2020
Acrylic Paint on Linen
From first brush stroke to last: it’s all about the boat.
For many reasons, such as cheap materials and low quality of the commercial canvases out there, I find it necessary to construct my own. I built the frame out of 1×2 clear pine, 72 by 32 inches — shaved, nailed and glued so it would never warp. Onto that I stretched linen instead of the usual duck and primed it front and back with coats of gesso: one fine, tight, indestructible end result for a painting surface. I waited for the best sky, took it outside, stood the canvas chest high on my studio easel and painted the atmosphere over an, as yet, imaginary calm Sandy Hook Bay.
Here is where all the intangibles come into play that makes the painting what it is in style, color and light. The boat is going full speed. But still it’s coming towards you on this obtuse angle. Its 6PM on a summers day and the western sun is starting to catch the scene with evening light. The lines are correct, the foam is lit. A Captain at the helm is in control, blasting across our view revealing his vessel’s bow, windscreen, interior, hull, fantail and a wake now lit by shadow and sunlight. The whole scene is moving, yet the gateway and skyline across the water stand stoically — waiting for a turn starboard towards the Ambrose Channel and the world’s shipping traffic.