Rachel Carson

A couple of days ago I was flipping the remote and landed on the PBS station where a documentary on environmentalist Rachel Carson was playing. Rachel Carson, author of Silent Spring, owned a summer cottage on Southport Island, Maine, which is near Boothbay Harbor where I have spent thirty summers. A fellow painter friend of mine lives just down the road from Carson's property, and one day a couple of summers ago we headed over there to paint. Carson's first book, The Sea Around Us, featured studies of several tidal pools in the area, including one right off her front porch. So there was no question of what I would paint.

The day was sunny, warm, and full of birdsong, the kind of day that would have delighted Carson. It delighted me, too. So this painting is both a memory of a wonderful experience and evidence of my admiration of a dedicated naturalist.