The inspiration for The Lighthouse came on a visit to Star Island, where we looked out over the sea to a lighthouse that seemed to float on the water, but it was a couple years later before I began work on it, because I had not gotten a photo on that visit. I collected WebShots images of lighthouses, but none of them quite fit my memory. Then finally, on reaching for a tissue, I saw the box had a picture close enough to get me started! However, nothing I put together for the lighthouse building itself suited me, and I finally took it from one of the WebShots pictures, stretching the house part a bit wider and adding light to a couple windows and to the lighthouse beacon itself.

Then my usual question came up: how to frame the thing. I pictured a frame of driftwood, not real, but couldn't think how to form it. I bought some wood grain cloth, with a somewhat washed out look, and cut strips, and then a friend at the Frame Center suggested sewing and stuffing the sticks. Affixing it all was a major piece of hand-sewing onto a piece of foam core - rough on the fingers, but the end effect is worth it! The final touch was the addition of some tiny seashells gathered the summer before, to scatter on the beach.

Size: 14" x 22"