I first visited Grindle Point Lighthouse in 2003 when I attended the wedding of a friend whose family grew up on Islesboro off the coast of Lincolnville, Maine near Camden.
Grindle Point Lighthouse stands on the western side of the entrance to Gilkey Harbor which means you pass right buy it on the ferry from the mainland to the island. That view from the ferry is inspiration for this painting.
It was a bright clear day and the sun lit up the lighthouse’s white square tower. I had never seen a square-towered lighthouse before, but apparently there are nine of them in Maine.1
This is the second lighthouse built on the site. The first one was a simple brick cottage with a lighthouse beacon perched atop the roof like a cupola. That first lighthouse failed an 1874 inspection and was determined to be unrepairable. It was torn down and the existing structure was built on the foundations of the new lighthouse.2
Incidentally, the lighthouse keeper also failed that inspection, which makes for an entertaining read here.
One bit of trivia about Grindle Point Light that appeals to my love of old New England buildings is that the roof of the old lighthouse was repurposed as the roof to the ell that connects the new lighthouse to the new light keeper’s house, both built in 1875. According to IslandInstitute.org, this makes it the only lighthouse where part of the original lighthouse was used to build it’s replacement.3
The US Coast Guard decommissioned the light in 1934, but reactivated it as an automated navigational lighthouse in 1987. The former lightkeeper’s cottage is now home to the Grindle Point Memorial Sailors’ Museum.
Painting Details
This painting was done in 2003 using milk paint, an all natural, colonial era medium that is traditionally used for furniture painting. I experimented with this medium for a couple of years before moving on to more traditional paints.
The original Gridle Point Lighthouse painting has been sold, but you can purchase a fine art print of Grindle Point Light at my official print on demand site.
Footnotes
1. https://downeast.com/travel-outdoors/lighthouses/
2. https://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=774
3. https://www.islandinstitute.org/working-waterfront/grindle-point-lighthouse-a-beacon-still-shining/