What is the appeal of lighthouses?   Their physical appearance and location is aesthetically appealing.  But there is more to it than that.  I served for a time as a navigator on a Navy destroyer. The faint light of a lighthouse on a distant shore was a welcome sight.  Not only did it confirm my position---it also offered the promise of home, friends, and family soon to be seen again.  Lighthouses seem to awaken nostalgic feelings in many---and that is why so many lighthouses are being refurbished despite the fact that their great lights have been extinguished or dimmed forever.

       
PEGGY'S COVE LIGHTOUSE, NOVA SCOTIA

Much praise has been heaped on Peggy's Cove---and it is deserved.  The lighthouse is graceful in form, and the smooth granite rocks on which it sits are dramatic to say the least.  Not showing on the painting are the hoards of tourists scrambling over these dramatic rocks.  Artist's license!

       
POINT ABINO LIGHTHOUSE, LAKE ERIE, CANADA

A friend has a summer home nearby.  This handsome lighthouse is beginning to look a bit tired and in need of paint.  The good news is the fact that it has been purchased by the nearby town and will become a tourist attraction, guaranteeing its survival.  The bad news is that it is located on the property of a "gated" community reportedly not happy about its future as a public attraction.  A lighthouse caught between conflicting interests.

       
TYBEE ISLAND LIGHTHOUSE, SAVANNAH, GEORGIA

We camped nearby this graceful lighthouse---now restored and a museum like so many of her sisters.  The lighthouse is especially attractive because if its tapering base. 

       
OLD POINT COMFORT LIGHTHOUSE, VIRGINIA

This lighthouse was built in 1802 and is the oldest structure on Fort Monroe, the entrance to Hampton Roads, Virginia.  It stood here for a half century before the battle of the Monitor and Merrimac.  I painted this from the top of the fort, looking toward the entrance to Hampton Roads.

      
OLD POINT COMFORT II

I enjoy painting the same subject from a different point of view.  This was painted on a hot summer day with a group of fellow painters.  Each of us spent ten minutes looking for the right perspective---and all of us ended up under the same shade tree seeking protection from the fierce Tidewater sun!

      
PEMAQUID POINT LIGHTHOUSE, MAINE

I imagine every artist has a favorite "motif."  This is mine.  Paintings of Pemaquid lighthouse appear elsewhere on this website.  The Japanese artist Hokusai painted Mount Fuji dozens of times.  I could do the same with Pemaquid lighthouse! 

PEMAQUID POINT LIGHTHOUSE II

The preceding painting was done in the morning. In the afternoon when the light had shifted, I did this sketch from the opposite side of the lighthouse---showing the keeper's house to the left. That house is now a little museum. 

PEMAQUID POINT LIGHTHOUSE III
Artist's  Collection

The picturesque Maine lighthouse which is famed for its location on a rocky promontory.

         
MONHEGAN LIGHTHOUSE, MAINE

A short boat ride is necessary to gain access to Monhegan Island off the coast of Maine.

In the late morning we hiked across the island where I did a small watercolor of the dramatic coast.  In the hour before our boat ride back to New Harbor in the afternoon, I painted the Monhegan light, which sits high on the island.

      
LIGHTHOUSE, STONINGTON VILLAGE, CONNECTICUT

Stonington Village is a delightful old town near the extreme eastern shoreline of Connecticut.  The streets are lined with many handsome old homes marked with plaques identifying former famous occupants.  I painted this little stone lighthouse on a cold winter's day, huddled against a stone wall for some protection from the chilling wind.

ST. AUGUSTINE LIGHTHOUSE, FLORIDA

This handsome lighthouse, now beautifully restored and maintained, is a major tourist attraction in St. Augustine.  However, it is difficult to get a good, unobstructed view of the lighthouse.  I recall sitting in a driveway in peril of incoming careless drivers.  So I worked fast and nervously!

         
POINT LOMA LIGHTHOUSE, SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA

This wonderful lighthouse sits on a dramatic hillside overlooking the entrance to San Diego harbor.  Ironically, it is too high up to be useful!  Fog often obscured the light, so another lighthouse was built nearby at sea level, and has become the active lighthouse for the harbor.