Watch Hill, RI - miniseries quartet

tags:  original pastel painting - new england landscape - beach - lighthouse - original art - oceanscape 

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I had to split this next miniseries, now switched to a 1:3 horizontal format, into two days.   It's a radical change in landscape subject:  coastal New England, specifically Watch Hill, RI.  Watch Hill is a quaint little coastal village that is also classified as a National Historical District.  It was one of my favorite places to go when we lived in Mystic, and why I ventured to paint it.  I wrote a post about it back in June, with photos taken during one of our trips there.

Napatree Beach Path

3x9 inches

pastel on reclaimed Colourfix

Available for purchase

Napatree Point is a small barrier beach that extends west from Watch Hill, separating Block Island Sound and the Atlantic from Little Narragansett Bay.  For some reason, I've always been drawn to beach paths, especially when the ocean lies out of view, like here.  

Shoreline Patrol

3x9 inches

Available for purchase

Gulls.  Noisy, messy and opportunists of any unattended food, they are nonetheless an omnipresent feature of beaches everywhere.   I find myself amused by them.   The original photo was nothing to write home about, but this crop eliminated extraneous detail and turned it into an abstract-like design.  I think this is only the second time I've ever attempted to paint an ocean shoreline (the first attempt went directly into the trash), which is probably pretty clear from this painting!

Beach Rose Fence

3x9 inches

Available for purchase

Beach rose (Rosa rugosa) is found throughout the shoreline areas of coastal New England.  Walking along the beach, I saw them covering the outside of this picket fence and thought it was so attractive and representative of the quaint nature of this charming village.  The challenge here was to avoid cloning of the roses (in terms of size, shape and position) and to think in right-brained terms of everything as groups of abstract shapes, overriding the left-brain's attempt to depict them as individual roses, leaves, and formed shadows.   It's about creating an impression for the viewer.

Watch Hill Lighthouse

3x9 inches

Available for purchase

I'll be honest here...I usually detest lighthouse paintings.  They conjure up images of kitsch and saccharine, Kincade-esque paintings found in touristy gift shops.  The fact that this is composed of a group of buildings vs. the usual cylindrical lighthouse is what brokered the deal to photograph and then paint it.   The lone gull was in the reference photo, and I decided to keep it.   At least I resisted the urge to add a rose trellis up the lighthouse, eh?

All of these were done on reclaimed Colourfix paper.  If I thought that painting on pristine Colourfix was  unpleasant, painting on this was tedious.  That I was even able to get any small shape to look like its intended form (the gull and lighthouse buildings), let alone at this small size, still surprises me.  

After this, it's back to my comfort zone in the southwestern landscape for a while.

Bay Reflections

After a few days of no painting, I finally sat down in my studio this evening and did something.  My last attempt at painting was nothing but an exercise in frustration, and I'm not sure why I couldn't make it work, but it just wasn't happening.  It's not so much that I care that the painting didn't turn out, but my analytical mind wants to know why.   have been missing my clouds and still haven't lost interest in the reflections.  I went through my reference library and re-examined some of my ocean photos, and pulled a selection to work from.

Here is the first - sparkling late afternoon sunlight reflecting off of Little Narragansett Bay in RI.   Much simplified from the reference photo.  Done in less than 30 min.

"Bay Reflections"

5.5"x 8.5" - 320# sanded paper

Watch Hill, RI - part II

Here is a second set of photos taken from Tuesday's trip to Watch Hill.

After walking past the small harbor, part of Little Narraganset Bay, with its collection of anchored boats, we walked out along the barrier beach of Napatree Pt., along one of the beach paths.  The marsh grass was a vibrant green and a recent rainstorm had texturized the sand along the path and broken up some of the footprints present.

Sandy path with lone tree

The shore of Stonington, CT is seen in the background, and the distal clouds catch the afternoon sun along their edges.  The storm cloud that dumped the rain on the area had retreated far east over the Atlantic.  Further along the beachway, another path traversed the dunes, leading to the "breaker" side of the spit.  Along the side, and present throughout the area, was this colorful, salt-tolerant rosebush, a native of Asia:

Beach Rose (Rosa rugosa)

The end of Napatree Pt. leads to the ruins of Ft. Mansfield, built in the early 1900's.  Unfortunately,  we weren't aware of them at the time, so we didn't walk out the the end of the point.  The waves aren't exactly surfing material [and the water was quite cold], but the rhythmic sound of the waves crashing on the sand is relaxing and nostalgic.  

Towards Napatree Pt.

Turning back towards Watch Hill, the lighthouse and its associated buildings were visible on the point.  Lighthouses have the potential for being incredibly trite and kitschy in artwork, but I was drawn to the simple, bold shapes of the buildings.  A telephoto lens would have been really swell for this shot:

Watch Hill Lighthouse

The Napatree Pt. beach is a public beach and the Watch Hill area is absolutely packed on summer weekends.  On Tuesday, however, only a few scattered people were to be found.  The lone lifeguard tower frames this family enjoying the beach to themselves:

Beach goers

After heading back over to the business district of Watch Hill,  we sat down for some dinner.  As we were walking back to the car, the wind had picked up and the sun was headed closer towards the horizon, casting its sparkling afternoon light on the harbor.  Scattered backlit cumulus clouds add some additional drama to the view.

Late afternoon on Narraganset Bay

A nice way to end the day.

A Trip to Watch Hill, RI

Yesterday was my birthday, which to me is really just another day and a reminder that I'm no longer in my "early 40's", but in the mid-point of my fifth decade of life.  Commiserating with girlfriends about the woes of the aging process after 40 hits is a bit comforting as a shared experience, while we continue to let slide those grips on our vanity in exchange for happy acceptance, the wisdom that only comes from life experience, and redirecting our priorities to things more important than a few wrinkles, sagging parts, and gray hair.

To that end, I wouldn't want to be back in my 20's for anything, dealing with the follies and insecurities of youth.   Besides,  I actually enjoy being in my 40's.

So, while yesterday wasn't a big deal to me, Wayne decided to come home from work early and suggested we go to Watch Hill, RI.  He had been looking at the cloud-filled skies that afternoon, and suspected (correctly so) that I might fancy a drive somewhere to take photos.  We had just been to Watch Hill on Saturday with my friends Sue and Peter, and Wayne suggested we go back there, and have something to eat at the same little restaurant we'd eaten at with our friends.

Watch Hill is a quaint little community out on a small peninsula in western Rhode Island, not far away from the town of Westerly.  It is also the westernmost point for the open Atlantic ocean, vs. the CT shoreline which is within Long Island Sound.   It also has a beachway/spit - Napatree Point - which has been turned into a nature preserve.

Lots of open space, attractive shorelines, 18-19th century architecture, and boats make this an appealing location for photos as well.  Even being limited to my Olympus p'n's camera, I still managed to take over 100 photos, most of which weren't complete throw-aways, and some of which turned out pretty well, all things considered.  I could sit and ponder the "what if's" of having my Nikon and maybe a tripod along instead, but that doesn't serve much purpose.

For the sake of theme and continuity, I'll split them into two separate posts.  The first set is based on - what else - clouds and reflections.  Add some colorful boats and other man-made structures and it was a wealth of material for me.   There will no doubt be a series of reflection paintings in the future, with some based on photos taken yesterday.

Geometric Reflections

Cumulus with shoreline homes

Yacht Club 

Harbor Tranquility

Along the Dock

Meeting Place

A Splash of Green

Thank you again, Wayne, for knowing how to show me a good time on my birthday - you're the best!