"The water doesn't look like this in summer"

Sandy Oliver

Most artists show up to paint Maine islands in the summer, but plein air artist Keith Schneider of Liberty, Maine, has been working on Islesboro this cold and snowy winter to capture the sea and shore in winter light. House sitting on the island has given him ample opportunities to paint snow covered spruces and firs, brilliant winter sunsets and early morning sea smoke.

"The water doesn't look like this in summer," he said, pointing out deep blue tones in the distance, and the lighter blue in a cove closer by. "If you weren't here in winter you'd never know that the water can be black. Then there's ever changing ice chunks, they look like white rocks one day, but are all smooth and rounded the next...."

His winter's work will be shown at various galleries in Midcoast Maine including Blue Hill Gallery, Blue Hill, Phoenix Loft in Belfast, The Royall Gallery in Richmond, Boothbay Harbor Gallery and Frames and the Boothbay Opera House in Boothbay.