Painting the Rainbow
11 x 14 inches
Oil on linen panel
Framed
Some paintings mark a place. Others mark a season of growth.
Painting the Rainbow began as a plein air study of a working shrimp boat in Rockport, Texas. More than a year later, I returned to the painting with fresh eyes, finishing what I had started and reflecting on how much both the painting and I had changed along the way.
About the Painting
Some paintings become milestones without you realizing it at the time.
I painted Painting the Rainbow from life in Rockport, Texas, in March of 2025. It was my first time painting working boats on location, and I remember feeling both challenged and fascinated by the maze of rigging, reflections, and weathered surfaces.
Over the following year I continued to paint, study, and grow. Even so, I kept thinking about this piece. Eventually I brought it back into the studio, not to repaint it, but to finish what I had started with a better understanding of light, color, and simplification.
The boat’s name is Rainbow, and I found that fitting. Beyond the name painted on the hull, I began to see a rainbow of color woven throughout the light. Cool blues and greens in the water. Warm rusts along the weathered metal. Soft violets in the shadows. Creamy whites catching the Texas sun.
That’s one of the things I love most about painting from life. What first appears to be a white boat is anything but white.
Sometimes a painting isn’t just about the subject. It’s about remembering what you were learning when you first stood in front of it.
