Sailboats in Maine Harbor

A few years ago, my family had a cousin getting married in Maine. They rented us a wonderful little two story cottage on one of the thousands of bay harbors. I had never been to Maine and found people painting watercolor and oils everywhere - of the water, of nature and sea life, of lighthouses, and of course all kinds of boats and ships. It was an artist's paradise.

I sat looking out the big bay window of the living/dining area of our temporary home - hey, it was summer and the unofficial state bird - huge mosquitoes - mass attack you if you sit outside in the mornings - and was playing around with my watercolors. I am not much of a representational painter, but I made an effort. It looked like something a second grader would do and one that wasn't very good. I stoped trying. I just let the colors and paint brush lead me.

When I was waking that morning, just before I opened my eyes, I had these flashes of these little yellow triangles pass before my sleepy eyes. I started with the colors of the triangles, fitting them together as I had seen in my half awake eyes. The colors started swirling around the triangles. I loved the way it was easily - gently fitting together. The finished painting expressed color the way I like to express color.

I looked at it and then my eyes wandered back out to the bay and the water. I thought about it. The day before, there was a class of small catamarans with white sails hit by the bright yellow sun moving around in circles in the fairly shallow waters of the bay. The students were learning how to steer and were kind of going in all sorts of directions, stirring up all sorts of swirling colors in the dark water reflecting the sun and the colors of everything in the harbor. There were those bright yellow and red outlined sails of the catamarans.

I looked again at the watercolors on my paper and saw in my own way, I had painted an abstract interpretation of the boating class. If you go to an art gallery around there, you don't see many abstract paintings. This is one of my favorite paintings and I think one of the best. And that's the way a lot of my art evolves. I have an urge to paint and after it is complete I realize what my inner painter was creating and expressing.

Katherine Ari Wheelus Dannels