I’ve painted this light before…both the lighthouse itself, and the light cast upon it. The New England coast is dotted with lighthouse, many working, others dormant. But whether they currently cast their beam out to sea, or simply reflect the light that hits them, they are stately icons of our eastern coasts. This one sits atop a bluff in East Chop, on Martha’s Vineyard. Last time I saw it, a couple years ago, it looked more rundown than it had when I lived on Island. Nonetheless, it still stands as sturdy is it always has, and is still a landmark to sailors visiting the Vineyard’s shores. “Harbor Light” 40 x 30.
I’m frequently asked how I choose my palette, subject matter and titling. Love the question, but struggle with the answer. It’s like being a writer, trying to answer how you choose the words you use, the settings you imagine, and the characters you develop. In that sense, my work is pure fiction. Based in reality, but reimagined along the way, to become something recognizable, but not real…and hopefully more interesting.
In this piece, the palette came along as it always does…by on-the-fly choices made with zero color theory in mind (I don’t like the concept of color theories). The scene was based on a real place, but modified to be what I wanted it to be. And the title comes from a marine park on Cape Cod I worked at as a dolphin trainer many years ago…whose name seemed to fit with the finished piece. All real, but all fiction. “Sealand” 16 x 20
When scouting inspiration in rural areas of New Hampshire and Vermont, I look for interesting scenes where architecture and landscape seem to coexist naturally. The barns, sheds and outbuildings built decades ago, now often abandoned, sit naturally where they have for years. They seem to be an almost organic part of the landscape, but have a definite presence that reinforces the sense that they are just temporary visitors. “Presence” 54 x 48
Martha’s vineyard is divided by two unofficial designations…up Island and down Island. Chilmark, Aquinnah being two of several Up Island towns, Tisbury, Edgartown and Oak Bluffs being Down Island. Whether up or down, the entire island is rich with old farms, many maintained to preserve how they looked hundred or so years ago. This piece is based on one such farm, one that I used to pass every day on my drive from up Island to down. “Down Island” 40 x 30
Loved the afternoon light on the distant treeline of this scene. While I came across this location in the winter…the slope was buried under a heavy blanket of snow…the ridge glowed red with afternoon sun. “Red Ridge” 36 x 36
This time of year, on the Cape (and anywhere along the Atlantic coast), seasonal cottages and more stately seaside homes come alive with summer activity. There are fewer of the smaller, more humble retreats, but those that remain convey a sense of the past…of summers many decades ago. This place is one such place…simple and solid, locked into a dune, cooled by sea breezes and perfectly ok with sandy feet. “Beach House” 48 x 36
There’s an old expanse of land along Cape Cod Bay, in Brewster, that was once part of an old Cape farm, but is now a public park. A reproduction windmill is a central focal point of the property, and serves as a backdrop to the farmers markets that are often held here. But further back, hugging the woods that separate the park from the marsh that connect land to the bay, is a small barn structure. It might technically be a shed, as it’s fairly small, but in the sparse landscape of this large, open meadow, it suggests the former purpose of this place, back when the Cape was home to farmers and fisherman. “Farmland” 36 x 36
The remnants of Hurricane Elsa and her storm winds whipped the Cape this weekend, but spared us of any considerable damage. Homes on the beach, or up on bluffs, were spared, though the wind would have continued to shift the dunes, which constantly move, storm or not. The stretches of fencing that crisscross dunes and beaches help redirect a shifting dune, but can never stop it from moving. This little place, that sits right on Nantucket Sound, was on the front line of the coastal winds, armed only with a small stretch of weathered fence. “Storm Fence” 16 x 16
This July 4th weekend has been a cool and rainy one down here on the Cape. But despite the weather, quite a few committed visitors and renters put down towels and umbrellas out on our towns’ beaches, undeterred. Similarly, the homes that line the shores of the bay and sound sides are all occupied and alive with summer activities. This old summer cottage, that hugs a bluff that gets a few inches closer each year, has seen decades of July 4th weekends, and does so without regard for the weather. “July” 24 x 24.
Once you get off the main roads and highways that connect the towns of Cape Cod, the bustle of activity (especially during the summer), dissipates, the quiet tranquility of the peninsula reveals itself. You just need to get lost to find it. “Cape Road” 40 x 30.
