Cape Cod

I so enjoyed spending some time on Cape Cod with Julie and our dog Doodle Bug last week.  There was so much to see and paint.  Subjects were everywhere.  I remember hearing artists talk about going to places like Venice and having difficulty choosing what to paint due to the sheer number of possible subjects.  I felt a little like that at Cape Cod.  I'm not sure if its because it was all new to me or simply due to the beauty of the Cape.  We stayed in Dennis - and this church (@ 1838) was literally five minutes down the street from our hotel.  There was a cemetery next door, but I didn't want to take the time to dig too deeply in only one or two areas on this trip.

It can often be challenging to find a place to paint a subject based on traffic and such. This morning was not one of those challenging days.  There were a number of benches throughout the church grounds and this is actually the view from one of the benches.  This small watercolor painting was completed on a block of paper.  If you've never tried using watercolor blocks (paper) I'd encourage you to do so.  The paper doesn't need to be taped down and it doesn't buckle while you are working on it.

Watercolor - On location   Dennis MA.

We traveled throughout the Cape - from Dennis to East Orleans, to Hyannis and Hyannis Port, to Brewster, Eastham,  Truro, and Provincetown.   Just some quick impressions that left us wanting to come back for more.


The landscape brought so many images of Edward Hopper's and Aiden Lassell Ripley's Cape Cod paintings to mind.  They absolutely captured the atmosphere and the landscape in their work.

Setting Out by Aiden Lassell Ripley

Watercolor - Private Collection

Edward Hopper

It also reminded us of how lucky we are to live in Maine, where we too have world class beaches, rivers, and more.  During our travels I made mental notes and took a few photos for reference.  I'm transferring as many memories to canvas and paper as quickly as time allows.

Here's a well known Hopper painting of Two Lights in Maine

I also want to give special thanks the owners of Lucky Stone in East Orleans for their incredible warmth and generosity.  It was an art filled week that allowed us to renew old acquaintances, make new friends, and to spend time with our daughter and her extended field hockey family at Brown University in Providence on our way home.    We also had the opportunity to stop and visit briefly with an old friend from my childhood neighborhood to drop off a painting they had purchased - which will be a subject for a future post.

It was a trip I'll not ever forget.

The painting below is an acrylic on canvas board from sketches, memory, and photos.

Lucky Stone - East Orleans, MA