Give the gift of art or photos of Acadia for the holidays

For centuries, the scenery of Mount Desert Island has captured the imagination of artists and photographers alike, from Frederic E. Church of the Hudson River School of painters, to QT Luong, the first person to take large-format photographs of all 59 national parks.

Guess “Where in Acadia?” See the bottom of this blog post for the photo that’s the basis of this ReallyColor, LLC, page.

Maybe you’ve got fans of art or photos of Acadia – or perhaps even budding fine artists – on your holiday shopping list. Here are some gift ideas to celebrate the long tradition of art and photography in Acadia, and perhaps to inspire a new generation.

There’s even a gift in this round-up of holiday ideas to turn your own photos of Acadia into coloring pages or coloring books, to tap into the latest coloring-as-meditation craze, enjoyed by children and adults alike, using the technology of our new affiliated partner, ReallyColor, LLC. (NOTE: Please see sidebar about affiliated partner links in this blog)

Books on art or photos of Acadia, and photographic technique

“Art of Acadia” surveys art of the region, from the 17th century all the way through 2015. (Photo courtesy of Carl Little)

Art of Acadia – Going beyond the traditional treatment of art history of the region both temporally and geographically, this 280-page book goes back in time to the 17^th century and all the way up through 2015, adding the art of Cranberry Isles, the Porcupines and Schoodic to the usual compendium of MDI works. Published in the year of the Acadia Centennial by Down East Books, this beautifully illustrated book is by brothers David Little and Carl Little. As Acadia Centennial Partners, the Littles have given a number of talks about their book throughout the Centennial year. (NOTE: Please see sidebar about Amazon.com links in this blog)

More books, photos of Acadia, workshops, or art gifts to benefit park

Treasured Lands: A Photographic Odyssey Through America’s National Parks – Noted photographer QT Luong, featured in Ken Burns’s and Dayton Duncan’s PBS series on national parks, has already sold out the copies of his new book on Amazon.com, with the 2nd printing expected in January 2017. But you can buy autographed copies directly from the author, and elsewhere. This substantial book includes a chapter on Acadia National Park, featuring not only some of his spectacular photos of the park, but also some tips on visiting, and notes about how and where he took the photos included in the book.
Acadia National Park: A Centennial Celebration – Published in partnership with the Friends of Acadia, this book of photos by Tom Blagden Jr. and essays by a variety of contributors helps support the work of the non-profit. In addition to being available through our affiliated partner, Amazon.com, the book can be purchased at the Friends of Acadia’s office in Bar Harbor and elsewhere.
The Photographer’s Guide to Acadia National Park: Where to Find Perfect Shots and How to Take Them, by Jerry Monkman
Photographing Acadia National Park: The Essential Guide to When, Where and How, by Colleen Miniuk-Sperry

First light illuminates Otter Cliffs at the dawn of Acadia’s Centennial year, as taken by Vincent Lawrence of Acadia Images, which offers photo workshops from April through November. (Photo courtesy of Acadia Images)

Terragalleria – QT Luong offers 227 of his Acadia large-format and panoramic photos for sale, along with those of other national parks, on this Web site. The photos of Acadia included in his new book can also be purchased here. He offers a 25% holiday discount for photos purchased before the end of the year. Unframed prints ordered before Dec. 20^th will arrive for Christmas in the United States.
Acadia Centennial Partner art and photo gifts – At least 5% of gross proceeds are being donated by partners offering such art- and photo-inspired gifts as calendars, note cards, postcards and other items to help benefit the park.
Photo workshops in Acadia – A number of local professional photographers offer workshops in the region, which could be a great gift for the photographer on your holiday shopping list. Some of them may also offer their own photographs for sale. Here’s a list that isn’t exhaustive by any means:
Four consecutive shots were “stitched together” to allow the Milky Way and Bass Harbor Head Light to appear in one image. All rights reserved, J.K. Putnam Photography

Acadia Images Photography Workshops – The father-and-son team of Tom and Vincent Lawrence offers workshops in Acadia from April through November, often collaborating with other professional photographers for night-sky or other specialty-image workshops. (TripAdvisor Review – TripAdvisor is another affiliated partner of this blog, see sidebar about links)
JK Putnam Photography – John K. Putnam offers workshops and tours and has a shop in Southwest Harbor that sells T-shirts, hoodies, postcards and notecards. He also has 272 images of Acadia available for purchase online.
Imagine this hanging in your bath as a shower curtain, or featured on a throw pillow or duvet cover. (Image courtesy of Brent L. Ander)
Acadia Photo Safari – Gift certificates of between $80 and $110 for a 3- to 3-1/2 hour photo safari are available online. Photographer Howie Motenko is also known for his “Painting Bridges” project, where he invited members of the community to “light paint” carriage road bridges for his long-exposure night photographs. (TripAdvisor Review)
Brent L. Ander Photography – Offers workshops during the Acadia Night Sky Festival, although the 2017 schedule hasn’t yet been determined. Ander offers for purchase his Acadia photos as prints or on products like duvet covers or shower curtains.

Turning your photos of Acadia into coloring pages, coloring books

We never quite outgrew the joy of coloring, and have been pleased to find that coloring-as-meditation has become quite the craze, for children and adults.

Our coloring-page rendition of the photo that we took of the Acadia Centennial Trek Medal, from atop Cadillac.

And while we don’t have enough artistic talent to draw or paint in Acadia, we can at least turn our point-and-shoot photos of the scenery into coloring pages or books, as we’ve discovered with ReallyColor, LLC, a new affiliated partner of this blog. (NOTE: Please see sidebar about affiliated partner links in this blog)

Below is an uncolored version of one of the pages, for your own artistic interpretation. Sign up with ReallyColor, LLC, if you want to create your own coloring pages or coloring books, and join in on the Zen of coloring Acadia.

Perhaps we’ll run a contest with a prize, for the interpretation of our coloring page that we like the best, or the best interpretation of a coloring page based on your own photo. Or maybe we’ll do a coloring book based on some of our 100 Days of Acadia photos as a Friends of Acadia fundraiser. Stay tuned for any contests and fundraisers we may announce!

Guess “Where in Acadia?” this coloring page is depicting.

How would you color this page? Upload the results to our Facebook page, and we may feature it in a contest.

Here’s the photo that served as the basis for the ReallyColor, LLC page featured at the top of this blog post. Only at low tide can you walk across the sand bar to Bar Island. It’s safe up to 1-1/2 to 2 hours on either side of the tide; otherwise you risk getting stranded.