Montauk
Oil on canvas board · 24 × 28 in · c. 1985
Painted au plein air on the beach in Montauk near my childhood summer home, this oil study was created with the Atlantic Ocean just to my right. I laid out a small canvas board, oils, brushes, and a simple jar of turpentine, working directly from observation as the shoreline unfolded.
The beach was mostly empty, with only a few people stopping briefly to watch. In under an hour, I captured the ocean and coastline from a familiar vantage point — not the landmark of Montauk Point, but the quieter stretch of beach that shaped my early experience of the place.
This painting reflects an immediacy of attention and memory — a moment of presence in Montauk during the mid-1980s.
