swallowfield :: jennifer judd-mcgee

last night

we had our first oceanside cookout of the year last night. it was a gorgeous evening, and i stumbled around, as usual, taking photos and trying to soak it all in.

twilight, 4:20pm

daylight savings messes with me for a little while each fall. it's getting dark so early. on the bright side, the kids seem up and ready to go a lot earlier in the mornings this week. at least temporarily.

the sunsets and the moon have been extra special this week.

i've got my head down working on a bunch of new art for my upcoming solo show at nahcotta in december (and a few other projects.) looking forward to sharing some of it here in the next few weeks. i hope you have a great week.

 

 

 

 

fall colors

confluence, 8x8" mixed media collage on panel

i've been pushing myself to work with slightly different colors lately. the colors in this piece were inspired in part by the amazing foliage all around maine right now, and its contrast with the clear blue ocean these last sunny, warm days. it's gorgeous this year - take your breath away gorgeous.  i haven't worked with mixed media too much since the beginning of 2011, so i am enjoying getting my hands messy again.

exhibit A of the loveliness: i took this photo in the azalaea garden the other day. i am probably taking too many purposefully blurry photos lately, but i love them; the way the light twinkles through the trees is so nice to try and capture.

and i always lovely the sand garden. it's my thoughtful spot. for those of you who don't click through from your reader, i also used this photo as my new blog header for fall.

late august wrap up

last weekend i went down to portland for the 4th annual picnic music and arts festival. i love doing this show. i think everyone was a little worried that hurricane irene was going to come calling in the middle of it, but she very nicely held off for a bit. (more on that in a minute.) 

i was silly and only took one iphone photo all day. of only a part of my booth. bad blogger. but the day really seemed to go by pretty much in a flash. thank you to everyone who stopped by the booth i shared with my good pal aprill of lulubeans - i know i speak for both of us when i say thanks for supporting our art and craft, saying hello, and buying handmade. i think this was my favorite year of vendors - it seemed like the quality of craftsmanship and items were truly excellent this year. i was trying to be super careful not to spend too much money, but believe me, i could have dropped a bundle. my kids both spent a decent chunk of their hardearned allowance though. they pretty much live for picnic each year. it was also nice to see mimi kirschner - one of my favorite artists - in person.  she was in maine for the day and stopped by picnic for fun.  love her work. and she took some great photos of the day if you're interested.

i wanted to share a recently completed commissioned papercut - this was started in the beginning of the summer and finally wrapped up earlier this month. i only got a few iphone photos of it, but i'm glad i took them.

as for irene - we were braced for a pretty bad storm here in maine, but it was not nearly as messy as predicted. we loved watching the wind whip the ocean on sunday night. for my friends south of here and especially in vermont, i am so sorry for the losses you have suffered.

ps: we're moving in two weeks. can't come soon enough. pictures soon!

hermit island weekend

last weekend we met a bunch of our old portland friends for a camping trip at hermit island in midcoast maine. i had never been there, though i've loved visiting nearby popham beach and morse mountain over the years. when i venture away from mount desert island it always strikes me how many incredibly gorgeous pockets of maine there are that i've never seen, and that idea both inspires me and overwhelms me a little. i want to see them all! but it never seems like we have enough time. plus, my local digs are pretty nice as is.

hermit island is gorgeous. six different beaches, nice campsites, a store with everything you forgot, showers. there is a snack bar too, but we never visited it so i can't say much about that. the whole place has the feel of something out of the 1950s. we did not bring bikes, but i wish we had. people bike everywhere, and it would have come in handy because our site was a bit far from the bathroom. we reserved our site in early march - i hear it can be fierce trying to get the site you really want. i have my eye on some of the true oceanfront sites for next time - they were pretty spectacular.

 

interesting aside: earlier in the summer,  the kids and i had the opportunity to participate in a book talk with author gary d. schmidt on his new book okay for now, through the awesome local  island readers and writers program. we loved him, and have gone on to read several more of his books, most notably lizzie bright and the buckminster boy, which coincidentally takes place in phippsburg, me - right where we were last weekend. we took a little detour to see some of the places in the book, and the kids were very excited. it was an inspiring read for us and i recommend it.

on the way home we stopped in to my friend erika soule's store, rock paper scissors, in wiscasset. she recently merged two stores into one, and it was gorgeous and well curated as always. i am always blown away by her sense of color and design. (i wrote about it here way back when.) if you are ever in wiscasset, do yourself a favor and stop in. you will not be disappointed. i have never seen anything in her store that i haven't wanted. it can be a dangerous way to feel about a place.

all in all, a super nice 42nd birthday weekend.

have a great week everyone!

mid august already, really?

just a few quick photos for you today - life is feeling full and busy for me these days with work and an impending move. i feel a little sheepish to admit that i am starting to look forward to school starting up again in a few weeks. i think i am craving a settled routine, and i think the kids are starting to feel excited to get back to school, too.  and i am so looking forward to unpacking after a full year of having most of my life in storage.

a happy accident photo of a beautiful sunrise the other morning.

and loving these saturated  colors.  i feel like i am drinking it all in for winter.

okay, back to work. hope you are having a wonderful august!

 

happy stuff

summer happiness, a little list:

rainbow cake for my niece's birthday. i didn't make it - we ordered it from an awesome local baker. i am not sure i'd have had the patience. it was incredible! this actually happened earlier in the month, and i forgot to post it. those colors were so much fun to take pictures of.

papercutting + lots of other art in the works - a little bit of what's been keeping me away from this blog this summer. i am super grateful for lots of work, and also wishing for some days off. i'll take some by necessity later in august when the house is in move-inable condition, but a few do nothing days would be cool, too.

pods. i love them so much.

sea urchins. they never fail to make me happy.

and barnacles.(and wearing a sweater last night after two long weeks of high heat around here. i am a sweater lover.)

spotify. pretty flipping great. i think i am hooked.

mushroom wallpaper. after much debate, i went with it for one wall in my kitchen. i am ridiculously excited to get it up on the wall.i'll post some photos once i do.

melissa's tofu salad. i've made it several times this summer, and man is it good.

bossypants on audiobook, read by tina fey herself. she is so smart + funny. i want to be her friend. in a non-creepy way.

this made me laugh.

hope you're having a good summer, too.

 

 

 

 

summer = awesomesauce

the big news around here: we loved the last harry potter movie. LOVED. you should bring kleenex. we're all sort of mourning that it's over now. but excited for pottermore this fall. and this was super fun. and these.

also, feathers. they're a pretty big deal these days. she bought them and had them put in on the bus to art camp. not exactly a salon, but that's how we roll here in downeast maine.  excited doesn't begin to cover how she feels about them.  also? the girl selling them is raking in the dough.

some more photos of one of the prettiest summers i can remember. (i have been working on lots of art too, but it's all stuff i can't show you for awhile. it will be really fun to share it with you when i can, though.)

we're also loving fresh raspberries, grilling, the full moon, and adele.

i have a big house post brewing in my mind. we're renovating/building a house, and i haven't talked about it too much here. but i am going to post a little bit about it soon! prepare to be bored by paint color talk. :)

 

thank you etsy + holiday weekend

i wanted to say a big thank you to etsy and rena tom for featuring my print on the etsy blog today - the post feature's rena's california modern home.  i am a big fan of rena's style and have been for several years, so i was honored to be included. and man, it never ceases to amaze me what a surprise post can do to get your stuff out there into the world. i always feel super appreciative when extra sales come from unexpected places.

i also always appreciate being  featured in etsy treasuries. i thought i'd share a picture of this one from corelladeisgn  (thank you!) because it's fun for the holiday weekend, and even though i don't always gravitate toward red/white/blue as a rule, i really liked these colors and forms together:

 

and happy 4th of july weekend!  we're enjoying the beautiful maine weather, and are about to peddle over here for some beach time:

so far, i've only hung out on this beach at twilight, so i am looking forward to experiencing it in the daytime. maybe we'll even swim.  tomorrow, parade and fireworks. maybe some s'mores and sparklers, too.

 

foggy night

take your expectations, and throw them into the ocean. (someone smart said this last night, and it's stuck with me today.) 

 

speaking of throwing stuff into the ocean, this would be a nice place to do so. so beautiful.