Join Hurricane Island Center for Science and Leadership and artist Tom Glover for an art filled reception at Cove Street Arts. Learn about Hurricane Island Center for Science and Leadership and admire remarkable artworks inspired by the island's unique beauty. A portion of all art proceeds will go to support the work done by Hurricane Island.
TOM GLOVER: Hurricane Journey
Early morning among the islands, slowly weaving through channels past Green Island and Cedar Island, slipping past Lawrys Island and through Lawrys Narrows, the big white pristine ferry lumbers past Pole, Crane and Rasberry Islands down The Reach to Vinalhaven. At the pier we switch over from the upper decks of the ferry to the low gunnels of the Lobster boat for the second leg of the trip across Hurricane Sound and finally ease in alongside the dock at the destination—Hurricane Island.
Stepping onto a new island is always accompanied by a swirl of emotions as one leaves behind the familiarity of the mainland far across the water to embark on an adventure over new terrain. The island has its boundaries but it invigorates and enlivens the imagination which feels boundless.
As the paintings of other artists who have seen and expressed their impressions of Hurricane Island float around my mind, I think about how they worked among the great archipelagos of Penobscot Bay and it pushes me to hunt farther and find new formations and new ideas to express. Marsden Hartley and William Kienbusch were two artist on my mind as I walked along Hurricanes rugged edges. I look at their work and can’t help admiring how they grasped the gritty, sloping rock formations, the prickly reaches of the pines and the hints of the quarries active past.
Then it is time to leave the island and realize that the experience has now begun to manifest as memory, and as an artist working from a studio I must convert that experience from an actual corporal experience into a visual journey. I will be trying to convey a sense and impression of my experience, but to relate that experience I must rely on rendering moments of joy and beauty, and perhaps power, the past, urgency, tension, amazement—crystallize this experience in a static painting.
That is the crux of approaching painting as a way to bring into existence a physical, individual, bodily experience—a convergence of felt sensations represented by smearing and scraping minerals and oils across a substrate. This process for me starts with more realistic representations and then slides into trying to suss out more feelings about the subject, in this case, a journey. Those feelings then have to be related to and represented by color, pigment, shapes, texture and line quality—all the tools of the painter.
Once submerged in the painting and building of the image, the process of the painting itself becomes a series of decisions which must at some point be brought to serve the character or sense of the place being portrayed. One has to amalgamate all of the island experiences; the physical steps taken to scramble over great round rocks and gnarled roots of the weathered pines; the smell of the salt in the wind; the gulls jaunting across the clear skies squawking and dipping toward the sea. Then there is the influence of other paintings, the reading and map gazing, the plotting and planning to make the adventure happen. All the details need to finally be brought to fruition in a physical, two dimensional painting which brings to the viewer a glimpse of the beauty, exhilaration and wonder.
HURRICANE ISLAND CENTER FOR SCIENCE AND LEADERSHIP
Our Mission: We integrate scientific research and education on a Maine coastal island to develop leaders prepared to address environmental issues in a rapidly changing world.
Each day is an adventure on Hurricane Island.
Our hands-on science curriculum offers unique opportunities for students of all ages to explore and connect with the natural world along the rocky shore of Hurricane Island. The many activities we build into our lesson plans such as rowing, rock climbing, and swimming all help to shape the emerging leaders who leave Hurricane Island feeling more empowered to build a sustainable future.