the hill on top of the island, you can see the Elizabeth Island chain going north toward Woods Hole.
We walked down to the dock, took our dingy back to our boat and motored home. What a wonderful getaway!
On a calm day earlier in August, before Irene blew up our way, my husband and I took our boat to Cuttyhunk Island. It’s only an hour ride from Woods Hole to this little gem at the end of the chain of Elizabeth Islands. In the harbor, we met up with our friends Ben and Julie and they rafted their sail boat up to our boat.
We took our dingy to shore, walked around the town and passed the public library.
We had a lobster dinner.
And walked back down to the dock to take our dingy back to our mooring.
On the way, we passed acorn stand in a golf cart which operated on the honor system .
As the sun went down and the moon came up, we returned to our boat and spent a peaceful night on our boat in Cuttyhunk harbor.
to be continued…
With summer’s end quickly approaching, we are getting out in our boat as much as possible. That means less time stitching in my studio, but there will be time for that this fall and winter. I tend to be a compulsive worker, so I’m trying to bring more of a balance of work and family/social time into my life.
We motored down to Tarpaulin Cove, which is about a half hour boat ride from Woods Hole. It’s one of the beaches that the public is allowed to use on Naushon Island, which is privately owned. But you can only get to these beaches by sea. The family trust that owns this stretch of islands keeps them undeveloped and natural, with just a few houses for family members to stay. It’s like going back in time a couple hundred years.
I walked with my friends down the beach toward the light house, passing the farm-house. We went through a stile, which keeps cattle from straying too far. Their pasture is inland, over the dunes, with a path to the water. The last time we came to the cove, the cows were standing in the water, cooling off.
We worked our way along the shore.
And climbed up towards the light house.
Where we could see across the sound, with Martha’s Vineyard in the distance. Looking out, I imagined all of the ships that have passed by this point or taken shelter in this cove. There’s a story about how during the Revolutionary War, British ships hid in Tarpaulin Cove, waiting to attack Cape Cod. They were spied and word got back to the main land in time for the militia to defend the shores of Falmouth.
It was after 2 am yesterday morning when I got home from the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators summer conference in LA. I always refer people to SCBWI when I’m asked about getting into the children’s book market. This past weekend, 1300 writers and illustrators from literally around the world gathered together to hear inspiring speeches and attend practical workshops. Some have published books, while many are honing their craft, working toward a dream of sharing their writing and art on a larger scale. Most participants come away with a more realistic idea of how much work is required to have a book published. A lot of famous authors gave key-note speeches, including Judy Blume (on stage, in brown, pointing her arm).
I was there to accept a Golden Kite Award for my picture book Pocketful of Posies. Here’s the little bronze statuette, which is a child holding a kite (out of the picture). They even spelled my name correctly! In my 8 minute speech, I talked about the support I received from my agency (Studio Goodwin Sturges), who stood by me while I took time to experiment with projects other than children’s books, my editor at Houghton Mifflin (Margaret Raymo), who waited patiently while I worked on the artwork for the book, sometimes not showing her anything for a year at a time and my husband Rob Goldsborough, who has never suggested I get a real job. I also told a story about how I grew from a child who liked to play with dolls, to the grown woman who still likes to play with dolls.
I met Laurie Sharp of Wool Pets. Here she is at the portfolio review with some photos of her wonderful needle felted animal characters. We’ve been communicating through e-mail for a while and have so many interests in common; natural fibers, kit making, storytelling, Waldorf education, writing how-to instructions. Read about her needle felting how-to books here.
In my workshop, “The joys and challenges of 3 dimensional illustration”, I showed Laurie’s work and we talked about ways she could develop her characters and use photos as illustrations. I could really see them in a series of baby board books.
Laurie Sharp's needle felted characters
Here I am after the Golden Kite award ceremony with SCBWI co-founder Lin Oliver.
At the book signing, I was seated next to Bruce Coville, who was my sons’ favorite author when they were around 11 or 12.
I was reminded of how nice children’s book people are, but also of how ignorant I am about current authors and illustrators. Working as I do, in isolation for long periods of time, I lose touch with what’s going on in the children’s book world. There’s got to be a balance somewhere! So, I took off my blinders for a few days, mingled with my tribe and have returned home energized!
I’ve been so busy that I’m just now getting around to writing about our wonderful visit to Brattleboro, Vermont for the show opening on July 15th. The Brattleboro Museum and Art Center is housed in the old train station right in the middle of town. It is a beautiful facility and during this rotation, most of the galleries are showing exhibits of work that “explore the boundaries between fine art and fine craft”.
My show, Sewn Stories, will be on display for 2 rotations, so it will be up until February 5th, 2012. I will be returning on Sat., Oct. 15th to give a talk at 3:00 pm.
My work is in a cozy gallery in the former ticket office area. They’ve kept the dark wooden trim and ticket window in place. Inside, there’s a small TV where my Rabbitat film is shown.
The original Rabbitat is on display, along with a variety of illustrations and other fabric relief pieces that I’ve made over the past 15 years. There are several original illustrations from Pocketful of Posies, too.
Self Portrait: A Personal History of Fashion and The Storyteller and George’s Chair are included in the show.
All of the galleries in the museum were packed at the opening and I saw several people whom I’ve met through e-mail.
The curator, Susan Calabria did a fantastic job preparing for and hanging the exhibit, which will be visited by groups of children over the next 6 months. She came up with a simple, sweet, stitched felt leaf project for all ages.
I hope that some of you will find your way to southern Vermont to see the show!
OK, this is the last of the Long Island pictures. I took tons of photos of houses and it was hard to cull it down to a few. Happy Forth of July! I’m off to see our playful science-focused parade in Woods Hole and then tonight we’ll watch the Falmouth fireworks display from a boat.
Here are more pictures from my trip to Long Island, this group focusing on doorways.
SALLEY MAVOR 