The Whaling Museum on Nantucket

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I went to the Nantucket Historical Association‘s Whaling Museum (13 Broad Street Nantucket Massachusetts). Whaling was the island’s primary industry back in the 1800s. There was no photography allowed but no mention of no sketching. The museum took several hour to wander through and the rooftop patio has amazing views over the historic downtown district.

The crew of the Essex were hunting in 1820 and 20 crew members set out in 3 small life rafts to chase an enraged sperm whale. In return the whale destroyed their ship and the men spent 96 day sailing thousands of miles across the ocean to safety with limited water and supplies. This harrowing tale of survival was apparently the basis for such classic tales as Herman Melville‘s Moby Dick and the Ron Howard film, In the Heart of the Sea.

The museum houses a large collection of whaling artifacts and memorabilia, including longboats, harpoons, and scrimshaw, but the centerpiece is the complete skeleton of a 46-foot (14 meter) bull Sperm whale
suspended from the ceiling. True to its original use as a candle
factory, the museum also has exhibits regarding that trade as well. The
exhibited beam press (used to extract oil from the spermaceti to make candles) is the only one in the world still in its original location.

Flight back to Orlando from Nantucket

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After a relaxing week in Nantucket it was time to head back to Orlando to continue sketching vigils, memorials and fundraisers for the victims of the mass shooting at Pulse that took 49 lives. Airports are always a place to get a sketch done while waiting for a plane to board. My battery was recharged, but a vacation always seems lie it is over just as you are beginning to relax.



Glen Weimer, a college buddy was a consummate host, letting me sleep in his own bedroom as he slept downstairs. We watched several movies in the evenings. One was about Lincoln getting the votes needed to stop slavery. I fell asleep. Another however was about Woodstock, a small town in upstate New York that got more than it planned on when it hosted a concert in the 60s. A young man had decided to host the concert because he felt the sleepy little town needed a boost. Called Taking Woodstock, the movie did an awesome job of following the families story as they adjusted to the sudden changes that a single concert bought to the town. That is a concert I wish I could have sketched.

View from the Nantucket Hostel

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I was waiting for someone at the Star of the Sea Youth Hostel, so I took the time to sketch the view across the street towards the ocean. There is a home between the hostel and the beach and a couple of dunes as well. One of the hostel guests had his sippy drink and a cell phone and was chatting before he drove off on his Vespa. Since I got this much done on the sketch, I must have been waiting for an hour or so. I am attracted to the wind blown shapes of the tree trunks next to the beach. They reminded me of the wispy trees found at Big Sur in California.

Grey is a color that isn’t usually used by me in watercolors, but in Nantucket every building is grey, so I actually had to find an art store to get a tube of black and white paint so I  could mix grey each day. Luckily the art store was just a block away from Glen Weimer‘s home. Sometimes things do line up perfectly. This was my last day on the island. I  miss it.

Bathing Suit Optional Beach on Nantucket.

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This beach with strong surf and high dunes is a perfect place to relax and soak up  the sun on Nantucket. I sketched someone sun worshiping and his towel was lying in the center of a track from a jeep that had driven down the beach. Visually this looked to me like someone lying in the middle of the road.

At the time it was possible to drive right up to the beach but now apparently access for cars has been blocked meaning it is a much longer hike to get to this slice of paradise.

This was my first time on a bathing suit optional  beach and I definitely liked the sketching opportunity it provided. I got in trouble once with a friend for doing a similar painting of a nude foreshortened figure. I was shocked by the response since this person was an artist. To calm the friendship, I put bathing trunks on the figure and that still was too risque. If you are upset by seeing the human form, just don’t bother me with your concerns. I am busy celebrating life rather than being shocked by it.

After this sketch was done, I created a rare abstract painting on the beach which surprisingly sold. I am not chasing that market however. I love getting out and sketching from life too much.

Nantucket Bathing Suit Optional Beach

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A short walk west from Surfside Beach towards Miacomet Beach on Nantucket is a bathing suit optional beach. I couldn’t resist walking there to sketch. I have done figure drawings for decades, so this was a treat. If you know me at all, you know I am a vampire. I got skin caner on my nose removed years ago which was a barbaric operation in which I watched a staple remove a large chunk of flesh inches from my eyes. Just the idea of the C word keeps me from worshiping the sun anymore. While I sketched others soaking up the sun with every inch of their being on this Nantucket beach, I was under a beach umbrella, wrapped in several beach towels with not an inch of skin exposed to the sun.

I liked that there were rainbow colored beach umbrellas scattered along the beach. I made me feel like the Nantucket natives were in solidarity with Orlando after the Pulse Nightclub massacre the previous month. The surf at this beach was particularly strong. I was on the top of a small cliff of sand that the surf had eroded. As the tide came in, it got closer to the bottom of the sand cliff I was resting on to of. As I sketched, the base of the sand was eroded and without warning, the cliff gave way and I tumbled down into the water below. Other than falling in, I didn’t swim very far out. I heard that the rip tides are rather strong and the waves were honestly intimidating. I preferred the pleasure of watching and sketching sun bathers to the surf.

Surfside Beach in Nantucket

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Another glorious relaxing day alone at the beach in Nantucket. I don’t wear sunglasses so the beach was shockingly white and bright. Others read and relaxed under their umbrellas while I sketched. Whenever I got too hot I would go out in the surf for a dip in the ocean. Then once I dried off enough, I continued to sketch. The one airport on the island is right at the end of the beach, so periodically a large airplane would land or take off, connecting the island to the mainland.

I was content to feel like a castaway with a sketchbook. Glen Weimer had to work during the day, so I spent my time exploring the beach or island with my sketchbook. There is something very rewarding getting to see an old art school friend after so many years. In the evening he took me out to Millie’s Restaurant near Madakett Beach. Millie was a colorful native of the island and the restaurant is a local favorite among the islanders. I had a delicious Po Boy sandwich which hit the spot at the end of a long day baking at the beach.

Old Spouter Gallery in Nantucket

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I went with Glen Weimer to an opening at the Old Spouter Gallery, (118 Orange Street

Nantucket Massachusetts). The gallery name of course refers to a whales, spout. Nantucket Island has long been a magnet for artists, revered for its scintillating ocean light and uniquely beautiful landscape, as well as for its vibrant Artist’s community.

In 2018 the gallery will celebrate its 20th year as one of the most interesting and eclectic Art Galleries on the island of Nantucket – a very special showcase for exciting new, mid-career, and established artists.  The building itself dates back to 1756.

I wandered the galleries and then decided to sketch from the front porch as people arrived.  I set myself for more of a challenge that expected since the wine was being served at a table to my left and the line for drinks usually blocked my view inside. Patience and perseverance were needed to complete the sketch.

Artist Katie Tringle Legge painted inviting still life’s with succulent peaches. Joan Albaugh painted Edward Hopper inspired homes. Sunlight filled the scenes and there was a strange absence of windows on the buildings. I have to say these paintings seemed to be flying off the walls. It felt good to sit in an witness the ongoing industry of art on the island.

The Nantucket Atheneum

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The Nantucket Atheneum (1 India St, Nantucket, MA) is the public library for Nantucket,
Massachusetts. The Greek Athenium was a school in ancient Rome for the study of arts. The
Nantucket Atheneum offers free access to millions of books, films and
music as well as over 1,000 programs for all ages year round. The iconic
building, built in 1846, is located in the heart of downtown and
features art and artifacts important to the island’s maritime history as
the center of whaling. The library also provides a free wifi signal,
computer access on the second floor and an inviting garden.

The Nantucket Atheneum evolved from the Nantucket Mechanics Social
Library and the Colombian Library Society, which were both founded on
the island in the early 1820’s. These two social libraries joined forces
in 1827 to become the Universal Library Association, which moved in
1833 to a renovated Universalist Church at the corner of Federal Street
and Pearl Street. In 1834 the library was incorporated as the Nantucket
Atheneum, a private membership library with eighteen-year-old Maria
Mitchell as its first librarian.

In the spring of 1841 Nantucket banker William C. Coffin traveled to New
Bedford to attend an anti-slavery meeting. There he met a 23 year old
runway slave named Frederick Douglass who briefly spoke to the meeting.
Impressed by the young man’s composure, Coffin invited Douglass to
attend a Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society convention at the Nantucket
Atheneum that summer. Douglass accepted and on August 11, 1841, at the
urging of convention organizers, he rose nervously and addressed the
audience.

It was the first time Douglass had given a formal speech and his
remarks so ignited famed abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison’s passion
that he rose and addressed the audience.

“Have we been listening to a thing, a piece of property, or a man?” he yelled.

The gathering of 500 people shouted back “A man! A man!”

“Shall such a man be held a slave in a Christian land?” Garrison then
asked. “Shall such a man ever be sent back to bondage from the free
soil of old Massachusetts?’

The crowd stood up and shouted “No! No! No!”

After that meeting Garrison invited Douglass to join the
Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society and travel the country on a lecture
circuit. Douglass spent the rest of his life speaking and writing in
favor of ending slavery and, in time, his fame and influence would
surpass his mentor Garrison.

The Great Fire of 1846 destroyed the
original library building and virtually all of its collections. The
Atheneum was rebuilt on the same site in 1847 and became a free public
library in 1900. A significant renovation of the Atheneum took place in
1996, including the addition of the Weezie Library for Children.

Oldest House on Nantucket

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The Jethrow Coffin House
(16 Sunset Hill, Nantucket) built about 1686 is the oldest house on Nantucket. By the time I arrived to sketch the house was already closed. It is one of a series of excellent Island-wide attractions of the Nantucket Historical Association (Nantucket Whaling Museum, on Broad Street). It is the only surviving structure from the island’s 17th century
English settlement. Because of the brick design on its chimney, it is
also called the Horseshoe House. The house was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1968. It is now a historic house museum.

The Coffin House is a 1-1/2 story wood frame structure, with a
steeply-pitched roof and a large brick central chimney. The chimney is
adorned with a projection in the shape of an inverted U; this has been
variously interpreted as a horseshoe, or as a hex for warding off
witches, or as a vernacular rendition of Jacobean brickwork styling.
The house has only a relatively small number of casement windows, all of
which feature diamond panes. There are two on either side of the main
entrance, with others placed asymmetrically on the other walls. The
house has a classic New England saltbox
appearance, with a lean to (an addition in the early 18th century,
rebuilt during restoration in the early 20th) extending to the rear of
the house.

Church Renovation on Nantucket

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The First Congregational Church (62 Center St, Nantucket Town, Nantucket, MA) was undergoing renovations when I was on the island. This church has welcomed visitors to the island for more than 200 years.

The original vestry was built about 1725, but dismantled and
moved to its current site in 1865. The first tower was built in 1795
and a bell was hung in the tower in 1800, the first one on the island.
The tower was removed and the church moved to the back of the property
to make room for the current church in 1834. The current tower was
added in 1968.

I couldn’t resist sketching the building surrounded by a skeleton of scaffolding. The back alley I was in had manicured topiaries and an American Flag. The grey sky let loose a light rain that sent me scurrying for cover. The rain only lasted a few minutes however, so I was able to return to my spot and finish up the sketch.

For me this was a restful day wandering the island and sketching at every opportunity. I still hoped to get to sketch the oldest house on the island which would be a short hike away. The weather cooperated allowing me to continue my day long sketch crawl in peace. My friend Glen Weimer was a consummate host taking me to the best local eateries each night. I packed a lot in to my one week on the island, getting to explore it like a local.