Lighthouses On Parade - The Mitchell Institute

Lighthouses On Parade - The Mitchell Institute

When I first learned about Portland Maine's plans to place over 50 decorated lighthouses around the city in the summer of 2003 - and that they were inviting artists to submit designs to be selected by sponsors of the event - I immediately set to work imagining how I would create a tower portraying the Maine coast with all her natural color and diversity...

The Mitchell Institute design

"MAINE'S BRIGHTEST LIGHT"

The Creative process didn't happen without a struggle... The size of these forms was such that they wouldn't fit in my own Main Street studio... I couldn't get them through my doorway, let alone up my stairs! Fortunately my hometown of Rockland has The Lincoln Street Center for Arts & Education - and they had studio space they would rent to me for the months I would need to paint the towers. They are blessed by double doors,11' high ceilings, plenty of light, and heat... and so I gathered my materials together, packed up my coffeepot, moved in, and started to paint...

A few weeks after I'd begun "Naturally Maine" I was asked to design a second lighthouse for another sponsor; PAPE Chevrolet. They'd liked my initial design but wanted something a little more about Portland and so I worked up "The Lights of Casco Bay"...

In February I got my third lighthouse project for WHOM 94.9 Light Rock Radio Station. Their radio tower sits high atop Mt. Washington in nearby New Hampshire - so that is the theme of their light.