Whee!

Late-Summer Lake. Oil on canvas, 10x30

What a whirlwind time I've had these past several days!

I drove up to Maine on Friday, to find that somehow, in the two and a half weeks I'd been away, autumn had arrived. The night temperature dropped into the high 40s, the black-eyed susans had faded and curled, and while I saw only the occasional reddish tree here and there, the summer's green was ebbing from the leaves.

I sat the show on Saturday, a wet Saturday, and had a lovely time. My uncle sat with me for an hour or more, and we talked and remembered. A group of people from the real Denmark stopped in; they'd been hiking New Hampshire, but on this rainy day thought they'd go visit the town named for their country. And Jane and Bob Dann came to the Denmark Arts Center.

When I worked at the Times Herald-Record in New York, I had many wonderful designers. One of my best was David Dann, an immensely talented journalist, a fine artist and sculptor, and a nice, nice man. His parents, it turns out, live in Harrison, Maine - just down the road from Denmark!

We had a wonderful time talking and looking. They wanted to hear all about my paintings, where I was when I painted them, what else I'd seen - they were happy and optimistic people, as friendly and kind as could be. Not only did they buy a painting, they also invited me for dinner!

On Sunday, as I packed up the show, I met more lovely people and had a surprisingly good day in terms of sales. My uncle and I packed up the van, and at 5 a.m. on Monday, I set out for New York.

George Hayes and I hung our show Monday evening, at the Wallkill River School Gallery (Route 17K in Montgomery... the show is up for the month, with an artists' reception on Saturday, Sept. 12, from 5-7 p.m. You're invited! Click here for details and directions). I went back Tuesday to straighten, finalize, etc.

And now I'm home. Whew!