Pemaquid Point, gouache, 5 x 8" (13 x 20 cm)

I resolved to avoid the familiar subjects here in Maine—things like lighthouses, fishing boats and waves crashing on rocks. But I am beguiled by the power of the waves at Pemaquid Point, and can’t resist trying to interpret them in gouache. As I paint, I’m conscious of the relationship between abstraction and realism. All paintings, whether non-objective or naturalistic, are abstract at their core. That’s especially true of paintings made in the face of nature. A scene like this is full of large and small abstractions, including the self-similar fractal shapes of the rock forms and wave shapes. This painting goes through a wild, abstract stage at the beginning as it works its way toward realism, as seen in the image of the lay in.