Maine Country Road Trips

Road trips in the countryside from Midcoast Maine. 

An idyllic corner on earth.

This is the region of many small, organic farms, 

2nd or 3rd generation of back-to-the landers:

Blackbrook Farm, Many Hands Farm, 

Sunnyside, Aqua Terra, Royal View Farm...

Many of the farms supply the food coops 

in Belfast & Brooks &

 sell their produce at farm markets and

the beloved Common Ground Fair in Unity. 

The views from the hilly roller coaster roads 

leading from Belfast to Unity, Brooks, Jackson, Monro

take my breath away!

A frequent road trip out of Belfast: Route 1 South.

Last week, like a kid on summer vacation

I was so excited to drive down to Rockport with a friend.

While she went to the doctor, I sketched out the window

of a café. Then we went to the Guini Ridge Nursery

across the road road to buy plants. 

To do a little farming of our own! 

For other posts on Farmers Markets and The Common Ground Fair, click on these in Labels.

Common Ground Fair 2018

The Common Ground Fair: 

Delights every year as if for the 1st time!

Put on by Maine Organic Farmers & Growers Association.

Waiting to get in at the gate when you arrive early!

The Fiddler's Showcase, put on by Maine Fiddle Camp,

included various traditional instruments & even a clogger.

Different ages & levels perform. They must wait their turn.

Storytellers Showcase. And a tent across the way.

The Veggie Parade!

 You can bring your own, 

but there is a tent full of costumes made

by a woman who lives on the coast.

 The Farmer's Market, a variety of stands!

Lots of vegetables, dried flowers...

Natural soaps, tonics, honey... 

The scents, the sights!!

The tastes!

Unlike most places, 

here I have healthy, delicious choices!

 The handmade crafts to buy! Pottery, clothes, bags, 

caps, jewelry, wooden furniture...

Anne Brooks woven woolen scarves, my favorites!

Not your traditional horse show.

Riders were putting large workhorses 

through their paces.

Bareback!

The animals!

The Fair celebrates bicycle power, wind power,

& human hula power.

 One of the pleasures, walking over a half mile through 

cultivated woods to get to & from the Fair.

(Though hay wagons are there for those who need a ride.)

It's pretty & artistic, yes, but it is also a place 

where people of good health, good will, of cooperative spirit

and kindness come together to celebrate

traditional arts & local enterprises. 

Sketching, Organizing, Collage

Last weekend I went sketching again 

at The Common Ground Fair.

A happy annual ritual.

I've been using existing bits & pieces here in the art room. 

Employing friend M.'s "Use It Up Initiative". 

My paper sun  finally found a new home. 

That's a little cardboard house structure provided by Waterfall Arts 

for a grassroots project on the subject of Home.

Leftover papers are also finding homes.

 In collages ... 

 ...and handmade books for friends.

Made possible because of lots of hours

organizing a new studio space. 

Now I know what I have & where it is!

In the process, lots was given away & tossed.

Weeding, raking, planting seeds for a new season 

& new directions.

...Which include French study after the summer off.

Tomatoes of August

Image on my current Belfast Free Sketchers poster

Next meeting is in September

 Autumn Fever. 

Meanwhile August is a juicy & flavorful time of year.

Like the tomato I bit into the other day from a friend's garden. 

In the fields, spots of faded gold, and tall beige grasses

waving in the breeze. 

Reminders that this will pass.

Another garden friend is busy, as she is every August, 

"putting up" her vegetables in Ball jars. 

Just as her mother did before her.   

The Common Ground Country Fair is coming in one month!! 

Celebrate Harvest Time!

My local Farmer's Market is brimming with leafy greens,

 flower yellows & purples, pinks, 

carrot oranges, beets of crimson and coral...

Every year it happens,

but some years I feel it more than others.

Taking Sketch Notes at the Common Ground Fair

In 2014 & 2015 I did photo blog posts of the Common Ground Fair, one of my all time favorite events.

 But this year I quick sketched, & truly Sketchbook Wandered. 

It's probably what I love doing best, even though it is, well, sketchy.

We arrived early. Even waiting in the line outside the gate was enjoyable.

 The book is small, the lines are fast. I quickly add color later,

but I write/jot down some color names while sketching.

Recently, while seeing seeing some very refined & illustrative sketchbook journaling, 

I'd started to question & wonder about my process. 

But Saturday I came back to myself, doing what is most natural to me. 

This note-taking is my best way to put me in touch with my experience.

Seasonal still lifes are everywhere, 

especially at the Farmer's Market stalls.

One of the highpoints was The Gawler Family Band (Google them!). Oh, the JOY that they radiate!

There were 6 of them this year, the Mama & the Papa, the 3 musical daughters & the musical son in law.

 And we got to join them in sing alongs, musical folk tradition at it's best. 

Later on some of the family would be leading a work song workshop 

while shucking garlic.

For the first time I got to see the Vegetable Parade, a tradition since 1990!! 

People of all ages wearing exquisite hand sewn vegetable costumes! 

It's the best parade I've ever seen!! 

Sometimes just a quick second is all it takes to capture some of the magic, in this case "garlic braids". 

There is so much more to show & tell, but for now I'll say,

What a way to celebrate together & to greet Harvest Time & Autumn!!

Maine's Common Ground Country Fair

8 X 10 " Scene from the Fair

Every September The Common Ground Fair, in Unity Maine celebrates rural life, organic & local food production, traditional farm & forest practices, most if not all of them hand, bicycle & horse powered, alternative energy developments, social & politcal action forums, folk arts, folk music, children's crafts, & more... It's a celebration of health, happiness, & living in harmony on this earth. The Fair is a magnificent, collaborative masterpiece organized by The Maine Organic Farmers & Gardeners Association. 

I wanted to take you along with me by posting my many photos, but I am truly overwhelmed with the amount of wonderful things that I saw & smelled & heard & tasted & learned. When I lived in Maine's biggest city I started to forget about this state's alternative rural culture. During these last 3 days I saw that new generations are carrying it on!