Having
just returned from the wildness of northern Maine, I am
glad to offer these images to a show addressing creation.
From log cabins without electricity or running water we
emerged each morning, a group of artists intent on recording
the glories of God’s world through the humble awkward
medium of watercolor. We didn’t know one another from
Eve upon our arrival, but through our common love of painting
and the outdoors, we created family.
One
member of the group shared my identity as a third year EFM
student, though we live thousands of miles apart. As far
as these three paintings: “The Fog Finally Lifted”
is of Mt. Katahdin. We had been ferried across the lake,
then hiked into this rocky pond in the thick morning fog,
setting up easels in the boggy edges of the water, saw three
moose across the pond, and were eventually rewarded by the
clearing of the heavens and the appearance of the mountain.
“Jack,
the White Mule” was one of the pack mules living in
the lower pasture of the wilderness camp. He helped pack
our paints out one day but mostly preferred being fed the
wild growing apples and being scratched behind his ears.
“Denise
Harvesting Wild Cranberries”: The second full day
of painting we found ourselves setting up easels in the
very marshy surroundings of another pond under Mt. Katahdin.
Denise, the only non-painter with us, harvested wild cranberries,
her pants rolled up to her knees and barefoot in the chilly
October wind. The taste of just picked cranberries was a
delightful surprise to all of us. Every minute of it, the
world was created anew. These are some of my humble recordings.
Ellen Langford
www.ellenlangford.com
contact@ellenlangford.com
