Sunken Rock Lighthouse in Alexandria Bay is my favorite of all the Thousand Island Lighthouses. There is something about the green top of the squat little lighthouse and the stark simplicity of the small building which appeals to me. I guess it's a combination of an Edward Hopper style of loneliness and the clear simple lines of an Edward Weston photograph. The white lighthouse and its' accompanying building reflect light and color all day long as the sun shifts in the sky, and the water changes as the sky does. I love capturing the color of the sky and water at this time of day as the sun sets and the land becomes nearly a silhouette. The last golden rays of the day are reflected in the two buildings and bounce across the ripples in the water. Purple shadows creep across the surface of the lighthouse and join the golden flecks riding on the watery ripples.
This painting was done in as a demo piece when I was teaching an Acrylic Painting class at The Thousand Islands Arts Center. I had started the painting at camp and would bring it into class each day to use for instruction. The week was rainy and cold and the headlines were dismal; a large fire in TI Park, two young Amish girls were abducted, Robin Williams died, so many parts of the world in a turmoil. It was good to lose myself in the painting, at least for a few days. And good to have the squat little lighthouse as a kind of beacon of hope.
