January 15

Walking North Beach. Point Wilson Lighthouse in the distance.

Well, it looks like Ireland. Early morning walk in the fog. This beach on the north side has a cliff shadow that keeps it moody. The beach on the east side has more light. The sand wears a necklace of water soaked logs. Both beaches are a good place to explore – sketching and hunting for little wood. I never approach a residency with a planned agenda.. I prefer to learn from the landscape therefor I will spend my first few days sketching and then see what happens.

East side on Port Townsend Bay sketches today (below) The sun shined all day.

Canadian painter, Thom Thompson is on my mind. He was associated with The Group of Seven —Canadian landscape artists —who were influenced by his wilderness paintings and Post-Impressionism. Thompson had a brief business career in Seattle then returned to Toronto becoming a full time painter in 1913. He also worked as a wilderness guide at Algonquin Park. He drowned mysteriously in Canoe Lake in 1917 and became an iconic figure to fellow painters. Quote: The best I can do does not do the place justice in the way of beauty.

Thom Thompson, Early Spring, 1917

I have a book of his paintings at home and refer to it often. I am always struck by the abstraction, color palette —those highlights of yellow—and clarity of his forms. They meet the mark of beauty for me.

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