Warming up to Winter

Winter usually sets in here in Maine around mid-December. It usually takes me time to shift from the brilliance of Fall to the grays of November to the contrasts of winter before I get my artist's eyes back. Then I start to see all the colors in the white of the snow and all of the other possibilities that the low, bright light of winter reveals. Herewith some recent examples.

Snow FencesOil on Canvas 16" X20"
This was a "pretty" snowstorm that came as a surprise one day. After it was over. I saw that the snow was sticking to branches, high wires, etc., the signal that there would be some interesting images to be had. I went to Willard Beach and found that my old favorites, the snowfences, were performing for me with their sinuous lines accented by the snow. This is the result. But there was more that day:

Snow Trees
Oil on Canvas 14"X 18"
This pair of Mountain Ash trees sits just behind the bath house on Willard Beach. This time of year they are laden with bright orange berries that clump together to make perfect receptacles for new fallen snow. I thought they were worth capturing, again with all of the interesting colors in the snow's reflected light. A couple of the berries sneaked through too. Next day, of course, the snow was gone.

Winter on the Beach
Oil on Canvas 11" X 14"
A day or two later, I was taking my usual morning walk on the beach. The tide was ebbing leaving interesting patterns in the wet sand. This view is looking north with the Spring Point Lighthouse just in view.
I did each of these three pictures with just one color and its complement, and all of the neutrals in between using white and black for light/dark. This was inspired by a book I read by Stephen Quiller called "Color Choices" which presents some interesting ideas on how to create paintings with color harmony. I recommend it for my artist readers.

Come, Take a Walk With Me-Part II

Rock Climbers
Oil on Canvas 20" X 16"

It was March 21 when I did Part I of this series. It was still winter then, so things have changed to say the least.
That blog ended at the northerly end of the beach we have a couple of blocks from here called Willard Beach. So now I start at that end of the beach on a trail that runs above it. The structure you see is a remnant of Fort Preble which was built during the Civil War to protect Portland harbor from the British, who you'll recall, sided with the Confederates. The openings for cannons are still there as are portions of gun mounts which were added later during WW II. This end of the old wall has long since crumbled, the result of the many storms that rage through here now and then. What's left is a jumble of rocks which blend with this rocky portion of the beach and provide a temptation for the intrepid and/or foolish who think they can climb their way into the old fort without going up on the trail and around as I am doing here. I must confess that I climb the rocks occasionally, too, but they can only be accessed at low tide and then you have to wait a couple of hours for them to dry off. Otherwise, they are impossibly slippery.
But even following on the trail you have to climb up a set of stairs over a long abandoned bunker where this view awaits you:

Spring Point Light from Ft. Preble Overlook
Oil on Canvas 20" X 16"

This is the first of two lighthouses that guide the mariner into Portland Harbor. It is a big metal "drum" and is the only one of the two that still functions (though ceremoniously, I suspect). It originally stood in the water, but later a long jetty was built for fishermen and visitors to the light. It is a l-o-o-ong way out and I tried to show that with the figures. I go out there often as there are nice breezes in the summer and it brings you very close to the big tankers and cruise ships that come into the harbor. In the foreground is a continuation of the old fort as seen in the first picture. I like the way it seems to zig-zag to the lighthouse. In the distance on the left is another old civil war fort called Fort Gorges, pronounced "gorgeous" for some reason. I also show some islands in Casco Bay including Little Diamond to the right rear. It helped to put in some foreground grass, I think, again for scale.
Moving on, I walk through a massive marina, an area with condos and then a tanker docking area which is used by 1000' tankers to unload oil to a pipeline that serves much of northern New England and parts of southern Canada. The marina has interested me when it is empty (see my painting "Sticking It Out"--Feb. 21, 2009)which it isn't now with literally 100s of sailboats and pleasure crafts at dockage there. I haven't gotten much inspiration out of the tanker area yet as they aren't very pretty! Some time I'll look at it all as an artist and see what I can do with these as subjects.
Now we come upon the second lighthouse which guides the final turn into the harbor.

Bug Light
Oil on Canvas 20" X 16"

It is called Bug Light, again, I don't know why, and is the focal pont of a nice park area that was developed by the town of South Portland and some wealthy benefactors out of a former industrial area. This is a great kite flying area, again with the breezes,and the light marks the beginning of the Eastern Trail which will eventually reach to Key West. This time of year I bike all of this and more and in the winter I walk about four miles of the beach and these areas every day that I can. Bug Light can be fearsome in the winter when it is zero or below with howling winds that drive you insane.
I should also tell you that most of the area I cover here was a huge ship building complex in WWII which produced something like 300 so-called Liberty Ships of which I believe there remains but one survivor. The ship business died out after the war, of course and it took a long time for this land to become "civilized." And now I feel fortunate to live in an area that provides so much interest to both the man and the artist.

Hopper Was Here

I have always been moved by the paintings of Edward Hopper, the great American artist of the first half of the 20th century. People have told me that my work is sometimes "Hopperesque," a reference I think to my own attraction to alone, solitary things. Hopper's work could be summarily characterized this way. But beware. His work goes deeper than merely memorializing a single subject. There are strong pyschological elements to his work that inspire a certain brooding emptiness that can have great effect on the viewer. I found a photo of the house that Hopper and his wife lived in on Cape Cod and make a painting of it:



Hopper's House, Truro, Cape Cod
Oil on Masonite 14 X 11

It wasn't hard to capture that lonely feeling. It was all there intrinsic in the scene. I used a somewhat muted palette for emphasis, but the bleakness of the place argues that Hopper was attracted to isolation, too, though in person he was recalled as a likeable, gregarious guy.
There was an exhibit at the Boston Museum of Fine Art early last summer (shared with the National Gallery and Art Institute of Chicago). I didn't get to go, but some friends did and they, knowing my affection for Hopper, gave me a book published by the Boston Museum called simply "Edward Hopper." It is a wonderful compendium of his work and life. I found the photo of his home (painting above)in this book.
Hopper's life as an artist can be focused pretty much on four areas: Gloucester, Mass., the city--primarily N.Y., Cape Cod and the coast of Maine. His Maine work included settings in Cape Elizabeth, the next town down the coast from where I live in South Portland. His paintings of the Two Lights area in Cape E. are especially haunting. It got personal at a show last summer, when a woman stopped by my booth and bought three of my pieces. She asked that they be framed in a certain way, so I had to deliver them a few days later. It turns out that her house is next to one of the lighthouses that Hopper had painted! She also invited me to paint there. I was at once delighted and fearful--like I was trespassing on sacred ground. But I took her up on it and painted this:



Hopper's Lighthouse
Oil on Canvas 20" X 16

This was painted on site. I had to go back several times to finish it. I was shown the location that Hopper used, but I didn't think I'd go that far! Besides, this area in the 20s when he did these pieces was practically bare and I'm guessing that that was what made this an attractive subject to him. Today, the hill is covered with foliage and there are large houses here which have a fabulous view of the bay and beyond. In fact, my patron let me paint this view from her deck:



Casco Bay From Two Lights
Oil on Canvas 20 X 16

The place where Hopper painted the lighthouse is in the middle left of this scene on this side of the big house. Again, this was painted plein air, but because of changing atmospheric conditions, light, etc. I locked in on a point in time and finished the piece in the studio.

So, that is a short recap on my experience with Hopper during that brief period. I got back to thinking about him now that the weather is moderating. Perhaps I'll go back to Two Lights with my gear to paint in a few weeks. Maybe I'll try a city scene. Such is the allure of this great artist. It lasts a lifetime. I hope it visits you.