Maine Watercolor Landscape, Rare Whatman Paper, Upper Small Falls in Rangeley

Description

"Upper Small Falls, Rangeley, Maine"
This is the among the first Small Falls paintings in a series of watercolors made by Michael E. Vermette as a host for the "Brushes With Nature" New England Watercolor Society's plein air paint-outs. This was the third of his demonstrations on the day that featured painting with modulated washes present in the flowing waters against the colorfully massive gorge-rock. This painting captures the full light and color of an afternoon day in August of 2019. It is painted on rare 1936 vintage handmade Whatman Watercolor paper that has
yielded beautiful layers of transparent washes.  Small Falls is located just off the Rangeley road at the Small Falls rest area about 15 minutes from downtown Rangeley, Maine. The rest area is a spectacular spot along the Sandy River where you will find a wooden bridge at the base of the falls. There are two falls with a chain link fence running up the steep hill to the head of Small Falls with equally incredible views.  Michael painted this stunning watercolor from the vantage point of the wooden bridge as a signature member of the New England watercolor Society and instructor of the Rangeley Friends of The Arts who sponsored the workshop that followed the paint-out day that year.  Michael chose this site because it actually offers a complex series of waterfall features that cascade through the gorges of the Sandy River, in township East, of West Franklin, Maine. The two Falls are both majestic totaling 54 feet in height, and consist of 12-foot slide/horsetail features, a 25-foot segmented waterfall, a 14-foot horsetail, and a 3-foot cascade, separated by wading pools. This provides the perfect subject for a graded wash lesson where tones blend from one value into another and one color hue into another. The rock here is amongst the most beautiful light-colored
beige
stone in the state and offers the painter a dazzling array of color transitions.
This location is also one of the designated sites of the famed, "Artists Trail" that can be searched by going to the website of the Rangeley Friends of the Arts or  by googling rangeleyarts.org.
Michael says, "The beautifully light-sand colored Small Falls is
a splendid subject to pit yourself against as a painter. It holds a vast array of color with graded tonal
twists and turns that create a magical sense of place. The full views are amazing from many different vantage points with a total drop of 54 feet with wading and swimming pools depths at the base.
I love the rich but luminous
colors and the play of afternoon light on the rock that reveals the face and figure of the
wizard-like character of the falls.
This is a watercolor painted study made on location in Michael's pure and bold style of transparent washes.
Michael uses descriptive lines that describe his graded
washes, as  lines of power, motion, and shape that distinquish Small Falls in August. He painted this study during one of his first watercolor paint-outs and his very first contact of the falls as a watercolor artist of the Rangeley Friends Of The Arts. It is archivally framed with 100% cotton rag mattboard uv protective glass and a beautiful custom leaf frame, ready to hang on the wall.
Michael also says, "I am intrigued with the timelessness in change in my paintings. They show a love of color and light with emphasis on the expressive painterly mark and form, which evoke a recognizable feeling, a nostalgic memory, recognizable shapes or even emotional qualities such as the smell of wood smoke in the forested mountain crisp air ."
Carl Little writes in Volume 30 of The Island Journal, " Michael Vermette, who emulates the vision of one of Monhegan island's great painters of the past, James Fitzgerald (1899-1971), adds impasto oomph to iconic views"
Michael E. Vermette double majored in Painting and Printmaking at the Maine College of Art, receiving his B.F.A Painting degree in 1980. He received his Certification in K-12 Art Education in 1986 through the University of Maine at Orono. A full-time artist and part-time art educator, Michael has been painting in oil, watercolor, and pastel for over fifty years and has won numerous awards for his work, including the Marilyn Sabin, Lauran Coleman and the Beverly Awards at the 12th,13th and 14th Biennial North American Open Shows of the New England Watercolor Society where he has been awarded signature membership. Most recently,
Has been been awarded the honor of being the 1st Allagash Wilderness waterway artist-in-residency for the summer of 2020
where he expects to paint another 50 small studies. Michael is also the 2018 first place winner of the Castine Plein Air Festival, and a 2015-2017 winner as well. He won Best of Show in the Kennebunk River Club Art Exhibit and Sale for his watercolor, "Sea Dog". Michael leads several oil and watercolor plein air painting workshops in Maine and New Hampshire throughout the year. He is a Monhegan Artists' Residency Fellow and the 2011 Baxter State Park Artist-in-Residence in Maine. He was also an Artist-in-Residence at Acadia National Park twice in 1999 and 2006. His watercolors, oils, and pastels are in private collections throughout the country and internationally. In Maine, his works have been shown at various galleries and is currently represented by the Frame and Art Gallery in Yarmouth, The Lupine Gallery on Monhegan Island, and the Gleason Fine Art Gallery in Boothbay Harbor, all located in Maine. Because of the very high quality of the painting the starting price is set at 1/4 of the painting's worth. Because of this high quality and the confidence with quality custom shipping, I do not allow money back returns at this time.