And of course, “looking” was what Winslow loved to do! It was his way in, the door, to his process. And taking a “seasons approach” seemed to me a good way to organize the book, since this allowed me to highlight the many different moods of the ocean at different times of the year. I usually look for some kind of overview structure for a book, when I’m first considering it. Tell us about the narrative plan you arrived at to share Homer’s journey and your writing process to capture the nuances of painting the Atlantic Ocean. The narrative begins with Splash! Seas spray flying up into mist! Look! and ends with Look! bringing the focus back on the painting. So writing about Homer’s wave and water scenes and sightings seemed very natural to me. And though it’s not an ocean, Lake Michigan often displays large, dramatic waves, and for many years I’ve often watched the movement and changes in the water surfaces over time. I grew up very near Lake Michigan, in Chicago, and currently live near the same lake - on the Michigan side. I have always loved large water spaces, so perhaps that gave me a connection with Homer’s obsession. Please explain the process you went through to focus on ocean waves in Winslow Homer’s paintings. There are so many fascinating aspects of the sea. Many creative people look for quiet, offbeat spots to work, but this seems to be an extreme (and from a creative standpoint amazingly successful, since the paintings he created are wonderful) case. In middle age, he left a fairly vibrant social and artistic scene to live in this hermetic way and concentrate nearly entirely on painting (he did have visitors and some family members were often living nearby, but he was quite isolated much of the time). I find the fact that Homer spent so much time on Prouts Neck exciting and rather odd at the same time, so I wanted to weave the story around his time(s) there. What aspects of his art fascinated you to make art as the subject of this biographical retelling? Winslow Homer was a print maker, traveler, and an artist. I am so delighted to share an interview with Robert Burleigh about the process he followed for the book Breaking Waves: Winslow Homer Paints the Sea. That week I learned so much about Winslow Homer on the internet. When I received a copy of the book on Winslow Homer, I was captivated by the author and the painter. Sometimes, many months later, she would produce a sketch or a painting of an odd wave or a striking moment that was stunning. It seemed that she was soaking it into her being. She stood still, gathering everything that came her way. As we all raced over the sands and dove into the waves, she stood aside, watching the whole scene. And that gradually moves to their hands which are now primed to express their #experience with the sea.Ī visit to the beach always reminds me of my aunt, an artist. Their #heart might capture the #moods of the ocean. Their eye might discern the short-lived play of #light that delights a keen observer. However, an #artist looking over the vast #ocean might see more than the water, waves, or sand. That and a bit of sand, and perhaps some memories in the #sun, are what everyone takes back home. Almost everyone who visits the sea can lick the salty spray of the waves from their lips or fingers if they linger long enough on the #beach. Whenever we think of #ocean, we recall #waves and #shells.
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