TM8692 Quiet Morning 36×48 oil on panel

The sea comes and goes, and in Lubec, Maine it can ebb a long way. This view across Lubec’s low tide flats toward Grand Manon in New Brunswick, Canada  makes one think about walking on water. Or maybe not. I walked a similar area off Campobello Island once. Most of the beach was shingled (covered with stones), but when I accidentally placed my foot on what looked like a bit of mud, I sank up to my knee – surprise! A walking stick is a good idea. Those mud flats do still attract me, however. Here’s so much marine life. There’s also something more profound – a quality of being scraped clean, and seeing simple sky, water, and land. Complicated and simple at the same time – stark and subtle. Details below. Enjoy.

TM8692 Quiet Morning – close-up of headland

TM8692 Quiet Morning – detail across the tidal flats

TM8692 Quiet Morning – detail

Technical painting notes: With Quiet Morning, I wanted to emphasize the stark simplicity of the the bands of sky, receding water, and land. I also liked the idea of a slice of cerulean blue sky  bounded by bright gray, with the only other colors being a tiny bit of green and muted orange, dusty grayed red, plus lots of subdued gray/blue/browns. Lubec can feel like a black and white photograph, the colors are so subtle and the atmospherics so quietly intense. The challenge of how to bring the shine of wet mud up to the foreground plants was resolved with repeated glazes and manipulation of shadow. I pressed textures into the wet glaze, waited for it to dry, and glazed again. It gives the impression of wet mud seen beneath a film of water.