The boat builders up in Maine declare winter as building time. They either have better heated shops than mine, or own more layers of clothes. The past couple of weeks have been colder than in recent years, leaving the boat to sit lonely in the cold shop.
In the meantime, I’ve been doing a little bit of artwork. A brief encounter with a group of people in an online workshop reminded me of an experience at the Wooden Boat School last summer. The reminder came as people in the workshop introduced themselves, one being from Maine’s Mt. Desert Island, home of Bar Harbor.
On a Friday morning Greg Rössell, our Wooden Boat School instructor, produced a hand drawn map of the area’s weekend attractions. (Click on the image to the right for a larger view.) He had color coded the map with museums, old tool sellers, forts and lighthouses, walks and cheap thrills, etc.
Two places on the map were marked with skull and crossbones markings. One was at “Bah Hahbah,” and the other at Camden. Both were warnings about the “artsy fudge and scented candle crowds.”
Salty ole boat builders apparently have low tolerance for art, at least the touristy kind. Here, I appreciate both activities … but don’t have any kitsch or scented candles.
