Anis Crofts
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Grand Manan & Sorrento 2014

NOVEMBER 21, 2014

Ode to Canada! My second trip up to Grand Manan Island off the coast of New Brunswick. Hidden away like a gem in a cave.

I flew into Bangor Maine and drove over the Canadian Border to the ferry in Blacks Harbor that goes to Grand Manan Island. As amazing as I remember......a rock in the water, living by the rhythm of the flowing tide. 

Sunrise, sunset.... the landscape showed its full palette.

photo by Peter Cunningham

What a treat! My dear friend Yve Assad, a fantastic photographer and avid adventurer stops for a visit during her motorcycle tour from #nashvilletonovascotia.

We explored the old herring smokehouses, the staggering coast, the sunset at the Southern Head.  We ate fresh caught fish and make a homemade blueberry pie.

We spent some time with local dulse gatherers, Jill and Reed Ross and their kids. Yve got some great photos and I tried to lend a hand spreading the dulse to dry.....

photo by Yve Assad http://www.yvephoto.com/

My second trip to Michael Zimmers Sardine Museum. Like a time capsule it sits waiting to be unfrozen.  The soot lined ceilings, the rows of chairs for deboning and packing, the hundreds of sticks.  The order and the chaos and the hum of the wind. Beautiful.

with misty eyes I watch the island disappear out of the ferry window.....

Now I am off to Sorrento, Maine to meet up with great painter friends John and Lucia Dempsey. 
http://johndempseyfineart.com/

We stayed in the family house of Lucias' great grandparents, with her grandmother nextdoor as our host. She showed us the proper way to eat a lobster and took us out sailing.  She pulled rigs, tied knots and told us compelling stories about a  charging great white. 

The weather blew through, giving us the best sunset I have seen in a long while.  The next morning hurricane waves came in, crashing the ocean 15 feet into the air, and by the aftrenoon we could see the still reflection of the bobbing boats in the bay.

We sat on a rock all day and watchd the tide come in and go out....

I was so mesmerized i painted the same scene 3 times.

I am so grateful for these meditative times, just sitting, watching, painting...in awe. Sometimes so in awe, i just have to put my brushes down and watch.