Island Landscapes: Charcoal Drawings by Rebecca Daugherty
Sunday, July 29, 2012 at 02:48PM 
Rebecca Daugherty, Grog Island, charcoal drawing, 21" x 17"
Last summer, after a couple bought some paintings Rebecca had done from the Stonington archipelago, they approached her and wondered if she might like to work from a particular location. Their family owned a small island- one we'd been past countless times in our kayaks, but never landed on, since it is privately-owned. For the last forty years or so, the family has spent time there, sometimes all together, but more often just one branch of the family spending some quiet time, living rustically in one of the simple houses.

They invited us out to a birthday party. We paddled-out and joined the crowd gathered around a small granite-ringed cove. We were the newcomers among family and friends of the family who had known each other for many years. We heard stories - family history intertwined with island history, and we walked around with our hosts who pointed-out their favorite spots.

Rebecca returned to the island every now and then with her sketchbook and began discovering her own favorite places. Once, when I guided a group of kayakers past the island, I pointed out the artist on the shore, adding "she's my wife." Over the winter, visitors to Rebecca's studio saw the walls getting filled with charcoal drawings. Rebecca identified them as studies for potential paintings, but people seemed to like the drawings on their own. She kept working on them, as well as ideas from other islands, and a new series evolved.

Rebecca Daugherty: Island Landscapes will hang from August 3rd though 19th, with an artist's reception on Friday, August 3rd from 4 to 7, in conjunction with Stonington Galleries First Friday.

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