Hawthorne Vista

Chatham, Massachusetts is located at the elbow of Cape Cod and given its maritime location, the views are spectacular every which way you look.   The Hawthorne motel is situated up on a slope overlooking Chatham Harbor only a quarter mile south of the Fish Pier on Shore Road.    There was no need to look any further than outside the door of our modest room when deciding on a painting spot for the next morning.

Before going to sleep, I set up my field easel with a canvas panel and prepared some sunrise sky colors.  I wanted to be all ready to record the Chatham Harbor dawn.   Honestly, I wasn't out there at dawn, but I was painting by 7 AM - not too bad for a vacation day.



Hawthorne Vista - Stage One

I was trying to be quiet while pulling my gear out to the grass outside our door, so as not to disturb other vacationing guests.  I was maneuvering the fully extended easel out the storm door and was in the process of not making a racket that I threw out my back.  

At first I denied to myself that I had done it, and continued to paint.   It started to become a struggle to step back and I became more and more stooped to one side.  Had it not have been for being determined to paint this gorgeous spot, I probably would have given in and stopped.   to it and have gotten.  Trying to work through the discomfort only made it worse.  Unfortunately I finally conceded defeat and reclined into a back stabilizing position.  The painting was about 90% complete, only missing the tops of the evergreens down in the sand dunes.  I would have to finish those in the studio.

What I hadn't noticed was that several of the other guests were taking a keen interest, not only in the painting, but in my worsening back.   Evidently my S-shaped posture and wincing was more noticeable that I realized.   One nice woman even offered me a frozen ice pack she had brought with her for her bad back.   (A reminder not to lose faith in humanity!)   A fellow from Canton periodically checked on the painting's progress and asked if I was doing anything for my back.   Another nice couple from Canada had lots of questions about the painting process, and what about the gnat that had plopped down in middle the sky.  Would I be getting rid of that?  And how was my back doing?  Yes, there are many more good people in this world than bad.

Hawthorne Vista

Now, let me make this long blog longer.   The painting itself?  The main thrust of it was to capture the warm, early morning light on the cottage on the left, and record the memorable elements of the iconic Chatham landscape - Tern Island, the Chatham Fish Pier and the boat filled harbor.   I used mostly palette knife so there is quite a bit of thick paint on this one.   By 9AM, the water was no longer pink, but a deepening blue, so it took concentration to stay locked into the dawn color scheme.

Toward the end of the paint out, our lodging hostess took a picture of the paint-out and posted it in the Hawthorne Facebook page if you want to take a look.  Here is the finished painting and as I look at it, I'm thinking the September golden grasses are really starting to show through.   I'll be sending this one over to the shop next week.

ps.   My back is much better!