Image of the Week: Cindy at the Seawall
© Durga Yael Bernhard
Lately I've been experimenting with combining landscapes, still lifes, and figures. A still life in the foreground of a landscape . . . a figure adjacent to a still life . . . a landscape with a figure in it . . . these combinations intrigue me as a form of cross-fertilization. Cindy at the Seawall is my most recent example, showing my dear and distant sister seated on the edge of a boulder beach on Cape Ann, Massachusetts. Our parents first took us to this historic B&B as children, where we spent hours climbing on the endless rockscape as if it were the surface of the moon or even the entire solar system. Years later, we returned there as adults, and I had the great pleasure of watching my own daughter play on these very same rocks of solid granite, which appear to be entirely unchanged by decades of exposure to sun, wind, and sea.
My sister grew up to be a great lover of the ocean, and is content to sit for hours watching the waves roll in, decompressing from her demanding career. For my part, I constantly feel compelled to draw and paint the surroundings – or to try, at least, for this is a most challenging subject. The interaction of surf and solid rock, the expansive sea air, the sparkling light upon the water, the gathering of clouds on the horizon . . . if I dedicated the rest of my life to capturing these sights and sensations, it would not suffice. With just a few days of vacation, I was only able to do a few small paintings, and once I get home, they must compete with other projects to be brought to completion. Only my sister's 60th birthday enabled me to give this one priority. It arrived a few days late, but she seemed very pleased.
Now Cindy and I have once again gone our separate ways, and summer is passing like a receding tide. I have yet to finish another painting that I started at our old childhood haunt – a still life of apples and a tea cup on this seawall, looking out toward an island with a lighthouse. If I can anchor a connection between them, I'll be happy as a clam.
A good week to all, and happy new year to my Jewish friends!
D Yael Bernhard