So, there is this spot
“Perfect Endings” 18 x 24 Acrylic on Canvas | Jen Day
A helpful hint before you start reading this. If you would like to make it a drinking game for every time the word “spot” is found in this blog, you will be nice and tipsy by the end. You’re welcome.
What is it about sunsets that in certain places draws an audience? It happens every day, it’s not unique. Most days it just happens without even a thought about it’s occurrence. But, when you are in your “Happy Place” and you find the spot, you set your alarm on your phone to remind you when it’s time to make your way there to catch the show.
And why is that? I don’t at home. Maybe I could/should but I don’t. Maybe there is a “spot” close by that I can find. Don’t get me wrong, I have watched sunsets in other places, but I always end up comparing it to my spot. “That was nice, but it wasn’t like my spot”, I find myself thinking.
I found my spot many years ago in Door County, WI. There are MANY “spots” up there to catch natures greatest show. Many of these spots are lined with spectators sprawled on the grass, or plopped in Adirondack Chairs that line the shore, often with a glass of wine in hand to toast the moment. And on many occasions, applause breaks out among the gathered crowds as the last sliver of the sun dips beneath the waters edge in the horizon…It’s a beautiful sight to behold. Most sunsets are great up there, but some sunsets are just…wow. The sun just paints the sky in bold and bright colors, and the reflecting waters below paints it’s own moment, to compliment the show above.
My spot is a little pier tucked in on the shore of Peninsula State Park, at the Weborg campground. It’s a small campground with 12 sites. Peninsula State Park has a few other campgrounds that are much larger, but Weborg is a close as you can get to camping right on the water. Maybe that’s why it’s nearly impossible to book a reservation there(?). But this little pier off the backend of the campground is where I take a seat. Same spot, every time. Out over the water is where the show is, but over my shoulder is a picturesque view of Fish Creek harbor, with its piers dotted with sail boats. There may be 2 or 3, or on occasion 6 to 7 other people on my pier while the sun is setting (ok, it’s not mine, I know). I often wonder “…where is everyone? Don’t they know? This spot is like having a Box Suite on the 50 yard line at Lambeau Field!” But, other people at their spots are probably thinking the same thing, right? That’s ok with me. I’ll keep this not a secret secret spot mostly to myself, I don’t mind.
The camera roll on my phone has so many pictures of sunsets from this pier, I might have to upgrade to more storage space for my iCloud picture backups. That’s the beautiful thing about sunsets to me. The same sunset can have SO many great moments depending on where the sun is, how the clouds are shaped or placed, how the waters reflect, if there is a Sailing Boat in the distance…so many moments, I can’t NOT take a picture of them.
So this painting was born from one of those photos. Most of my paintings are representations of photos I have taken. Finding the ONE sunset picture to paint from my camera roll was quite a task. “Oh I like that one!…oh but that one, look at that one!…wait, this one, holy cow…” And that may have been from looking at photos from just ONE sunset, I had to look at the dozens of others yet! (note to self: check in to more iCloud storage).
I am so happy I settled on this one, this one was a beaut. I don’t think there was a color that was not present in this moment. But, once I started putting brush to canvas, my thoughts quickly turned to “How do I paint that!?”. I can’t tell you how often I had to step back at a distance and critique my every stroke. “…was that too much purple?…is that this shade of orange or this shade?…is that white or just really bright yellow?…” And my final strokes were capturing the sun itself, and how it seemed to be present in two different spots in the sky, THAT part drove me bonkers. But in the end, I feel I captured my subject pretty well, and this will not be my last sunset painting, there are just too many moments on my camera roll of them.
So thank you, little pier, for being my spot. My spot that reminds me to take in the moment, appreciate the beauty of this world. My spot to reflect and calm life’s stresses.
I encourage you all to find your spot. But there is room on my pier for you if you don’t have one yet.
