“All this he saw, for one moment breathless and intense, vivid on the morning sky; and still, as he looked, he lived; and still, as he lived, he wondered.” —Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows
Long Cove, Oil on Panel. Painting by Daniel Ambrose
Last Friday I delivered several paintings to friends who own True North Gallery in Kennebunkport, Maine. Fortunately they winter in Flagler Beach just up the coast from me making it a twenty minute trip instead of a two day journey.
Long Cove is one of the paintings on its way back to Maine. I say back because this painting began its life from the view point overlooking the purple loosestrife flowers.
When I look at this image of the painting, I’m transported back to the morning Mary and I first saw the scene. Always drawn to the water and the vanishing ways of making a living from it, I sought vantage points to capture this unique lifestyle.
I made a rough charcoal sketch of it to work out composition ideas and discern features that excited me. It didn’t take long and I knew I had a great painting idea. Tossing the pad in the car trunk I grabbed a new gessoed panel and eagerly went to work with oil paint.
A quiet stillness pervaded the air while I painted. Bees hovered among the flowers, sailboats moved along the distant horizon and suddenly a red fox dashed across the road disappearing in the grasses under my easel.
Quite cool!