The Rugged Coast of Maine

My first trip to Maine was around 2008. I went to trace the footsteps of Winslow Homer — to see his home and studio on the coast, to understand what drew him there. In doing so, I ended up traveling much of the Maine coastline, including Monhegan Island, where many artists I love had painted in the 19th century. I fell in love with the landscape, just like those painters before me. I totally get the attraction. Suddenly Andrew Wyeth, George Bellows, and Winslow Homer made more sense to me.

Outcrop, gouache on paper, 10" x 15"

I ended up with a client in Maine who became a good friend, and he would host me whenever I wanted to come up. The coastline was unlike anything I had experienced in my life, nothing like the North Carolina mountains I grew up around, the city streets of Philadelphia, or the flat sandy beaches of Tuscany. The winters are too cold for me, but the summers are something else, refreshingly cool compared to North Carolina, which puts me in the mood to paint everything.

Blue Rock, oil on panel, 11" x 17"

Over the years I had built quite a collection of Maine paintings, but I didn't have a community there, or a place to show my work. So I set a goal: develop a network, put down some roots. I applied for a residency with the Deer Isle Artists Association, and was invited to come up for a month in April 2026. What I found there was total freedom. On the first day, they gave me a key, showed me around, and said: enjoy.

I would hang the OPEN flag whenever I was in the studio, and very often the locals would wander in. By the time they left, they were friends.