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The moment you turn into the driveway by the Evelyn Dunphy Studio sign, you are surrounded by color and warmth. From the perennial gardens that surround the old farmhouse, to the yellow heritage roses and peony beds that you pass as you walk across the field to the small red studio, and then to the vivid hues of the paintings on the studio walls.

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Patches in the vegetable garden are marked with grandchildren’s names over their favorite vegetable. And, of course, there is a tree house and a sand box, and a swing for small visitors. A small red studio surrounded by daylilies, lupins and iris, and flower-filled window boxes sits in the field. Evelyn’s studio was originally built as extra sleeping quarters when their five sons visited. In the first years “anyone who was married got a bed in the main house; the bachelors got the little house”.

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In time, she gradually took over the “little house” and it’s been her full time studio since 2000. But the grandchildren still consider it their “little house”, and when they come to visit, they are “artists in residence”.

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But Don’t Let This “Easy 'Livin” Atmosphere Fool You!

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...Evelyn works hard. Several winter paintings were done standing on the snow and ice of Katahdin Lake. “I snowshoed down the lake to an inlet and found that I was able to perch my camp stool on the top of a bush in the snow and be quite comfortable. In summer that bush was taller than me. My best memory of that day was an eagle soaring above me all the way down the lakeshore. She circled back and forth following me until I stopped and set up to paint. Then she flew away”.

 

She thinks nothing of backpacking her supplies into a wilderness camp to spend several days. Up before daylight in hopes of a great sunrise; hiking to surrounding ponds for different views of Katahdin, or paddling down the lake to a lovely little sand beach to spend the day painting – these are the times she loves.

 

You can contact Evelyn Dunphy about a visit or painting.