Deer Isle, Maine 1922

John Marin made Deer Isle, Maine, with watercolor in 1922, and what strikes me is how he's not trying to copy nature but to find his own nature in it. His touch is so light, yet the image is full of energy! Looking closely, I love how he uses the transparency of watercolor to create layers, almost like memories overlapping. See the way he suggests the houses with quick, angular lines, and then sets up a little play of diagonals in the sky? It's like the landscape is vibrating with its own inner life. The colors are muted, mostly grays and greens, but then BAM! There's a pop of red in the garden that just sings. Marin’s watercolors always remind me of Arthur Dove. They share that quintessentially American impulse to extract an emotional essence from the landscape, favoring feeling over pure representation. It's a dance of seeing, feeling, and making, all at once.