Description

This watercolor captures a serene view of a home nestled within the grounds of the renowned Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory on Long Island, New York's north shore.

Dad had to get special permission to paint on these private premises. The beautifully maintained tranquil setting held a special place in his artistic eye.

The glowing green grass and vibrant tiger lilies in the foreground immediately draw the viewer in, their bold strokes a stark contrast to the elegance of the historic home beyond. Yet Dad exercised remarkable restraint in rendering those lilies, leaving the finer details to the imagination - a deliberate choice that spoke volumes about his artistic philosophy. When I asked him about this, he simply replied, "I want to leave room for the viewer to fill in the details. I'm only interested in the main idea." Those words have stuck with me, encapsulating the way Dad saw the world through his painter's lens. He always sought the viewer's involvement.

Dad had an uncanny ability to capture the essence of a scene with broad, expressive brushstrokes, trusting the observer to supply the nuances their mind's eye envisioned. It was a bold, confident style that demanded active participation from the viewer, inviting them to co-create the full experience alongside his vision.

In this Cold Spring Harbor painting, Dad's skilled hand guides us to the heart of the composition - that stately home bathed in warm light, surrounded by nature's vibrant embrace. Yet he leaves ample space for our imaginations to wander, to lose ourselves in the subtle textures and hues he merely suggested. This was his gift, distilling the world into its fundamental shapes and colors, then allowing us to reconstruct the finer points as only we could envision them.
On this day in 1996, Dad was 74 years old, and he found this House with Lillies. ❤️

Through My Father's Eyes