Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Like "Painting in a Cloud"

The weather pattern has been bizarre during July. Morning clouds give way to afternoon sunshine. Sometimes evening brings great sunsets, which I can only imagine must be wonderful viewed from Duck Harbor Beach. Today a fine mist drizzled its way into my consciousness as I went about my garden chores, watering, deadheading, clipping here and there. People exclaim over my garden, but I know how much nicer it could be had there been rain. Perhaps the rain will come Friday night, eve of the Pan Mass Challenge?

We have a resident artist for a few days. Yesterday she went downtown and chatted with gallery owners. They told her artists enjoy painting Wellfleet because of the light. She was up early today, painting our house. How surprised the folks in the cottage were to see an easel in the yard! The cottage guests are Cahoon Hollow addicts. They spend every possible moment at the beach, dressed in Cahoon Hollow T-shirts and caps. So far, their week on Cape Cod has not offered ideal beach weather, compared to past years. Luckily, the weather is going to improve. We chatted before they headed out.

Meanwhile the artist was still painting, and I went back to tending the garden as the fog rolled in. She said, “It feels like painting in a cloud.” She was smiling, obviously enjoying herself. Apparently, the light in her Southern California hometown creates deep shadows. Here there are none, so there is no rush to finish a painting. Therefore, she took her time. Check out how lovely the result is!