lake living vol. 18, no. 3

fall 2015 • vol. 18, no. 3 FREE

land that we trust small space design tour de décor

Art & craft of home design

2 lakelivingmaine.com

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fall 2015 • vol. 18, no. 3

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6 the art & craft of home design bylaurielamountain

10 land that we trust byleighmacmillenhayes

14 small space design bylaurielamountain

16 tour de décor

Lake Living is published quarterly by Almanac Graphics, Inc., 625 Rocky Knoll Rd, Denmark, ME 04022 207-452-8005. www.lakelivingmaine.com e-mail: [email protected] ©2015. All rights reserved. Contents of this magazine may not be reproduced in any manner with-out written consent from the publisher. An-nual subscriptions are available by sending check or money order for $20 to the above address.

Editor & PublisherLaurie LaMountainStaff WritersLeigh Macmillen Hayes, Perri BlackContributing PhotographersBrian Vanden Brink, Leigh Macmillen Hayes, Mick Early, Christine Erikson, Ethan McNerney Graphic DesignerDianne LewisProofreader/Copy EditorLeigh Macmillen Hayes

editor’s note Now that the excess of the ‘80s is well behind us and bragging rights for owning the most toys seems a bit pathetic, we can get back to the notion of less being more; of quality trumping quantity. But maybe trumping is not the best word to use right now.

Ironically, it was a period of excess called the Victorian era that provoked the radical principles of the Arts and Crafts Movement and its move toward minimal-ism. With its elaborate ornamentation, wildly varied styles and over-abundance, the Victorian era was the nineteenth cen-tury’s version of conspicuous consump-tion, and it’s what led William Morris and John Ruskin to champion a return to quality and simplicity.

In a simple case of what goes around, comes around, I would argue that we’ve arrived once more at a point of paring down and placing beauty and quality before quantity. Our homes are getting smaller and our palettes more discerning. Instead of building to impress the neigh-bors, we’re building to suit our lifestyles and aesthetics. Living in an environment where nature is ever-present makes this a natural and easy evolution. Surrounding ourselves with materials like stone, wood and glass connects us to the landscape beyond our walls and windows.

For anyone who despairs of where we’ve come to as a culture, you only have to look to history to see that we are merely one point along a path that goes up and down. The fact that we are thinking more about our surroundings, both inside and out, is a good thing. It means we’re coming back to balance.

—Laurie LaMountain cover photo bybrianvandenbrink

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18 keeping pace with art byperriblack

20 catch and release byleighmacmillenhayes

22 tasteful things byperriblack

24 feeding your inner squirrel


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CRAFTWORKS


The Art & Craft of Home Design

bylaurielamountain


One of my previous forays in the field of publishing began in 1992, when I was work-ing for a trade magazine that focused on traditional joinery and the construction of timber-framed houses and furniture. Over the next four years, I gleaned just enough about construction to be dangerous, but more importantly, I developed a

keen sense of craftsmanship. What I’m realizing now, nearly twenty years later, is that I was witnessing a growing renaissance of the Arts and Crafts Movement that began in England roughly one hundred years earlier.

It was during those four years that I began to cultivate an appreciation for the truth to material, structure and function that is essential to the original Arts and Crafts Movement. It was there that I first encountered the above quote by William Morris. It was there that I learned about Gustav Stickley, and Greene and Greene and their impressive and enduring influence on the Movement in the U.S. And it was there that I began to develop a different sense of material value in my own life and surroundings.

The Arts and Crafts Movement flourished in Europe and North America between 1880 and 1910. According to Morris biographer Fiona MacCarthy, between 1885 and 1905, one hundred and thirty Arts and Crafts organizations were formed in Britain. Ironically, the Movement was something of a renaissance of medieval decorative art, inspired by the ideas of William Morris and John Ruskin in reaction to the increased mechanization of production brought on by the Industrial Revolution. Morris felt the Middle Ages represented a high point in the art of the common people and that “without dignified, creative human occupation people became disconnected from life.” Ruskin, who upheld the similar belief

that medieval architecture was the ideal model for honest craftsmanship and quality materials, argued that the separation of the intellectual act of design from the manual act of physical creation was both socially and aesthetically damaging.

By the end of the nineteenth century, Arts and Crafts ideals were evident throughout European architecture, interior design, furniture and decor, and the Movement began to take hold in the United States. The first American Arts and Crafts Exhibi-tion was held in Boston in 1897 and purportedly fea-tured over a thousand objects made by one hundred and sixty artists, half of whom were women! Inter-estingly, many of the artists were also social reform-ers. On the West Coast, Greene and Greene would popularize the ultimate bungalow style that later influenced the design of homes all across middle America, including the Sears Roebuck Kit Homes that grace so many of our rural Maine towns.

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Eventually, the Movement’s dedication to nature and an idealist medieval era was no longer valid and the modern machine age and technology brought an end to the handcrafted era.

Fast forward a hundred years and you’ll find a thriving resurgence of architects, artisans and woodworkers who are com-mitted to the tenants of Morris and Ruskin, whether consciously or not. While the Arts and Crafts Movement was a rebellion that rose from the conviction that art and craft could change human life, it was also a reaction to the excessive ornamentation of Victorian design; an elimination of the unnecessary, in favor of a simpler, more re-fined aesthetic. That ideal continues today.

Subjected to a world where plastic and modular prevail, there are those among us who value good design, masterful technique and natural materials above all else. When you walk into a home that’s been built by true craftsmen who understand and ap-preciate those concepts, the impression is immediate. It’s obvious that the design was thoughtfully conceived and carefully craft-ed. There’s a subtle refinement that you sim-ply won’t find in a tract house development.

In my previous publishing experience and as publisher of Lake Living, I’ve had the privilege of working with and inter-viewing a number of architects and build-ers, many of whom exemplify the Arts and

Crafts ideals in their conscious consider-ation and appreciation of space. A charming alcove in a cottage designed by John Cole Architect is an example of structural repeti-tion (the cover photo features another from the same house). Scissor trusses in a timber frame cut by Andy Buck echo the influence of Asian design within the Movement.

Similarly, when furnishings and decor are selected with conscious consideration, it shows. It’s often in the subtle, easily overlooked details where craftsmanship is most apparent. There is an intentional execution to the details that makes them seem unintentional or, as Charles Greene so much more eloquently stated, “good things are not always seen at once, but they do not need advertising when they are found.” I’m reminded of a corner in my house where three angles meet in proxim-ity. An inconspicuous but considered detail was carved at the end of each piece of trim. Several doorways and windows are capped with botanical freizes designed and carved by my brother. At a friend’s house, the porches that lead into the house are prefaced with “doormats” made of rounded stones arranged in a half-oval below the

bottom stair. Their effect is both useful and artful. Another friend creates elegant screens from hand-carved lengths of un-dulating red oak mounted verti-cally in a straight wooden frame.

As a homeowner there is a temptation to fill what is seen as empty space with objects that appeal to one’s sense of aesthetic, but if the house is not viewed as a whole and treated as such, it could well lack the harmony that was central to the Arts and Crafts ideal. One beautiful element that relates to the whole is worth a thousand random things that have no relation to one another.

In William Morris Decor and Design, author Elizabeth Wil-hide describes one of the Morris family homes as such, “Struc-tural repetition is emphasized by the use of the same materials and furnishing throughout. Each room, though different in char-

acter and function, is related to the whole, as a variation on a theme.”

This principle is one that is applied by John Cole Architect and praised by Sarah Susanka in the article on small space design that is also in this issue. The simple but strik-ing brackets detailing the alcoves of Nyce Cottage create a separate sense of space at the same time that they define it as a whole.

In her book The Not So Big House, which was published in 2001 at the peak of the housing bubble and several years before it would burst, Susanka said this about the house of the future: “The Not So Big House offers a way to bring the soul back into our homes, our communities, and our society’s fabric. The house of the future will be Not So Big—and an expression of who we are and the way we really live.” Her message is as familiar as it was prophetic. R

Recommended reading: William Morris Decor and Design,by Elizabeth Wilhide, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York, NY 1991Greene & Greene Masterworks, by Bruce Smith and Alexander Vertikiff, Chronicle Books, San Francisco, CA 1998The Not So Big House, by Sarah Susanka, The Taunton Press, Newtown, CT, 2001

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George Erikson screen photographed by Christine Erikson.


My happy moments are spent wandering and wondering in the woods of the lakes region.

And photographing and sketching what I see. And writing about the experience. And trying to find out the answers. Hon-estly though, I don’t want to know all the answers. For the most part, I just like the wandering and wondering.

Passing through a stonewall, I’m sud-denly embraced by the fragrance of white pines that form the canopy over what was once an agricultural field. Beech and hem-lock trees grow in the understory. Lowbush blueberries, ferns, wildflowers and a variety of mosses and lichens add to the picture.

I follow a former cowpath that opens to the power line. At the edge, taller hemlocks and northern red oaks reach skyward, with a few beech trees in the mix. But my eye is drawn to the ground cover, varied in color and texture. Sphagnum moss, several spe-cies of reindeer lichen, British soldier lichen, wintergreen, bunchberries, junipers and sheep laurel appreciate the bogginess and sunshine of this space.

To the right of an opening in another wall, the neighborhood changes. This time it’s gray and paper birch that grow side by side. Nearby, a vernal pool teems with life each spring.

I pause whenever something in the land-scape differs from the norm—looking for signs of animal activity. Mud is my friend as I search for prints. And I never pass by scat without stooping to examine it; a mam-mal’s form of communication about gender, age and health. For me, it’s also a form of identification based on shape and content.

People, too, are part of this habitat. They recreate along the snowmobile trail that follows the power line. The stonewalls, dug wells and rusty equipment speak to the area’s history.

It’s land like this that our local land trusts work diligently to preserve. We are fortunate to live in an area where five trusts protect land for us and the species with whom we share the Earth: Greater Lovell, Loon Echo, Western Maine Foothills, Ma-hoosuc and Upper Saco Valley. This strikes me as a valuable reflection of who we are and where we live.

A wee disclaimer: I’ve been a volunteer docent for about eight years and am now education director for the Greater Lovell Land Trust. My involvement stems from my desire to learn about what makes up the landscape that surrounds me.

Either alone or with my husband or friends, I hike land trust properties on a regular basis. Trekking along trails with

like-minded people who pause frequently to identify and appreciate what they see in any season puts a smile on my face. Some-thing stops us in our tracks every time we explore and we gain a better understanding of ourselves and this place we inhabit.

The land trusts work with community members to acquire land for permanent conservation through purchases and dona-tions. They also create legal and binding conservation easements that allow residents to protect land holdings in perpetuity, while retaining private ownership. Scenic views, wildlife corridors, flora and fauna, and to-pography remain, subject only to the whims of nature itself, which is ever-changing.

Distrust and opposition of conserva-tion sometimes stems from a fear of the unknown—worries that a trust will lock up the lands, cutting off access and halting recreational or economic opportunities. Some are concerned the trusts take proper-ties off the tax rolls. In reality, they usually pay the same taxes as the previous land owners who had placed the properties in tree growth status.

Conserving the land doesn’t mean it can’t be touched. The organizations de-velop management and stewardship plans. Timber harvesting, farming, residency and recreation continue, while specific wildlife

Land That We Trust

by leigh macmillen hayes

ledges trail


habitat, wetlands, unique natural resources and endangered or rare species are pro-tected. And in the process, they strengthen our towns. Ultimately, they give us a better sense of our place in Maine and opportuni-ties to interact with the wild.

The service area of each of the local trusts include watersheds and wildlife corridors. Greater Lovell Land Trust is committed to the protection of the Kezar Lake, Kezar Riv-er, Cold River and adjacent watersheds lo-cated in Lovell, Stow, Stoneham and Sweden.

Loon Echo Land Trust serves seven towns: Bridgton, Casco, Denmark, Harri-son, Naples, Raymond, Sebago and Sweden, and their efforts actually reach beyond to the 200,000 residents of Greater Portland for whom Sebago Lake is the public drink-ing water source.

Western Maine Foothills Land Trust serves the Greater Oxford Hills towns of Buckfield, Harrison, Norway, Otisfield, Ox-ford, Paris, Sumner, Waterford and West Par-is. The watersheds they protect include Lake Pennesseewassee, Thompson Lake, Crooked River and Little Androscoggin River.

The Mahoosuc Land Trust works in central Oxford County, Maine, and eastern Coos County, New Hampshire. It strives to protect the watersheds and natural commu-nities of Albany Township, Andover, Bethel, Gilead, Greenwood, Hanover, Milton Plan-tation, Newry, Rumford, Shelburne, Upton and Woodstock.

Likewise, the Upper Saco Valley Land Trust crosses the border and includes the communities of western Maine and northern New Hampshire that comprise the upper watershed of the Saco River. Its service area flows from the source of the Saco in Crawford Notch toward the Hiram Dam and includes Harts Location, Jack-son, Bartlett, Chatham, Conway, Albany, Madison and Eaton, New Hampshire, and Fryeburg, Denmark and Brownfield, Maine.

In addition, the land trusts collaborate with each other and local lake associations. Most recently, the GLLT, LELT, WMFLT and USVLT, plus the Portland Water District have joined forces to protect the fifty-mile Crooked River. The river is the largest tributary flowing into Sebago Lake and it provides primary spawning and nurs-ing area for one of four known indigenous populations of landlocked Atlantic salmon in Maine. In another joint effort, the Town bradley Brook

of Denmark partnered with Loon Echo to purchase 1,488 acres known as the Perley Mills Community Forest that will support selective timber harvesting and remain un-developed and available to the public for traditional recreational uses.

All five land trusts offer numerous hikes open to everyone, providing a great way to explore and learn more about the diversity of the natural communities. Staff and vol-unteers lead walks, stopping frequently to share a bit of knowledge, ask questions and wonder along with the participants. These organizations also offer indoor programs featuring knowledgeable guest speakers.

Protection is key. And connectivity. So is education, which develops understanding and appreciation. I know for myself, my relationship with the landscape continues to evolve. The mentors I’ve met along the way have played an important part in my flowering witch hazel


involvement and care for the environment. After all, isn’t it our responsibility to protect the forest, lakes and rivers for the sake of all the forest beings and ourselves? To create a sustainable habitat where we take only what we need and leave the rest in the forest’s bank account?

I’m thankful for the work being done to protect the ecosystem. There’s so much I still don’t understand, but with each nug-get of knowledge gained, the layers build. Maybe someday I’ll get it. Maybe I never will. Either way, I’m happy for the chance to journey and wonder on land trust prop-

erties, to form and cultivate a personal relationship with the landscape.

Even though we can’t all endow the fu-ture of our properties, we can get involved to ensure that these organizations continue to protect land so it will remain in its natural state for the benefit of all. R

This past winter, I started recording my outdoor adventures, wonders and questions in a blog entitled wondermyway.com. Some-times those hikes on land trust properties became the subject for a post.

February 23, 2015: Bishop Cardinal Reserve, I’m fascinated by bear sign and love to find claw marks on beech trees. Oh, they climb other trees, but beech show off the scars with dignity for years to come. While bark on most trees changes as it ages, beech bark is known for retaining the same characteristics throughout its life . . . Seeing all the animal tracks and sign, some decipherable, others not so, makes me thankful for those who have worked hard to preserve this land and create corridors for the animals to move through.

March 31, 2015: John A. Segur Wildlife Refuge, It’s one of those places where I could spend hours upon hours exploring and still only see a smidgeon of what is there. I’m overwhelmed when I walk into a store filled with stuff, but completely at home in a place like this where life and death happen and the “merchandise” changes daily.

April 15, 2015: Otter Rocks, A princess pine club moss shows off its upright spore-producing candelabra or strobili. Funny thing about club mosses–they aren’t mosses. I guess they were considered moss-like when named. Just as the mills take us back in time, so do these–only much further back when their ancestors grew to 100 feet tall during the Devonian Period. They make me feel so small and insignificant. And yet, I’m thankful for the opportunity to be in awe of them.

May 3, 2015: Chip Stockford Reserve, There’s something about the Chip Stockford Reserve on Ladies Delight Road in Lovell that keeps pulling me back. I think it’s the history associated with this property that fascinates me. And the ques-tions it raises. From the start, there is a cellar hole and barn foundation. Eldridge Gerry Kimball had purchased 200 acres on January 31, 1880 from Abraham E. Gray. The Lovell Historical Society owns various journals from that time period which include entries about driving cattle over to the Ladies Delight pasture, picking cranberries over by The Pond, as they called Kezar Lake, picking apples, driving sheep to pasture, picking pears, mowing oats and trimming pines. Today, it’s the huge pasture pines, stonewalls and a couple of foundations that tell part of the story. I’ve also heard that this area was used as a cattle infirmary. According to local lore, diseased cattle were brought to Ladies Delight to roam and die, thus preventing disease from spreading to healthy cattle. . . Another story

about Ladies Delight hill is that this is the place where people would come to picnic in the 1800s. Did the women get dressed up to enjoy a day out, a break from their farming duties? I have visions of them wearing long dresses and bonnets and carrying picnic baskets. But could they really afford a day away from their chores?

May 10, 2015: Bald Pate Moun-tain, The “bald” mountain top is the reason I am who I have become. Being outside and hiking have always been part of my makeup, but when our oldest was in fifth grade, I chaperoned a field trip up this mountain that changed everything. The fo-cus was the soils. And along the way, Bridie McGreavy, who at the time was the wa-tershed educator for Lakes Environmental Association, sat on the granite surrounded by a group of kids and me, and told us about the age of the lichens and their relationship to the granite and I wanted to know more. I needed to know more.

June 16, 2015: Bishop Cardinal Reserve, Though we never plan it that way, our journey lasted three hours. Suddenly, we emerged from the wet woodland onto Horseshoe Pond Road–all the richer for having spent time in the land of the slugs, bears and caterpillar clubs. Oh my!

July 15, 2015: Ledges Trail, Tick Trefoil. Funny name for such a delicate flower. Trefoil refers to the fact that the compound leaves each have three leaflets. And tick–ugh–nobody likes ticks. In this case, the hairy pods that develop after it finishes flowering tend to stick to people and animal fur. Beggar’s lice is another common name. Geesh.


Small Space Designby laurie lamountain

Cole has been designing houses for thirty years, initially for friends and family as a side line to his work in commercial architecture, and for the last ten years as his sole endeavor. Vacation and retirement homes are his specialty. Often the homes he

designs for clients are subject to shoreline zoning laws and setback regulations that limit the footprint. In his own vacation home in western Maine, he took a creative approach to the thirty percent rule that restricts waterfront expansion.

The Coles bought their camp in 1994. Prior to that it was the infirmary for a boys camp that went out of business in the late ‘70s, a fact that Cole finds ironic, since his wife is a doctor. It served their needs well for nearly twenty years, until their family grew to include spouses and grandchildren. Cole had already taken advantage of the thirty percent rule by adding a screen porch and tower that serves as his remote office, but there was a deficit of sleeping and play spaces, as well as studio space for his daughter, Hannah, who is a painter. The solution availed itself in a postage-stamp-sized piece of land behind the camp that could accommodate a 12’x12’ building. One hundred forty-four square feet turned out to be not-so-much, so Cole determined to double the space with a second level that had

the unanticipated advantage of a view to the lake. The lower level contains overflow storage space from the cabin and a work bench. Cole built the shed with Jim Carty from Sweden who bartered carpentry for tennis lessons. “That we became good friends in the process was a nice bonus,” Cole adds, “and by the way, Jim is a better builder than I am a tennis coach.”

Cole reflects that the shed provided him an opportunity to experiment with design more than he would with a client project. He used corrugated fiberglass, usually used in greenhouses, on the roof to bring light into the space. Tempered glass panels used in lieu of wooden balusters in the window facing the lake allow an unobstructed view

“When meeting with clients to discuss their ideas, I’ll often find myself asking them, ‘Do you really need that? Or how much are you going to use that? Could we overlap that use with another use?’ I’m a huge believer in small is better,” says John Cole.


to the water. Tempered glass is expensive, so Cole chose to use hardware cloth in the stairwell leading up to the second level. The “finished” shed is by no means posh, nor was it meant to be. It serves its purposes well, perhaps the most important of which is to provide a magical setting for reading bedtime stories to grandchildren.

Thinking small is a concept that drives many of Cole’s projects and it came in handy when clients approached him about a decrepit camp they had purchased on Sebago Lake that had an expansive view of the bay and mountains beyond, but was only 1,171 square feet and subject to the thirty percent expansion rule as well as a 20’ height restriction. A powerline easement running right through the cen-ter of the property imposed an additional restriction. In the end, they were allowed a footprint of 1,522 square feet, which included decks and porches.

Cole’s redesign features three bedrooms and one and three-quarters baths without

feeling cramped. His guiding principle was to eliminate as much circulation space as possible by keeping hallways and pass-through paths to a minimum. The U-shaped space, intentionally designed to conform to the zoning restrictions, elimi-nates wasted space by creating pockets that are accessible from a path running along the inside perimeter of the U.

“Every time we moved a wall two inches, we had to recheck the area and height calculations,” says Cole. Built-ins for storage, window seats with storage un-der and bookshelves above, and a kitchen island that has tons of storage in it are all designed to maximize space and reduce the sense of clutter. He credits Steve Rich of Rich Construction in Sebago Lake, Maine, for his fine craftsmanship.

Another way that Cole maximizes a sense of spaciousness is by limiting the amount of finishes. In this house, it’s three materials: fir, stone and drywall, with just enough of the latter to bounce light. Mixing

materials up too much makes a space look smaller because it doesn’t have continuity to make it flow.

Testament to Cole’s philosophy of “small is better,” Sarah Susanka chose one of his designs as her favorite from over two hundred entries in the Fine Home Building 2012 Home of the Year Awards. For those of you who are not familiar with her work, Susanka is one of the leading residential architects in the U.S. and the author of The Not So Big House and Creating the Not So Big House. Here is what she had to say about a cottage Cole designed for a client in Cushing, Maine:

“I instantly fell in love with this un-assuming little cottage. It has a simple elegance and charm to it that is much harder to accomplish than it looks. White walls, natural wood floors and ceilings, beams and columns that express the struc-ture without apology or embellishment. And then those super simple brackets at each of the alcoves, designating them as separate places while keeping them very much connected with the larger room they participate in.

Although this was planned as a guest house and is only one phase of a larger project, I’m willing to bet that the home-owners have deeply bonded with this de-lightful cottage. What more do you need? Not So Big at its finest.”

Cole, Susanka and like-minded archi-tects are changing the way we think about the American home. Taking a less-is-more approach and putting quality before quan-tity simply makes sense for how each of us lives today and for how all of us will live tomorrow. Ret

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Tour de DécorWe at Lake Living traveled around the area scoping out interesting, attractive and unique items and wanted to share some of our finds with you. You’ll find there’s no shortage of antique and vintage shops from which to choose. Our outings included Cornish Trading

Company in Cornish, Four Cedars Antiques at the Farm in Lovell, Harry Barker’s Emporium I & II, Bridgton Flea Market, Vintage Souls and Antique Revival, all located in Bridgton. Here’s a selection of what we found that appealed to us. Granted, our tastes may

not be the same as yours, but if you’re willing to shop outside the Home Goods box, we think you’ll find there’s a lot of stuff out there to suit your surroundings—

you just have to keep looking. That’s half the fun of it!

Pictured clockwise from top left: Front window display at Cornish Trading Company in Cornish

Matching pair of beveled glass mirrors (only one shown)

Louvered screens with original paint

Bird painting on canvas

Cast cement garden ornaments


Pictured clockwise from top left:Sailboat whirligig

Wooden bowls

Cast concrete Siamese cat

Pair of early 20th-century (electrified) brass and crystal wall sconces (only one shown)

Mid-century modern chair

Handwoven Wabanaki Katahdin Arctic butterfly basket

Decorative cast resin wall hanging


The Palmina F. and Stephen S. Pace Galleries of Art are housed in the im-pressive Leura Hill Eastman Perform-

ing Arts Center at Fryeburg Academy (see article in Lake Living, winter 2012). The galleries officially opened to the public in 2009 and have hosted an average of four exhibitions a year since then.

John Day, the galleries’ director, gave me a tour of both the permanent collection and current exhibition this past August. A retired high school art history teacher who now lives in Yarmouth, Day is also an avid art collector, specializing in mid-20th century modern American painting. He is open, enthusiastic, and involved, and obvi-ously loves sharing his passion for art with the public. He is just the sort of teacher I wish I’d had in high school.

Day’s personal art collection began in 1976 with a Harrison Bird Brown landscape of the Saco River he bought with his first paycheck from teaching. Over the years, his zeal for collecting put him in touch with

Keeping Pace with Art

by perri black

Walter and Frank - 1949, oil on canvas, 34 x 46 inches

many artists, including Stephen Pace, a well-known New York painter who, along with his wife, Palmina, spent summers in Maine. In a casual conversation with the Paces, Day brought up the possibility of their funding the planned galleries at the Performing Arts Center and was pleasantly surprised when they agreed.

In addition, Pace donated about twenty pieces of his own artwork to serve as the foundation for the permanent collection. The wife of abstract painter Harry Nadler also contributed a significant number of his works to the collection, many of which are on display throughout the Fryeburg Acad-emy campus. To date, more than 500 works have been donated to the galleries and many have appeared in past exhibitions, along with works from Day’s own collection.

Day was on the design committee during the planning of the galleries and he ensured they were built to the highest standards. The three delineated spaces totaling 1200 square feet have state-of-the-art lighting and 24-

hour security. The walls are based on those of the Getty Museum in California and the polished wood and stone floors are similar to those in Boston’s Heinz auditorium. The whole is a sleek, elegant venue to showcase top quality exhibitions. Small, yes, but perfectly formed.

The galleries’ mission is to promote and support cultural life at the Academy and in the local community. It offers space to mount exhibitions relevant to the Academy, as well as to western Maine and the Mount Washington Valley, but Day emphasizes that they do not want to be a “provincial” mu-seum. He uses his widespread connections to search out artists and work he thinks will present a provocative exhibition that will fit in with the Academy’s programs and expose viewers to new ideas and different ways of seeing.

While some of the past exhibitions focused on topics of local interest: Hiram Barns – Agricultural Cathedrals (2011); Canvassing the White Mountains – A Pri-

Heaven, Hell and Wagner - 1990, oil on canvas, 46 x 50 inches

Patterns - Lobster Traps - 1990, watercolor on paper, 18 x 24 inches


vate Collection (2011); and the Fryeburg Fair (2014), others have had a broader scope. Maine artists from across the state have been featured in a number of shows and noted Portland collector, Bruce Brown, lent work from his extensive collection of prints and photographs for the exhibition that was hanging when I visited in August. Thanks to Day’s particular interests, works by New York artists with connections to Maine have also graced the galleries’ walls.

The final exhibition of the 2015 season opens in October and features works by Lamar Dodd, a Southern artist who spent many summers painting on Monhegan Is-land. This exhibition, the second collabora-tive effort between the Monhegan Museum and the Pace Galleries, is coming directly from the island, where it was on display throughout the summer.

Dodd, who lived most of his life in Georgia, was always inspired by the natural world and the “creations of God and man.” He spent several years in New York City studying at the Art Students League and working with artists of the Ashcan School and American Scene movement. The influ-ence of Grant Wood and Thomas Hart Benton can clearly be seen in his early work.

Dodd first went to Monhegan in 1941 with funding from a Carnegie Foundation grant. He and his wife were so taken with the place that they became regular summer residents for the next four decades. Dodd was especially inspired by the island’s rugged coast, crashing waves, natural beauty and the hard-working fishermen who lived there.

Similarities to other artists who worked on the island, namely John Marin and Mars-den Hartley, are evident in Dodd’s Monhegan images, particularly his works on paper. The thirty-four pieces in this exhibition, dating from1948 to 1992, show how Dodd’s style gradually became looser, gravitating towards abstraction and, to quote Day, an “angular, gritty, bold stroke realism.” The 1964 wa-tercolor entitled The Cliff even resembles the strokes of freeform oriental calligraphy.

Day is particularly happy to introduce Dodd’s work to a wider audience at the Pace Galleries. He says the Monhegan Museum mounts just one exhibition each summer that is seen by a very limited number of people, because getting to the island is not easy. Showing the exhibition again on the mainland in western Maine will introduce his work to many people who would otherwise not be able to see it.

Day views this show as a teaching ex-hibition, which is apropos because Lamar Dodd was also a teacher most of his life and the art school at the University of Georgia is named after him. Outside of Georgia, Dodd’s work is not widely known. And although he spent most of his summers on Monhegan, he never had an open studio or exhibition on the island and few who knew him there were even aware he was a professional artist.

For more than eighty years, Lamar Dodd traveled the world, always interested in and fascinated by his environment and the people around him. His works from Monhegan demonstrate what William U. Eiland, Director of the Georgia Museum of Art, declared his finely tuned “sense of the momentous in what too many of us simply see as the everyday.” R

Lamar Dodd: Half a Century of Monhegan Summers, October 15 to December 30, 2015, Palmina F. and Stephen S. Pace Galleries of Art, Fryeburg, Maine, www.fryeburgacademy.org/Page/Arts/PACE-Galleries


catch & releaseby leigh macmillen hayes

Gene Bahr caught his first fish at age five. At six, his grandfather placed paper and charcoal in front of him and

taught the young boy how to draw and use his fingers to blend the medium. He smiles as he recalls the hours spent watching his grandfather create works of art. “He was a great influence on my life—the art work and character I am,” says Bahr.

For his thirteenth birthday, Bahr received a gift from his mother that added another di-mension to his character. “My mother made the biggest mistake in her life. She bought me a subscription to Outdoor Life. I would read it from cover to cover. And in the back pages there would be ads about white-tailed deer and brook trout {expeditions} in Maine.”

Bahr grew up in Alabama, his mother’s home state, and you can still hear the drawl in his voice. Since he can remember, how-ever, he’d always felt drawn to the north country. Perhaps it’s because his father was from Wisconsin.

After high school, Bahr joined the Navy. It was there that he met a guy from Maine who invited him north on vacation.

“It was 1970,” says Bahr, “the first time I came up to my friend’s camp on Mousam Lake in Acton. There I saw a mounted fish hanging over the mantle. I’d never seen anything like it.”

The mounted fish was an 18-inch brook trout created by renowned wildlife artist

and taxidermist David Footer of Lewiston. “I made up my mind right then that that’s what I wanted to do,” says Bahr. He was twenty years old.

Two years later, he completed his Navy service, came to Maine on another vacation, borrowed $200 and stayed, leaving behind six acres of corn in Alabama.

After commuting from Porter, Maine, to Rochester, New Hampshire, to work in construction for four years, he realized it wasn’t his dream job.

Instead, his passion for hunting and fishing kept tugging him and so he took a leap of faith, quit his job and learned the art of taxidermy.

It was eighteen years before Footer gave his nod of approval. “It’s hard to be good at fish taxidermy,” says Bahr. “Other animals have feathers and fur.” That makes them more pliable, but fish skins tend to crack and require a different skill set.

During this time, he also took art lessons and learned to see composition, arrange-ment and color. “An artist truly does see all the colors in a blade of grass. The blues and reds and yellows,” says Bahr. “In my world, I try to be more attentive to my surround-ings and appreciate all that is around me.”

By 1984, he was still mounting fish, but then began to carve them as well. One day in 1990, he looked into the cellar freezer filled with trophy fish waiting to be skinned, mounted and put on a wall, and had an epiphany.

The fish in the freezer all had three things in common: they were large, trophies and dead. Bahr places the emphasis on “dead.”

At this point, he turned his focus more toward the “catch and release” fish carv-ing path. Carving fish has its roots in early American history and was made popular by the 20th century taxidermists who transi-tioned from mounting actual specimens to recreating them in wood.

“Catch and release” refers to the method anglers use to sustain the fisheries. The practice means Bahr’s customers tuck a camera and measuring tape into their tackle


boxes and capture the character of their fish-of-a-lifetime in photographs. They send these to him and include length and girth measurements, rather than sacrifice the fish for a skin mount.

He prefers to work with native basswood for the carvings, which is lightweight and easy to carve. Tupelo is another choice, but must be imported from the South. The wood is sawn into boards of one-inch and two-inch thickness.

Keen observation, patience and time are essential to turn wood into a life-like replica. Bahr begins by tracing a pattern based on the fish’s size and cuts the profile with a bandsaw. Pieces are glued on to get the proper thickness of the girth and accom-modate the curve of the fish.

With power tools, he roughs out the shape, sketches the details and uses bits and other tools to carve, including most of the fins as part of the silhouette. Bahr pays careful attention to realistic action as he breathes life into a carving. Only the glass eyes and resin teeth are not wood.

And then, Bahr the sculptor transforms into Bahr the painter. “I use an air brush,” he says. “I call it my magic wand.” He also uses a variety of artists brushes to add intricate details. Iridescent and shimmering colors are carefully crafted into each sculp-ture. The pectoral fins located on either side that allow the fish to control movement are attached after the fish is painted, making it easier to paint the spots behind them.

Eventually, the released fish miraculously resurfaces, that moment in time when it was caught recaptured.

Bahr says that his 25 years of fish taxi-dermy and lifetime love of angling have served him well. He feels he’s at the height of his game—and thoroughly enjoys cre-ating beautiful artwork, especially with three-dimensional vitality that shows his love of nature.

In 2000, he stopped fish taxidermy to embrace the spirit of catch and release in order to preserve the fisheries. He encour-ages you to embrace the same spirit—letting the fish continue to swim. R

Gene Bahr’s Wildlife Creations, featuring the artwork of Gene Bahr and Donna Kantor. 1306 Bridgton Road (Route 107), Sebago. Open by appointment, please call or e-mail first. 207.647.5238, [email protected], www.genebahr.com. Their work can also be viewed at Gallery 302, 112 Main Street, Bridgton

“Catch and release” refers to the method anglers use to sustain the fisheries. The practice means Bahr’s customers tuck a camera and

measuring tape into their tackle boxes and capture the character of their fish-of-a-lifetime in photographs.


I have developed a passion for olive oil ever since I lived in Italy and discovered that it could be used for more than

just softening saddles. Along with coffee and several kinds of vinegar, olive oil is a non-negotiable staple in my kitchen and I usually have a few different types on hand at any given time. In the past, when my supply dipped to dangerously low levels, I would venture into Portland to replenish my stock at Micucci’s and Le Roux Kitchen.

But now Bridgton has Tasteful Things, a new shop featuring “Oils, Vinegars & Wicked Good Stuff,” located upstairs in the big yellow Victorian building on Main Hill. At last I can buy my exotic salad condiments right here in town.

Originally from Pennsylvania, owners Nate and Carole Sunday moved to Casco in 2002. Nate worked for 25 years in healthcare management as a hospital efficiency expert. Carole is a financial advisor in Portland.

While he has no formal background in the food business, Nate has always been a bit of a foodie. He loves to cook and eat and he does most of the cooking at home (although he says Carole may not neces-sarily agree with that). He likes trying new ingredients and experimenting with recipes, which he also loves to discuss and share with his friends and customers.

He and Carole were always searching for olive oils, vinegars and other gourmet products in “foodie destinations” such as Portland and elsewhere along the coast, and they thought it would be nice to be able to obtain these products much closer to home.

The Main Hill location was chosen because Nate believes good neighbors are essential. They like the close, supportive and growing Main Hill business community, which includes Harry Barker’s II and the Wil-liam Perry Cigar Lounge in the same building as Tasteful Things, J.Décor across the street, and Lobster Express at the top of the hill.

There is also increasing interest in re-gional foods, as evidenced by the success of local farmers’ markets, and there are no other specialty shops like Tasteful Things in the area. Nate is a strong supporter of startups, local producers and small busi-nesses and it is very important to him to stock locally produced goods. The olive oils and vinegars are imported from the Amalfi coast in Italy but almost all the other products in the store are from Maine.

The shop opened in April 2015, before the summer season, because Nate wanted to establish a local customer base first. So far, business has been good, even exceeding projections. It has been receiving positive feedback in person and via Facebook, as well as lots of good word-of-mouth adver-

TasTeful Things

by perri black

They were both happy with their jobs in Pennsylvania but knew they didn’t want to stay there the rest of their lives. They had vacationed in Maine a number of times and they liked the lifestyle and people here. Nate says, one day they woke up, turned to each other and simultaneously said, “Maine,” and that was it. Their respective companies actually established satellite offices in Maine in order to not lose them as employees and the couple headed off to a new life.

Although he made a good living in the hospital management field, Nate felt he wanted a change so he resigned his job and opened Tasteful Things in April 2015.


tising. I, for one, have been spreading the word and all my friends have thanked me.

The shop’s main focus is a wide range of Olivelle extra virgin olive oils, both plain and infused with flavors such as blood orange, Tahitian lime and Tuscan herb. In addition, fourteen types of balsamic vin-egars are available to sample along with the oils. Both oils and vinegars come in four bottle sizes ranging from 100 ml to 750 ml. Exotic salts, spice mixtures and mustards are also on offer, as well as a selection of kitchen tools, handmade wooden utensils and cookbooks. And who knew Bridgton has its own hot sauce company? Thanks to Tasteful things I now know about Beast Feast Maine and I am a fan.

Nate says he hopes to expand in the future in order to offer more products and the full range of Olivelle oils and vinegars. Customers can currently place special orders from the shop’s suppliers through Nate and he is also considering developing a mail order service.

Tasteful Things is a welcome (and, in-deed, tasteful) addition to Bridgton’s busi-ness community. Stop by to sample some of the products, swap recipes and compare notes with Nate. The array of flavors and possible combinations may seem a bit daunting at first, but listen to his advice and be sure to take some home to experiment. I guarantee your taste buds are in for a pleas-ant treat and perhaps your inner culinary savant will awaken!

The obvious thing to do with olive oil and vinegar is to make a vinaigrette dressing, which can dress any type of salad, be tossed with cooked vegetables, poured over cooked meat, or used as a dipping sauce. If you make it with a higher proportion of vinegar, it can also be used as a marinade. The recipes are simple but the variety is endless. Try experimenting with different types of oils, vinegars, mustards, salts, herbs and spices.

Vinaigrettes can be whisked together in a small mixing bowl or shaken in a jar. The process is the same but proportions and ad-ditions may change, depending on your taste. Balsamic vinegars are usually sweeter than wine vinegars so the proportion of oil may vary. I usually use equal parts balsamic and oil.

Mix salt, pepper, sugar and other dry in-gredients in the vinegar and allow time for them to dissolve or hydrate before adding the oil. Either whisk together in a bowl or shake up in a small jar (pint or half pint canning jars are a good size).

Whisk in the oil (and mustard, if using) gradually so it will thicken up a bit (emulsify) and not separate so quickly. The addition of mustard seems to help with this process. If making in a jar, add about 1/3 of the oil, shake until mixed, then add another third, then the remaining third, shaking between each addition.

Purist Vinaigrette (the foundation for everything) 1 part vinegar to 4 parts olive oil; salt and pepper to taste.

Classic French Vinaigrette 1 tablespoon vinegar, salt and pepper to taste; 4 table-spoons olive oil, 1 teaspoon mustard.

If you don’t want to bother mixing up a vinaigrette you can always put bottles of oil and vinegar out on the table, like they do in Italy, and each diner can pour what they want in their preferred proportions directly onto their individual salad.

Try combining different oils, vinegars and mustards for an endless variety of flavors. One of my favorites is plain Frantoia extra virgin olive oil, cucumber white balsamic vinegar and fresh snipped dill. Other good combos include Anjou pear balsamic and blood orange olive oil; caramelized garlic oil with sun dried tomato balsamic; or, for a hint of the tropics, Tahitian lime oil and toasted coconut white balsamic.

In addition to comprising vinaigrettes, flavored oils and vinegars have a myriad of other uses. The sweet cream butter olive oil is particularly notable. It really tastes like but-ter but, because it is extra virgin olive oil, it is vegan and heart healthy. Use it for cooking anything you would cook in butter: seafood, eggs, vegetables, etc.

I also love drizzling Vera Cruz chili oil on pizza for a spicy kick and the Sicilian lemon oil is wonderful as a marinade for cod or had-dock with a bit drizzled on top before serving. Sesame oil adds authentic Asian flavor to fried rice and other oriental dishes, and try the wild rosemary, Tuscan herb, and French lavender infused oils for a touch of European flair. Basically, have fun experimenting - the sky’s the limit! R

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It’s just one of several summer rituals I keep that are made sweeter still by the thought of another Maine winter on the horizon. I pack quart yogurt containers, a bottle of water and

a snack of some sort in my knapsack and wait for Dianne to arrive in her Subaru Forester, since my low-slung VW won’t make it up the steep gravel roads that lead to the trailhead for the mountain on which we’ll plunk ourselves down for three hours or so to pick wild blueberries.

On the trail leading to the sum-mit, Dianne names each bird by its song and I promise myself to remem-ber them and then promptly forget. All part of the ritual.

At the top, we naturally gravitate to the area we’ve had good luck with in past years. Don’t expect us to tell you where that is. We circle about like a couple of deer bedding down for the night until we find a good spot and give in to the slow, meditative task of filling our containers. The first few minutes are punctuated by the hollow sound of berries hitting the bottom of our plastic containers, but then there’s only birdsong for the next hour, until we begin picking the next quart.

Most of my annual haul ends up in the freezer and when I remove a portion from a ziplock bag to thaw on a winter morning, I remember the feel of the sun on the base of my spine where it inevitably lays its stamp on me. And I remember the birdsong but don’t remember the names of the birds they belong to . . . except for maybe the hermit thrush.

My grandmother is responsi-ble for nurturing the forager in me. She never ventured into the woods without containers for blue-berries and I was happy to help her fill them. She prided herself on being a “clean picker” and I’ve inherited that trait as well.

Foraging is just one way in which I’ve come to trace the trajectory of a Maine summer. I dare say I could tell you what month it is by how the sweet fern smells, whether faint or bold or withering. And when I spy dandelions wedged within the walkway and the angry looking mound of red in my garden that is rhubarb breaking through the spring soil, I know that summer is in the offing. Ripe strawberries mean it’s the fourth of July and wild blueberries mean it’s my neph-ew’s birthday and July is at its meridian point. As do chanterelles mushrooms. Elderberries, always sly, mean it’s late summer and must be watched carefully if I hope to beat the birds to them. Concord grapes mean summer is closing down and cranberries declare it done.

Marking the season in this way has given me a connectedness with nature that places me firmly in it. Blueberries in the produce section of the supermarket at any other time of year than July strike me as an anachronism. It seems to me that blueberries de-pend upon a July sun to ripen them to their true flavor. I’d sooner spend my money on Wyman’s frozen wild blueberries than waste it on cultivars.

In The Auberge of the Flowering Hearth, a wonderful book by Roy Andries de Groot, he asks one of his French hosts what delicacy of the Alpine Valley of La Grande Chartreuse is first to announce their spring. Mademoiselle Ray’s response is quite charming: “Here it is our wild ‘snow mushroom,’ which is creamy white and pushes its way up underneath the snow just as it is thinning out and receding in the warm sunlight during April and May. It is as if the earth is releasing the spring and this little mushroom is too impatient to hold back its desire to come up and meet the sun. One sees the little bumps in the thin snow over the soft mosses around the trunks of the trees in sheltered hollows. We dig with our fingers and bring the mushrooms quickly to the kitchen. Their perfume is marvelously delicate, and before they fade, we sauté them and serve them with the lightest of sauces.”

Were I to find Mademoiselle Ray’s snow mushrooms in my woods, I’d be sorely tempted to dry them, despite her zeal to savor them at their peak moment. My hope would be that by soaking them in warm water, chopping them up and adding them to my omelet on a Sunday morning in January, I might detect the sweet breath of spring that seduced them from the soil.

The way I see it, drying mush-rooms and freezing fruit are easy in-vestments in a time bank guaranteed to provide future dividends. Besides preserving the season in which you

harvested them, there’s something about filling your freezer and pantry with food you’ve foraged that feels especially rewarding and even a little bit crafty; like your resourceful self has gotten away with something by setting aside a store of free food. But remember, just because it’s free and the harvest seems abundant doesn’t mean you need be greedy. There are likely others, including wild ones, who would like to forage after you. Never take more than you need. It’s a good rule to live by anyway. R

“Martin Luther King once said,

‘The most revolutionary thing you can do

is grow your own food.’ I might add that

gathering it from the wild might be even

more radical, though it’s the oldest

activity in human history.”

www.foragingfamily.com

Feeding Your Inner Squirrel

by laurie lamountain

continues on page 26


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rhubarb berry yogurt muffinsMakes 12 muffins

1 c shredded rhubarb (about 2 stalks)1 1/2 c all-purpose flour3/4 c brown sugar1 1/2 tsp baking powder1/2 tsp baking soda1/2 tsp salt1/2 tsp ground cinnamonPinch of ground ginger1 c non-fat vanilla yogurt1/2 c (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled1 large egg1/2 tsp vanilla extract1/2 cup berries (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries or a mix)

topping1/3 c brown sugarPinch of ground cinnamonPreheat oven to 400˚ F. Line 12-cup

muffin tin with liners or grease tin and lightly dust with flour.

Chop two rhubarb stalks, place in food processor and pulse until shredded. Alternatively, use a hand grater to shred rhubarb. Set shredded rhubarb aside.

In a large mixing bowl combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and ground ginger. Stir just until ingredients are combined.

Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add yogurt, melted butter, egg, vanilla extract and stir with flour mixture just until combined, don’t over mix.

Fold shredded rhubarb and berries in batter just until combined. Spoon batter into prepared muffin pan about ¾ full. Sprinkle top with additional brown sugar and cinnamon.

Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 min-utes until tester inserted into the center of muffins comes out clean and tops are golden brown. Place on wire rack to cool.Recipe by Mother Thyme at www.MotherThyme.com

rhubarb chutneyThis is an extremely versatile chutney that can be adapted according to your taste. I’ve substituted scallions for the red onion, used brown sugar instead of granulated, red wine vinegar in place of cider vinegar, and ground cardamom instead of cumin. And though I’ve never tried it, Epicurious suggests us-ing dried tart cherries instead of raisins.

3/4 c sugar1/3 c cider vinegar1 tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and minced1 tbsp ground garlic1 tbsp cumin1/2 tsp ground cinnamon1/2 tsp ground cloves1/4 tsp dried crushed red pepper4 c chopped, fresh rhubarb (about 1 1/2 pounds)1/2 c (generous) chopped red onion1/3 c golden raisins (about 2 ounces)

Combine first 8 ingredients in a large, stain-less steel or enameled cast iron saucepan. Bring to simmer over low heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Add rhubarb, onion and raisins; increase heat to medium-high and cook until rhubarb is tender and mix-ture thickens slightly, about 5 minutes. Either transfer to hot, sterilized jars and process for 10 minutes or refrigerate for up to three weeks. Bring to room temperature before using.Adapted from Epicurious.com

creamy baked potatoes, chanterelles and kale

2 lbs. new or russet potatoessalt1 bunch of kale1 lb. chanterelles/black trumpets2 tbsp butter2 cloves of garlic, chopped fine1 1/2 c heavy cream

Peel potatoes and slice them into 1/4-inch thick rounds. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add 1 tbsp salt, and potatoes. Return water to a boil and cook the pota-toes for 2-3 minutes, scoop them out and set them aside. Cut kale leaves away from the stems, chop the leaves into large pieces and rinse well. Plunge them into the same water the potatoes cooked in, push down to submerge them and cook briefly, about 2 minutes. Pour into colander to drain.

Clean the mushrooms, if they need it. Slice them into pieces about 1/4 inch thick. Heat the butter in a wide pan; then add mushrooms, garlic and a bit of salt, and cook over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375˚ F. Lightly butter a gratin dish. Layer half the potatoes and season with salt and pepper. Add mush-rooms and then kale and cover them with the remaining potato slices, season with salt and pepper.

Pour cream over the top and bake for 40 minutes, or until potatoes have ab-sorbed most of the cream and are covered with a golden crust.Adapted from Deborah Madison’s The Savory Way and The Greens Cookbook

cranberry sauce with star anise & port

1/2 c ruby port3/4 c granulated sugar2 whole star anisePinch salt12 oz. fresh or frozen cranberries1 tsp finely grated orange zest

In a medium saucepan, combine the port, sugar, star anise, salt and 1/2 cup water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. As soon as the mixture reaches a boil, remove it from the heat, cover, and let stand for 20 minutes to infuse the star anise into the liquid. Meanwhile, pick through the cranberries for stems, rinse them well in a colander, and let drain.

Return the liquid to a boil over medium-high heat and add the cranberries. When the mixture again returns to a boil, lower the heat to a simmer and cook, occasion-ally stirring gently, until most of the ber-ries have popped open and the sauce has thickened slightly, 8 to 10 minutes. Discard the star anise. Stir in the orange zest and let the sauce cool to room temperature. If not using the same day, refrigerate for up to a week (return the sauce to room temperature before serving).

Recipe from www.finecooking.com


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lake living vol. 18, no. 3

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