Arctic Terns -- the Ultimate Wanderbirds

The amazing Wanderbird Cruises sent me a brochure about their boat, which will be the vessel carrying the artists of the Capture the Light Art Expedition. 

Wanderbird Cruises

Their beautiful ketch, out of Belfast, Maine,  is North Sea fishing trawler converted to a very comfortable long range expedition trawler. She is the WANDERBIRD, 
a combination of several elements: a traditional ketch auxiliary sailing rig, beautiful wood interiors with classic yacht design from the 1940s, a charming and cosy galley, the strength and integrity of a working fishing vessel, a fuel range of 6000 nautical miles, and capabilities for offshore adventure.


My vote for the wander-bird mascot has got to be the Arctic Tern, which winters in Antarctica and summers in the Arctic... My watercolor tribute is here.

Transit of Venus, Boston

Overcast skies all day gave me plenty of practice to me a "virtual artist"-- a misnomer, perhaps.  Let's say a "Artist Remote"-- as all of the global admirers of celestial events are!  Just as the last 45 minutes of sunset where passing here in Boston, the skies cleared to ribbons of sun and cloud (see watercolor post of clouds...) and it looked like we had a chance.  My husband and I threw ourselves into our car, welding goggles in hand, and dashed 8 miles west to Danehy Park in Cambridge, MA.  
Alas-- all we saw was the Transit of Soccer Ball.....

Greenland Expedition by Proxy

I am now a Virtual Artist on an expedition to Greenland!  
I will be joining the 

Chasing the Light Expedition 

using my artworks to take my thoughts and artworks into lands which I am not able to travel and stand upon personally.

I have been invited to join a group of artists/photographers traveling along the western coast of Greenland this August.  They are collecting images and documenting changes while traveling along the route of the Hudson River School painter William Bradford.  The work will be exhibited at the New Bedford Whaling Museum in 2013.  

I will be preparing journals and artworks to be used in documentation and art installations, which will then be carried by the expedition leader, and incorporated voluntarily into the activities of the artists, thereby creating a virtual collaboration!  
I am anticipating that my work will active during the voyage, return with the expedition, and then be included in the New Bedford museum show, serving both as education and inspiration artworks.  

First on the list is some aspect of historical discovery journaling--- see my last 2 posts!

I will be sharing more info about how to become  a Virtual Artist in Greenland in my blogs and on my Facebook page as the summer progresses— but for now, you are the first to know!

Here is the wonderful link to the Kickstarter fundraising site for the expedition— it explains why, who, and where in a short video.  It also includes some amazing art and scenery, so enjoy!  Let me know if you would enjoy other updates and information about our expedition and Greenland-- one of the world's most remote and beautiful places you and I may never "see"…..

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/701351414/chasing-the-light?ref=live

Cloud Diary: Twice Mixed Clouds & Sun

Created as an example of painting clouds in watercolor.  Note the center gutter, a visual artifact left over from doing 2 demonstrations side-by-side.  I like the discontinuity..... In the demonstration, I used blue painter's tape to divide a page of watercolor paper in half.  During the second demo, I removed the paint and painted from the first into the second at the top center.  Perhaps this suggests how time flows from moment to moment?

Voyaging Journals

2 journals to compare:  the first, from the New Bedford Whaling Museum, a whaling ship's journal showing entries about when and how whales were taken; the second,  my own journal entry from a visit to Tasmania.  Mine uses 2 references-- a quote from the Maritime Museum of Tasmania in Hobart and the images of Southern Ocean fishes documented by John Gould.