The Titanic Time ball inspired the Times Square Ball Drop on New Year’s Eve. Five minutes each day before noon the Time Ball atop the Titanic Memorial Lighthouse dropped. The Titanic Memorial Lighthouse and Time Ball was built in 1913 to honor the Titanic victims. It stood above the Seamen’s Church in Manhattan. In 1976, the lighthouse and time ball were donated to South Seaport Museum and moved to Titanic Memorial Park in Manhattan. The Friends of the Titanic launched a GoFundme fundraiser to restore the lighthouse on the 110th Anniversary of the tragedy on April 15, 2022. Join living relatives of the passengers and crew in preserving their memories by helping to restore the Titanic Memorial Lighthouse.
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My painting “Light Kisses,” evokes a light, romantic and peaceful mood. My impressionist lighthouse painting depicts the movement of natural light as its rays flow across Donaghadee Lighthouse. I was inspired to use an impressionist technique because Donaghadee was the first Irish lighthouse to receive electric light. Impressionists were fascinated with natural light and its impact on the perception of color. This approach also allowed me to highlight Donaghadee’s unique etched lines.
Finally, I used the passionate and uplifting mode of Impressionism in this painting to recall the days when Donaghadee was a popular site for weddings. Donaghadee Lighthouse is cloaked in white symbolizing the beauty of a bride on her wedding day. Lighthouse keeping was a family affair. Wives, daughters and sons sometimes fulfilled the duties of a light keeper without pay. Wives and daughters filled in when the light keeper was absent or died. Both of St. Augustine’s female light keepers fulfilled the role of light keeper after the death of their spouses.
Not every act at St. Augustine Lighthouse was so heroic. Cardell “Cracker” Daniels, the son of the St. Augustine Lighthouse Keeper, was a prankster. He once parachuted his sister's cat from the top of the tower. The cat survived and went into hiding for months. His father Cardell D. Daniels served 1935-1943. In 1986, a 14 year old was responsible for the lens being out of commission. He used a rifle to shatter 19 prisms of the Fresnel lens. Show your walls some love! Enjoy free shipping and discounts on Lighthouse Art! Save big on Biloxi Lighthouse, Cape San Blas and St. Augustine Lighthouse. www.lighthousefriends.com Join a Park Ranger for a New Years Eve stroll on the grounds of Constitution Convention Museum in Port St. Joe. Explore the museum and beautiful State Park. The museum displays Florida’s first constitution that was drafted in Port St. Joe. The city hosted Florida’s first State Constitutional Convention. Enjoy free shipping and discounts on Lighthouse Art! Save big on Biloxi, Cape San Blas and St. Augustine Lighthouse Art. Biloxi Lighthouse Dodging cars like a nervous pedestrian, the historic Biloxi Lighthouse stands beside a busy highway. The Biloxi Lighthouse has become an emblem for the city. It has survived over 20 hurricanes, the Civil War and Civil Rights protests since it was built in 1848. It thrives on a busy 4 lane highway oblivious to the hustle and bustle around it. Biloxi beach was blackened by the BP oil spill that began in April 2010. Wildlife still suffers from its repercussions today. Cape San Blas Lighthouse Originally completed in 1848, the lighthouse has been rebuilt four times. The current Cape San Blas Lighthouse stands in an idyllic setting overlooking St. Joseph Bay in Port St. Joe. The City of Port St. Joe raised funds to relocate the buildings in 2012. The lighthouse and dwellings were moved by truck convoy from Cape San Blas 12 miles away. Three cranes placed the lighthouse atop its new foundation in 2014. St. Augustine Lighthouse Lighthouse keeping was a family affair. Wives, daughters and sons sometimes fulfilled the duties of a light keeper without pay. Wives and daughters filled in when the light keeper was absent or died. Both of St. Augustine’s female light keepers fulfilled the role of light keeper after the death of their spouses. As I painted the St. Augustine Lighthouse for the fourth time, I found new inspiration...female lightkeepers. St. Augustine Lighthouse had two female keepers: Maria Andreu and Kate Harn.
Armed with this new knowledge I painted the strength and softness of the lighthouse. Clouds lingered above and bright yellow flowers blossomed below. They both symbolized the tenderness of these women who cared for their families and schooled their children. Keepers were a rare breed. It took a lot of courage to work a desolate lighthouse. Families were responsible for growing their own food. Both men and women keepers ensured the light burned at night, rescued shipwreck sailors while keeping the lighthouse in tip top shape. I love Hillsboro Lighthouse. The idyllic setting reminds me of Gilligan's Island. While the castaways were marooned, thankfully tour boats departed and embarked regularly. The Hillsboro Lighthouse Preservation Society periodically schedules tours.
Adorned with palm trees and surrounded by a scenic beach, this island paradise is great for swimming and snorkeling. I paused to watch a family anchor their boat offshore and dive playfully into the ocean. While other visitors toured, I sketched and chatted with the Coast Guard crew and their family. After finishing a cold bottle of water given to me by the Coast Guard, I climbed the lighthouse. I stopped by the statue of “The Barefoot Mailman.” The statue memorializes James Hamilton who mysteriously disappeared while on duty. The first mailmen worked the barefoot route from Palm Beach to Miami because there was no road connecting the 68 mile route. They traveled by boat and walked along a sandy shore. The signs I read along the nature trail leading to Anclote Key Lighthouse impressed me almost as much as the lighthouse. They warned that Florida’s natural habitat was being endangered by invasive erotics. These erotics threaten the vibrant ecosystem that supports some of Florida’s great wildlife, such as manatees, sea turtles and shore birds. This inspired me to use green in the painting to symbolize Florida’s lush endangered habitat. The palm trees woo and bid the lighthouse. to join them in their struggle for survival.
I am fascinated by the art of JMW Turner. So when I visited London, I stopped by the Tate Museum on one of my first outings. Turner bequeathed over 300 paintings to the Tate Museum. I spent hours quietly experiencing the wonder of his art. I was mesmerized by his explosion of colors and details.
A few days after the Tate, I went to Trinity Buoy Wharf to see and sketch what I thought was London's only Lighthouse. My heart leaped when I saw a lightship anchored near the lighthouse. A lightship is a floating lighthouse. So there were two not one lighthouses in London. The Lightship was now converted into a music studio. I was spellbound by its presence. It seemed pregnant with stories of its past. As I sketched the Lightship, I thought about Turner and wondered how to translate my admiration for him into a work of art. Back in the United States, I looked at my yellow foreground and became inspired when I read how much Turner used yellow. According to the book "How to Paint like Turner” some of his most daring and experimental innovations centered around his use of yellow. It seems to have been his favorite color and he used it liberally. " "For more than thirty years his use of yellow became one of the most frequently mentioned aspects of his art, with critics variously accusing him of 'yellow fever.’ With Turner in mind, I threw a splash of colors on the paper. When I finished I was delighted when the lightship emerged. It is one of my favorite paintings. In 1886, the Lighthouse Board tried out an exciting new invention, placing an electric light torch on the recently completed Statue of Liberty.
The board maintained the light in as a New York its harbor beacon for more than 15 years and by the turn of the 20th century had begun the process of converting all its lighthouses to electric illumination. |
AuthorWhen I am not traveling to or painting lighthouses, I am writing or researching lighthouses. Archives
December 2022
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