By: Emily Bracale

This is part two in our series about Art in Acadia with Emily Bracale. Learn more about a fun art activity for children (and adults!) in part one of the series – Leaf Rubbings 101.

I love to paint Acadia during the Autumn season because it gives me the chance to use big spaces of colors I usually don’t use: bright reds, oranges, yellows, and even pinks and purples! As you can see from these photos, sometimes a painting can capture the brilliance even more satisfactorily than a photo. We can use “artistic license” to pick which features of a landscape to show and emphasize what we most love about a scene.

Duck Brook and the Witch Hole Pond Carriage Roads are easy to access even if you need a walking stick. Across the road from where I parked was a little water pumping station, and behind it was this view of the brook, with a large beaver lodge and bright red huckleberry bushes. I chose to bring the distant mountain into view.

If you’re traveling with other people who are not stopping to paint with you, they can have fun exploring the grand stone bridge spanning the brook. It’s almost as good as being up in a castle turret, and the view from the bridge is spine tinglingly high above the water. Photos I took in two different years show the little waterfall and the glowing colors, and my painting combines both. Often I start a painting outdoors, but if the wind gets chilly I’ll finish it indoors, with photos for guidance. Fingerless mittens are a good thing to pack with your art supplies if you come to paint in Acadia in the Autumn!

Sending All My Love from the Acadian Coast,

Emily