Lighthouses
Lighthouses fascinate me--and a lot of people. They're fun to visit. The upper Midwest has numerous, elegant lighthouses all up and down the Great Lakes. I've sketched a few and probably should do more lighthouse paintings. Here are three. The first one was painted not from life, but from the tiny lighthouse logo that appears atop the front page of the Michigan City News-Dispatch. Why didn't I simply go out and sketch the actual lighthouse as it exists in real life? I'm not sure, except Pop Art artists sometimes do strange things.
The other two lighthouses were sketched from life. It was at a time when Rose and I were planning to add a stained glass window to our house at the end of a hall. I began with a black and white sketch, then did a small painting as a preliminary sketch. The radiating, black lines are integral to creating the work in glass. They would serve as grouting in the actual stained glass window. I took this preliminary painting to a local stained glass window firm located on US 20. We discussed design, and I commissioned the window, saying I planned to do a larger painting nearer the size of the planned window. They sent someone to measure the window.
Several months passed. I called to ask about the firm's timetable for completing the window. They hadn’t begun and couldn't even find the original window measurements! They visited and measured again. By this time, I had completed the large painting below, so I gave it to them to use as guide for the final window.
More months passed. In fact, at least nine more months--enough time to have a baby! But not, apparently, enough time for this company to complete my stained glass window. Finally, I went to the firm and reclaimed my painting and canceled the commission. Artists! In that time, Michelangelo could have had half the Sistine Chapel painted!
By that time, our enthusiasm for having a stained glass window in our house had faded. If there are any other stained glass artists out there looking for a commission, get in touch. In the meantime, the lighthouse paintings below are for sale.
LIGHTHOUSE 1: Acrylic on canvas. 24 inches by 20 inches. Framed. I did an earlier version of this in oil several years ago. It now hangs in a private collection. In the meantime, my skills as an artist improved, so I decided to reprise the lighthouse for the "Oh Hal…It's Wonderful!" exhibit. It's a bright example of my own version of Pop Art, and you don't have to live in Michigan City to like this lighthouse. $600
LIGHTHOUSE 2: Acrylic on canvas. 14 inches by 18 inches estimated. Framed. This was the first version of lighthouse design. It currently hangs in our condo in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. $250
LIGHTHOUSE 3: Acrylic on canvas. 30 inches by 48 inches. Unframed; wraparound canvas with art (including artist's signature) continuing around the edge. The final version of my lighthouse design. Will this be recreated as a stained glass window? Maybe you can use this as pattern for a window in your house. It's difficult to see in this reproduction, but different textures shade the different panels, as would be the case if done in stained glass. $1,500