Inspired By

Sunrise, Sunset

October 13, 2020

An endless source of inspiration for poets, painters, and romantics of all stripes, sunrises and sunsets have known positive psychological effects on observers. The six paintings showcased here provide a welcome excuse to hit the pause button on our day and relish the sun’s glorious effects as it rises or descends over the landscape.

“I painted Alliance, Early Morning (watercolor, 10 x 14 in.) on a boat at anchor with my back to the sunrise,” says Poppy Balser. “I was attracted to this boat that caught and reflected the brilliant warm light of the rising sun, which was sliding in under a layer of clouds. The clouds made a dark and dramatic background, shading the distant hills and further emphasizing the sense of light on the boat and shoreline.”

Balser painted We Set Out at Dawn (watercolor, 7 x 11 in.) on her boat as she was crossing the Bay of Fundy. “Another sailboat was making the crossing with us. We set out before the sun came up to catch a push out of the harbor from the falling tide. As the sun came up, it reflected brightly off the sail of the other boat and it gave the mist and fog on the water ahead of us a warm glow. This was a very quickly executed sketch so that I could capture the look of the light before it changed (as it does so rapidly in the early hours).”

“Made to catch herring, this weir includes 30-foot-plus sheets of netting, which are mostly under water at high tide,” says Balser. “I like painting weirs because the sheer netting and poles offer intriguing compositions. The building of weirs is also a vanishing practice, and I want to document them while I still can. I painted Sunset Glow at the Weir (watercolor, 12 x 16 in.) at low tide during the 2019 Parrsboro International Plein Air Festival, where it received the Best in Show award.”