Summer House, Winter House 1975

Jamie Wyeth captured this scene of two houses facing each other over a small island using watercolor on paper. The palette is muted, dominated by earthy browns and grays, punctuated by the blue of the sea and sky. Looking at it, I wonder what it felt like for Wyeth to place these initial washes, letting the watery medium find its own way, and then building up the layers, each mark responding to the last, in an act of call and response. I can imagine Wyeth standing there, brush in hand, feeling the weight of the paper, responding to the light and the landscape. He is creating something substantial and lasting. The strokes that define the shadowed areas of the houses are particularly evocative, applied with confidence and precision. I love the way the shadow spills onto the ground, connecting the two structures. It makes me think of other American painters grappling with the same themes of light, space, and memory, like Hopper or Homer. Painters are always in dialogue with each other, riffing on ideas, techniques, and approaches across generations. It’s an exchange that keeps painting alive and relevant. And it's a conversation we can all join, as viewers and makers alike, finding new ways to see and feel the world around us.