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

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

Island Journal

Island Gallery Owner is Buyer, Artist Matchmaker

Photos by William Trevaskis No one on Vinalhaven objects to thousands of pounds of lobster heading to the mainland each summer. After all, that export is the economic lifeblood of this island. But Elaine Crossman saw another export heading for the mainland and thought she should do something to interrupt… SEE MORE

Island Journal

An Island Funeral

Mrs. Moore died last Thursday and was buried Saturday it was thought to be the largest funeral ever attended on this island. The Cutter from Bass Harbor brought over a great many, and other boats from various places in Tremont . As described in the diary of one Susanna Gott,… SEE MORE

Island Journal

Henri, Bellows, and Luks: The Ashcan School in Maine

Storm Tide, Robert Henri, 1903. Oil on canvas, 26 x 32 inches Whitney Museum of American Art At the end of the 19th century, something of a battle began in American art, between the academicians and a group of independent artists. The former, represented by the National Academy of Design… SEE MORE

cropped long exposure photograph by photographer Jim Nickelson

Island Journal

Alchemy of the Night Sky

The moon’s an arrant thief, And her pale fire she snatches from the sun —Timon of Athens, William Shakespeare I was the shadow of the waxwing slain By the false azure in the window pane; I was the smudge of ashen fluff — and I Lived on, flew on, in… SEE MORE

Island Journal

A Love of Sea and Sky

PHOTOS BY AMY WILTON Painter Greg Mort has a compelling case in asserting that art and science are complementary, not conflicting realms. Mort, who has been fascinated and inspired by astronomy and space exploration since he was a child, invokes the now-famous photograph of Earth, taken from Apollo 8, an… SEE MORE

Art