Katahdin from Rocky Pond, Baxter State Park, Maine

       There are very few paintings of Rocky Pond near the East boarders of Baxter State Park, particularly in February. I have never seen one. And that is why I wanted to be the first to paint it. Rocky Pond is a favorite of mine and is in the news these days because the owners are negotiating giving the pond to Baxter State Park as a gift. This is very exciting because it will hopefully create better access to the pond for artists who love to paint Katahdin from there. It took coming back three winter seasons in February for me to even figure out how to make it in there. I stay at Katahdin Lake at the Katahdin Lake Wilderness Camps, and Rocky pond is just a short distance from the spillway that creates Katahdin stream. Following the stream east to the pond is no easy feat on skis or snoeshoes. The first year I tried it was with National Geographic photographer Bridget Beesaws and both of us sank up to my knees in snow. The following year I brought larger snowshoes and was able to reach the lake with great effort and painted one plein air study, but it was overcast and the top of the mountain was not in view. I finally capture what I wanted a year later that same week in February, but this time the day was eye-achingly bright with a full view of the mountain. This view of Katahdin from Rocky pond is spectacular because it has many car-size boulders, all of which you can walk right up to on the ice. Their form mimics the shape of the mountain and that is always helpful when looking for reoccurring shapes in your composition of different scale.