"My art keeps me young. The joy of creation is invigorating; I approach each
new canvas with the same enthusiasm, the same expectancy, the same
curiosity that I brought at the start of my career.
The reality of time's passage has been clarified for me with Sunset on
Lamplight Lane, my return to a favorite subject of my youth. When Merritt
and Chandler, my oldest girls, were tiny children, Nanette, the girls and I
spent a blissful time exploring the English Cotswolds. The Lamplight Lane
series, which followed the imaginary Brook Windermere as it wound through a
romantic lamp lit village, was perhaps my most popular celebration of the
charms of rural England.
My oldest, Merritt, was five when I painted "Lamplight Lane" soon
she'll be a high school graduate. I thought I would celebrate her life
changes by returning one last time to Lamplight Lane, which centers upon
the cobblestone bridge that is itself a symbol of transition. I even
included a small rowing skiff, named "Miss Merritt", to symbolize the
journey into life that all of us embark upon.
As I worked on the piece, I constantly searched my archives to make sure
that each cottage is both authentic and unique. Sunset on Lamplight Lane
refers both to the radiant sunset that bathes the village in myriad
reflections, and to the completion of the final work in an epic series of
paintings."
