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Evening Light - Monhegan

Original oil painting  16x20"

by Susan Roux

Somedays are just special. They stand out above others for what they held. You know what I'm talking about. Those days when you're doing nothing particularly special when suddenly something far beyond your imagination happens, transforming it into an incredible day that will remain in your memory forever.

Well, to be fair, it wasn't exactly like I wasn't doing something special. I was on Monhegan painting at the time...  But that in itself is a typical thing to be doing on Monhegan. Lavina, a student of mine had come to join me and this particular day, we planned to paint from the front lawn of her rental. It was located up the first hill just as you arrive on the island.

Three boats a day bring people to the island. I found it quite fascinating to see how many people arrive in a very short time. It wasn't a problem to stay focused on my work, because I had set up with my back to the street and also to this lovely scene depicted in Evening Light - Monhegan. Lavina laughed and commented on how many times I'd been photographed by the day trippers. I had been totally unaware of them and their clicking cameras or phones.

Out of an arriving cluster, a student in her mid-20's approached us. She was from the Rockport Film School and on the island for the day on assignment. I need to make a quick documentary that coincides with an older painting I've selected and would it be ok if I filmed you painting? 

What do you say to that?

I was just there doing my work. She could film me if she wanted. Sure, why not?

Well she neglected to tell me she would interview me.

Seriously??? I felt myself wanting to back out...

The next thought that passed through my head was, how was anything interesting ever going to happen to me if I didn't take risks when the opportunities presented themselves? I swallowed hard and agreed to participate. Meg and her friend went through quite some trouble wiring me, concealing everything. Only to have it all completely exposed in the final video...

This experience definitely falls into the category of special moments as described in a previous post.

Here's a series of photos taken during our film session. I had the insight to hand my camera to Jerry Cable who lives next door. Thanks for taking the shots Jerry.

Meg would ask me questions, but I had to reply like I was just talking about it on my own. It was difficult to do at first. You automatically wanted to just reply to her question.

The filming went on for quite some time. I was surprised at the shortness of the final film with all the interviewing they did.

Here you can see a passerby clicking to capture the action going on. 

So here I am in a film debut. (I tried to attach it directly here, but it kept malfunctioning.) I'd been outside painting since 7:00 am. Hair blowing in the ocean breeze and raw as it gets for an artist. No time to comb my hair or fix myself up in any way. Why don't these things happen in our youth???