“My family lives to be 103, I’ve had three great aunts over 100. I’ve got good genes and I’ve been fooling Mother Nature and Father Time all along.”
Carlton Plummer already has seven paintings featured on Pine Tree Society holiday cards. This year, at 88 years old, he’s added an eighth. His painting “Homeward Bound” has been selected as the design for this year’s card.
Plummer was born in Brunswick and spent his childhood on his grandparents’ farm just outside of Augusta before attending art school in Boston, where he met his wife Joan.
At 20 years old, his first illustration appeared in the Boston Sunday Globe. He then served as a combat artist during the Vietnam War before going on to become a full time painter and professor of art.
“When I went to Vietnam I had never even flown before. I’d never been off the ground. I was the first artist to go to Thailand in 1969 and was carried by Land Rover through the jungle as they built the roads.”
He then went on to teach for 55 years, 20 of those as a full professor of art at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell.
“I love to teach and have taught more than 10,000 students.”
His watercolor scene for the 2017 Pine Tree Society holiday card features a man making his way home after harvesting the perfect Christmas tree. He moves through the rugged landscape of the snow-covered forest on his way to the quaint town in the clearing where his family eagerly awaits his arrival.
When asked what inspired him to paint this scene, he said, “That’s me.”
This painting harkens back to a childhood memory on his grandparents’ farm.
“That’s me. When I was 8 years old, I took a hatchet and went into the pasture to take down a fir tree. No one knew what I was doing, but I did a good job with it and they let me do it every year after that.”
Plummer has received over 200 awards for his paintings, including from the prestigious American Watercolor Society and Allied American Artists. His holiday card artwork for Pine Tree Society has helped raise more that $3 million dollars to support Maine people with disabilities.
“The first year I was selected, I had submitted my painting because I thought it was a good idea. I’m an illustrator and this was something I could do to help Pine Tree Society. After my first design was chosen, I got hooked. And I’m glad I did.”
Every June, Pine Tree Society’s office is flooded with paintings depicting Maine’s beautiful landscape. This annual holiday tradition draws work from artists from around the state competing for a chance to be featured in Pine Tree Society’s expansive collection of Maine art representing all aspects of Maine in the winter, from country scenes to woods and fields to the rockbound Maine coast.
To view and order Pine Tree Society’s holiday cards, click here: