Artist Renee Lammers

 

"Monhegan Museum Visitors" 8x10 oil on copper 850$ framed in gold or black with gold.

Shipping and frame are included in the price.

 

   I had my eye on the weather channel watching to see what Hurricane Idalia would do!

 

I also purchased a desktop computer with a 24 inch screen. I set up the computer, uploaded favorite

 

photos, and admired the large screen.  Many painters have suggested I paint from a large computer

 

monitor.  I gave it a try but felt like the large size was intimidating, the price tag of 590$ was stressful,

 

Festus had an unfortunate encounter with the keyboard and mouse, and so I returned the computer.

 

Festus manuvered around the large computer screen, thought the keyboard would be sufficient to walk

 

on, and somehow his feet started to slip.  Festus fell off the table, grabbing the keyboard and mouse, and landed

 

onto the floor.  Festus thought I had thrown him.  He thought I had made him fall!  He gave me an angry look.

 

He took off running.  That was it.  I packaged up the computer.  After the computer was gone.  Festus 

 

laid down on the large available space on the table. I think he approved. Computer returned!

 

 

I donated about 200 pounds or more of Winter clothing to Goodwill.  Festus assisted.

 

I found some great things that were hidden while I weeded through shoes and clothes.

 

It takes a certain mindset to go through all your clothing.  I just dumped one drawer at a time

 

onto my bed.  I picked through each item, putting donated items in a bag, refolding items I 

 

wanted to save.  This only took about three hours of time.  I feel so good!

 

 

   Monet was seen in the backyard with Festus's green haired friend.

 

He was pulling the green hair out.  He was having so much fun.  I let him have

 

the green haired toy.

 

 

Saturdays are Pig ear treats for all the dogs.  Their teeth are super white!

 

Festus and Miss Kitty get a few cat toys.  Saturdays are great!

 

 

Robert's Zinnias are just amazing!

 

 

I am getting ready to go to Monhegan once again this Friday for a week.  I am looking

 

forward to painting all day and even purchased two small book lights for some night painting!

 

Good night.

 

 

 

"Monhegan's Red House" 6x8 oil on copper sold. Thanks.

 

    This was my first plein air painting done on Monhegan during my 5 day trip.  It was 

 

early in the morning.  I never get up at 6:30 am.  I never paint that early.  I drew out

 

the Red house on to my copper panel five times. I removed the paint, sanded down the copper,

 

and restarted the drawing.  One time I had the Red house filling up all of the 6x8 copper panel.

 

The drawings were all good but I just did not like the size of the house because I was enamored 

 

with all of the flowers growing along the yard!  I had to choose to paint the flowers or the house.

 

I finally compromised.  It took me three days to be able to paint so early.  I worked on this plein

 

air painting for many hours once I returned.  

 

   This Red house was made famous by Jamie Wyeth's painting.  The house is rumored to have been 

 

built in 1780 by a German couple.  The home has changed hands muliple times once selling at an

 

auction for about 780,000$!   I have heard there is a child ghost in the kitchen.  He likes to play

 

games.  

 

 

   I was happy to see Nadia and her husband at Fish Beach.  I have talked to her for hours

 

ever year.  She always says she likes my energy and smiles.  I told her I did have two

 

expressos but she claims that my energy is more than that.  She also said I have a fabulous aura.

 

That always makes me laugh!  It all sounds complimentary so I thank her.

 

She and her husband went out in the skiff to fish!  I thought they were so incredibly brave.  When

 

they returned I asked how many fish did he catch?  He caught three fish!  He caught

 

two mackerels and one cobria fish.  He skinned then out at sea and gave the seagulls the guts, head, and tail.

 

I was wondering why there were so many gulls flying around their skiff!  I took many photos.

 

 

   My friend Anne Marie is in the foreground.  The house is the lightkeeper's house on the

 

top of Monhegan Island.  

 

 

I was having an ice cream at the Novelty shop when a parade of dogs with their people passed by.

 

The scene made me laugh out loud!  I loved it!  Monhegan is a great place for a dog.

 

Good night.

 

 

 

 

 

"Oar House" 6x8 oil on copper sold. Thank you.

 

 

"Lobster Cove" 6x8 oil on copper  sold. Thank you.

 

 

"Captain's Wife" 8x10 oil on copper  Sold. Purchased by the Captain himself!  Thank you.

 

    I painted these paintings on Monhegan. I have one more not shown of the red house.

 

I just want to work on it a little more refining it before I post it.  I worked on all the above

 

paintings in my studio once I returned home.  I just like to make sure my work is not sloppy!

 

My art patrons are very happy about the fact I tweaked them a little even after they purchased it.

 

The last painting, "Captain's Wife" was started on Fish Beach on Monhegan.  My painter friend Anne

 

Marie modeled for the painting.  She has great hair!  She thought I did a good job.  We had a great time.

 

I showed her all around the island.  We ate breakfast at the Trailing Yew.  We hiked a few times a day.

 

We went to the Monhegan Lighthouse Museum.  They really have a wonderful exhibit full of amazing

 

masterful paintings by very well known painters, lots of photos, interesting tid bits of island history, and

 

even have the old crow's nest to see.  We had dinner a few nights at Fish Beach.  I really enjoyed my two

 

pound lobster.  We plan to go back next year and rent a house.  

 

 

My Mom asked if the Island looked the same?  They have removed many Spruce Trees centrally located

 

that enable a viewer to see most of the island now from the Trailing Yew Inn.

 

 

Here is the view from my room.  You can see clear to Manana Island now.  

 

 

Tilly the gray cat was still there laying along the road!

 

 

Fish Beach looked the same.

 

 

The Island was at full capacity in the hotels.  I have seen the Island much busier.

 

 

The Trailing Yew Inn, where we stayed, had coffee brought to your room.  They had a 

 

breakfast buffet.  No one sat together at the tables.  Everyone was spread out quietly eating.

 

There was no dinner.  They said they did not have enough help to have dinner.  They were

 

selling smoothies and salads at lunch.  

 

 

It was quiet at night.  I am so grateful for the trip.  I took thousands of photos to paint.

 

It is good to be home.  Festus climbed a tree to ten feet!  He was afraid and shimmied down.

 

Miss Kitty escaped out the door but Robert caught her in mid air and returned her back into the

 

house!  The dogs were visited by Ted.  He made them a pot of chicken and vegetables for their

 

dinners.  Robert took me out to dinner when I returned.  It is good to be home.  Thank you.

 

 

 

"Dundee Heading Home In Stonington" 8x10 oil on copper 850$ framed in gold or black with

gold. Shipping and frame are included.

 

    I have been wanting to paint this scene for years.  Dundee has a 5pm curfew. He was out

 

for the evening relaxing on his front porch when I drove by. I pulled the van over, stepped out,

 

and he came running to greet me. I took a few photos, petted him, talked to him, and told him, 

 

"Good night!"  I changed a lot of things in the photo translated to the painting.  I added different

 

lights to some windows. I added a man in one as a nod to Edward Hopper.  I made Dundee's

 

tail sway as he customed to do.  I lighted up the scene in pinks instead of so much blue.  

 

 

I delivered an important Christmas gift to Stonington yesterday.  It was a commissioned

 

piece of a lady and one cat in her yard for her husband.  When I dropped it off she decided

 

I should meet him and watch him open the gift. It was very touching. She said he was the love of her

 

life.  It was a very grey day fitting the mood.  After that I decided to head home.

 

 

"Time With Tux" 8x10 oil on copper sold. Commission piece.

 

   The cute thing about her husband seeing this painting, he was so surprised to see Tux the

 

cat outside, and remarked, "Tux has never has been outside!"   We explained I had taken this picture

 

indoors but was able to paint them both outside their house.  He was very excited about the painting.

 

He quickly took photos with his cell phone.  The maid came over quickly and did the same thing!

 

I was very happy they were so pleased.  I love painting people.  It is very rewarding.  They both marveled

 

at the likeness of the portrait.  I had to ignore the photo and think how her skin might look outside.

 

 

 

   They were working hard at the wharf.  

 

 

  I have sort of a funny story about Festus.  Robert was outside in our backyard with

 

all four Golden Retrievers and Festus, the Maine Coon Cat!  Robert decided to climb up

 

an Apple tree near the water's edge to get a few Apples for the Dogs.  They love to eat Apples.

 

Robert climbed the Apple tree, Festus took a look up in the tree, Festus's eyes got really large, 

 

and Festus ran all the way up our hill to the house!  Festus was afraid of the giant Porcupine

 

in the tree, who was Robert!  

 

A few days later Robert told me another funny story about Festus.  They were all in the backyard again.

 

A Hummingbird came down in front of Festus and hovered there 20 inches from his face just checking

 

him out!  Festus eyes got really big once again.  He opened his mouth in awe of the Hummingbird!  Then

 

the Hummingbird flew away.

 

         I am headed to paint on Monhegan Island Saturday thru Wednesday!  My friend for a long time, Anne, will

 

be joining me.  I have a new baby jogger with huge tires to carry painting equipment!  I am looking forward

 

to spending time with my friend and also painting!  I decided to take a few days off from painting to store

 

up creative energy!  I am doing a lot of framing and shipping.  Good night!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Forest Friends" 8x6 oil on copper  sold.  Thanks!

 

   I painted at Sand Beach with my friend Allison.  I painted this Spruce.  I added

 

a Owl, Deer, and Squirrel to the painting later in my studio.  I wanted them to be

 

camouflaged within the patterns of the forest.  

 

    

 

"Evening Approaches in Stonington" 8x10 oil on copper 850$ framed in gold or black with gold.

Shipping and frame are included.

 

   I have been working on this painting in my studio.  I took the painting out to the location.

 

I worked on refining the houses while it was day light.  Then I went to see the sunset.  I came back

 

after the sunset to work on getting authentic colors. I added the lights, lobster boats, and worked on

 

the foreground Golden Rod.  There is only 15 minutes of this light before darkness falls.  Interesting

 

to learn the lights were orange or yellow at this time.  When the light fell and there was complete

 

darkness, the lights looked white.  

 

 

I was driving down the West Maine Street in Stonington and saw Dundee walking quickly

 

along the parked cars.  The Opera House doors were open.  The lights were on.  People had

 

gathered upstairs for a show!  I watched Dundee.  Was he going to the Opera tonight?  Did he know

 

there were people there waiting to give him treats and attention?

 

 

  Yes he headed up the stairs!

 

 

He went all the way up the stairs and went into the main doors to

 

the Opera House!   When I arrived at the general store in town to purchase

 

an ice cold drink, I saw Dundee's owner shopping, and let him know

 

Dundee went into the Opera House!  He was not thrilled by this but

 

he did smile.  That cat is always up to something!  It must be quite

 

a shock to learn what he is doing.

 

 

Here was the sun setting at Burnt Cove.  The sun was Yellow as it went down.  There was a 

 

flash of Red in that area when it was gone.

 

 

I like taking photos of the scene with the paintings to share.  I was painting

 

frantically trying to capture that light.  

 

 

I took this photo with my Samsung Galaxy S23 with it's 100 x zoom.

 

 

The crows were being naughty.  They stole bags of unopened chips out of the boat.

 

Then the seagulls and the crows both worked together to poke holes in the bags so they

 

could eat the chips!

 

Good night.

 

"Spruce Trees At Burnt Cove" 6x8 oil on copper 450$ framed in gold or black with gold.

Shipping included.

 

   I waited till 2pm to drive to Stonington.  This way the dogs could have more backyard time.

 

Festus was outside in his penthouse.  I decided to paint this family of Spruce trees growing

 

along Burnt Cove.  I admired the age differences in the trees.  I squeezed the houses together

 

in the distance.  I didn't need to do anything to the painting once I returned home. I think

 

it might have been from the homemade zuccini donuts I bought at a farmer's market.

 

 

"Burnt Cove Splendor" 6x8 oil on copper 450$ framed in gold or black with gold.

Shipping included.

 

    I relocated by the old cannery building's beach.  This is a great spot for the sunset because

 

of the row of lobster boats.  I decided to paint the tree line first.  I had an hour before the sunset

 

would occur.  I decided to paint the lobster boats.  Then I painted the sky and water a light

 

Yellow.  I thought this was a good plan.  I waited and waited for the sun to set.  I was surprised

 

to see a large cloud bank at the horizon form. I thought, "Oh no!"  I decided to paint the sun

 

getting ready to tuck behind the cloud.  I worked fast painting on top of the wet Yellow areas.

 

It worked well!  I tweaked it a little when I returned home.  

 

 

I was surprised all all the drama once the sun went behind the cloud!  It was an orange ball of

 

fire this time, not Red, and it really was spectacular.  My Samsung Gallaxy S23 cellphone

 

takes great sunset or low light photos.  

 

 

I took more photos before I left. I came home with about 500 photos!

 

 

Monet, the oldest Golden Retriever, likes to stay up with me at night.  He walks with me up

 

the stairs to sleep.  He struggles a bit with the stairs.  He is getting a little fragile.  

 

 

Festus liked his new toy.  He wrapped his arms around the toy.  I could not take it away

 

from him.  He snuggled with it and fell asleep.

 

 

Good night.

 

"Party Time" 6x8 oil on copper 450$ framed in gold or black with gold.  Shipping included.

 

   It was a bit of a struggle painting in Charlotte Rhoades Garden.  I was wearing my sunglasses

 

and the day was very very grey.  I literally could not see!  Things were much better after I took

 

off my sunglasses.  I put the finished painting in a box.  The box tipped over and a bit of texture

 

from the box was on the very bottom of the painting.  I had forgotten to bring a wet box because

 

they are all full of wet paintings at home.  I managed to get rid of the damage by repainting.

 

Then I decided to add some thick paint to the painting. I admire impasto.  Impasto is thick

 

paint.  The word impasto is Italian and means dough.  I took out a little Phalo Blue and squeezed

 

it on my palette.  Just a tiny tiny bit.  I added this with white and a little yellow for a shimmery 

 

effect. I do not use Phalo Blue normally.  It is too artificial of a color but it can create a feeling

 

of light.

 

 

We have two dwarf Pear trees loaded with inedible pears.  They

 

are hard as rocks, never ripen, and can not be softened by placing them in a bag.

 

They are pretty though.

 

 

   Robert came into the house shouting, "Festus caught a mouse!"  I grabbed my camera.

 

I ran down the stairs to the backyard.  Under a tree was a mouse's den.  Festus chased a mouse

 

back into it's den.  Then the mouse came out of a nearby hole to watch Festus!  The dogs were

 

very excited.  Festus was very intent on the mouse.  No mouse was injured.

 

 

Monet was standing in the distance.  Festus had his head in the hole.  Come out you mouse!

 

 

Lily eased in to inspect the hole of the mouse.  

 

 

Festus loves being in our backyard supervised and trained not to jump over the fence.

 

 

Here is the painting on the easel before I worked on it in the studio.

 

 

 

The Zinnias were beautiful.  They usually last till October.

 

 

Every lobster restaurant on the island was very busy.

 

 

Here is Lily resting.

 

Good night.

 

 

 

 

 

"Deer Isle Bridge on a August Day" 6x8 oil on copper sold. Thanks.

 

   I checked into Boyce's Motel for 165$.  I drove over to this park in hopes of seeing a sailing

 

regatta finish a race.  I decided to paint the green Deer Isle bridge while I waited.  I met lots of

 

locals.  People were swimming. I saw two sailboats while I was there.  I painted one into the painting.

 

I also painted an Osprey fledging the nest.  Discovered the regatta was slowed down because of lack of

 

wind. They were no where in sight.  I was very pleased with this painting.  

 

 

"Red Ball of Fire" 6x8 oil on copper  sold.  Thank you.

 

 

Dundee was greeting guests so I stood in line. I took some great photos of him.

 

There was sunshine, he was standing in the sunshine, and he was happy.  

 

 

  Dundee sure was friendly.  I saw him greet many people.

 

 

He ate a bug off the grill of my car.  

 

 

Then he took a long drink from water flowing on the ground.  

 

 

Dundee has the most beautiful Orange color.  

 

 

I started a small house portrait but was rained out. I packed up and ran.  The rain stopped.

 

I relocated to paint the sunset.  

 

 

It was fun to watch.

 

 

I took photos of the night settling into Stonington.

 

I am going to paint this.

 

 

  The town was beautiful at night!  

 

 

Edward Hopper would have loved to paint here. 

 

  I made a few mistakes during my overnight stay. I forgot to bring food.  I started to get very

 

hungry.  I was painting so much that I did not go out to eat.  I forgot to bring a sleep aid. I don't

 

do well sleeping in strange places.  So at 12am I cleared out of the hotel.  At 1am I was having

 

dinner back at home.  I was hoping to see the sunrise.  I would have starved to death by morning

 

for sure!  At least I had a little adventure.  I was glad to be back home.  Robert had a bat in his

 

room.  At 3am I was capturing the bat in a towel and tossing the towel outside.  We went back

 

to sleep. I heard a strange little bat noise in my room. I ignored it and slept.  Good night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   I decided to go to the Hopper and Wyeth Watercolor Exhibit at the Farnsworth Museum.

 

It was a very grey day. I was tired from painting and Festus shenanigans last night.

 

 

There was a note that Edward Hopper used pencil, watercolor, and a little gouache and even

 

a tiny bit of pastel on his paintings.  This one was unfinished.  You can see how he worked.

 

These were plein air.

 

 

 

Here is a very well known Hopper painting.  I thought it was interesting how the house

 

was leaning.

 

 

   Here is a close up.  

 

 

Hopper originally named this painting, "Boarding House" but his wife renamed it 

 

"Haunted House".  Interesting pure Cobalt Blue in the darkest areas. I wonder if he planned

 

to go over this blue with a real dark later but decided not to.  I like it.

 

 

  Here is a close up.  I think that Blue is Cobalt Blue.

 

 

 

Andrew Wyeth created interesting textures.  Fine rope work.

 

 

 

This is a very large painting by Andrew Wyeth.

 

 

I think he used a ruler to paint the lines of the house. I like all the broken lines.  This is

 

a cropped photo of one of Andrew Wyeth's paintings.

 

 

  I liked this painting the best of Andrew Wyeth's.  I like roof tops.  

 

Full of character.  Very old building.

 

 

   It was fun seeing all the contemporary work exhibited by young living artists.

 

Very brightly colored almost like graffiti.  Have a good night.