Island sketchbook Acadian islands as seen by decades of artists captured in new volume

Little Cranberry Island (also known as Islesford), off the coast of Mount Desert Island, has always been a favorite for artists, with its fishermen, its docks, its scenes of schooners and fish boats, its rocky shore, its churning surf, and its meandering roads and picturesque houses, some of them more than a century old.

In earlier days, three island painters hung out a sign that said, appropriately enough, “Three Island Painters” – TIP for short. They always carried their sketchbooks for a first record of the shapes and colors and moods that attracted them. Some of the sketches were a basis for later, more formal paintings done in studios.

Some sketches were kept and valued as first impressions. One of the three painters, Scott White, produced a trove of sketches in pencil and watercolor. They caught the attention of an eminent summer resident, William Otis Sawtelle, who suggested printing a selection of the drawings. White was intrigued and even thought of enlisting the postmistress, Aunt Nettie Stanley, in helping to put together a collection. But he asked, “Who under the sun would stand the expense of publishing such a local proposition?” He was right. Nothing came of it.

That was back in 1917. Now, 86 years later, another summer resident, Katrina Winfield-Howard (known by her nickname Trinx), has put together “Island Sketchbook: Artists Impres-

sions of Acadian Islands” ($40). The 78-page book contains mostly Little Cranberry scenes by not only Scott White but more recent and even current artists, including her husband, Mark Howard. The first sketch in the book is Howard’s watercolor of the Islesford Museum, founded by the Sawtelle family and now owned and operated by the National Park Service as part of Acadia National Park.

In older days, artists like the TIP trio, were mainly summer residents. Today, as can be seen in this book, year-round residents also sketch. Phyllis Colson, a retired practical nurse, has a stirring painting from the 1950s of the surf, apparently along the north shore. Jack Merrill III, a lobsterman, has a watercolor of one of the docks. Two other fishermen, Rick Alley and Cory Alley, have sketches of ducks in flight. Dan Fernald, a fisherman who also operates an art gallery on the island with his wife, Kate, has a snowy shore scene that shows what winter looks like on the island.

Trinx Winfield-Howard got the idea of doing the book two years ago, when she heard about the brief consideration of a Scott White sketchbook. She saw it as a collection of quick studies rather than more finished work. She says the purpose was to use the sketches to provide a series of impressions of various aspects of the island.

“It’s not about the artists,” she says, adding that she first though of omitting the names and just letting the sketches speak for themselves. “It’s not about trying to include every artist on the island.”

She had the sketches photographed in two sessions in Florida, and ordered 500 copies printed. They arrived in a dead heat, minutes before the start of the annual meeting of the Islesford Historical Society, which had helped support the project. Copies are available from the society and from the Fernalds’ art gallery. Nearly half have been sold – enough to come close to the break-even point.

What next for Trinx? Nothing for the moment, after two years of hard work on this one. But her thoughts are stirring toward the possibility of another book, a melding of island poetry and island sketches. Islesford is loaded with poets as well as artists, as can be seen at the annual turnout for the island’s Literary Evening each August.

“Island Sketchbook” costs $40 and can be purchased by writing Denise McCormick, Islesford Historical Society, Islesford, ME 04646. Richard Dudman is a retired reporter and correspondent for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He lives in Ellsworth in the winter and on Islesford in the summer. He can be reached at rdudman@post.acadia.net.