Painting: Sunset at Mayflower: A Gift to My Mom
Measurements/Medium: 15 x 30 Canvas / Acrylic
Framed By: Innerwood Gallery
1021 Saratoga Road/Route 50
Ballston Lake, New York 12019
518-399-8504
Price: Not For Sale
Overview: This painting was inspired by a magical sunset that I witnessed on Mayflower Beach in Dennis, Cape Cod during the summer of 2024.
Process: Like most of my paintings, this piece began with a full canvas wash of gesso mixed with actual sand from Mayflower Beach. I not only covered the canvas in gesso but used that gesso as an outline of what I was to create. I usually run over my gesso with a roller that is loaded with dried paint and creates many wonderful designs/patterns in the paint. This piece was no exception. From there I worked from the bottom up starting with the beach. The beach color comes from layers of a Golden gold paint that I absolutely love. I can't tell you how many paintings I began with the goal of not using this color (trying to change things up ya know?) only to fall victim again to its beauty. Like usual, before I knew it, I was glopping this golden color, mixed with more Mayflower Beach sand, to create the sand portion of the beach. Next, I worked in some light colors to illustrate some foam sitting atop the waves. Then I used a plethora of blues and whites to create the ocean water. I spread and mixed colors right out to the horizon and then began that multicolored pink/orange sky in an attempt to capture the magical sunset. I worked through the sky for awhile mixing more bright colors and using different tools to transfer the picture from my mind onto the canvas. This piece, like all others, was finished off with a protective varnish.
Meaning: Cape Cod, Massachusetts is one of my favorite places on the earth for a number of reasons. First and foremost nostalgia. Nostalgia drives so much of my work and thinking back to vacations on the Cape as a child. These vacations set the foundation for my love of this magical place. My trips to the Cape really picked up in early adulthood after meeting my wife Kate, who also had some childhood vacations there. Together we created a memory of falling more in love not only with each other, but also the magical Cape Cod Atlantic. I also proposed to Kate on a Cape Cod beach during the summer of 2004. It was at that moment, that the magic was solidified in my soul forever.
Over the years Kate and I have continued our annual trips to our beloved Cape Cod by including both of our daughters, Sophia and Olivia, as well as my parents. Recently we have begun hitting the Cape with cherished friends. This magical sunset that I've painted happened on one of our Cape visits that included some very special people. This visit has become a tradition and an absolute privilege where we are spending countless joyous moments around the ocean we love, along with some of the people we love.
My love of the Cape Cod Atlantic and Oceans in general has grown and grown since my youth. Over time, as I have tried to become more of a spiritual being, the ocean has provided me a direct connection to my higher power. There is magic there and my hope for this painting was to try and capture some of that magic on the canvas. My mother, who is an incredible artist, has always been so supportive of my work. She really seemed to like this piece and even picked out the frame for it. I felt strongly at that point that this piece was meant for her. I love my mother and in some ways this piece is my interpretation of her life (which is not my story to tell).
I hope you enjoy viewing this piece and I hope I didn't bore you with the story of its deep meaning. When I paint I simply put all of myself into my work. It gives me great pleasure to share as much of that as I can with anyone who is interested. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking the time out of your day to explore my work. I appreciate you and will leave you with a poem I wrote on the Cape about the Cape.
Atlantic Healing
Valid life frustrations
Everyday grind
Today some can even be referred to as gross exaggerations
Complete emptiness inside
Yet to all of us
Definitely to me
Life’s work swims in a reality of fervor
Relative to individual experience
Riding the daily tides of the great Atlantic
Coming and going like the push and pull of our planet’s moon
The sun sets below a horizon of power
So much greater than all of us
Maybe even smirking with colorful explosion at our misunderstanding of what we can and can’t control
No longer do I need to be convinced there is a power greater than me
Than you
As her waves and currents cover the circumference of a beautiful compass rose
I will continue to seek her and cast love into her
As I humbly attempt to let go of it all
by David Lippiello