June 20-27, 2009 Art Week at Great Spruce Head Island

An extraordinary experience. Art Week is an annual event centered at Fairfield Porter's family summer retreat on Great Spruce Head Island, and graciously hosted by Anina Porter Fuller, herself an accomplished painter. Since 1993, each summer Anina has invited a group of 12 artists, (painters, writers, sculptors, photographers) to Great Spruce Head Island. The island offers not only bold and majestic views for inspiration but an environment of quiet simplicity where little has changed since the island was purchased and the 12-room summer cottage was built in 1912. It was a time of creativity and sharing that I will treasure forever. If you are not familiar with the work of Fairfield Porter, you can view online a large collection of his paintings at the Parrish Art Museum of Southampton, NY. We shared the weather that most of New England had during that time, but it did not dampen our spirits in the least. We still hiked and explored the island and painted outdoors in the light mist and fog, and during steadier rains many of us turned to painting interiors and still life which we hadn't previously explored in our work. These posts are such interiors, one in gouache and the other in pastel. A new subject for me, I was completely enthralled with the succession of windows in the home and the reflections and dramatic light that they presented.