A few weeks ago I was honored to be a judge at Mass NARAL’s annual “Chocolate Madness” event, which raises funds to support women’s reproductive rights. I know better than to use this blog for directed political agendas, so I’ll leave you with the knowledge I’ve been in support of this event for more than […]
maine
Connecticut
California Comes to New Britain, Connecticut
New Britain Museum of American Art is an easily overlooked jewel in the crown of New England culture. I confess I had never been to New Britain, Connecticut, let alone to the New Britain Museum of American Art before stopping by last week on my way to a soccer tournament. New Britain on a Sunday […]
As often seems to happen with the inspiration for museum exhibitions, the idea for Georgia O’Keeffe and the Camera: The Art of Identity occurred to Portland Museum of Art curator Susan Danly as she was looking at photographs in the museum’s own collection. The Portland Museum of Art happens to own three portraits of the […]
New England
Class V Whitewater Rafting on the Dead
I’ve made the trek to The Forks, Maine, twice to whitewater raft on the Dead River. The Dead has the longest stretch of whitewater in New England, and it is also dam controlled so, depending on how much water is released the rapids, can go up to Class V (7,000+ cfs), which means there is […]
Vincent Andrew Hartgen: His Art and Legacy (Wildflower Lane Publishing, Twin Falls, Idaho, 2008. $55 softcover) is an affectionate and appreciative attempt by the artist’s sons David and Stephen along with Maine art critic Carl Little to document the life’s work of one of the icons of Maine art. Vincent Hartgen (1914-2002) was a fine […]
Of all the types of art exhibitions — group shows, career retrospectives, recent work, juried competitions, survey shows, exhibitions organized around periods and styles, etc. — the shows I find most satisfy are theme shows, those in which art and artifacts are assembled around a central idea. Art, after all, is a form of knowledge, […]
From Yankee magazine September 1981 He grew up in Aroostook County, Maine, and when he came home in August of 1945, President Truman awarded him the Congressional Medal of Honor. Over the subsequent years, most of them spent working 60 hours a week in the potato fields, his kids often pulled the medals out of […]
Fiddle virtuoso Lissa Schneckenburger’s latest album Song is, in a word, unexpected. The album is clearly a labor of love, featuring modern arrangements of old Maine tunes that were nearly lost to history. Resurrected from the transcripts of early 20th-century ethnomusicologists who toured the region’s lumber camps, these songs are as much a work of […]
Within a few minutes after turning off Connecticut’s Route 9, which follows along the Connecticut River south of Hartford, we knew we’d taken the wrong exit. With the sun rising directly in our eyes, we couldn’t read the signs properly. Our destination was a horse farm in East Haddam. We’d been corresponding with the owners, […]
Maine
Moose-Spotting Tips
Bear in mind that during the September-October mating season, bull moose will behave more aggressively. And no matter how cute the baby moose looks through your camera, if a mother feels you’re threatening her little one, she’ll move to protect it. A wonderful book to bring to Moosehead Lake is “Maine Moose Watcher’s Guide” by […]
New England
Hiking and Biking: 6 destinations
Connecticut Ten Mile Hill, Kent. In the Litchfield Hills, the Appalachian Trail weaves through deep forests. Start at Bull’s Bridge Falls. From here, the trail rises above the water before descending to Ten Mile Gorge, where the Housatonic and Ten Mile rivers merge. From here, switchbacks climb steadily to the crest of Ten Mile Hill, […]
Maine
Maine’s Moose Country
Coming upon a moose in the wilds of Maine requires that you pass through three stages of comprehension. FIRST STAGE [denial] A moose is very large — larger than you’ve ever imagined. If you’re tall and you ran into a moose, you’d knock your head on its shoulder. You must take a moment or two […]