BTS: Lighthouses of New England

Edgartown Light - Edgartown, Massachusetts

I have a coworker who invites junior colleagues on an outing for informal team bonding every year. To say thanks for sharing his wisdom/industry knowledge and for organizing the outing, I make a Cape Cod-themed gift. He and his wife are huge fans of all things nautical and Cape Cod. There’s a certain charm in a classic New England summer!

The first year, I painted a the Edgartown Lighthouse on Martha’s Vineyard and the following year, I added to the collection by painting a larger piece (for me) of Great Point Light, located on the northernmost point of Nantucket.

Great Point Lighthouse - Nantucket, Massachusetts

The Great Point Light painting is measuring at 8 x 10 in compared to the former which was 5 x 7 in. I always love seeing how my style changes and grows with each passing year, especially since I stick to this theme every year. In some ways I like the Edgartown Lighthouse for it’s bright, idyllic, almost illustrative look, but I am happy that my grasp of color is developing and I am able to create more realistic, subtle shades more honest to real life. I learned there’s more red in real-life green. Perhaps art teachers should have taught us in our youth that real green is blue + yellow + a little dash of red for that earthen, muddy look. I love how in the new version we see the lighthouse for what it truly is, a building weathered in the course of its solemn duty, with cracks and staining all over.

When I first started painting watercolors during the pandemic, I used art for escapism and painted all the places I had already been and loved to feel as though I was traveling, despite being stuck at home. I painted the Cape Elizabeth Headlight (Portland, Maine) from a photo I had taken a few years ago.

Lighthouse Evolution: 2020 - 2023

Seeing all three lighthouses beside each other really highlights what happens when you dedicate time and effort to experimenting. In my early days, just 4 years ago, I relied heavily on unnatural dark lines to delineate the edges of shapes. You can see how shockingly fake the sky looks, it’s patchiness too from lack of understanding of how to get a flat wash and the soft blue of true sky. Can you believe that I just took colors straight out of the pan? You can see the evolution as well of the blending from letting paint dry in harsh lines to being able to blend a soft nostalgic feel into my work. Throughout my art journey I’ve found that I can now truly see the world around me-the unique colors in our everyday life and even beauty in cracks and stains.

I’m excited to plan out my next summer piece and see what I’ve learned since August 2023!