Island Journal

Art of Penobscot Bay: A Sampling

When my brother David and I set out to select paintings for our fourth collaboration, Art of Penobscot Bay, we wanted to feature as many different locales as possible. There were many, from the wonderful assortment of shoreline towns to a diverse archipelago that includes Criehaven, Matinicus, North Haven, Vinalhaven,… SEE MORE

Art

Island Journal

Samuel French Morse: A Trip Outside

“A poet, more likely than not, has to take his local identity for granted. If he feels he is ‘from away,’ he will be. If he is too much concerned about where he comes from or where he is, what he makes of the relation between himself and his part… SEE MORE

Island Journal

Double Vision — The Art of Eric Hopkins

It was already late afternoon when Eric Hopkins picked us up in his boat at Gotts Island for the trip to his studio on North Haven. Eric knows how to look at islands. And we were on our way to look with him. There, represented in oils, we would see oceans and islands viewed from the air, from the sea, and from great distance. The angles were strange and marvelous. Islands we thought we knew were transformed. SEE MORE

Art

Island Journal

The Legacy of Islesboro’s Charles Dana Gibson

Around the turn of the 20th century, Charles Dana Gibson (1867-1944) was among the most famous illustrators in the world. His idealized modern woman, who came to be called the Gibson girl, brought him tremendous fame and fortune. Off the southern end of Islesboro lies an island, spruce-clad and sprawling—not precisely 700 acres as its name would have you believe, but close enough. SEE MORE

Island Journal

Friendship’s Pam Cabañas Renders ‘Abrasive Truths’

Pam Cabañas is a roving renderer of the Maine coast. “My motto,” she says, “is to wander, paint, draw, wander, record, paint, draw, wander, record, draw, paint, wander again, draw again, paint again.” From her home in the Knox County fishing town of Friendship, she absorbs images from her forays… SEE MORE

Art

Island Journal

A Vinalhaven Photo Album

Sheri L. Romer Brock is an eighth-generation Penobscot Bay islander, having been born on and living most of her life on Vinalhaven. She has worn several hats professionally, and has most enjoyed working and volunteering for several non-profit organizations that support her community. She spends as much time as possible… SEE MORE

Island Journal

On a Following Sea

Illustrations by Ted Walsh Sailors once thought sea gods ruled. Poseidon. Neptune. Aegir. Ran. Tangaroa. Now they know the sea has moods. Calm. Peaceful. Troubled. Angry. Mean. But the open ocean shows no sign of caring. It frolics and rages as it chooses, indifferent to fears and pleasures aboard, unconcerned… SEE MORE

Island Journal

The Illustrator’s Island

Photos by Claire Dibble Brigadoon. Twice during conversation on a February morning, illustrator Scott Nash compared the residency program he and his wife, artist Nancy Gibson-Nash, set up on Peaks Island to that mythical Scottish village. True, the five or so-minute drive from the ferry terminal to the north end… SEE MORE

Island Journal

An Old Salt, An Old Way of Life

Illustrations by Leslie Bowman Five degrees above zero and the diesel motor chugged. My fingers were wet and numb and my hands couldn’t work the clasp on the chain-link bag of mussels that hung dripping salt water and mud onto my hood, shoulders, and face. My blue vinyl gloves had… SEE MORE

Island Journal

Etching the View from the Water’s Edge

As the Vinalhaven ferry grinds east across Penobscot Bay into a breathtaking expanse of sky and sea, the silhouettes of islands take shape on the horizon. And I am reminded of what a privilege it is to live and create art on the island of Vinalhaven, 15 miles out to… SEE MORE

Art