When in Maine...

Hello from Pink Street, Mid-coast Maine...our respite from reality...well, at least for the end of August, the end of Summer ... eyebuzz has been closed but not forgotten, and not, even, at rest. We are back, in a way, where eyebuzz fine art began. Year after year, roaming around Portland on our way north, window shopping galleries and always coming back to those little paintings of farmhouses, trucks and trees. Finally, one year, gathering enough spare change (and a check) to bring home our first Habowski. When we were beginning our search for eyebuzz artists, and Bruce agreed to show with us, sight unseen (he the gallery, not we, the paintings)...it felt like a movie star had signed on to our first indie flick. I think we all agree it was a good instinct to bring him in.

Bruce just visited us yesterday here on Pink Street...Mary couldn't make it as she was up at the cabin at Moosewood to gather wild berries with a girlfriend...but she sent a bag full of pops for the girls which bought us enough time with Bruce to talk about his upcoming show this fall with us, painting on Monhegan, the pros & cons of Crocs, and, due to an unscheduled near-traumatic biking accident he was here to witness, how to determine if a nine-year-old girl has broken her ankle (she hadn't!).

We made it up here in time for the St. George Open Studios, which brought us perhaps a lead for a new eyebuzz artist...and had a stop at The Firehouse Gallery in Damariscotta, where, not incidentally, they have a few Habowskis for sale, along with a lot of other cool contemporary work.

We had another, albeit indirect, encounter with an upcoming eyebuzz artist, Eunju Kang (September, our opening show for the new season). While stopping in the adorable Wiscasset, (with a lovely strip of unique little shops, including Smitten and Treats)at Rock, Paper, Scissors we had brought up to the counter some beautiful notecards before flipping them over to discover that they were from Eunju's line of products she makes with her sisters under the Eunco label. We also picked up some sticky notes with illustrations by Lotta Jansdotter that will be perfect for lunch box love notes to the girls (next week-yikes!)

Driving back home from Wiscasset, we came upon the organic Beau Chemin Farm on Finntown Road, and had a euphoric hour or so...Callie & I picking all sorts of heirloom tomatoes (and my little Stone Barns alum knew the proper way to pick off Kale & Swiss Chard leaves)...Anna and Lindsey running through the fields of wildflowers...Tim trying to tend goal by the road as Anna went wayward. The kids got close to the sheep, but apparently a shy breed, they ran off to the woods before the girls could have much of a conversation with them.

From all of that bounty at Beau Chemin we made a perfect, soul-satisfying minestrone...but even after all this time in the State of Maine, I still can't make a decent moose stew. Thank goodness I'm not running for Vice President.

More tomorrow; thanks for reading.
tt