This painting is about the serene feeling of twilight in the midst of a Maine meadow. I was attracted to this scene for several reasons. The late afternoon light on the large boulder illuminated it against the lush green surroundings. I found the brilliant white of the rock to be extraordinary. I wanted the challenge of painting it in a way that would not only be accurate to the feeling of the scene, but I also wanted to paint it in a way that we as viewers would recognize the weight of it in relation to the softness of the surrounding foliage.

I purposely minimized the water in the foreground. The reflections in the water suggest something “otherworldly.” By minimizing that aspect it gives us, the viewers, the opportunity to imagine. Also, the pathway that moves from our right and flows back into the meadow not only leads our eye into the space, it suggest possibilities that are around the edge of the meadow in the distance. I have painted several versions of this scene.

Because of one of the scenes, I was commissioned to paint a very large version that hangs in the new wing of Mercy Hospital in Portland, Maine.