September 26, 2021

First Year

September 26, 2021/ Brad Betts

Walking around Ocean Point, a young, first year gull demanded our attention from a shoreline rock where he was loudly crying or complaining. I don’t know if he was starving or if he lost his food but I saw a bright orange peach lying on the beach below him, just out of his view. Either way, I threw him the peach and the crying instantly stopped. It was a striking scene that stood in my memory until I painted it - the frazzled, hungry bird’s feathers blended with the cloudy and foggy day, and the only color was the brilliance of the fresh peach.

April 28, 2020

Temporary Town

April 28, 2020/ Brad Betts

This winter, we spent time on Great Salt Bay in the “temporary town’ created by ice fishing men and women each year. We were driving toward Damariscotta and the bright colors of the fishing shacks across the water caught our eye. Great Salt Bay is not entirely frozen; only the upper reaches freeze solid in the winter and the little temporary town was huddled in this upper cove of the bay.

“Temporary Town”, 11x14 oil by Brad Betts, ASMA

The first day we saw the town we pulled over on the side of the road and painted. We didn’t walk down into the village but spoke to some of the fishermen and women as they arrived with buckets or pulled their gear off the ice in large sleds.

“Ice Fishing Shacks” 11x14 oil by Brad Betts, ASMA

“Ice Shacks on the Bay”, 9x12 oil by Danielle Betts

Several weekends later, we packed our supplies and brought along buckets as seats so we could paint on the ice. It was a gorgeous mid-January day and even though we were sitting in nearly a foot of snow on many inches of ice, we felt warm and inspired by the sun, sky, the outrageously colorful fish shacks and the tracks through the snow that led to each one.

“Ice Fishing on Great Salt Bay”, 8x10 oil by Brad Betts, ASMA

After that weekend, we went through a warm spell and the upper few inches of ice melted into a surface of water. Within weeks, the shacks were removed and the temporary town was gone for another season.

February 15, 2019

Marsh Study

February 15, 2019/ Down East Gallery/ Brad Betts

Marsh Study by Brad Betts. Music excerpt from the song “Groceries” by Ben Betts, @benbettsmusic from the album REVELING.

Painting by Brad Betts | Music by Ben Betts To hear the original song "Groceries" and the entire album REVELING by Ben Betts, visit: https://www.downeastgallery.com/music

Listen to REVELING by Ben Betts

January 30, 2019

Storm Surf on Ocean Point

January 30, 2019/ Brad Betts

Storm Surf on Ocean Point is a 30” x 40” commission. The clients requested a painting of surf that was powerful yet reflective of the beauty of Ocean Point. I did 6 plein air and studio studies of the surf and rocks at one requested location until I found the composition I was looking for.

In the final painting, I attempted to capture the power of the incoming surf: distant white caps, a translucent wave just beginning to break, another curled and crashing against the rocks. To achieve the beauty, I focused on the time just after a storm, when the sea is still churning rough and wild but the skies are parting and peaks of sun are breaking through the clouds and lighting up the rocks and water in a moment of promise. I also strived to capture the sense of calm that we witness in even the wildest of storms… between the crashing waves, when water pools in soft reflections and gently spills like waterfalls.

“Storm Surf on Ocean Point”, 30”x40” oil painting by Brad Betts, ASMA

The studies completed for this commission are available for purchase:

Surf I, 11x14, $1,800

Surf II, 16x20, $3,800

Surf III, 16x20, $3,800

Surf IV, 16x20, $3,800

Surf V, 9x12, $1,200

Surf Study VI, en plein air

Surf VI, 11x14, $1,800

January 23, 2019

Blueberry Pie

January 23, 2019/ Brad Betts

I wanted Maine blueberry pie… so I painted it!

January 23, 2019

The Stable

January 23, 2019/ Brad Betts

The old stable below the barn. Experimenting with watercolors this winter and tried to capture timelessness in this sketch - the abandoned bird’s nest in the rafters, old bit on the wall, stacks of lumber leaning below the gate - offset by the present, in the freshly made footsteps in the snow and the cast of the mid-day sun’s shadows.