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"Squeaker Cove in February, Monhegan Island" an oil on gypsum panel 12 x 16 inches by Michael E. Vermette

After painting a spectacular sunrise at Gull Rock's Ravine that morning, I returned to my apartment at the Shining Sails by 10 am and rested in the living room chair for a 20-minute power nap. It was easy to do with the gas fireplace present and tired muscles from hefting a pack for mile-long treks in the snow. I had a bite to eat with Troy Sands, a professional photographer friend of mine, who worked with me throughout the day. Rather than capture multiple images we decided to narrow our focus and set our sites on capturing the beautifully colored Squeaker Cove.

Some of the places that I hike to, that happen to be my favorite sites, can be dangerous. So I'm glad to have the company of another artist. There is always a cost that is exacted upon the artist to acquire such amazing views.  So it is true with capturing pictures of Squeaker Cove. We took the Cathedral Woods Trail to get to the Cove. In the woods the snow was not so deep, only a few inches. The trees were so dense it held much of the snow in their thick branches that would occasionally fall like snowballs through the forest and hit the floor with a muffled thump. Beams of light would break through as the day became brighter giving it a mystical quality. So most of our hiking to our site was deceptively easy until we got out to the coast and the deep snow returned.

The current and surf can be so strong at this time of year that it is pointless to swim back to shore if you happen to get swept out by a rogue wave. The cove is notorious for its ship wreaks such as the Saint Christopher painted by the modern expressionist Joseph De Martini. There were other wreaks at other places on the island such as at Lobster Point with the D.T. Sheridan tug boat out of Portland, Maine and the wreck of the Creesta and other pleasure craft. Monhegan has had its share of ship wreaks. Although not by any dangerous reefs. Islands such as this one are notorious for their fogs and stormy seas that have cast many ships upon its rocky shore.

  Squeaker Cove has this feeling of dangerous beauty about it. There is essentially every rock color on the island represented in this cove of black mica, felspar, green granite and reddish iron ore, all shimmering and ever-changing in the bright sun light of the day.  The waves are trapped into this cove causing a forceful reversing tide that dances endlessly to and fro like a waltz. The waves lap and reach up the rock then back down to the sea as new ones crash ashore displaying a marvellous forceful spray. Painters can spend so much time trying to capture this dramatic dance of waves, foam and surf that little time is actually left rendering the rocky coast that hems it in. These are deep waters at this side of the island and in the winter months the sea is even more marvelously darkened. 

Michael E. Vermette painting at Squeaker Cove in February, photographed by Troy Sands.

I viewed this site as a unique challenge of solidity vs movement, dark vs light and warm vs cool colors. The cliffs are huge and the hulking slabs and round rocks converge down into the cove. Some of them so large you can use them as platforms to paint upon. But most of them too pitched in angle to make it possible. For this painting I was fortunate to find a place to set up on a huge flat rock with an even larger rock at my back. When I painted this same subject in the Fall there was two young girls who sat above me at this same place and so I was inspired to explore the view for myself. The sun was high in the sky and melting the snow on the warm rocks, many of them too wet to sit upon. I worked my way over carefully until I reached my site. Up above the cove, where I had just come from, there were many huge crevasses filled in and leveled with wind-drifted snow appearing deceptively safe when in fact with one false step, one  could take you down above your knee before you ever found rock to secure yourself. This is what the locals warn you about and how many unaware artists can break a leg or twist an ankle. So needless to say, the hike in was slow and treacherous going. So I found this view about a half hour after arriving there.

When I feel the exhilaration of views like these I am baffled at how a painter could come here to only paint in the safety of the village. Although I agree that there are plenty of beautiful compositions in the village, it seems a little like paying a $100.00 ticket to get into Disneyland and to only sit at the first park bench one come to. Then then after a time, leave. To never go on any rides, adventures, or explore what the park has to offer, and to say I've been to Disneyland would be a little ridiculous. But people do this with Monhegan Island all the time. Some painters have never even seen the headlands; never mind ever getting close enough to experience its amazing beauty for themselves. For me, I want to experience all the island has to offer and paint its unique beauty that has enough subjects to last three life times.

Close up of Michael E. Vermette painting at Squeaker Cove in February, photo by Troy Sands.

In this painting I wanted to create a dark stormy ocean that was also deceptively bright with a very soft horizon line. the mighty surf battering away at the rocks reached heights of over 14 feet with seas at 8 to 10 that day, The tops of the waves were hard-edged as with the rocks always blending in and graded in value as they would curl at the bottom and build the closer they reached to the coastline. It was absolutely mesmerizing to watch and study from direct observation, a difficulty that most artists would want to avoid but a unique challenge with all that movement against solid stillness. But incredibly, even these flat rock shapes changed in color as the light moved across the seascape in a two-hour span, giving you multiple color choices. For this seascape was alive with color!

I use palette knife to create the sharpness of the edges of these rocks and soften edges using colored lines and sometimes my finger. The impasto appearance works well representing rocks and hard edges of the waves. Besides, you can make no finer a line than with the edge of a palette knife. James Fitzgerald, one of my favorite artists, applied paint with homemade palette knives he made himself, using thin veneer. I've held these tools in my hand and found them to be excellent. In the end the tool is never framed with the painting, just the paint and the substrate. But for me using palette knives create an honesty in the clarity of color and shapes rendered.

Although there was about 18 inches of snow on the coast, I didn't decide to paint great masses of snow. I wanted to include only a hint of snow to increase the range of value and color in the painting as an accent. I also used unusual colors in the shadows that were juxtaposed complements to the color of the predominant compliment. This is to amp up the reflected light in the shadow and to liven up those dead shadow areas that tend to be too plain.

I would highly recommend painting here in the winter. This place and subject made me feel more alive and energized than when I arrived there. The power of the subject almost paints itself. It has an incredible hold on me  and so I keep coming back to it like a favorite haunt no matter what the season. And isn't that what true painting is all about.

The snow-filled Coast above Squeaker Cove in February, photo taken by Michael E. Vermette.