Title: | Tashmoo Morning |
Inventory#: | NE000097 |
Size: | 30" x 48" |
Medium: | Oil on Panel |
Price: | $32,000 |
Only last night
I got a text from Katie saying…
“Miss driving with you. And Ted”
Ted Meinelt was a very special person
for both of us.
So, to keep his memory alive
Katie and I began a tradition
of going on…Ted Drives.
There are no rules,
plenty of snacks,
sometimes bags of knitting,
and always an unexpected adventure.
We started out by honoring Ted’s unique
knowledge of the island and its’ history
by taking each other to places off the beaten tracks.
Katie took me on a walking tour of
the MV African-American Heritage Trail sites
in and around Oak Bluffs.
I took her into the creepy
corners of the old Marine Hospital
before it began renovation to become the home
for the MV Museum.
Like Ted had done for us
being both Muse and Mentor
we were in search of subjects to paint
and island stories to learn.
We are both older
and braver now
and our explorations
have become a bit more challenging.
On one of our trips last October
we got out the map
and decided to head for a spot
on the northern shore.
It was a dark and stormy day.
One of those island days when
there is no space between the sky and the sea
and the clouds sit right down on the road in front of you.
Our first destination was to find
the hidden coves of Lake Tashmoo.
Now the road out there is
a sandy trail of solid ruts
some of which could easily
have swallowed small children
and volkswagons.
I’m talking 16 wheel drive.
Narrow enough in spots that
we were pulling our elbows in
even though the windows were closed.
This goes on for what feels like
three months but eventually you do come to a clearing
and then the backs of a scattering of houses
whose fronts face the ocean…
and then this.
From the town beach
looking back across the choppy lake
and deep into a thick bank of fog.
Though later in the day,
when we followed yet another very long
and spiderweb lined trail,
we were pleased to arrive at a
wide open grassy plain filled with sunshine…
the only bright spot on Lake Tashmoo beach
that morning
was the happy smile
of my navigator.
Next time Katie…
it’s your turn to drive.
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Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1958, Heather Neill moved frequently as a child, from California to the East Coast and back again. She majored in art at Connecticut College before landing first in Boston, MA, where she worked as a picture framer, and later remote Muddy Creek Forks, Pennsylvania. It was there she developed traditional woodworking skills and trained as a chair maker, using hand tools to fashion Shaker style ladder-back chairs.
During a lifetime of exploring art, Heather’s only formal training came during her college years. With her easel set up in each of the 26 places she’s lived, Heather continued to paint while working various odd jobs, including farm hand, bookbinder, vest maker, and stripper at a three woman printing company.
Heather’s work, rich in texture and detail, features equal parts still life, interiors and landscapes. Preferring to work from life, she collects items everywhere from antique shops and yard sales...to the woods behind her studio and brings them home to paint. From tea cups to doctor’s bags to firefighting helmets, the common threads are the stories that the objects, rooms or spaces in the paintings have to tell.
Painting full time since 2001, Heather now divides her time between Pennsylvania and Martha’s Vineyard, with her wife Pat, a hospice nurse, from whom she has learned that “life is short and far too precious to be doing something less than meaningful work.”
Check Out Heather's You Tube Channel for Painter's Notes and Artist's musings.
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