“Ocean & Lilies”, acrylic on watercolor paper © 2003 D. Yael Bernhard
This painting shows the view from a place that feels like home away from home – Cape Ann, Massachusetts. As a child, I was taken there several times on summer vacation. Known for its picturesque, rocky coastline, this outjutting of land north of Boston is full of history, and has attracted artists for centuries. Growing up, I loved climbing on the boulder beaches with my sister, where we discovered a whole imaginary universe as the waves rushed into the spaces between the great granite rocks. Years later, I brought my own daughters there and watched them play as I once did – my younger daughter scampering across the boulders like a monkey, and my older one playing her clarinet to the sound of the incoming tide. That was when I did this painting, in 2003. Last month – over 20 years later – I had the pleasure of three days on Cape Ann with my son, age 35, who traveled from North Carolina to spend several days on the beach.
As a mountain dweller, I love visiting the ocean. Both are a vast wilderness – but the mountains where I live are more accessible and familiar, whereas the mystery of the ocean seems impenetrable. We are not aquatic creatures, and the tidal depths are intrinsically other – a place that can never be home. For me, just walking along the edge of the sea is deeply satisfying.
That edge, between not just land and sea but also manmade and wild, is what I wished to explore in this painting. This is a still life against a seascape – objects that are tiny in relation to the background, but enlarged to speak directly to the clouds, one sensual edge juxtaposed against another. Just a hint of the endless horizon cuts across the vase. Near against far, small against large, finite against infinite. The flowers, voluptuous as they are, would perish in a few short days, their flitting blooms standing in contrast to the timeless heaving of the ocean just beyond the windowsill. Thus I pondered as I painted, breathing the salt air that also made the flowers exceptionally lovely. The gardens of Cape Ann are glorious. The owners of the B&B where we stayed graciously cut these lilies for me. I was in heaven.
Yet looking back, this painting feels incomplete. I wish I could have taken it further from reality, transforming the subjects into something more than just a portrait – but alas, my vacation was just a few days, and my work responsibilities swallowed me whole as soon as I got home. There was no time to develop the painting further, or to start another version.
Still, the painting succeeded in anchoring fleeting moments into form. The feel of New England and fresh ocean breeze come through, and the fullness of those curtains. It’s like being back there, looking out the window at the offshore island, away from the grind of daily life.
I did some new paintings on Cape Ann this year, too – what a pleasure, to indulge in drawing and painting to the sound of waves. Two color sketches warrant further development – here’s one, painted in gouache at high tide:
In addition to seascapes, I also did some images out of my head, having nothing to do with the view before me. Even just the sound of the lapping waves loosens the mind – so the mind itself, and the relationship between minds, became the subject of several color sketches. I’ll share those in another post.
I was happy to return home to my sweet dog, and to find beach sand in my socks a few days later.
A good week to all!
D. Yael Bernhard
https://dyaelbernhard.com
Have you seen my other Substack, The Art of Health? In addition to being a visual artist, I’m also a certified integrative health & nutrition coach with a lifelong passion for natural food cooking and herbal medicine. Now in its second year, this illustrated newsletter explores cutting-edge concepts of nutrition. I strive to make relevant information clear and accessible, and to anchor essential health concepts in unique images. Check it out, and if you like it, please subscribe and help spread the word. Your support keeps my work going!