- SHOP
- >
- ORIGINAL PAINTINGS
- >
- Windswept, Provincetown
Windswept, Provincetown
SKU:
$4,500.00
$4,500.00
Unavailable
per item
30x40"
Acrylic on canvas
Roll over/tap image to see finer detail
Cape Cod National Seashore
Provincetown, Massachusetts
I took an artist’s retreat to Provincetown and booked a ride with Art’s Dune Tours. Art’s son John was my driver and guide that day. John grew up there and has been leading these tours for a long time. He knows so much about the history of this landscape.
John said that thousands of years ago and as recently as a few centuries ago, when First Nation Wampanoag (People of the First Light) fully inhabited this area, there used to be thick tree forests here. In the mid-1600's, new European settlers deforested the area, taking all the trees for shipbuilding and other industry-minded uses of its lumber. Never taking the time, foresight, or effort to replant, the Europeans caused the eroding dunescape we see today. Without tree roots to help hold down soil and sand, miles of shoreline has been swept to sea over time as a result.
But now, careful replanting is taking place, and John showed me this, too, which gave me hope. He also showed me tons of wild native plant species and wildlife that still thrives there. It is also important to point out that the Wampanoag community holds a continual presence here as well.
A couple of years ago, I painted "Resilience" as a first response to this landscape, also listed here, which sold at my "Colors of the Coastline" solo exhibit in 2021. I was struck by what resilience, color, and life this beautiful landscape holds, in spite of what happened many years ago.
"Windswept" is a new piece I have painted from the same retreat's research. One of the aspects of these dunes that I chose to depict are the sweeping slopes with no vegetation at all... just sand. You can see how wind has sculpted these shapes with its invisible 'hands.' If you stand here, as I did, you can feel the power and strength of wind all around you as it moves in and across and through these sculpted dunes, with no trees to brace or block its path.
Acrylic on canvas
Roll over/tap image to see finer detail
Cape Cod National Seashore
Provincetown, Massachusetts
I took an artist’s retreat to Provincetown and booked a ride with Art’s Dune Tours. Art’s son John was my driver and guide that day. John grew up there and has been leading these tours for a long time. He knows so much about the history of this landscape.
John said that thousands of years ago and as recently as a few centuries ago, when First Nation Wampanoag (People of the First Light) fully inhabited this area, there used to be thick tree forests here. In the mid-1600's, new European settlers deforested the area, taking all the trees for shipbuilding and other industry-minded uses of its lumber. Never taking the time, foresight, or effort to replant, the Europeans caused the eroding dunescape we see today. Without tree roots to help hold down soil and sand, miles of shoreline has been swept to sea over time as a result.
But now, careful replanting is taking place, and John showed me this, too, which gave me hope. He also showed me tons of wild native plant species and wildlife that still thrives there. It is also important to point out that the Wampanoag community holds a continual presence here as well.
A couple of years ago, I painted "Resilience" as a first response to this landscape, also listed here, which sold at my "Colors of the Coastline" solo exhibit in 2021. I was struck by what resilience, color, and life this beautiful landscape holds, in spite of what happened many years ago.
"Windswept" is a new piece I have painted from the same retreat's research. One of the aspects of these dunes that I chose to depict are the sweeping slopes with no vegetation at all... just sand. You can see how wind has sculpted these shapes with its invisible 'hands.' If you stand here, as I did, you can feel the power and strength of wind all around you as it moves in and across and through these sculpted dunes, with no trees to brace or block its path.