My Honeymoon Painting (36 Years Late).

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Philip Koch, The Dawn, oil on panel, 18 x 36 inches, 2019

This painting was a long time in coming. 

Alice, my soon-to-be wife wanted to honeymoon in Acadia National Park. I’d always been curious so I said “sure.” We got married at the beginning of May 1983 and flew up to Acadia. One morning I let Alice sleep in, and with the first light, crept out to go painting. Driving to a disappointingly fog-covered summit of Cadillac Mountain I thought  “Let me wait  a bit to see if the view will clear.” As if the weather gods were listening within minutes I was treated to the spectacle of the rising sun breaking through the fog. Like the clouds I was blown away.

The Dawn of course, like a honeymoon, is a perfect symbol of new beginnings. I thought someday I must make a painting about this moment.

This painting is going to be included in a curated exhibition Maine: The Painted State at Greenhut Galleries in Portland, ME April 4 - 27, 2019.

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