Embark on a unique journey with Jeanne Wells, exploring and photographing the charm of Sainte-Flavie, Canada, and the beauty of Aroostook County, Maine. Capture the essence of each locale, culminating in the creation of a hardcover presentation-style book using polymer photogravure plates.
On this destination travel workshop, join photogravure artist, Jeanne Wells, owner of “Things of This World“ Press for a two-location-for-one-price adventure: Sainte-Flavie on the Gaspé Peninsula in Eastern Canada along the St. Lawrence River and Aroostook County, Maine (Caribou, Presque Isle, Easton).
A late June afternoon in Aroostook County, Maine.
Sainte-Flavie has salty sea breezes, fresh seafood, and dramatic tides. In preparation for printing a polymer photogravure book, we will visit the Marcel Gagnon Art Center, The Reford Botanical Garden, and local sights and restaurants as inspiration and nourishment for a week of photographing in preparation for a polymer photogravure printed book.
We will travel through the Acadian countryside from Canada back to Easton, Maine to Jeanne’s well-equipped printmaking studio to process the images of the Canadian trip. We will get the best of both worlds: Northern Maine and the Gaspé Peninsula along the St. Lawrence River.
The goal for the week is to see the best of these two remote and beautiful locations, take lots of photographs, and create a book from polymer photogravure plates. Each student will receive as part of the workshop enough plates to make 8 images that will be bound into a hardcover presentation-style book. The images will be printed on the American French Tool Press in the “Things of This World Press”.
Students will create a hardcover presentation-style book of their trip using polymer photogravure plates.
Getting There & Accommodations
You are free to drive on your own to Sainte-Flavie. Or there will be a van leaving from Maine Media’s campus in Rockport, Maine. Or as a third recommended option, you can fly into the Rockland, Bangor, or Presque Isle airports and join the van shuttle. See below for pick-up times.
Book a room of your liking and budget at The Gaspésiana for June 2 to June 5 departure and then one at The Caribou Inn, Caribou, Maine for the June 5-8 departure. See the accommodation options below. If calling to book, be sure to mention “Jeanne Wells/Maine Media”.
The Gaspésiana Hotel to stay Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday nights. Everyone should make their own reservation. Budget room options range from approximately $90 Canadian with or without breakfasts. Visit The Gaspésiana Hotel website for more information and reservations.
Wednesday we will drive back to Easton and Caribou, Maine, and stay at the Caribou Inn Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday nights. Everyone should make their own reservation. Budget room options are available from $175 US per night with or without breakfast.Visit The Caribou Inn website for more information and reservations.
You will be shuttled back to airports along the way or the Maine Media Campus on Saturday.
Farming in Aroostook County, Maine.
Itinerary
Sunday
Arrive – at Le Gaspésiana in the late afternoon.
Dinner on your own/local list and hours will be provided like Le Ketch, Restaurant Au goût du Large, Resto-Bar Le Frédérike, Le Gaspésiana.
Monday
One full day at the art center.
The Marcel Gagnon Art Center is a 17-minute walk from the hotel.
You are free to wake up early and walk to capture the sunrise.
Breakfast is available to purchase at Le Gaspésiana from 7:00 AM onward and is available at the Art Center from 7:30 AM.
Spend the day at the art center photographing or drawing/painting the changing light and tides.
Recommendation: Lunch and Dinner at Le Restaurant at the Art Center.
Return to hotel.
Tuesday
One full day at the Botanical Garden.
The Reford Botanical Gardens is an 11-minute drive from the hotel. The gardens open at 9:00 am.
Plan to depart at 8:45 as it is not easily walkable. These are the northernmost gardens in eastern North America. Known as Les Jardins de Métis or The Reford Gardens, they were opened to the public in 1962. They reflect the native plants and harsh conditions of the Gaspé Peninsula plus some rare species.
Recommendation: Resto-Bar Le Frédérike.
Wednesday
Last morning visits to sights and drive to Caribou, Maine.
(Dinner Caribou Inn) 3.5 hours.
Drive to Easton Maine and tour “Things of This World Press”.
Breakfast each morning at the Caribou Inn is included with your room
Thursday
Breakfast at the Caribou Inn.
Lunch catered at the studio or out for those in the van that day.
Half the group will make plates and print in Jeanne’s studio on a 36×52 American French Tool Press while the other half will go sightseeing and photograph the unique landscape of Aroostook County, known for its vast potato fields and open skies. The light quality is particularly special here. ( Dinner Ferris BBQ)
Friday
Both groups switch.
Dinner at Frederick’s/Caribou or Boondocks Grille in Fort Fairfield, Maine.
Saturday
Morning: We will take our dried prints and create a bound book – with show and tell.
Noon: Drive back. And bask in the memories of a wonderful and rare adventure.
We will stop at the airports in reverse order of pick up. Presque Isle, Bangor, Rockland, Maine Media Campus.
A lonely dirt road in Aroostook County, Maine.
Getting to Sainte-Flavie
Option 1
A van will leave from Rockport, ME at 9:00 am on Sunday, June 2, 2024.
For the roughly 7-hour drive. Make a reservation with Richard Reitz Smith ([email protected]). Companions may travel for a small fee if space is available. View the driving map here.
Option 2
We will be stopping in Easton, ME so you can meet us there.
Option 3
Drive yourself and bring a companion for a small fee. We will meet at the Hotel in Sainte-Flavie.
Option 4 – Flying options
There are also convenient airports along the route path in Rockland, Maine, Bangor, Maine, and Presque Isle, Maine where the shuttle van can pick you up. Make a reservation for pick up with Richard Reitz Smith ([email protected]) to coordinate times before booking your flight. Flight arrival times will need to be well in advance of the van pick-up times.
Included in the workshop fee:
Michel Gagnon Art Centre entrance fee
Reford Botanical Garden entrance fee
Shuttle van
Jeanne Wells’ instruction with TA assistance
Printing supplies for one set of plates
Bookmaking supplies
Food and accommodations are separate.
Companions
For a small fee, companions can accompany you if the room is available. This fee excludes Jeanne Wells’ instruction, printing, and book supplies.
You are free to make your own accommodation arrangements, however the shuttle is for the locations listed.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR TRAVEL WORKSHOPS
1. Reservations & Payments
A deposit as indicated on the registration page is required to confirm your reservation for the workshop. Final payment in full is due 45 days prior to the start date of your workshop unless stated differently in the course description. Maine Media Workshops + College (“Maine Media”) reserves the right to cancel a reservation if full payment has not been received by the due date.
All prices are quoted in U.S. dollars; all payments must be made in U.S. dollars.
4. Insurance
It is strongly advised that you purchase Trip Cancellation, Baggage, Emergency Medical Evacuation, and/or Accident and Sickness Insurance Protection. Camera equipment, computers, and baggage are carried entirely at the owner’s risk. Maine Media shall have no responsibility for any lost, damaged, or delayed property, or for an individual student’s medical needs, accidents, injuries, or illnesses. See our travel insurance recommendations here.
5. Itinerary Changes
The itinerary for your workshop is subject to change without prior notification.
6. Passports and Visas
A valid passport is required for all international travel. You are required to notify Maine Media as to the nationality under which your passport is registered. Participants are responsible for obtaining their passports and visas. To participate in the workshop, you must have a passport that is valid until at least six months after the date on which your trip is scheduled to be completed.
7. Medical Issues
All participants must be in good health. You must advise Maine Media of any health condition, physical condition, or emotional or mental condition that may require special attention or that may adversely impact the other participants in your workshop. All students are required to complete a “Waiver of Liability” form and submit it at the time of registration. This document may be found on the course description page.
8. Liability Waiver
Every participant is required to sign Maine Media’s Waiver of Liability before departure for their workshop. Click here to download.
9. Responsibility & Photography
To ensure a safe experience, you are required to obey local customs and be considerate when photographing people or sensitive locations. The faculty member for your workshop has the right to expel any person from the workshop for behavior that is in violation of the law; that is disruptive, or that compromises the group’s safety or enjoyment. No refunds will be made to any person expelled from a workshop. Maine Media shall have no obligation to pay any costs incurred by a person as a result of that person being expelled from a workshop.
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Instructor: Jeanne Wells
Jeanne Wells is familiar with and uses many alternative photographic processes, but for the past 12 years has worked mainly with an intaglio press. She first learned the polymer photogravure process from artist Josephine Sacabo and her assistant, Meg Turner at Josephine's studio in New Orleans. She has also studied with Clay Harmon at North Light Photographic Workshops, master printer Paul Taylor at Renaissance Press, and direct-to-plate pioneer Silvi Glattauer of Baldessin Press in Melbourne, Australia.
Through daily practice and combining the best of her mentors’ methods, Jeanne has found a unique way of working and teaching which relies upon the craftsman’s way of working with the hands and the artist’s way of seeing and thinking, and less upon the technological exactitude of digital workflow. The result is a way of working that is intuitive, tactile, and nuanced in a way that is nearly impossible to accomplish unless working by hand.
