My cousin Antony lives in Australia. The last time we saw each other was in 2008, when his boys were mere striplings. That’s a long flight, so you don’t just go for a week. I got to spend a lot of time with Oscar and Gus and their best bud Tim, including hours at the beach. They scampered up rocks like mountain goats and flopped into the water like seals. I painted a study of them, and then this larger painting from that study. At the time, I was interested in the subject for aesthetic and symbolic purposes. Today, it reminds me of all the sweet days I’ve spent at the beach with kids. It’s the centerpiece of Letters from Home, which opens tomorrow at 4 PM.
Intimate storytelling
I picked out paintings for this show based on their nostalgic appeal, as if they were letters from our universal ‘home’. When I put them all together, I realized there was some intimate storytelling involved. Take, for example, this little painting of a family walking their puppy on the beach. If you’ve ever had a puppy, you know you don’t walk it so much as coax it along. It’s a universal experience that every dog-lover knows, and the details don’t need to be spelled out.
When my twins turned sixteen, their greatest ambition was to work at Seabreeze Amusement Park. Of course, only Laura got a job there; Julia got the consolation prize of working at a nearby big box store. What Laura quickly learned was that running the kiddie rides is hot, thirsty, dull work. As soon as she could, she too got a job at the same big box store.
But none of us ever stopped loving the Tilt-a-Whirl. I painted it live, en plein air, just as I painted the carousel at Saranac Lake. It’s just a trick.
Spring allee runs off the Erie Canal just east of Gasport, NY. It’s just a footpath running through scrub, but my friend Bill and I used it as a long cut when trail-riding some 50 years ago. Our horses are long gone, but I bet I can still pick out the trailhead.
Sometimes the story is less direct
There’s a painting of a black walnut leaning against a stone wall in this show. It’s certainly representative of New England. For me, it’s also a memory of using Jonathan McPhillips as a windbreak in gale-force winds.
Sometimes intimate storytelling isn’t based on a real place as much as an idea. The Late Bus is about going home after school from swim practice. My kids went to a suburban school and were walkers, so when my son had swim practice, I waited for him along a busy street. But I swam for a rural high school, and the chlorine, the frozen hair, and general feeling was just the same. This was just my way of capturing that feeling.
Opening Saturday, May 31, 4-7 PM
Carol L. Douglas Studio/Richards Hill Gallery,
394 Commercial Street, Rockport, ME, 04856
May 30-June 26, 2025
Tuesday-Sunday, Noon-5 PM
An important PS
Julie Hunt is my student from Alberta, Canada. She is in an online show called Crops Diversity Canada. The work is stunning, but only up until the end of this month, so take a few moments to browse it now!
Reserve your spot now for a workshop in 2025:
- Advanced Plein Air Painting, Rockport, ME, July 7-11, 2025.
- Sea and Sky at Acadia National Park, August 3-8, 2025.
- Find Your Authentic Voice in Plein Air, Berkshires, MA, August 11-15, 2025.
- Immersive In-Person Fall Workshop, Rockport, ME, October 6-10, 2025.
Waves of Mercy and Grace – just stunning Carol! Reminds me of Mary Cassatt only better because you’ve got such beautiful ocean in there too!! There are paintings I like and admire the excellent technique, (but wouldn’t want on my wall). And there are those that bring a feeling of peace and beauty though not necessarily all masterpieces. This painting is both!!
Thank you!