July 1 - Massachusetts

I am caught up in, and back into the rhythm, of everyday life. However there is not a day that has gone by without me thinking, "Wow - that was one totally incredible trip". Recalling a random snippet or one of those breathtaking moments I had.

The colors of my trip are permanently etched in my mind. Greens are off the chart of any Grumbacher oils I own or know of. Blues of the ocean, bays, and straits so varied and gorgeous (I can try to reproduce them but they will not be close). The reds of the soil... especially in PEI. Those are very, very old-school earth colors and will be difficult to reproduce. (Even Grumbacher does not make them any more.)

The colors, and the sheer force, of steel gray and white, where the Atlantic crashed against the shore at some of the points in my trip. More bluish where it married into the easy waters of St. Lawrence Bay. Then cold steel gray agin. The fierce anger, it seemed, where the Northumberland Strait met both the force of the St. Lawrence Bay and the Atlantic. Absolutely and totally overwhelming.

Northumberland Strait is not very deep as far as the waters of the Maritimes go (varies between 65 and 17 meters at either end; 213-55 feet), but its tides are complex, and it creates the upheaval I witnessed.

Standing at the very edges of the sea where I could, and on the cliffs overlooking that sheer power, one is humbled. It stirs you deep inside, and gives you something to really think about. Mother Nature is a force to be well-respected.

I stood in the rain (more times than I care to remember!) at overlooks, the side-of-the-road random pull over because it caught my eye - just because it DID catch my eye. And tugged at my soul.

To paint it: Grumbacher paints are top of the line for oils (my preference for painting). Winsor & Newton, next step down, are also very, very good. Neither company make the colors I seek. Even though I already knew they were not there I had to look at all the color charts again :) I will try to recreate them, but I know it will never match the images in my head.

My brother posted about why the soil in PEI was so red. Aside from the iron oxide content, the soft red sandstone produces that color. The bays, marshes, harbors, and dunes also contain high concentrations of sandstone rocks which oxidize over time, producing that unique color.

Long before oil paints were invented and used in Europe in the late 1400s / early 1500s, Native North Americans were using materials at hand - mud and indiginous plants. Long before recorded history. I saw an exhibit at the New Brunswick Museum, and several others along my travels.

Your mini-history / art lesson for the day :)

My trip has changed me in several ways, and I believe for better.