Little Moose Island

Oil on Cotton Canvas
18 x 24"
2018?- 2026

This painting has taken a very long time to finish! It began years ago, and there were things about it that I knew were not final.

Little Moose Island is a magical spot at Schoodic Point, the part of Acadia National Park that is on the North side of Frenchman Bay. Accessible only at low tide for a number of hours, when the tide is low, it's an uninhabited island of some mystery and wonder. Several narrow paths skirt the edge of high cliffs through the scrub brush of Little Moose, with great long vistas of the Atlantic Ocean all the way to Europe. Raspberries hide on the Eastern side, buzzing with bees. Bones of seabirds bleach white among the sweet fern.

This painting was begun on the shore of the main land, right near the one way road. Maybe setting up near the road was my issue- I just couldn't settle in. Cars drove past (I am not a happy "in public" painter- I need the solitude of nature or my studio)- the light and tide changed. The unfinished painting made it's way back to the studio. Over the years I would try to work on it. This week I plunged in, fresh off "Edge of the Meadow", with November sky on my mind.

Now I'm finished. At long last.